Adoption of remote work arrangements: an initial analysis

Information technology is facilitating the implementation of a variety of different types of remote work arrangements, such as telecommuting, satellite offices and virtual offices. While organizations are increasing their use of these new work arrangements, there has been no research on how the decision is made to adopt a particular type of work arrangement. In this study, we investigate this question by first identifying three variables which are expected to influence this decision: (i) the motivation or business reason for adopting the remote work arrangement, (ii) the jobs of the employees who are to work in the remote location, and (iii) the information technology furnished by the firm for remote workers. We investigate the influence of these variables through field research conducted in 19 firms in the Atlanta area and present the findings. We also identify important managerial and organizational issues which arise in the remote environment and should be explored further: (i) managerial control and coordination of remote workers, (ii) support for informal communication, (iii) technological support for distributed remote workers, and (iv) maintaining the remote worker's identity with the firm.