Larson, Annotated Bibliography #1 1

Annotated Bibliography #1
Eric M. Larson
MBHR601
May 29, 2002

Factors contributing to virtual work adjustment explores issues surrounding

telecommuting, or “virtual work” as the authors term it. This particular article

approaches telecommuting not from a technical angle of “Can work be accomplished

from home?” or “Are modems fast enough for adequate communication?” but from the

structural and relational factors of working in a home environment away from the

corporate campus. (Garud, Gupta, Raghuram & Wiesenfeld, 2001). The importance of

“virtual work” is even more pronounced today than it was when the authors wrote their

article in late 2000, now that the IT boom has ended, companies are even more concerned

about cutting costs, and post-9/11 travel concerns and economic hardships are causing

companies to take an even closer look at their employees’ working environments, habits

and cultures.

The authors make mention of a key challenge for employees who are engaged in

“virtual work”: their “effectiveness in balancing work and non-work demands” (Garud et

al., 2001, p. 384). Unfortunately, their study results do not focus much on this challenge

and it is hard to see what, if any, steps managers might take to assist employees in

achieving this vital balance. The authors do, however, place particularly strong emphasis

on the need for trust in an organization between managers and employees; from that it

follows that a strong employee-manager relationship should help to assist employees in

finding a balance between work-related tasks and competing “distractions” in their

environment.
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While the article’s overall content is informative, a substantial challenge appears

underrepresented in the article’s conclusion. The authors note that:

Social events and small group meetings are specific tools that can be employed to
build trust and organizational connectedness in a virtual work environment
(Handy, 1995). These meetings could help individuals learn about others’
experiences, skills, motives and expectations. This kind of learning usually takes
place around “water-coolers” in traditional organizations. Similar forums may
have to be built into virtual work programs in the form of periodic department
meetings and social events. (Garud et al., 2001, pp. 401-402).

In my experience, it is extremely difficult to artificially replicate the “water-cooler

conversation” with anything but an informal, unscheduled, omni-present social

opportunity like a water-cooler, break room, office with an open door, or equivalent.

Tremendous accomplishments and innovations occur when people simply “chat” in

passing about current projects, challenges or ideas. Attempts to recreate that environment

by holding group meetings or scheduling monthly “social events”, while good, are not

equivalent substitutes for the kind of communication they intend to replace. The kinds of

voluntary bonds (often rooted in genuine friendships) that encourage innovation and

efficient work appear, almost paradoxically, to be built when employees are “hanging

around doing nothing”. Virtual work, by definition, minimizes employee contact with

each other; extremely strong measures must be taken to ensure that managers do not view

technology-based “virtual contact” as adequate stimulation for their team members.

Despite these minor weaknesses, overall, Factors contributing to virtual work

adjustment is a positive contribution and a good resource for raising managers’ awareness

of the challenges they and their employees will face when pursuing a “virtual work”

initiative that technology now permits.

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References

Garud, R., Gupta, V., Raghuram , S., & Wiesenfeld, B. (2001). Factors contributing to

virtual work adjustment. Journal of Management, 27, 383–405.

Handy, C. (1995). Trust and the Virtual Organization. Harvard Business Review, 73 (3),

40–50.