6-2 Case Study: Future of Remote Work

Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing

of a Pendulum?

For the most optimal reading experience we recommend using our website.

A free-to-view version of this content is available by clicking on this link, which

includes an easy-to-navigate-and-search-entry, and may also include videos,

embedded datasets, downloadable datasets, interactive questions, audio

content, and downloadable tables and resources.

Author: Rimi Zakaria, Annamaria Bliven

Pub. Date: 2021

Product: Sage Business Cases

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529767292

Disciplines: Business & Management, Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Resource

Management, Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Resource Management (general)

Access Date: February 4, 2024

Publishing Company: SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals

City: London

Online ISBN: 9781529767292

© 2021 SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals All Rights Reserved.

This case was prepared for inclusion in SAGE Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom dis-

cussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles.

Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educa-

tional, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or

used for other commercial purposes.

The case studies on SAGE Business Cases are designed and optimized for online learning. Please re-

fer to the online version of this case to fully experience any video, data embeds, spreadsheets, slides,

or other resources that may be included.

This content may only be distributed for use within Southern New Hampshire Univ.

2024 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Abstract

Remote work practice varies widely across occupations, organizations, industries, and countries. This

case considers the forces that lead organizations to adopt and reexamine remote work practices. The

evolving landscape of remote work comes with benefits, challenges, organizational implications, as

well as managerial dilemmas. Employees of various ranks, identities, and roles (e.g., working parents,

individuals with disabilities, highly involved supervisors, co-workers, senior executives) and compa-

nies must consider unique contextual factors that may help or hinder the adoption and implementation

of this practice across industries. The case presents examples of supervisory interventions and em-

ployee-friendly policies in creating workplaces conducive to optimizing remote work. Students will be

asked to weigh various alternative scenarios and make managerial decisions, such as whether to (a)

allow more employees to work remotely; (b) allow employees to work partially or exclusively remotely;

(c) allow remote work regardless of employee tenure, role, and responsibility; and (d) invest deliber-

ately in remote work systems. These managerial decisions will be pivotal in advancing organizational

competitiveness and sustainability in the coming decades.

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 2 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Case

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this case study, students should be able to:

• describe remote work practices across organizations and trends around remote work policies;

• describe the intricacies of contextual factors that affect organizational adoption and implementation

of remote work culture;

• identify the personal, social, and professional implications of remote work for individual employees in

a highly digitized and performance-driven economy;

• determine, using the organizational perspective, the applicability of socially responsible work policies

in people management;

• evaluate the organizational, economic, social, and environmental effects of remote work practice;

• discuss the role of proactive managers in managing people strategically and responsibly in a dynam-

ic environment;

• identify the relationship between socio-technical shifts, managerial practices, and organizational suc-

cess.

Remote Work Ban

On February 22, 2013, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer wrote a memo to the employees at Yahoo banning the

work from home (WFH) policy. The Yahoo employees had to either abide by the ban or quit. “Speed and qual-

ity are often sacrificed when we work from home,” read the memo from HR head Jackie Reses “We need to

be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together” (Swisher, 2013). It further read, “Being a Ya-

hoo [employee] isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only

possible in our offices.” At the time, remote work was becoming more common and a desirable work option in

Silicon Valley and elsewhere. The disgruntled employees at Yahoo instantly leaked the contents of the memo.

According to Glassdoor posts made by former Yahoo employees (Figure 1), many quit and joined other com-

panies offering the flexibility of remote work (Glassdoor, 2020).

However, when Mayer stepped down in 2016, new Yahoo management again allowed employees to return to

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 3 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

their remote offices (Dixon, 2019). The reason stemmed from the fact that banning the WFH policy for Yahoo

backfired. Employee morale sunk and so did productivity (Glassdoor, 2020).

Figure 1. Screenshots of Comments Made by Yahoo Employees on Glassdoor Website After

the Recall

Source: https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Yahoo-Reviews-E5807.htm

Competitors Jumping on the Bandwagon of Recall

Lessons learned from the elimination of the Yahoo WFH option (referred to as a recall) reverberated in work-

places around the globe. Yet, in the immediate years following the Yahoo recall, other companies followed,

such as IBM, Reddit, Honeywell, and Best Buy, by adopting the same stance as Yahoo and recalled em-

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 4 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

ployees back to their physical offices. The message to employees was unequivocal: abide or quit. The re-

call angered employees, placed stress and expenses on them, and caused a mass exodus in some cases.

The aftermath of this recall was felt in the stock exchange; it caused an uproar for the company imposing

the ban, with employee productivity and their profits suffering greatly (Rexaline, 2017). These company-wide

bans eventually appeared to be counterproductive, causing more harm than good for the employees and the

employers across industries (Asay, 2020). This reveals the need for a multilayered cost-benefit analysis when

deliberating about this policy.

What Is Remote Work, Anyway?

Remote work can take a variety of forms. It essentially captures the idea of an employee working for its em-

ployer from a geographically remote location. Work from home (WFH), work at home (WAH), and work from

anywhere (WFA) are telework terms used interchangeably to describe someone working remotely. For in-

stance, someone who works from home accomplishes most of their job tasks outside the location of a home

office or corporate office (e.g., interior decorator, plumber, home inspector, insurance adjuster). In contrast,

someone who WAH undertakes 100% of their job tasks on their computer at their preferred physical location

(e.g., virtual call center associate). Working remotely is conceptualized as a person working with a reliable in-

ternet connection and using other technology-enabled platforms from a geographic distance from the location

of their employer (Felstead & Henseke, 2017; Keeling et al., 2015). For instance, an employer-based in Ba-

ton Rouge, Louisiana, has an employee who works from their kitchen table in New Orleans, Louisiana. Such

was the case for many people working at major global corporations such as Yahoo, IBM, Google, Twitter,

and Facebook before 2013. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, by early 2020, anyone deemed a non-essential

worker (e.g., except for certain medical professionals, front-line service workers) rapidly switched to remote

work mode, around the world.

Despite the challenges of managing remote workers, an increasing number of companies were opening re-

mote working positions (Apostolopoulus, 2019). Mainly due to the evidence of greater productivity and im-

proved morale, which leads to increased job performance, organizational outputs, and socio-environmental

outcomes (Choudhury et al., 2019). These observations are consistent with research drawing on quantitative

and qualitative evidence that employees who work remotely express more job satisfaction than those who

work in the office (Felstead & Henseke, 2017; Fonner & Roloff, 2010; Morganson et al., 2010).

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 5 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

In recent years, big tech companies, in general, appeared to be favoring a hybrid model—one where employ-

ees can work from a company office, but are not required. This trend, together with the COVID-19 exigency,

could result in downsizing to smaller offices, as companies across industries experiment with flexible remote

work policies. The days of big offices may one day be a thing of the past.

Pros and Cons: Organizational and Employee Perspec-

tives

A debate is dawning among employers and employees on the merits of returning to the office or remaining

off-site. Off-site work locations produce cost savings for the employer, specifically the reduction of direct costs

to maintain a physical office space. On the contrary, one has to consider the indirect costs associated with

remote work recall in the form of disgruntled employees who may leave their organizations, increased costs

of recruiting and training new employees, and loss of productivity due to low morale. These outcomes are

among those lessons learned from Yahoo recalling their remote employees. A summary of the advantages of

remote work from an organizational viewpoint (Table 1) as well as from an individual employee’s perspective

(Table 2) are presented below.

Table 1. Organizational Benefits of Implementing Remote Work

Cost savings on large office spaces and supplies

Sourcing the qualified talent from around the world regardless of employer location

Increased employee and organizational productivity

More efficient meetings and other forms of temporal efficiencies

Offering many employees career opportunities with higher job satisfaction

Providing more autonomy to employees resulting in a strong organizational culture

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 6 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Academic studies report that working remotely leads employees to be more productive and to have a greater

latitude for change, thereby positioning the company for making pivots to keep up with competitors (Claver-

Cortés et al., 2012). Organizational agility is mostly accomplished with a remote workforce (Claver-Cortés et

al., 2012). A study conducted by Zeller (2018) reported that the most agile structure for a business to thrive

is one that has a hybrid approach (e.g., employees working in the office for one or three days of the week

and remotely the rest of the week). Contrary to what CEO Mayer in 2013 believed, around the globe, there is

growing evidence that a remote workforce has greater job satisfaction, increased retention, and greater pro-

ductivity (Morganson et al., 2010).

Eiko Hashiba, a finance professional working in-house at Goldman Sachs, had to leave her job after the birth

of her child in order to care for the child. This left her wondering about more flexible ways for expectant and

new mothers to keep working—as opposed to leaving the workforce. Ten years later she founded VisasQ,

which went on to become a multimillion-dollar consulting firm offering its employees remote work options.

Within a decade of inception, VisasQ became a global firm employing more than 110,000 registered consul-

Reducing employee turnover and related direct and indirect costs

Promoting a healthier work-life balance and employee relations ensuring proper training and communication among supervisors and employees

Table 2. Employee Perspective on Weighing the Advantages of Remote Versus Office Work

Working remotely Working from the office

Benefit for parents and other special needs employees No personal and family related distractions

Time savings from no or reduced commuting Seamless team building and collaboration

Significant financial savings due to locational autonomy Spark of creativity from interacting with colleagues

Greater control over work-life balance Closer relations with colleagues and supervisors

Benefit of choosing flexible hours Greater integration with organizational culture

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 7 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

tants working in multiple countries.

For certain individuals in the workforce, it only makes sense for jobs to be flexible and to allow for a greater

work-life balance through remote work. Individuals vary in terms of their need to maintain work-life balance,

attain social support at work, and manage work-family conflicts (Hosboyar, 2012). Employee burnout is less

likely to occur if a healthy work-life balance is maintained, which working remotely can promote (Barros,

2017). Some employees are willing to accept a pay cut to work remotely, suggesting its value as a non-mon-

etary benefit. Remote work is related to reduced stress and increased physical and mental health (Casey &

Grzywacz, 2008). The improved heath factors are due to the diminished pressure of maintaining a healthy

work-life balance and the diminished financial strain of childcare and transportation needs. Working at home

alleviates some of these stressors (Maruyama & Tietze, 2012). Figure 2 outlines some of the top responses

in favor of or against remote work, as reported by employees in a recent survey.

Figure 2. Top Pros and Cons of Working Remotely as Reported by Employees

Source: Author, based on data from SmallBizLabs.com (https://www.smallbizlabs.com/2019/10/the-pros-and-

cons-of-working-remotely.html)

A Stanford study (Bloom et al., 2015) reported that allowing temporal flexibility (i.e., a choice to work during

a preferred time of day) at one firm boosted employee productivity by 13%. Of this, 9% was attributable to

employees voluntarily choosing to work longer per shift and 4% from accomplishing tasks faster per minute

due to lower distractions. A Harvard study by Choudhury et al. (2019) found that allowing geographic flexibility

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 8 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

(i.e., choice to live in a preferred location) increased employee output by 4.4%, which could lead to an inno-

vation spillover (i.e., benefit other related sectors) valuing at USD 1.3 billion. By allowing geographic flexibility,

employers honor employees’ social, cultural, and community attachments that relate to their life satisfaction

(i.e., positive or negative feelings toward where people live). The United States Patent and Trademark Office

(USPTO) estimated that its remote workers annually avoided driving 84 million miles, thus reducing emissions

by more than 44,000 tons (United States Patent and Trademark Office, 2015). There are some positive cor-

porate responsibility ramifications of remote work policies in the areas of social, economic, and environmental

dimensions (see Table 3).

Table 3. Corporate Responsibility Implications of Remote Work Policies

Social Economic/organizational Environmental

Inclusion and diversity: Despite the physical distance,

childcare duties, disabilities, and coming from different

walks of life, employees can participate in the workforce.

Remote workers are included in the up-to-the-minute oc-

currences such as company news as it happens (Ford et

al., 2017). Remote workers and their supervisors are

constantly (i.e., up-to-the-minute exchange) and consis-

tently in communication almost daily and there is nearly

immediate feedback on the part of the employee and

employer (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999).

Employees, regardless of working remotely, can trust

and be trusted, and can have a sense of being someone

highly valued in the company (Kanawattanachai & Yoo,

2002).

Organizational benefits: Job perfor-

mance and productivity increase with re-

mote workers (Choudhury et al, 2019).

When individual remote workers perform

well at their jobs, there is an increase in

organizational productivity that leads to

greater profitability for the company.

Remote workers tend to have greater

satisfaction from their job performance

and the resulting productivity with re-

duced tendency to leave their employer

(Jackson & Fransman, 2018).

Reduction in greenhouse gas emis-

sions: Reduction in air and noise pol-

lution levels due to a decrease in

transportation usage, traffic conges-

tions, and greenhouse emissions

(Choudhury, et al., 2019; Hambly &

Lee, 2019).

Fairness and equity: Remote work allows for the possi-

bility of ensuring fair wages based on the level of posi-

tion and employee qualification. Compensation is not

determined by the place of residence (i.e. Facebook

paying less for employees not living in the Silicon Valley

area) (Frias, 2020).

Economic efficiency and cost sav-

ings: Lean organizational budget due to

reduced overhead office and administra-

tive costs (Davidson, 2020). Savings

due to decreased construction and con-

sumption of office space and utilities

(Davidson, 2020).

Employee retention is increased and at-

trition decreased; thereby saving money

Reduction in material consumption:

Remote work allows the use of collec-

tively less energy at home versus in

corporate offices (Pasini, 2018). Re-

mote workers waste less paper, plas-

tic, and other office supplies working

virtually and individually (Pasini,

2018).

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 9 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

There are some downsides to working at home. Employees report feeling isolated and lonely (Modi, 2019;

Schawbel, 2018). Isolation breeds loneliness and that usually results in lower job satisfaction (Cooper, 2002),

decreased organizational citizenship behavior (Cetin et al., 2015), increased absenteeism (Sagie, 1998), lack

of cooperation (Nagar, 2012), and eventually depression (Felstead et al., 2003). There are additional chal-

lenges of implementing the remote work practice both from organizational and employee perspectives (Table

4). For organizations navigating remote work technology, cybersecurity, privacy issues, virtual communica-

tion, and approaches to managing remote teams across time zones will increasingly be at the forefront of

deliberation in the coming decades.

on having to re-recruit and re-train for

job positions (Igbaria & Guimaraes,

1999).

Table 4. Challenges of Implementing Remote Work

Organizations

Complexities of managing and supporting a remote workforce from a distance, given greater task interdependence

(Desrosiers, 2001)

Invisible workers (are they working?) (Anonymous, 2003)

Deferred response time taking longer than if the parties were working in the same office space (Ayoko et al., 2012)

Mandatory planning for collaboration (Ahuja, 2002)

Remote employ-

ee

Isolation (Gainey et al., 1999) and loneliness (Gentina & Chen, 2019)

Depression (Noonan & Glass, 2012) and anxiety due to decreased social interactions (Anonymous, 2005)

Perceived support from colleagues (Desrosiers, 2001)

High risk of burnout due to overwork and lack of work-life separation (Barron, 2007)

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 10 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Managerial Interventions

Early evidence from managerial interventions shows that the challenges of remote work can, however, be

mitigated by intentional management, including continual and consistent communication (Watson Fritz et al.,

1998), organizational support for remote workers (Hartman et al., 1992), and the relationship-building be-

tween the remote employee and online employer (Desrosiers, 2001). Watson Fritz et al. (1998) recommends

promoting proper communication by exchanging information, messaging, and coordination of work activities

between the employee and employer in a virtual office. Hartman et al. (1992) stated that managerial coopera-

tion with remote workers in the form of technical (e.g., software and hardware for connectivity) and emotional

support (e.g., understanding and accepting direct supervisor) can foster productivity and satisfaction.

Some organizational scientists recommend proactive managerial strategies of offering co-working spaces and

incubators to promote knowledge transfer, collaboration, and innovation (Wagner & Watch, 2017) in order to

optimize the people management process in a virtual setting. First, organizations may prioritize allowing em-

ployees flexibility and autonomy (vis-à-vis micromanaging daily work). Second, organizations may mandate

uniform technology platforms to promote seamless coordination. For instance, when the USPTO began to

mandate the use of the agency’s common IT tools (e.g., VPN and messaging), early-career patent examiners

working remotely realized an additional 3% increase in productivity through increased supervisory approvals.

Third, organizations may leverage geographic clusters to provide funding and logistics for periodic and in-per-

son employee meetups to cultivate a greater sense of social belongingness. Finally, managers may consider

job duties or an individual’s length of experience on the job to determine its fit for remote work. For exam-

ple, in positions where employees can work independently with a relatively low amount of collaboration and

coordination, a transition to remote work will likely benefit both parties. Despite the geographic distance, an

intimate and cohesive digitalized workspace can facilitate the accomplishment of company objectives as well

as make the work process enjoyable and productive (Aboelmaged & Subbaugh, 2012).

Slack, a U.S. software company, implements “Friyays” to help employees manage their accumulated work-

load. It is where the company observes a universal holiday one Friday each month so that no one else is

assigning work while someone is out. Another tool is the use of Slack bots (i.e., intra-company games). These

bots remind employees twice a day to foster connections between coworkers. Slack also uses a bot called

Donut, which randomly pairs existing employees across the company to have a (virtual) coffee meetup with

new employees (Wieczner, 2020).

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 11 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Socio-Technical and Organizational Trends

Competition for the best talent is the name of the game in many industries. Gen Z (i.e., generation Z: people

born in the late 1990s and early 2000s who are tech-savvy and socially conscious) are currently comprising

36% of the talent pool. They are exerting more demands to work remotely than any other generations (Stahl,

2019). They value work-life balance more compared to any other generations participating in the workforce.

As the Gen Z increasingly participate in the workforce, recruitment for candidates will likely require managers

to offer flexible schedules and remote work options.

In January, 2019, a survey of 15,000 professionals working in different industries in 80 countries (IWG Global

Workplace, 2020) found that 4 out of 5 respondents reported that when faced with two similar job offers, they

would decline the choice that did not allow at least some level of remote work. The same survey showed the

extent to which businesses around the world increasingly used flexible working as a perk (IWG Global Work-

place, 2020).

Another socio-technical implication is that the freedom and flexibility of working remotely allow the employee

to live and work anywhere they choose, thereby giving rise to employee optimization (Hultman, 2020). Em-

ployee optimization occurs when management recognizes the generational values in the workforce that in-

cludes the need to have a flexible and free work arrangement, thereby fostering a higher level of morale

that leads to greater productivity (Sull et al., 2020). According to Hultman (2020), “sub-optimized employees

feel disengaged and frustrated … and this can be costly in terms of organizational performance, morale, and

turnover.”

Given the COVID-19 mandate that people leave the office space to minimize exposure to the coronavirus and

continue working at home, there were strong and mixed reactions to returning to the office. A survey conduct-

ed between April and May of 2020 by Gensler Research Institute showed only 12% of workers in the United

States wanted to remain working at home. This captures the view of over 2,300 U.S. employees across 10

industries who typically work in an office but were mandated to work from home due to the pandemic. The top

reasons reported for preferring to return to office (Small Business Labs, 2020) were: feeling isolated, difficulty

in collaboration with colleagues, and the need for an awareness of their colleagues’ work. In contrast, shortly

before the pandemic, participants in another survey acknowledged the top benefits to work remotely were:

having a flexible work schedule (40%), working from anywhere (30%), and time with family (14%).

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 12 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Among other trends, while allowing employees to work remotely, Facebook required employee disclosure if

they were to move away from their company location (Kelly, 2020). CEO Zuckerberg said to those consider-

ing fleeing to lower-cost cities, “We’ll adjust salary to your location at that point.” Leaving Silicon Valley for Los

Angeles or San Diego could mean relinquishing 8% of their annual pay (Frias, 2020).

Notably, although the proportion of employees who works remotely has quadrupled over the past 40 years,

its rise has been gradual at best (see Figure 5). While the tech sector valued remote work, less than 4% of

U.S. workers worked from home full-time.

Figure 5. Percentage of Full-Time Employees Who Worked From Home in the Pre-COVID

Decades

Source: Author, based on data from IPUMS USA, Ruggles et al. (2019); St. Louis Fed; Axios Visuals

The Future of Remote Work

The recent COVID-19 lockdowns brought more intricate issues to the forefront as major companies across

various industries and sectors urged their employees to work from home. With more people working in their

living and shared spaces, the psychological and physical lack of separation (e.g., noisy children, pets, house-

hold chores) can bring about unique challenges (i.e., distractions, interruptions) for some.

Considering many organizational and employee benefits of remote work, the future of WFH looks promis-

ing—pending managerial interventions. COVID-19, undoubtedly, fast-tracked remote working for companies

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 13 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

globally and showed evidence that employees can be productive, satisfied, and social even when not working

inside the office where managers can see them (Brzozowski, 2019).

Although the early empirical evidence points toward increased productivity, attendance, and collaboration

(Edwards et al., 2020; Großer & Baumöl, 2017), a demographic, cultural, and generational divide appears

to exist around remote work. The challenges of managing virtually add a layer of managerial skepticism. As

such, both managerial decisions and the dilemma to allow employees to work remotely past the pandemic

crisis mode are met with careful and prudent deliberation. The following table (see Table 5) highlights some

of the technological, logistical, and attitudinal obstacles perceived by organizations to implementing flexible

work policy (i.e., for employees to choose work location).

Table 5. Biggest Challenges for Businesses Looking to Implement Some Degree of Remote Work

Technological challenges

Technology requirements

Privacy

Data security

The security of employees and their belongings

Operational and logistical challenges

The cost of renting flexible workspace

The financial and logistical requirements for relocating employees

Changing a long-standing, non-flexible working culture at a company

Lack of understanding about the benefits of flexible working

Lack of availability of suitable flexible working providers in a particular location

Difficulty getting out of existing long-term rental contracts

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 14 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Source: International Workplace Group, Global Workplace Survey, 2019

Managerial Considerations

The fourth industrial revolution will likely disrupt the traditional systems and present significant challenge to

managerial supervision. With digitization, banks are expanding fintech initiatives; healthcare providers are of-

fering telemedicine. The remote workforce steeped in technology and knowledge may be at a turning point

(Eisenberg, 2020). Some degree of remote work can be an equalizer for employee inclusion and equity. For

instance, for new parents, people with disabilities, mental health issues, and others who are well-qualified but

are not well-served by the conventional office culture.

Regardless of managerial debates, employees who for organizational, personal, professional, and health rea-

sons work remotely deserve to do so without penalty, repercussion, or uncertainty of repeated recall (Sawhill,

2020). More importantly, as organizations pass down the costs of going office-less to their employees (i.e.,

albeit offering flexibility), proactive managerial roles will be pivotal in ensuring employee well-being as well

as organizational prosperity. The challenge is upon the next generation of managers to lead the initiatives of

charting inclusive, dynamic, and mutually beneficial human resource policies.

Managers and future supervisors will undoubtedly continue to ponder some burning questions. To which di-

rection will they take the remote work practice? Can all companies switch to remote work? Will it be all-,

majority, or minority-remote? What will be the short-term and long-term implications for the employees and or-

ganizations? How far from a physical office can employers allow their employees to live to manage optimally?

How can companies map out employee responsibilities and restructure jobs for remote work? How can man-

agers motivate employees to optimize virtual productivity, teamwork, creativity, and organizational culture?

Attitudinal challenges

Companies prefer to own their own offices

Fear of how it may impact the overall company culture

Flexible working is not suitable for my sector

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 15 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Discussion Questions

1. What are the benefits and challenges of remote work for employees and employers?

2. Can remote work policy be equally effective across all industries and job types?

3. As a manager, what are some considerations in adopting remote work practice for your team?

4. What are some social responsibility implications organizations need to consider as they implement

remote work?

5. What will be the future of remote work?

6. What organizational policies and actions can improve the remote work practice?

References

Aboelmaged, M. G. , & Subbaugh, S. M. E. (2012). Factors influencing perceived productivity of Egyptian

teleworkers: An empirical study. Measuring Business Excellence; Bradford, 16(2), 3–22. http://dx.doi.org/

10.1108/13683041211230285

Ahuja, S. (2002). Distributed teams in e-work organisations: The new issues. Journal of Services Research;

Gurgaon, 2(2), 79–95.

Anonymous. (2003). Telecommuting’s virtues, pitfalls discussed in briefing. Workspan; Scottsdale, 46(2), 14.

Anonymous. (2005). Telecommuting: A two-way street. Global Cosmetic Industry; New York, 173(11), 15.

Apostolopoulus, A. (2019, April 17). Remote work statistics: How do remote employees work and train? Tal-

entLMS Blog. https://www.talentlms.com/blog/remote-work-statistics-survey

Asay, M. (2020, June 12). Why companies that ban remote work hurt only themselves—TechRepublic.

https://www.techrepublic.com/article/why-companies-that-ban-remote-work-hurt-only-themselves

Ayoko, O. B. , Konrad, A. M. , & Boyle, M.V. (2012). Online work: Managing conflict and emotions for perfor-

mance in virtual teams. European Management Journal, 30(2), 156–174.

Barron, J. (2007). Making the virtual leap: Ten issues to consider about telecommuting. Industrial and Com-

mercial Training; Guilsborough, 39(7), 396–399.

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 16 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Barros, A. S. S. (2017). Subjective well-being (Sb) and burnout syndrome (BnS): Correlational analysis

teleworkers education sector. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 237, 1012–1018. https://doi.org/

10.1016/j.sbspro.2017.02.144

Bloom, N. , Liang, J. , Roberts, J. & Ying, Z. J. (2015) Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chi-

nese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165–218, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju032

Brzozowski, C. (2019, September 16). Remote employees: Out of sight, out of their minds? Workforce.Com.

https://www.workforce.com/news/remote-employees-out-of-sight-out-of-their-minds

Casey, P. R. , & Grzywacz, J. G. (2008). Employee health and well-being: The role of flexibility and work-fam-

ily balance. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 11(1), 31–47.

Cetin, S. , Gürbüz, S. , & Sert, M. (2015). A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational commit-

ment and organizational citizenship behavior: Test of potential moderator variables. Employee Responsibili-

ties and Rights Journal, 27(4), 281–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-015-9266-5

Choudhury, P. (Raj), Larson, B. Z. , & Foroughi, C. (2019). Is it time to let employees work from Anywhere?

Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, 2–5.

Claver-Cortés, E. , Pertusa-Ortega, E. M. , & Molina-Azorín, J. F. (2012). Characteristics of organizational

structure relating to hybrid competitive strategy: Implications for performance. Journal of Business Research,

65(7), 993–1002. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.04.012

Cooper, C. D. (2002). Telecommuting, professional isolation, and employee development in public and private

organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior., 23, 511–532. https://doi.org/info:doi/

Davidson, P. (2020, July 13). Will the remote work craze sparked by COVID-19 sound a death knell for

office buildings? USA TODAY. https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/07/13/jobs-home-more-people-

telecommute-office-market-could-shrivel/5410812002/

Desrosiers, E. I. (2001). Telework and work attitudes: The relationship between telecommuting and employee

job satisfaction, organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, and perceived co-worker sup-

port. [Doctoral Dissertation, Purdue University] https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI3075655/

Dixon, S. (2019, February 7). “Yeah but, Yahoo!” Learning from remote work’s biggest fail. DistantJob – Re-

mote Recruitment Agency. https://distantjob.com/blog/yeah-but-yahoo-learning-from-remote-works-biggest-

fail/

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 17 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Edwards, K. A. , Zaber, M. A. , & Girven, R. S. (2020, April 3). Should the federal workforce stay remote?

Planning for after the crisis. Rand. https://www.rand.org/blog/2020/04/should-the-federal-workforce-stay-re-

mote-planning-for.html

Eisenberg, R. (2020, June 30). Is working from home the future of work? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/

sites/nextavenue/2020/04/10/is-working-from-home-the-future-of-work/

Felstead, A. , & Henseke, G. (2017). Assessing the growth of remote working and its consequences for effort,

well-being and work-life balance. New Technology, Work and Employment, 32(3), 195–212. https://doi.org/

10.1111/ntwe.12097

Felstead, A. , Jewson, N. , & Walters, S. (2003). Managerial control of employees working at home. British

Journal of Industrial Relations, 41(2), 241–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8543.00271

Fonner, K. L. , & Roloff, M. E. (2010). Why teleworkers are more satisfied with their jobs than are office-based

workers: When less contact is beneficial. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 38(4), 336–361.

https://doi.org/10.1080/00909882.2010.513998

Ford, R. C. , Piccolo, R. F. , & Ford, L. R. (2017). Strategies for building effective virtual teams: Trust is key.

Business Horizons, 60(1), 25–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.08.009

Frias, L. (2020, May 21). Zuckerberg: Facebook may adjust salary of employees moving out of Silicon

Valley. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/zuckerberg-facebook-salary-employees-moving-

out-of-silicon-valley-2020-5

Gainey, T. W. , Kelley, D. E. , & Hill, J. A. (1999). Telecommuting’s impact on corporate culture and individual

workers: Examining the effect of employee isolation. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal; Corpus Christi,

64(4), 4–10.

Gentina, E. , & Chen, R. (2019). Digital natives’ coping with loneliness: Facebook or face-to-face? Information

& Management, 56(6), 103138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2018.12.006

Glassdoor. (2020). Yahoo reviews. Retrieved August 25, 2020 from https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Ya-

hoo-Reviews-E5807.htm

Großer, B. , & Baumöl, U. (2017). Why virtual teams work – State of the art. Procedia Computer Science,

121, 297–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.11.041

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 18 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

Hambly, H. , & Lee, J. (2019). The rural telecommuter surplus in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Telecom-

munications Policy; Kidlington, 43(3), 278. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.07.009

Hartman, R. I. , Stoner, C. R. , & Arora, R. (1992). Developing successful organizational telecommuting

arrangements: Worker perceptions and managerial prescriptions. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal;

Corpus Christi, 57(3), 35.

Hosboyar, M. (2012). A quasi-experimental study on flexible work arrangements and job satisfaction: The

moderational and mediational roles of work social support, work-family conflict and work-life balance. [Doc-

toral Dissertation] APA PsychNet, Section A: Humanities and Social Sciences, 74(2-A(E). https://psyc-

net.apa.org/record/2013-99151-176

Hultman, K. (2020). Building a culture of employee optimization. Organization Development Journal, 38(2),

35–48.

Igbaria, M. , & Guimaraes, T. (1999) Exploring differences in employee turnover intentions and its determi-

nants among telecommuters and non-telecommuters. Journal of Management Information Systems, 16:1,

147–164

Jackson, L. T. B. , & Fransman, E. I. (2018). Flexi work, financial well-being, work-life balance and their

effects on subjective experiences of productivity and job satisfaction of females in an institution of higher

learning. South African Journal of Economic & Management Sciences, 21(1), a1487. https://doi.org/10.4102/

sajems.v21i1.1487

Jarvenpaa, S. L. , & Leidner, D. E. (1999). Communication and trust in global virtual teams. Organization Sci-

ence, 10(6), 791–815. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.10.6.791

Kanawattanachai, P. , & Yoo, Y. (2002). Dynamic nature of trust in virtual teams. The Journal of Strategic In-

formation Systems, 11(3), 187–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0963-8687(02)00019-7

Keeling, T. , Clements-Croome, D. , & Roesch, E. (2015). The effect of agile workspace and remote working

on experiences of privacy, crowding and satisfaction. Buildings; Basel, 5(3), 880–898. http://dx.doi.org/

10.3390/buildings5030880

Kelly, J. (2020, September 14). The dark downside of the work-from-home trend. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/09/15/the-dark-downside-of-the-work-from-home-trend/

Maruyama, T. , & Tietze, S. (2012). From anxiety to assurance: Concerns and outcomes of telework. Person-

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 19 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

nel Review; Farnborough, 41(4), 450–469. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00483481211229375

Modi, A. (2019, December 26). The untold side of remote working: isolation and lack of career progression.

Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ankurmodi/2019/12/26/the-untold-side-of-remote-working-isolation-

and-lack-of-career-progression/#4e1c94c768c7

Morganson, V. J. , Major, D. A. , Oborn, K. L. , Verive, J. M. , & Heelan, M. P. (2010). Comparing telework lo-

cations and traditional work arrangements. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25(6), 578–595. https://doi.org/

10.1108/02683941011056941

Nagar, K. (2012). Organizational commitment and job satisfaction among teachers during times of burnout.

Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, 37(2), 43–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0256090920120205

Noonan, M. C. , & Glass, J. L. (2012). The hard truth about telecommuting. Monthly Labor Review: MLR;

Washington, 135(6), 38–45.

Pasini, R. (2018, April 16). 8 Positive environmental effects of remote work—Virtual vocations. Remote Work

and Jobsearch Advice for Jobseekers. https://www.virtualvocations.com/blog/telecommuting-survival/8-envi-

ronmental-benefits-of-remote-work

Rexaline, S. (2017, June 15). IBM’s rethink on remote working—A taste of things to come? Yahoo Finance.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ibms-rethink-remote-working-taste-194940169.html

Sagie, A. (1998). Employee absenteeism, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction: Another look.

Journal of Vocational Behavior, 52(2), 156–171. https://doi.org/10.1006/jvbe.1997.1581

Schawbel, D. (2018). Survey: Remote workers are more disengaged and more likely to quit. Harvard Busi-

ness Review Digital Articles, 1–4.

Sawhill, K. G. , & I. V. (2020, April 6). Telecommuting will likely continue long after the pandemic. Brookings.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/04/06/telecommuting-will-likely-continue-long-after-the-pan-

demic

Small Business Labs. (2020, June), Study shows most want to go back to offices, at least part-time.

Small Biz Labs. https://www.smallbizlabs.com/2020/06/another-study-showing-we-will-go-back-to-offices-at-

least-part-time.html

Stahl, A. (n.d.). How Generation-Z will revolutionize the workplace. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ash-

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 20 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?

leystahl/2019/09/10/how-generation-z-will-revolutionize-the-workplace/#577be9b14f53

Sull, D. , Sull, C. , & Bersin, J. (2020). Five ways leaders can support remote work. MIT Sloan Management

Review, 61(4), 1–10.

Swisher, K. (2013, February 22) “Physically together”: Here’s the internal Yahoo no-work-from-home memo

for remote workers and maybe more. All Things D. http://allthingsd.com/20130222/physically-together-heres-

the-internal-yahoo-no-work-from-home-memo-which-extends-beyond-remote-workers/

United States Patent and Trademark Office. (2015). USPTO Telework Annual Report 2015. https://www.usp-

to.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TeleworkAnnualReport2015-508.pdf.

Wagner, J. , & Watch, D. (2017). Innovation spaces: The new design of work. Brookings. https://www.brook-

ings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/cs_20170404_innovation_spaces_pdf.pdf

Watson Fritz, M. B. , Narasimhan, S. , & Rhee, H.-S. (1998). Communication and coordination in the Virtual

Office. Journal of Management Information Systems: JMIS; Abingdon, 14(4), 7–28.

Wieczner, J. (2020, Sept 16). ‘Integrators’ and ‘separators’: How managers are helping the two types of

remote workers survive the pandemic. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2020/09/16/wfh-remote-work-from-home-

manaers-integrators-separators/

Zeller, D. (2018) Organizational Design: The hybrid (combined virtual / traditional office) organization (Pub-

lished No 1306781) [Doctoral dissertation, Pennsylvania State University], The Pennsylvania State University,

Centre County, Pennsylvania. https://zenodo.org/record/1306781#.X8v6jLNlBPY

https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529767292

Sage

© Rimi Zakaria and Annamaria Bliven 2021

Sage Business Cases

Page 21 of 21 Past, Present, and Future of Remote Work: The Swing of a Pendulum?