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Industrial Management & Data Systems

The new generation office environment: the home office


Suratin Tunyaplin Stephen Lunce Balasundram Maniam
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To cite this document:
Suratin Tunyaplin Stephen Lunce Balasundram Maniam, (1998),"The new generation office environment: the home office",
Industrial Management & Data Systems, Vol. 98 Iss 4 pp. 178 - 183
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The new generation office environment: the home
office

Suratin Tunyaplin
Suwanpaisal Transportation Co. Ltd, Yannawa, Bangkok, Thailand
Stephen Lunce
Texas A&M International
University, Laredo, Texas, USA
Balasundram Maniam
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, USA

Reports the results of a pre- telecommuting, and the managerial issues


liminary study of a new work Introduction involved in this modification to the workplace
environment, the home office An employee whose primary functions are of today. The results of this initial study sug-
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(HO). This study was designed accomplished using a personal computer gest that large financial rewards may be
to develop a test instrument might be able to perform his/her professional achieved by the firms which chose to adopt
that would facilitate the duties at home, if the employee’s personal the home office (HO) concept or which
investigation of a set of vari- computer were connected to the employer’s expand the number of their employees who
ables that might influence the office. If an employee could work at home, the spend at least some time working from their
corporate decision to relocate employer might not have to provide work homes rather than in the centralized corpo-
employees from the space. This reduction in the amount of rate offices.
employer’s office space to the required work space might reduce operating
employees’ homes. Addition- costs through reduced rents and other utility
ally, the paper seeks to iden- expenditures that would not be needed. If an Literature review
tify the variables that will employee could work at home, time spent
affect both the employer and commuting could be utilized in another Recently, it has been suggested by several
the employee, for example endeavor; the avoidance of the daily commute futurists that the traditional office environ-
employee productivity and could reduce stress and permit the employee ment of the past, wherein all of the firm’s
costs of employment. This to be more effective. Increased effectiveness employees gather for work in a single loca-
report does not attempt to should produce increased productivity which tion, may become obsolete. They have sug-
generalize concerning the should increase profits. gested that the workplace of the future will be
population of home office Reduced employee stress, increased produc- the HO enabled through the concept of
employees, nor does it tivity and profitability could all result from telecommuting and the personal computer
attempt to generalize the telecommuting. The idea was so reasonable (Rowe, 1991). Telecommuting is a direct result
current employer perspective that the USA’s “Congress appropriated $6 of the pervasiveness of computer networks
of the telecommuting million in 1993 (and an additional $5 million and network access providers. It has been
employee, but rather it in 1995) to get 60,000 federal workers telecom- suggested that the home office might be ideal
attempts to identify numerous muting by October, 1998” (Jones, 1996, p. 2B). for the person who works better with flexible
variables that should be Regularly, television advertisements promote hours or the person who works well without a
investigated in more detail. the potential for telecommuting and describe high degree of supervision (Rowe, 1991).
the realm of the virtual office. In 1995 only These employees would not physically travel
3,000 federal workers telecommuted (Moore,
to the employer’s office space daily, but rather
1995) and by November, 1996, the number had
they would commute via their personal com-
only increased to 9,000 workers who telecom-
puter and its modem’s connection to a tele-
muted on a regular basis (Jones, 1996). With
phone line and the employer’s computing
all of the potential benefits, why have there
facility. The phone line might be either a
been so few documented successes in the
public access or a line dedicated to the pur-
private sector or governmental agencies?
Information systems (IS) management is pose of doing business. This virtual connec-
faced with a difficult planning decision. Will tion to the employer would allow the employ-
telecommuting become a part of the IS strat- ees to complete their assigned tasks while the
egy or is it merely a topic for conversation? employees remained in the comfort of their
This paper reports on a preliminary study home. Working at home might increase moti-
that will attempt to identify factors that vation, relieve stress, increase employee
Industrial Management &
Data Systems should be a part of this planning decision. It comfort, and/or provide more flexibility in
98/4 [1998] 178–183 will also describe a statistical instrument establishing schedules; any or all of these
© MCB University Press that is to be used to investigate further the factors might lead to significant increases in
[ISSN 0263-5577]
potential for widespread implementation of productivity and employee efficiency.
[ 178 ]
Suratin Tunyaplin, A New York-based marketing firm reported programs, and that 60 per cent of the firms
Stephen Lunce and that 37,000,000 households in the USA contain without such programs expect to implement
Balasundram Maniam at least one person doing work generating telecommuting within their organizations by
The new generation office income at home; this total represents 38 per 1998. Ninety-two per cent of the executives
environment: the home office
cent of all US homes. Many of these work-at- with telecommuting programs “agreed that
Industrial Management & home employees are self-employed; however, they provide cost reductions, increased pro-
Data Systems
98/4 [1998] 178–183 8.4 million were identified as telecommuters, ductivity, and improved employee morale”
corporate employees who work full- or part- (Moore, 1995, p. 41).
time at home during normal office hours. The phenomenon of the home office was
These telecommuters represent the most enabled through the use of telephone and
rapidly growing segment of employees in US computer technologies. The personal com-
business (Dunkin, 1995). In the USA, the esti- puter linked to a network can provide the
mated number of households working at employee access to any or all of the
home by the end of 1995 was about 40,000,000. employer’s computer-based applications and
By the year 2000, one of every two Americans databases. It is estimated that over 30 per cent
will be working, at least part-time, at home. of the work force of the USA will be telecom-
Many other developed countries support muting by 2020 (Romei, 1995) and this number
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and encourage the idea of using the HO should continue to expand as technological
because their governments have the ability to advances occur. It is evident that high-speed
provide the necessary infrastructure to sup- integrated service digital networks (ISDN)
port this type of environment. For example, and video conferencing will become wide-
the government of Thailand has a plan to spread to achieve this level of HO operation
invest huge amounts in telecommunications; (Dunkin, 1995).
the plan includes strategies such as adding The Insurance Review seeking to define the
10,000,000 telephone lines to the existing com- optimal work environment studied the HO
munications network, the conversion of exist- phenomenon. Many of the employees work-
ing lines to fiber optics and the launching of ing at home felt that their productivity
Thailand’s first communications satellite to increased significantly, “telecommuters have
support communications among Asian coun- reported productivity gains of between 15%
tries (TSS, 1996). and 30% when working away from the office,
In the UK, British Telecommunications primarily because they had fewer interrup-
found that 28 per cent of the businesses that tions and could concentrate more on their
were surveyed in 1994 either had employees work” (Jordahl, 1991, p. 39).
working at home or planned to implement A recent study of employers and Fortune
work-at-home strategies in the near future. 1,000 company executives did not indicate
The respondents indicated that they expected that many firms were adopting the concept of
the trend toward home offices would continue the HO. Several obstacles were identified as
to increase (HOR, 1995). A 1993 survey of drawbacks to the implementation of wide-
Canadians found that almost 14 per cent of all spread telecommuting opportunities. Among
Canadians (approximately 1.4 million house- these drawbacks were: reduced control and
holds) operated a business from home (MFC, supervision by managers (reported by 63 per
1994). cent or 568 of 902 respondents to the study),
In reference to economic impacts of the HO damaged team concepts (63 per cent of
in the USA, it was found that companies respondents) and jealousy of non-telecom-
using this concept routinely estimate savings muters (54 per cent of respondents). However,
ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 per telecom- a far more striking statistic is that 70 per cent
muter each year. This operating cost reduc- of the respondents did not believe that
tion is due, at least in part, to the reduction in telecommuting would reduce operating costs
real estate fees and increased employee pro- without reducing effectiveness (Jones, 1996).
ductivity (Romei, 1995). A median savings of It seems that many managers feel that the HO
$5,500 for each of the potential 40,000,000 will have one major negative effect on
telecommuting US citizens would provide an employees, i.e., the lack of interaction among
additional $220 billion annually for reinvest- workers and the resultant inability to social-
ment or distribution as dividends to stock- ize within or outside the workplace.
holders. These futuristic predictions suggest several
The US government, seeking to determine questions: will an HO replace a traditional
the impact of HO on Corporate America, office? How long will it take for the home to
funded a survey conducted by the Market replace the office? What are the key advances
Research Institute in 1994. The results of the in telecommunications that will allow the
survey of 200 top executives in Fortune 1,000 home office to become a reality? This study
firms indicated that 64 per cent of the Fortune explored some of these important issues, and
1,000 have implemented telecommuting this report identifies some of the key
[ 179 ]
Suratin Tunyaplin, variables that may allow for general support
Stephen Lunce and of or opposition to the future development of Methodology
Balasundram Maniam the HO concept. If the futurists are correct This study will investigate some of the issues
The new generation office and the concept of the HO is gaining impor-
environment: the home office that have been raised. The preliminary
tance, then this research may provide some research propositions that this study
Industrial Management &
insights into the identification of the key addresses include:
Data Systems
98/4 [1998] 178–183 variables that will dictate the direction that • Is the HO attractive to employees?
this phenomenon will be taking and will • Could the HO have a positive financial
continue to motivate this trend in the work- impact on the employer?
place. Conversely, if the executives respond- • What are the perceptions of the commu-
ing to the study in Jones (1996) are correct, nity that would result from the wide-
and the potential of the telecommuter is lim- spread implementation of the HO?
ited, then this exploratory study may indicate
some areas that need to be studied further. More importantly, it will help to identify the
The company of today which will take variables and their potential relationships
advantage of telecommunications to allow its that should be considered prior to a manager-
employees the opportunity to work from ial commitment to the adoption of the HO
concept.
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home is far more complex than organizations


For the purpose of this study, a closed ques-
of only a few years ago. This company must
tionnaire consisting of 21 multiple choice
have managers who realize the impact on
questions was designed to facilitate ease of
employees of the use of this new technology,
response and also to reduce the time required
and managers who are willing to learn how to
from distribution to return of the question-
plan for decentralized communications and
naire. (A copy of the complete questionnaire
supervision (Frenzel, 1996).
can be requested from the authors.) The
The potential for the successful implemen-
major purpose of this study is to attempt to
tation of the HO concept is greater in large
determine if adequate data could be collected
cities and metropolitan areas; this is simply
with this questionnaire to allow analysis of
due to commuting time required for the
the factors which seem to influence the
employee to travel to the workplace, lost time
research questions previously identified, and
caused by traffic congestion, environmental
if not, what modifications should be made to
pollution and political impact. Any or all of
the instrument to facilitate this investigation
these factors might impact the employee’s
in future studies. The questionnaire was
productivity and attitude toward their profes-
physically distributed to a convenience
sional assignments. If the HO concept were
sample of graduate business students at a
implemented, the employer might be able to
southern state university and electronically
achieve cost reductions through better space
distributed to a single Internet news group.
utilization, utility savings and reduced super-
To determine the adequacy of the question-
visory requirements. The employer might
naire as a data collector, the data that were
also improve employee performance through
collected are presented in this paper utilizing
reductions in stress caused by the daily com-
frequency distributions and chi-square analy-
mute to and from the workplace. Innovative
sis of the relationships between variables.
employers might expect both increased pro-
The sample used indicates strongly that there
ductivity and reduced costs yielding higher
is significant interaction between the vari-
profits through the implementation of this
ables, as described below; however, the
new concept. There are several factors that
results should be used with caution consider-
might influence the decision to implement
ing the sampling technique that was
the HO. The factors can be classified in two
employed in this experiment.
categories:
This study will compare, using the previ-
1 technological issues; and
ously described convenience sample, the
2 human issues.
relationships that might exist between the
Advances in telecommunications and per- productivity, comfort levels, and commuting
sonal computers have enabled widespread time of employees who have access to the HO
use of electronic messaging (e-mail), video environment. The dependent variable in this
conferencing, conference calling and distance preliminary study is the HO. It can be investi-
learning. The human issues involve stress gated through its relationship with five inde-
reduction, better utilization of employees’ pendent variables, if a relationship does in
time (e.g. reduced travel time commitments fact exist. The independent variables of inter-
could result in an improvement in employee est are: productivity, level of comfort, time
morale and performance), and more freedom commuting, increased hours worked, and job
for the employee to be an active participant in completion. Since each of the independent
the structuring of the job. variables may be paired, many alternative
[ 180 ]
Suratin Tunyaplin, research hypotheses exist. Due to the comfort that employees experience from
Stephen Lunce and exploratory nature of this preliminary study, working in familiar surroundings without
Balasundram Maniam only the following research propositions were having to commute to a remote work site
The new generation office investigated to suggest other potential areas daily. The elimination of the need to commute
environment: the home office
for investigation in the further studies: should reduce the stress levels experienced
Industrial Management & P1: There is no significant relationship
Data Systems with the commute itself, and this stress
98/4 [1998] 178–183 between productivity and the perceived reduction should produce an increase in
level of comfort of the HO employee. productivity. A final relationship that must be
P2: There is no significant relationship investigated is the reduction in operational
between productivity and time spent costs that will be experienced by the
commuting. employer, who will not have to provide office
P3: There is no significant relationship space for the HO-based employee.
between productivity and increasing the For the purpose of this study, 54 question-
number of hours available for work. naires were analyzed; 33 of these (61.6 per
P4: There is no significant relationship cent) were completed by graduate students at
between job completion and the
the university, the remaining 21 (38.4 per
perceived level of comfort of the
cent) were submitted via the Internet news
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employee.
group. The majority of respondents were
P5: There is no significant relationship
male (62.7 per cent) as shown in Figure 1, and
between job completion and increasing
the majority of respondents were in the 21-35
the number of hours available for work.
years of age category (Figure 2). The male
P6: There is no significant relationship
majority and the number of 21-35 year-old
between the perceived level of comfort
and time spent commuting. respondents are both probably reflective of
the student population in the graduate school
The questionnaire was designed with from whence the majority of responses were
closed questions for ease of response. It was obtained. Because a convenience sample
distributed via the Internet news group made up largely of university students was
soc.culture.thai and hand distributed to grad- utilized, it is impossible to generalize statisti-
uate International Business and Information cally about the entire population of employ-
Systems Management students enrolled in a ees in the HO environment. However, in spite
regional state university in Texas. of the bias problem, there may be indications
The results of this preliminary study will
be presented in two forms. Frequency distrib-
utions of the responses will be presented, and Figure 1
the non-parametric chi-squared test will be Gender
used to describe the existence and signifi-
cance of the relationship of the independent
variables. The results of this analysis provide
information and insights concerning
whether or not the independent variables
have an impact on the perception of and the Male Female
62.7% 37.3%
design of the HO environment.

Results and analysis


This study seeks to determine if there is a
relationship between a variety of indepen-
dent variables, previously described, and the
adoption of a home office environment. The Figure 2
basic premise of all of the relational analysis Age
is: if the worker is more comfortable and/or
has more time to perform both their profes-
sional and personal duties, their productivity
will increase, which will result in higher
profits at equivalent or lower costs for the
21 – 35 Less Than 20
employer. Productivity is the variable which 72.6% 5.9%
describes how by working at home, the work
should be accomplished by spending less time 51 – 65
7.8%
and completing a larger amount of work
within the normal amount of time. Productiv- 36 – 50
ity is also assumed to be related to the level of 13.7%

[ 181 ]
Suratin Tunyaplin, that relationships exist between the variables H6A: there is a relationship between time
Stephen Lunce and previously identified. Also this bias problem commuting and employee’s level of
Balasundram Maniam is mitigated by the fact that most of the comfort.
The new generation office respondents, even though they are students,
environment: the home office In every hypothesis, the test is seeking to
are employed full-time in various managerial
Industrial Management & determine if the variables that have been
capacities.
Data Systems identified are truly independent. If the vari-
98/4 [1998] 178–183 In order to investigate the six previously
defined relationships, the chi-squared test ables are independent, then future studies
will be utilized. For each test α = 0.05 is used, can be utilized to determine how significantly
and the degrees of freedom (df) = 16, and the each of the variables impact the decision to
critical value for each test is 26.2962. In each implement the HO workplace. Likewise, addi-
case the hypothesis (Ho) will suggest that tional studies can be used to determine how
there is no relationship between the vari- the relationships between the independent
ables, and if the Ho is rejected, it will be variables actually function.
indicative that a relationship does exist. The The tests indicate that a statistically signifi-
decision rule in every case will be to reject cant relationship does exist between several
the Ho if the test statistic is greater than the of the factors. The first test suggests that if
the employee is more comfortable, and it is
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critical value. The results of all the tests are


presented later in Table I; the hypotheses that assumed that the employee’s home is more
will be summarized in Table I are: comfortable than an office, then the
H1O: there is no relationship between pro- employee’s productivity should increase
ductivity and employee’s level of com- during those times when the employee was
fort, and allowed to work at home.
H1A: there is a relationship between produc- The second test suggests that if the
tivity and employee’s level of comfort. employee reduces the amount of time spent
H2O: there is no relationship between pro- commuting, the employee’s productivity will
ductivity and time commuting, and increase. If the employee does not spend time
H2A: there is a relationship between produc- commuting, then that time could be spent
tivity and time spent commuting. working; the third test suggests having more
H3O: there is no relationship between pro- available time would lead to increased pro-
ductivity and increased number of ductivity. Increased productivity should lead
hours worked, and directly to increases in profitability and
H3A: there is a relationship between produc- increased benefits for the organizations’
tivity and increased number of hours stakeholders.
worked. The fourth test suggests that there is a rela-
H4O: there is no relationship between finish- tionship between the employee’s perceived
ing assigned jobs faster and the comfort in his or her home office and his or
employee’s level of comfort, and her ability to complete assigned tasks at a
H4A: there is a relationship between finish- quicker pace. Although the null hypothesis of
ing assigned jobs faster and employee’s the fifth and sixth hypotheses could not be
level of comfort. rejected, the test statistic was very close to
H5O: there is no relationship between finish- the critical value, and since the statistics
ing assigned jobs faster and increasing were run on a sample, these relationships
number of hours worked, and should not be excluded from future studies or
H5A: there is a relationship between finish- from consideration in the decisions concern-
ing assigned jobs faster and increasing ing the adoption of the HO concept.
number of hours worked.
H6O: there is no relationship between time
commuting and employee’s level of Conclusions
comfort, and
In today’s world, the HO is becoming more
common for many businesses. There are
Table I several factors to which this pervasiveness
χ2 test of the null hypotheses can be attributed: increased employee pro-
Commuting factors χ2 statistic Decision ductivity resulting from improved employee
comfort, reduced commuting time and simply
Productivity and comfort level 44.537 Reject H0
more hours available to work on assignments;
Productivity and continuing time 31.474 Reject H0
reduced costs resulting from lower office
Productivity and more hours worked 32.848 Reject H0
space requirements to fewer employee com-
Faster completion and comfort level 47.096 Reject H0
plaints and absences and interruptions
Faster completion and more hours worked 26.057 Fail to reject H0
during work; improvements in telecommuni-
Comfort level and commuting time 23.696 Fail to reject H0
cation and personal computing technologies.

[ 182 ]
Suratin Tunyaplin, Any of these factors, alone, might have This study has attempted to identify a set of
Stephen Lunce and motivated the development and implementa- variables that might indicate the feasibility of
Balasundram Maniam tion of the HO. For example, in large cities the implementation of the HO concept. The
The new generation office
many employees can spend several hours per study was exploratory in nature, in that it is
environment: the home office
day commuting to the workplace, but by only an attempt to identify appropriate vari-
Industrial Management &
using the HO concept, these employees find ables and relationships for future studies.
Data Systems
98/4 [1998] 178–183 that the commuting hours can be spent more Although it is only a preliminary study, the
productively. Rather than arriving at the results seem to indicate both the willingness
remote office stressed from having to deal of employees to work at home and the oppor-
with traffic congestion and pollution, the tunity for employers to increase their
employee lives in the workplace and com- employees’ productivity by providing an
mutes electronically. alternative job site. If employee productivity
The participants in this study were asked, if can be improved, and if operational expenses
they were given the opportunity to be a part can be reduced, then it seems logical that this
of the HO concept, would they take advantage study should be considered in the decision
of this opportunity. They were also asked, if process used to investigate the use of this new
given the opportunity, how they would divide work paradigm.
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their time between a HO and a remote job


site, i.e. how many days per week would they References
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1 days

2 days

3 days

4 days

5 days

www.shinawatra.co.th, Shinawatra Satellite


Public Company Limited, Marketing & Sales
Key Department, Thaicom Satellite Station, 41/103
Work at home Rattanathibet Road, Nonthaburi 11000,
Work at office Thailand.

[ 183 ]
This article has been cited by:

1. Samia M. SihaMichael J. Coles College of Business, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia, USA Richard W.
MonroeEast Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. 2006. Telecommuting's past and future: a literature
review and research agenda. Business Process Management Journal 12:4, 455-482. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
Downloaded by University of Newcastle At 01:38 18 December 2016 (PT)

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