Employees' perception on teleworking in Sri Lankan software industry

Abstract

Teleworking is an alternative way to organize work that integrates two sources of competitive advantage: a company's Human Resources and the new Information and Telecommunication Technologies. There is no agreement in literature about teleworking definition and its different meanings. Sometimes, terms such as telecommuting, remote working, and home working are used to explain its different eanings.Teleworking occurs when employees perform all or a substantial part of their work physically separated from the location of their employer, using IT for operation and communication (Baruch, 2001). Davenport and Pearlson (1998) introduce teleworking as an alternative mode of work, enabled by technological improvements and increase in use of information technology (IT) on the one hand, and on the other hand, by an unconventional managerial approach, which takes it that work is what you do, not a place where you go. Three main types of teleworking are usually found in operation: home-based telework, satellite offices, and mobile working. Home-based teleworking refers to employees who work at home on a regular basis, though not necessarily every day. A person can be considered as a teleworker if her telecommunications link to the office is as simple as a telephone; however, teleworkers often use other communications media such as electronic mail and personal computer links to office servers. Self- employed workers and workers who have no connection to a central workplace are not considered as teleworkers. In satellite offices, employees work both outside the home and away from the normal workplace in a location convenient to the employees and/or customers to reduce commuting time. Other category of teleworkers is the mobile workers. The mobile workers are frequently on the road, using ommunications technology to work from home, from a car, from a plane, or from a hotel - communicating with the office as necessary from each location. Salespersons and investment bankers are examples of mobile teleworkers. The development of teleworking started in the 1970s. Teleworking is commonly used in many industries such as IT, telecommunication, insurance, construction and manufacturing. In Sri Lanka, teleworking is still an emerging concept compared to most of the other countries. Software industry is an emerging industry in Sri Lanka and there are many multinational companies operating in Sri Lanka. These companies are experiencing different types of work patterns such as flexible working hours, fixed working hours, shift working hours and occasional teleworking. Sri Lankan IT industry has developed upto a considerable level to compete with many industry giants compared to other industries in Sri Lanka. It is in a good position to employ new practices in order to enhance the performance. In the Sri Lankan context, software industry may be one of the possible industries in which teleworking can be implemented due to its nature and information and communication technology capabilities of employees. But still, no major research has been conducted to investigate the adoption feasibility of teleworking in Sri Lankan software industry. The objective of this research is to examine the viability of teleworking in software industry in Sri Lanka. Many factors related to the software industry are well understood by the employees of the industry. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the perception of employees on teleworking.