A multi-level socio-technical systems telecommuting framework
Date
2013-12Author
Belanger, France
Watson-Manheim, Mary Beth
Swan, Bret R.
Publisher
Taylor & FrancisMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Telecommuting can help create organizational efficiencies and improve competitive
advantage. It has been studied from a variety of perspectives, including that of transportation,
management, psychology, and information systems. However, telecommuting literature, while
abundant and diversified, often reports contradictory results, creating dilemmas for practice and
research. Past researchers noting such conflicting findings often identify the lack of guiding
theoretical bases as a key problem. In an attempt to explain the contradictory results found in
prior research and in practice, we review telecommuting literature and expose conceptualization
issues that need to be addressed in the development of a telecommuting research model:
telecommuting as both a context and an aspect of work, as a multi-level concept, and as a timedependent
concept. The proposed multi-level model, guided by socio-technical systems theory,
illustrates the inter-relationships of telecommuting antecedents and outcomes across levels of
analysis and over time. The research offers a number of important implications for future
research, as well as for managers involved in or affected by telecommuting in their
organizations.