Telework

by paul andrew bourne


The advent of the Information Revolution has transformed the business landscape (Ditlea, 2005). The new mode of work is no longer confined to stated structures with particular bureaucratic guidelines from a centralized factory, office or workplace within stated time intervals but work is now decollectivised and flexible(Bridges, 1994; Halal, 1996; Zbar, 2001; Di Martino, 2001; Roitz, 2003; Ditlea, 2005 ). Alternative office solutions are emerging with accelerating speed to address the new innovative technology. Telework is one of the by-products of the Information era, and it is functioning in a particular social space, which offers a new genre of knowledge, expertise, design organization, employer-employee relationship, employment, "pay-for-performance" and "pay-for-position". Telework (or telecommuting) is simply not just work but it is a synergy of different socio-physical activities: It is a structure to which discourse must be applied to explain the tenets of this space. Multispatial canon of this commodity influences the physiological structure of the organization, the employee involved in the process and its socio-economic and political reach are immense. The socio-economic and technological transformations which are inevitable from telework emphasize the immediacy for appropriate policy framework that will underpin the new pathway that will guide the functioning of new economies in particular to those in the Caribbean.

The traditional "job" in which an individual reports for work some distant away from his/her residence is fading, work can be done at home. Information technology and telecommunication are widening the modus operandi in which people function and exist, thereby allowing easier access to resources and this is fashioning a path to which organizations now must structure their operations with a futuristic plan. Come the next decade the configuration of an organization and mode of work will be channeled in keeping with the transformation opened by telecommunication. The futuristic "job" now must be viewed within the context of computerization, efficiency, flexibility, high-end performance and cost-effectiveness. Within the socio-political environment of ?'electronification' which is geared toward reducing time spent in the manipulation of task, information systems which are user-friendly and cost effective will offer convenient ways in the execution of duties to which telework is that vehicle.

Conceptual Framework

There is limited work on telework in Caribbean and for this reason; in this research the writers have pulled together various constructs to develop a conceptual framework within which the data collected are used in this research will be analyzed. In pulling together these discourses, the writers sought to undertake a mapping of the scholarly and policy landscape with the aim of developing taxonomy in this regard.
This juxtaposes many of the main components of telework which is found in both avant-garde and mainstream scholarly literature regarding the issue. These components include: business continuity; gender specificities and benefits; psychological tenets; topologies and typologies of telecommuniting; socio-economic challenges and opportunities; policy framework; and impact assessment.


Business Continuity

On August 29th the New Orleans region was hit by one of the most destructive natural disasters in history. Our homes were destroyed, families torn apart and our lives as we knew it - changed forever (Johnson, 2005).


The perspective of Johnson epitomizes the socio-economic costs of a disaster and not the mere destructiveness of the event. Chief among the experiences of the residence of New Orleans is the displacement of their economic livelihood along with the future cost of survivability. Katrina brought with it wholesale job displacement because many businesses were forced to close their doors due to the flooding. Business continuity is not automatic because the premise that the organization has been established since the early eighteenth century or earlier but must be contextual within social or natural happening such as hurricane, riots or flooding. Katrina is an indicator of dislocation of jobs, business, social settings and the aftermath of human sufferings in any geo-political zones in the world. To redress such realities, telework provides answers for business continuity, job continuity and economic sustenance.
According to Smith less than fifty percent of private and public organizations when contacted by International Telework and Council (ITAC) Advisory Group reported that they had not contemplated or incorporated telework in their business continuity plan in their strategic plan. Such tardiness by astute business pundits within the context of a highly probabilistic disaster is surprising given that almost twenty percent of U.S. companies experienced a disaster in 2004 that caused "their companies to cease operations for a period of time, according to a Partnership for Public Warning study commissioned by AT&T" (Smith, 2005). The reality that emphasizes the relevance of futuristic planning for business continuity is no secondary issue from the experience of Katrina in New Orleans.

Telework enables businesses' employees to continue functioning despite faced with any disaster-related interruptions as was evident in New Orleans after Katrina. Whether a happening is man made or natural, by using current communications and computer technologies to work from home, on the road, or at a client's office, simply anywhere injects continuity (or implies futuristic planning) in the within the context business survivability. Business Continuity implies that organizations have contingency plans in place that allow them to "stay up and running or quickly recover from a disaster" (Continuity Central, 2004).
According to Continuity Central forward planning as it relates to business continuity is to factor with strategic planning for an organization. Organizations need to understanding that discontinuity in business is highly likely and so planning against it is an alternative that may ward of a high failure. According to Continuity Central, Smith argued that:
"Many organizations take an ostrich approach towards disasters thinking it won't happen to them, " said Robert L. Smith, Jr., Director of ITAC, the Telework Advisory Group for WorldatWork. " However with survey research finding 43% of companies hit by severe crises never open their operations again, businesses must plan for unexpected disasters" (Continuity Central, 2004).

Based on a research sponsored by the AT&T Foundation and Cisco Systems, ITAC has created a comprehensive publication, "Exploring Telework as a Business Continuity Strategy: A Guide to Getting Started," that will guide organizations on ?'how to survive disasters'. The document provided germane detailed on how to integrate telework as part of an organization's business continuity strategy. The report constitutes Technology Solutions that will facilitate people working distantly at anytime, and provides policies for federal agencies to survive disaster. In addition, the documentation provides brief "case studies of organizations that have effectively incorporated telework into their continuity plans" (Continuity Central, 2004).

Cyber Security Industry Alliance (2005) concurred with Continuity Central that telework offers a futuristic plan in business continuity.



Bibliography
Bailey, D. E., &. Kurland, N. B. (2002). "A review of telework research: findings, new directions, and lessons for the study of modern work". Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 23, ( 4): 383-401.

Barclay, L. A. (2000). Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies: Corporate Strategy and Investment Behaviour in the Caribbean.

Bank. (1995). Regional Perspectives on World Development Report.

Blottnitz, A. (undated). Telework will be Key Driver of Mainstream Broadband Conversion Large and Growing Remote Workforce Will Be Powerful Catalyst for In-Home Adoption. Retrieved on February 17, 2006, from http://www.recognizeserviceexcellence.com/newsletter/telework.htm

Caricom. (2002). Towards Caricom connectivity: Agenda 2003 and Platform for Action. Retrieved March 25, 2005, from http://www.caricom.org/.

Cleland, C. M., & Gomez, D.N. (2003). Prospects for CARICOM services exports in
information and communications technology: Trade and investment issues", IDB Technical Cooperation Project, prepared for the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery". World.

Continuity Central. (undated). Telework as a business continuity strategy. Retrieved on February 16, 2006 from, http://www.continuitycentral.com/news01901.htm.

Cyber Security Industry Alliance. (2005). Making telework a Federal priority: Security is not the issue. Retrieved on February 16, 2006 from, https://www.csialliance.org/resources/pdfs/CSIA_Telework.pdf.

Daley, F., & Company (nd) http://www.fogadaley.com/telecommunications.html. Retrieved, February 10, 2005.

De Klerk, G. J., & Hoffman, E.C. (2002) "Information technology and the virtual workplace." Journal of African Business, .3, (3): 91-115.

DiMartino, V. (2001) Promoting decent work: The high road to teleworking, international labour organization, Geneva.

Ditlea, S. (2005). Home is where the office is: technology improvements have made the home office an effective workplace alternative - Small Business Computing. Retrieved, February 17, 2005, from http://www.findarticles.com/.

Dunn, L., & Dunn, H. (1999) "Employment, working conditions and labour relations in offshore data service enterprises: Case studies of Barbados and Jamaica", ILO Working Paper No. 86.

Dunn, H. S. (2000). Telecommunications and IT.- Their Impact on Employment and Trade Unions in the Caribbean, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2000.

Felstead et al.(2000). "Measuring the extent and characteristics of working at home in the UK", paper presented at the International Working party of Labour Market Segmentation Conference, Manchester, July 2000. In World Employment Report. (2001). Toward job economies?

Employment in the information society. Retrieved on February 18, 21006, from http://www.bib.ulb.ac.be/cdrom/wer_lawitie/chapter/ch_04_4.htm.

Halal, W. E. ((1996). "The rise of the knowledge entrepreneur." The Futurist, 30, (6): 14. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from ProQuest database.

InnoVisions Canada. (undated). About Telework. Retrieved on February 16, 2006, from http://www.ivc.ca/part2.html.

Johnson, B. (2005). Hurricane Katrina Update: Message from the President & CEO.

Roitz, J., Allenby, B., Atkyns, R., & Nanavati, B. (2003). Organizing Around Networks, Not Buildings: 2002/2003 AT&T Employee Telework Research Results. United States: AT & T.

Templer, A., & de Jong, J. V. Z. (2000). "Telework's impact on the leisure/work relationship." Management Research News, 23, (9-11): 144-145. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from ProQuest database.

Zbar, J. ((2001). "Ten tips to telework." Network World, 18, (66): 32. Retrieved February 15, 2006, from ProQuest database.

Valdez, B. (2006). When people are invisible, the message is what matters. Retrieved on February 16, 2006, from http://www.att.com/telework/article_library/invisible_people.html.

World Employment Report. (2001). Toward job economies? Employment in the information society. Retrieved on February 18, 21006, from http://www.bib.ulb.ac.be/cdrom/wer_lawitie/chapter/ch_04_4.htm.