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Telecommuting and TeleworkTelecommuting and Telework
Ralph D. Westfall,California State Polytechnic University, PomonaIntroduction 436
A Brief History of Telecommuting and Telework 436
Defining Telecommuting and Telework 437
Implications of Telecommuting Definitions 438
Telecommuting Usage Factors 439
Telecommuting Productivity 440
Deconstructing Telecommuting Productivity 441
Telecommuting Usage Trends 442
The Internet and Other Technological Trends
Favoring Telework 443
Theoretical Considerations 443Agency Theory 444
Institutional Theory 444
Recommendations for Stakeholders 444
Organizations 444
Employees 445
Regulatory Authorities 445
Conclusion 446
Glossary 446
Cross References 446
References 447INTRODUCTION
Telecommuting is a fascinating concept, with a history
that dates back to fiction published nearly 100 years ago.
As a concept, it has achieved a high level of publicity, and
most people know (or think they know) what it involves.
Actual usage of telecommuting to avoid driving to work
is still relatively low, however, and may never attain the
levels forecasted by pundits such as Toffler (1980) in his
discussion of “the electronic cottage.”
This chapter first looks at the history of the telecom-
muting concept. The subsequent section discusses
definitions of telecommuting and various other kinds of
telework. These definitions are critically important to un-
derstanding telework, because the various types have dif-
ferent implications for individuals, organizations, and the
larger society. The definitions are followed by a discussion
of the implications of the varieties of telework. Following
this is an analysis and discussion of the two key measures
of telecommuting activity: the participation or proportion
of the working population that telecommutes and the rate
or frequency of telecommuting as a substitute for driving
to the office. This is followed by a critical analysis of re-
ported productivity gains from telecommuting.
The subsequent section is a discussion of usage trends
and forecasts, which is followed by a discussion of the
impact of the Internet and other technological trends on
telecommuting. A discussion of the implications of theo-
ries from economics and sociology on telecommuting us-
age and recommendations for organizations and employ-
ees interested in telecommuting concludes the chapter.A BRIEF HISTORY OF
TELECOMMUTING AND TELEWORK
Telecommuting is a fascinating concept. People think
about it when driving through congested traffic on their
way to work. It sounds appealing to persons who are chaf-
ing at the restrictions of being in a specified place for a
set number of hours almost every working day, often with
much less control than they would like over what they are
doing and how they are doing it.The appeal of this concept is reinforced by its asso-
ciation with other concepts that have positive implica-
tions. Telecommuting is touted as a new, different, and
better way of working. It is associated with computing
and networking technologies that seemed advanced when
the concept started receiving popular attention, and these
technologies have become ubiquitous in recent years.
It promises other benefits, including reductions in air
pollution and dependence of imported petroleum sup-
plies, by reducing the number of cars on the freeways.
Telecommuting sounds like a solution to many of the
ills of modern society—noise, congestion, air pollution,
crowded living conditions—that have been noted since the
industrial revolution.
Although telecommuting had been discussed before
in publications with limited circulation, the concept re-
ceived its first widespread publicity in 1980 inThe Third
Waveby Toffler. This book devoted a whole chapter to tele-
work and became a best seller in the United States and
around the world. Toffler suggested that 10 to 20% of the
workforce could be working from their homes (described
as “electronic cottages”) within 20 to 30 years and that this
work at home would be comparable to the prevalent work
mode before the industrial revolution led to the relocation
of labor to factory settings (Toffler, 1980).
Many of the concepts of telecommuting had been
around long before Toffler. In view of the appealing as-
pects of the concept and the long-standing concerns about
urbanization and congestion, it should not be a great sur-
prise that many of these ideas, including the virtual office,
were the background for a science fiction piece published
back in 1909,The Machine Stops.The author of this short
story was E. M. Forster, the British writer whose novels
includeHoward’s EndandA Room with a View.
The setting ofThe Machine Stops(Forster, 1909) is a
future where people interact with each other almost exclu-
sively through networking technologies. They use a tele-
phone, at the same time viewing a live image of the other
person in a glowing round plate that they can hold in
their hands. They deliver or attend lectures using these
same media. When they become ill, doctors attend to
them through what we now describe as telemedicine. In436