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DOI: 10.1177/097185240801200201

2008 12: 157Gender Technology and Development Ernesto Noronha and Premilla D'Cruz

from Bangalore, India The Dynamics of Teleworking : Case Studies of Women Medical Transcriptionists

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Gender, Technology and Development 12 (2), 2008: 157–183 SAGE Publications Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore DOI: 10.1177/097185240801200201

Articles

The Dynamics of Teleworking: Case Studies of Women Medical

Transcriptionists from Bangalore, India

ERNESTO NORONHA AND PREMILLA D’CRUZ

Although teleworking promises full-time workforce participation within the protective sanctuary of the home, issues relating to work–life balance, identity, career, collectivization, control, trust and commitment remain to be answered. Through the adoption of a multiple case study design and within-case and cross-case analyses, the present work is aimed at generating propositions that could provide insights into the complexities of teleworking. The fi ndings highlighted that although teleworking provides some fl exibility, how time and roles are managed depends on the ages of children, the availability and perceived trustworthiness of support, the family constellation and the number of activities the family member is involved in, against the backdrop of organizational expectations of work output. The attempt to strike a balance between work and family could leave the participants with a sense of strain, offset by gains in terms of reassurance about family well-being and of fulfi lment of teleworkers’ needs and desires to work. Employer controls to ensure quality and quantity of output add

Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the Indo–Dutch Programme on Alternative Development (IDPAD) project 5.5.26.

Ernesto Noronha, Associate Professor, Organisational Behaviour, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Organisational Behaviour Area, Wing 6, Room J, IIM Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015, Gujarat, India. Emails: enoronha@iimahd. ernet.in; [email protected] Premilla D’Cruz, Assistant Professor, Organisational Behaviour, Indian Institute of Management, Organisational Behaviour Area, Wing 14, Room C, IIM Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad 380 015, Gujarat, India. Emails: [email protected]; pdcruz@ iimahd.ernet.in

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to the pressure, while simultaneously facilitating the transition from offi ce-based to home- based work through the provision of direction and focus. Teleworking is considered to be a means of alternatively defi ning one’s career either in terms of a professional orientation, fi nding equilibrium between one’s personal and professional life, or of getting free. At the same time, the absence of traditional organizational referents and of physical proximity did not impede employee collectivization and redressal, even though spatial distribution of colleagues created isolation and loneliness.

Introduction

Teleworking, meaning remote work that involves the use of information and communication technologies, or ICTs (Sullivan 2003), represents Carnoy’s (2002) low–road workplace fl exibility, constituting a form of work that promises full-time workforce participation within the protective sanctuary of the home. Promoted by organizations and policy makers, as a means of improving the quality of life of employees, teleworking is considered to be advantageous in providing a better balance of home and work life. Workers are able to spend less time away from home and thus spend time with their families or children, the time that they might otherwise have wasted on traveling or being in the offi ce. There is also the freedom and fl exibility of being able to choose one’s hours of work and of working from home for more than one employer, as well as being able to gain work even if there is diffi culty getting to the offi ce due to disability, rural home locations or caring responsibilities. Employees and researchers point out that concomitant with these benefi ts, teleworking blurs the boundaries between work and home. While teleworkers attempt to develop spatial and temporal boundaries between work and home life, so that mutual interference is limited, achieving this satisfactorily calls for some negotiation within the household. Issues relating to overworking/ underworking, controlling interruptions, developing norms about acces- sibility and conveying the image of a worker are relevant in the process of boundary maintenance. Further, social isolation is the most frequently cited disadvantage of teleworking and has implications for teleworkers’ well-being at the individual level and for collective trade union member- ship and representation. In addition, with both visibility in the organisation and offi ce information networks being critical to career growth, career marginalization has long been recognized as a problem for home workers (Mann and Holdsworth 2003; Pyoria 2003).

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Teleworking and Gender

Research into the experience of teleworking highlights that apart from the aforementioned challenges, the most critical factor infl uencing the outcome of teleworking for workers is gender (Greenhaus and Parasuraman 1999; Haddon and Silverstone 1993; Sullivan and Lewis 2001). Indeed, the very reason that teleworkers cite for working from home is gendered. For women, the major motivation is child care, whereas for men, it is work-related or individual reasons. Women constructed telework as an opportunity for fl exibility and autonomy that facilitates the scheduling and management of work and family; there is evidence that teleworking mothers experience a signifi cant increase in their ability to manage multiple roles and fi t their schedules around their children’s timetables. Family commitments were much more marginal in the men’s accounts of their decision making. Research shows that in the context of home- based telework, men continue to be the major providers and women, the primary caregivers, while the distribution of domestic work within their families stayed more or less the same, regardless of whether the man or the woman worked at home (Haddon and Silverstone 1993; Sullivan and Lewis 2001).

Often, for women, combining home work and childcare is not a choice but the only way to overcome the high cost and low availability of childcare. Women construct the situation as one in which employers ‘allowed’ them to work from home, providing them with their only means of reconciling their need to earn an income and their childcare responsibilities. Under such circumstances, women accepted poorer terms and conditions, lower wages and less autonomy than their on-site peers (Sullivan and Lewis 2001). Phizacklea and Wolkowitz (1995) point out that women continue to tolerate working conditions at home in which they are undervalued and underpaid, and where their work is trivialized by the men they live with because they have internalized traditional roles, because of their continued marginalization within the workforce and because of the scarcity and high cost of childcare and domestic services.

Home-based telework blurs the boundary between work and home, but gender differences in the nature and direction of perceived spill over or interference between the two domains, in the ways in which the fl exibility provided by teleworking is used and in the extent to which co-residents

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from the home are ‘sucked into’ the work domain, are apparent. Work interferes with family for men and family interferes with work for women (Sullivan and Lewis 2001).

Co-residents’ participation in paid work is unlikely to be gender neutral. Sullivan and Lewis (2001) cite literature to show that receiving unpaid help with work from family members is more likely for men, while female partners often shield male home workers from distractions. Huws et al. (1990) argue that when men work at home they tend to have a separate room to work in and their wives often shield them from children, distractions, unwanted visitors and telephone calls. They also say that women more often work in a communal area (such as the kitchen or living room) and look after their children at the same time. Sullivan and Lewis (2001) found that male teleworkers receive considerable help in their work from co-residents, including answering the telephone and taking messages, help with the actual work and practical support in relation to equipment and resources. This is considered to be a refl ection of the per- sistence of traditional roles within these families. This is because, while male teleworkers’ partners tended to work part-time and be around the house caring for children, the partners of the female teleworkers were gen- erally out at work themselves during the day and therefore were less available to help with the female teleworkers’ work.

Huws et al. (1996) propound two approaches to conceptualizing the relationship between telework and other forms of home-based work on the one hand, and gender roles and the work-family interface on the other, namely, the ‘new opportunities for fl exibility model’ and the ‘exploitation model’. The former views telework as the solution to problems of balanc- ing work and family, particularly for women, since it provides increased fl exibility. The latter considers telework to be a way of perpetuating the exploitation of women in terms of both paid work and the domestic burden of responsibility. From this perspective, home-based work is constructed as a form of employment that leads to women being exploited, socially isolated, subject to demands from both family and employer and subject to control by their husbands.

Telework does not have the power to drastically change the gendered allocation of domestic work, given the persistence of wider structural forces (Dempsey 1997) and the importance of the gender ideologies that exist within the household (Greenstein 1996). This could be viewed as

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supportive of the ‘exploitation model’ in that women are being given a double-edged opportunity: the opportunity to sustain their careers while still organizing their lives primarily around their children. However, the women’s accounts present this as a positive opportunity; they do not ex- press dissatisfaction with their primary caregiver role. From their per- spective, the ‘new opportunities for fl exibility’ model holds true. Telework facilitates the management of work and childcare, but it does so without challenging the gendered division of responsibilities.

Notwithstanding the complexities that teleworking presents for workers, organizations stand to gain considerably from this form of work. Apart from giving organizations a modern, progressive image both in terms of the adoption of technological advances and the promotion of employee empowerment, teleworking helps increase savings by reducing the need for expensive offi ce space and overheads such as heating, electricity and wear and tear. More importantly, teleworking adds to revenues via higher productivity of workers, attributed to fewer interruptions, longer working hours and fl exibility in planning work schedules. But this has its downside too, as it is not just about working long hours, but also working when sick. Whilst this may be something that managers see as an advantage, it is clearly not in the best interests of the employees to work through illness or not take enough time to recover properly. Many workers feel that they must work even when they are sick in order to maintain the ‘privilege’ of telework (Mann and Holdsworth 2003; Pyoria 2003).

The present article seeks to provide an understanding of teleworking in the Indian context. Addressing primarily the question of how teleworking is experienced by home-based workers, the article explores the realm of work–life balance, highlighting the underlying infl uence of gender. It also examines other issues that have remained unanswered so far. What does teleworking mean for worker identity? How do organizations balance trust and control in relation to teleworking employees? Are there ways in which teleworkers overcome spatial boundaries to collectivize and what outcomes are associated with such endeavours? Does teleworking redefi ne the concept of career? The fi ndings, which encompass the issues of worker identity, work–life balance, organizational expectations and control, social networks and collectivization and career defi nition, are presented in the form of propositions derived from case studies of four home-based women medical transcriptionists located in Bangalore, India.

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Medical Transcription

Medical transcription (MT), which began in the 1990s, refers to the con- version of the doctor or physician’s oral and/or written interactions with their patients, including patient history and medical diagnosis into a digitized format. It involves receiving dictation by tape, digital system or voice fi le and using earphones, a foot pedal for start-stop control and a word processing program. Good listening and language skills, writing and comprehension skills, profi ciency in English, an eye for details, com- puter skills and knowledge of medical terms are prerequisites to holding the job of a medical transcriptionist (Medical transcription n.d.).

MT originated from the need for US physicians to effi ciently main- tain detailed hospital data and medical procedures for research and in- surance purposes. Outsourcing MT allows physicians to devote more time to attending patients and also brings in standards in the documentation and management of medical records. While earlier MT was a popular occupation in the West, the development of ICTs has resulted in the out- sourcing of this activity, thereby leveraging access to a larger skill pool as well as lower cost options (Medical transcription n.d.).

India currently houses anywhere between 120 to 150 MT companies, which earn an annual revenue aggregate of approximately USD 220–40 million. Sourcing MT from India has delivered results, both in terms of quality and cost savings. It is estimated that India based MT operations offer savings of nearly USD 11–12 per line vis-à-vis US rates. In India, it is estimated that service providers charge Rs (Indian rupees) 1.25–1.75 (USD 3–4 cents) per line, and this rate is even lower at Rs 1.00–1.25 (USD 2–3 cents) per line for home-based medical transcription (Medical transcription n.d.). Our data shows that in spite of the difference between American and Indian rates, Indians engaged in medical transcription work are able to earn enough for a comfortable standard of living and hence, do not harbour any bitterness about being paid at a rate far below that of their American counterparts.

Because of the time zone differences, MT in India is completed while the US sleeps, with transcripts being sent back in time for the recipient’s work day. Differences in time zones therefore facilitate the outsourcing of MT to India.

Undoubtedly, transcribing fi les of doctors based in the US presents challenges of accent for Indian transcriptionists. This is compounded

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by the fact that since doctors in the US may have migrated from various parts of the world, medical transcriptionists have to work with a variety of foreign accents.

Home-based medical transcription (HMT) has been touted by the popular press as good news for those who are looking to complement their income by working from home or those who are compelled to stay at home due to personal reasons or family commitments. HMT is said to provide the fl exibility that allows people to choose to work whenever they want to, with provisions for three to four intervals of signifi cant dur- ation within the workday. HMT is also seen as an excellent ‘career’ option for women in India because it allows them the fl exibility to manage their families as well as have fi nancial independence, besides engendering entrepreneurship (Medical transcription n.d.).

The Study

The present article draws from a larger phenomenological study, the focus of which was to understand subjective work experiences of the Information Technology Enabled Services–Business Process Outsourcing (ITES–BPO) sector employees in Mumbai and Bangalore, India. Not only were teleworkers from the ITES–BPO sector mainly medical transcriptionists located in Bangalore, but also MT organizations were unwilling to pro- vide the researchers access due to fear of loss of competitive advantage. Thus, the researchers relied on snowball sampling and decided in favor of a case study design to research teleworking.

Within the case study design, the researchers opted for multiple cases, multiple sources of data and multiple levels of analysis, with the aim of generating propositions (Eisenhardt 1989; Yin 1984). Participants were contacted through personal networks and snowball sampling via the telephone. Once the researchers introduced themselves and explained to the participants how they had come to know of them and their contact de- tails, the purpose of the phone call and the study were explained. Potential participant questions were answered; these questions essentially related to the purpose and method of the study. If they agreed to participate, a convenient time and place for meeting were set up. Four full-time tele- working women agreed to participate. Two were doctors. Three were married and one was widowed. All of them were employed as permanent employees at the proofer level by the same organization (See Table 1).

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Data were gathered primarily through conversational interviews, which were held in participants’ homes. The information so collected served as the key resource for developing a rich understanding of the experience being studied. Permission to record the interviews was sought and since it was explained to the participants that recording the interview helped maintain the accuracy of their accounts as compared to compiling fi eld notes, where accuracy could be compromised due to faulty recollection, they agreed. All interviews were conducted in English and were later transcribed by the research assistant.

The home visit gave the researchers the opportunity to make direct yet informal observations about spatial aspects, family dynamics and support arrangements. The contents of documents and communiqués were read to understand organizational policies on the terms and conditions of tele- working and to track changes in the implementation process. In addition, focused interviews were conducted with a few representatives of the or- ganization for which the women were working, to ascertain the modalities of teleworking and organizational policies pertaining to the same.

Data analysis was guided by Eisenhardt (1989). Within-case analysis involved detailed write-ups for each participant, which allowed the re- searcher to become intimately familiar with each case as a stand–alone entity and to identify the unique patterns of each case before generaliz- ing patterns across cases. The cross-case search for patterns followed two strategies: fi rst, to select categories either from the problematic or from the existing literature and then to look for within-group similarities coupled with inter-group differences; second, to select pairs of cases and then to list the similarities and differences between each pair. Eisenhardt (1989) maintains that the juxtaposition of seemingly similar cases by a researcher looking for differences breaks simplistic frames. In the same way, the search for similarity in a seemingly different pair leads to more sophisticated understanding.

Within-case and cross-case analyses allowed for the identifi cation of emergent relationships between variables/propositions. The emergent frames were then systematically compared with the evidence from each case in order to assess how well or poorly they fi tted the case data. Propo- sitions about fi ve dimensions of teleworking, namely, worker identity, work–life balance, organizational expectations and control, social networks and collectivization and career defi nition, were developed following the

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iteration and are presented in the next section. Each proposition is also discussed in terms of related literature.

Employing qualitative methods via the case study design not only allowed for the preservation of complexity and chronology through the emphasis on context but also facilitated the emergence of serendipitous fi ndings via its iterative and inductive character (Miles and Huberman 1984). This was in keeping with qualitative methods’ aim at theoretical generalizability (Strauss and Corbin 1998; Thompson 1999). Thus, the issue was not about generalizing from a sample to a population of people, but informing our understanding of concepts for broader theoretical understanding (Thompson 1999). While the reliance on multiple sources of data facilitated triangulation and strengthened the trustworthiness of the study (Yin 1984), the adoption of Eisenhardt’s (1989) analysis guide- lines for case study research enhanced the rigor of the fi ndings. Not only are the emergent propositions testable but they also hold empirical validity since they were generated through direct evidence and verifi ed during the analysis process. Undoubtedly, the propositions must be tested via a larger empirical study for further refi nement and reliability.

Findings

An Evolving Work Identity

Proposition: Entry into medical transcription from a non-medical profession enhances the self-conception because of the knowledge gained, but it does not result in the assumption of a medical identity. Entry of medical professionals into medical transcription does not alter the primacy of the medical identity.

For all the participants, being engaged in an economic activity was important. For three of them, this served two ends, namely, family eco- nomic well-being and aspirations and personal satisfaction. For the fourth participant whose family economic status did not necessitate that she work, personal satisfaction was the underlying motive. Personal satisfaction was defi ned in terms of using and developing existing skills, acquiring new knowledge and skills and gaining a sense of purpose in life.

The two doctors included in the study opted to work as medical tran- scriptionists alongside their medical practice for different reasons. Jeeta

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maintains that her practice was very important to her but because of fi nancial considerations she limited her practice and took up the profession of medical transcription. She feels that once she and her husband have bought their home and clinic and paid up all the loans, she can give up MT and concentrate on her practice. Her intention is to practice only and she feels sad that she is unable to devote all her attention to it. Beena chose to enter MT in order to enhance her sense of job satisfaction. Working for a gynaecologist on a 12–14 hour per day basis, for a period of fi ve or six years brought home to her the challenges of full-time private practice. She realized that if she had to earn from private practice as much as an MT did in a month, she would have to study further and work the entire day, neglecting her family. MT helped her earn, maintain a limited private practice in the evenings and attend to her family.

Both the doctors maintained that their medical backgrounds were advantageous in the fi eld of medical transcription. Not only are medicos given preference at the time of entry into MT, but their training is much shorter and promotions are quicker. Moreover, medicos are able to under- stand the MT fi les more easily and can complete their work more quickly. Medical transcription provides them with an opportunity to keep abreast of medical advancements and health-illness issues in the West and exposes them to other healthcare delivery and service systems.

Despite their entry into the fi eld of medical transcription, both Jeeta and Beena identify themselves as doctors. They see medicine as their primary profession and maintain that the satisfaction they get from curing patients cannot be equalled by any other job-related activity.

The non-medico participants moved into MT because traditional jobs did not pay as well despite heavy demands. Due to the lack of a medical background, they had to go through intensive training and qualifying rounds, but once they had proven their capabilities, they did not experience discrimination. Despite their familiarity with the world of medicine, non- medico medical transcriptionists refrain from identifying themselves as doctors, that is, the knowledge and understanding they gain about health and illness translates into a positive sense of having learned something new. Being a medical transcriptionist has made them understand medi- cine and health-related issues much better. For example, when they read such articles, they can understand them without having to look up any term. If a test is done, they can understand the results better. But it does not make them see themselves as medical professionals. They are fully

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aware that a little knowledge can be dangerous. As they are not doctors, it is possible that they could make a mistake if they were to try to make a diagnosis or prescribe treatment. Hence, they always refer those who turn to them for advice to professionals.

Proposition: The ease with which the transition from offi ce-based to home-based work is made is infl uenced by the importance accorded to the participants’ work and family roles by family members, the expectations stipulated by employers, the demands made by the social network and in the case of doctors, the requirements of their medical practice.

All the participants entered the MT fi eld as offi ce-going employees. Thus, for all of them, moving from offi ce to home involved an initial transitional period. In addition to the concern that they could operate equipment in a satisfactory manner so that work was not hampered, participants had to reorganize their daily routine. The process of working out a daily schedule was infl uenced primarily by their family’s needs and their employer’s requirements and in the case of the doctors, the demands of their medical practice. With these factors providing clarity of direction, participants were able to settle easily into a routine.

The fact that family members valued both, the participants’ work and their family roles, facilitated the smoothness of this transition. That is, the presence of the participant at home served as source of reassurance for family well-being while the execution of the earner’s role was seen as a means of maintaining/augmenting the family’s economic status. Given this, family members displayed support towards the participants’ role per- formance. As a result, participants did not feel that they had to struggle to establish a work-related identity within the household.

But as far as the extra-household social network was concerned, par- ticipants reported varied experiences. Renu was a migrant to the city and had a limited social network, which understood her home-based worker status. Thus, members of her network would meet up with her via pre- decided appointments. Sarika and Beena, whose mothers were present in the household on a full-time or part-time basis, relied on the latter to ensure that as far as possible their work was not interrupted. Jeeta faced considerable interruptions from members of her social network. Besides living in a nuclear household and being alone at home during the day, her

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family was very sociable and had a large social network. People would keep stopping by and it was diffi cult for them to understand that she worked from home and should not be disturbed.

While the experience of an evolving identity that emerged from participant narratives refl ects self-pluralism, embracing situational and temporal constancy and changeableness (McReynolds et al. 2000), liter- ature on the identity of home-based workers runs contrary to the study fi ndings. It is believed that working at home may blur and endanger a person’s occupational identity and hence, his or her social status and work performance. Costello (1988) reports that one of the problems encountered by home workers was the invisibility of work. Presuming that home workers were not ‘really working’, friends and neighbors did not hesitate to call for a social chat, drop in for a visit or send their children over to play. Even spouses sometimes failed to regard home work as ‘real work’.

The fi ndings run contrary to Brocklehurst (2001), who showed that in the spatial and temporal context of teleworking, home workers directed their energies at forging a new working identity in a manner that supports Giddens’ contention that the sustaining of self identity is rooted in the mun- dane and the maintenance of habit. The present study, on the other hand, was able to illuminate the relationship between the interweaving of power and the constitution of identity as brought out by Foucault. That is, since the management was able to continue to exercise structural power over home workers through their control over the agenda, home workers had a direction and a focus by which to organize their sense of self. That their work (and its attendant benefi ts) was valued by family members facilitated the adherence to employer dictates, thereby allowing the resolution of the identity problematic. So even though home and work were located in a single spatial context, participants possessed a clear discourse with which to defi ne themselves as workers.

A Means of ‘Getting Balanced’

Proposition: The advantage of teleworking is that it provides some fl exibility in the management of time and roles. Yet, since the manner in which time and roles can be managed depends on the ages of children, the availability and perceived trustworthiness of support, family constellation and the number of activities the participant is involved in, participants may experience strain. Nonetheless, the presence of the

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participant at home is a source of reassurance for herself and for other family members about overall family well-being, while the opportunity to combine work and domestic roles facilitates the fulfi lment of the participants’ need/desire to work—these gains offset participants’ experience of strain.

All the participants worked as offi ce-based medical transcriptionists prior to teleworking. Family-related reasons, along with health factors in some cases, led them to opt for teleworking. Renu, for instance, decided to telework during her pregnancy when shifts and commuting became diffi cult. Had this option not been available to her, she would have re- signed. Continuing with teleworking after the birth of her child was con- sidered to be the best option to simultaneously fulfi l her maternal and earner roles. Sarika, on the other hand, decided to work from home to avoid the impact of shift timings on her health and on her family. As an offi ce- goer, she had opted for the day shift and her organization had two day shifts (6 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to10 pm). People who opted for the day shift spent 15 days in the fi rst shift and 15 days on the second. This con- stant change affected Sarika’s routine and health because it affected food and sleep timings. She also found that it affected her contribution to do- mestic responsibilities. On days when she had the 6 am to 2 pm shift, she was unable to help out her aging mother with household tasks prior to going to work, and on her return, she would just sleep. Sarika’s mother is greatly relieved by her decision to telework; she used to be worried about Sarika’s return trip from the 2 pm to 10 pm shift, even though the organization provided transport.

All the participants agreed that in addition to saving them the strain and time of commuting, teleworking provided them with fl exibility. They could plan their time and combine numerous activities. Jeeta, for example, could manage the roles of mother, wife, daughter-in-law/sister- in-law, doctor and medical transcriptionist. Sarika feels that she can complete housework and go for a walk every day, in addition to enjoying a longer lunch break.

Yet being able to manage so many activities was not easy, given the organization’s expectations of quality and quantity of work. Being able to cope was contingent on family constellation, availability and nature of support and structuring and/or extending the workday. Beena describes how she alternates work with breaks during which she can see to the

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household and family. The number and length of breaks she takes depends on the kind of support she is receiving at a point of time. She says that she wakes up by 5 am and sleeps at 10.30 pm, alternating periods of work with breaks. In addition to the daily domestic help she has engaged, she also receives help from her mother. Her mother has been supporting her in her career since the beginning. Earlier they were staying close to each other so that her mother could help out more easily. Now her mother spends at least half the month with her and during these times, she manages the home and the children. Since her mother takes charge of the entire house- hold, Beena can work without many interruptions and can complete her work more quickly. She also feels very reassured when her mother is there because she feels comfortable leaving her second son with her. The servant works part-time, but can spend longer hours if required. When her mother is not there and she has to rely exclusively on the servant, Beena has more responsibilities, which means more interruptions and worry. She has to answer the doorbell as well as attend to all her second son’s needs. She may leave the child with the servant for some time, but it troubles her. During such times, she worries, and if the worry gets too much, she just stops working because she knows that she cannot do justice to the work. Such circumstances result in an extension of the working day in order to meet targets and fulfi ll the attendance criteria. During these times, work is constantly on her mind and she is unable to eliminate it from her thoughts. But the advantage of teleworking is the option of making time-related choices. That is, if Beena sleeps late on one day, she can wake up late the next morning; this is not possible with offi ce shifts.

Sarika, on the other hand, experiences fewer interruptions. Not only is her daughter nearing adulthood and hence independent, but also living in the same household with her parents reduces the extent of housework and other domestic matters that Sarika needs to attend to. Though she helps out her mother with housework in the mornings prior to starting her transcription work, she has very few interruptions to deal with once she starts work since her mother attends to all matters, aided by the part-time domestic help.

Clearly, teleworking, while providing a solution to a set of dilemmas/ problems, presents challenges of its own. Primarily, the gain is seen in being able to combine work and family roles in a way that is different, yet considered to be better than earlier. Women and their family members feel that they are able to maintain their work and in some cases, professional

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interests, along with their family’s needs. Although there are adjust- ments to be made, the benefi ts are seen as outweighing the costs. It is im- portant to note that most of the adjustments are made by the women, but in spite of having to absorb so much of the stress, they continue to perceive the arrangement as preferable to offi ce-based work.

While the present study does not provide an opportunity to compare the experiences of women and men teleworkers, the fi ndings highlight the gendered nature of teleworking arrangements. The decision to telework was motivated primarily by domestic/family concerns and teleworking was construed as an opportunity to continue in the realm of paid employ- ment while simultaneously fulfi lling home-related responsibilities. Tele- working thus provided autonomy and fl exibility in the management of multiple roles as was earlier highlighted by Haddon and Silverstone (1993) and Sullivan and Lewis (2001), without changing the fundamental struc- ture of household role allocation. Engagement with teleworking thus operated to confi rm women’s traditional gender identity, perpetuating the gendered division of responsibilities and gendered ideologies within the household. The fi ndings clearly demonstrate support for both the ‘new opportunities for fl exibility model’ and the ‘exploitation model’ (Huws et al. 1996). Phizacklea and Wolfowitz’s (1995) stand that although tele- work has the capacity to increase caregivers’ participation in paid em- ployment, it can also allow the exploitation of workers with childcare responsibilities, reinforce the domestic burden of women and perpetuate the marginalization of female employment, is partially supported.

While work constituted a critical component of the identity of the study participants, they continued to view their domestic roles and especially their maternal role, as central, and constructed telework as a fl exible strategy and an opportunity to combine this with paid work. In view of the growing number of women who pursue occupational careers and the increased family strain associated with this development, working at home is perceived as a way of easing some of the tensions and achieving a better balance between the work roles and family roles of both spouses in dual-career families. It is seen as an especially benefi cial arrangement for families with young children, where one of the spouses can stay at home and look after the children without sacrifi cing his or her work role. Since women and single parents fi nd it particularly hard to combine their work and family responsibilities, they are naturally regarded as prime potential benefi ciaries of this development (Sullivan and Lewis 2001).

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As participants stated, teleworking helps them overcome work–family confl ict (Edwards and Rothbard 2000), making it possible for them to meet demands in both work and family domains.

Yet, while teleworking provides fl exibility and autonomy to manage multiple roles, working at home is not an alternative to childcare arrange- ments. Supplemental childcare is still required, as the study fi ndings show. It appears that neither the quality of work-life nor the quality of home-life is automatically improved by home work (Shamir 1992). The impact of home work on work–family balance is likely to depend on family status, family life-cycle stage and the nature of family relationships. The study fi ndings have added the ages of children, the availability and perceived trustworthiness of support and the number of activities that the participant is involved in, to this list. Hall (1990) concludes that people with chil- dren, especially those with pre-school children at home, will fi nd home work more stressful than those with no children (or with no children at home). He also stresses the importance of support from the spouse and of fl exibility and mutual coping assistance from other family members as critical ingredients in making the home an effective work site, as well as a happy family setting.

Such support and fl exibility are likely to depend on the relative import- ance of the spouses’ careers or work roles, the pattern of relationship in the family and the family-related ideologies of spouses. In traditional families, where there is a clear division of labor between husband and wife supported by appropriate ideologies, a man working from home may be freed from family responsibilities and family interference, while a woman working from home may have to cope on her own with the de- mands of home and work and experience a severe role confl ict. In more egalitarian families, both spouses may be faced with role confl ict and po- tential interference, but the level of mutual support and fl exibility may facilitate coping with the potential confl ict. At the same time, the study indicates that it is not just the presence/availability of support but the perceived trustworthiness of the support that matters.

The study fi ndings do not demonstrate any change in the conceptual- ization of work and non-work. Even though by working at home, tele- workers eliminate the physical distance between their ‘work’ and ‘non- work’, they recreate the division between work and non-work on a daily basis. Tasks linked to their employment and source of income are seen

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as work, whereas tasks linked to the home and family are seen as non- work even though the latter requires time and effort. Feminist theorists identify a need for a more inclusive defi nition of work, one which is more ‘ample and generous’ (Smith 1987: 165) and which would include women’s domestic, volunteer and invisible work (Daniels 1987). It would seem that teleworkers are well situated to begin to recognize the ‘workful’ (DeVault 1991: 228) nature of these activities and challenge the conventional defi nition as ‘non-work’. However, despite their com- mon site of domestic and paid work, teleworkers make little move to- wards thinking of their domestic work as work and in fact are careful to differentiate such activities from their ‘real work’.

Handling Organizational Expectations

Proposition: Working at home does not imply easier or less work. On the contrary, the remote character of teleworking results in greater organizational control mechanisms, meaning that teleworkers are subject to more stringent output and quality parameters than their offi ce-based colleagues.

Organizational expectations begin with the decision to start working from home. That is, organizations allow only those who had worked as full- time offi ce medical transcriptionists and had achieved a certain level of profi ciency to opt for home-based work. The rationale for this was that since such employees were familiar with the organizational culture and had proved themselves, they would not present any problems in delivery.

Teleworkers are expected to utilize their own equipment though software and a fi xed amount of telephone costs are provided by the or- ganization. The organization lays down clear expectations for home-based medical transcriptionists. The company expects home-based medical transcriptionists to fi nish 850 lines per day. Completion of 90 percent of this is required to get daily attendance whereas completion of 70 percent means a half day’s attendance. During the initial days of teleworking, the target is 450 lines, as people need to adjust to working in a new setting. But with time, the targets increase, as does the pressure. For the partici- pants, it was easier to set their own pace earlier but now there is a sense of compulsion. Nonetheless, where teleworkers have older children or

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family-based support in the case of younger children, they do try to do more than their projections and try to maintain a certain standard.

As proofers, participants are expected to be as accurate as possible. Thus, even if the transcript has poor audio quality and the doctor’s accent is diffi cult to follow, they have to ensure that they make no mistakes. They are allowed to leave only two blanks/unfi lled spaces per fi le. In order to ensure the quality of their work, the participants attempt to ensure an undistracted work environment and to maintain continuity in the completion of a fi le so that links are not left untied. If there are interruptions, participants review the entire fi le once more, prior to dispatching it to ensure that there are no errors.

The pressure arising from having to meet targets and quality require- ments is compounded by problems related to electricity supply, Internet connectivity and the quality of equipment. If the problem is one of con- nectivity, for which the organization is responsible, teleworkers have to inform the organization of this and they are registered as having attended even if they have not met the requirements. The organization has also made efforts to improve the quality of connectivity, making it now fi ve times faster. Issues such as power failure, or telephone or computer breakdown are not entertained since the offi ce has no way of verifying it. On such occasions, if one cannot fulfi l the required lines at home, home-based me- dical transcriptionists either apply for leave or go to the offi ce for work. But going to the offi ce means that one is not available at home to get the repairs done. Participants have installed an inverter in their house to help out with power failures—this helps them to work for three or four hours even if there is a power cut. During these times, they adjust their work timings so that they complete some work during the power failure and some work before or after the power cut. They complete only the minimum required lines during this time.

Home-located working is problematic for conventional strategies of managerial control, which emphasize the visibility and presence of workers. Yet, as in the present case, the literature points to a range of mechanisms such as surveillance devices, target setting and home visits that managers devise to compensate for the loss of visibility and presence of home-located employees. Thus, organizations intensify bureaucratic controls in order to compensate for the perceived reduction of direct supervision, transforming the on-site ‘psychological contract’ into a literal contract, defi ning specifi c outputs and responsibilities (Perin 1990).

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Normative control is also invoked to ensure the creation and mainten- ance of a strong culture that increases employees’ commitment to organ- izational values and their identifi cation with the organization. Participants of the study underscored that only those who had proved their capability as full-time offi ce-based medical transcriptionists were allowed to telework. Continued socialization of employees was achieved through the occasional gathering of home workers in the offi ce to allow them to participate in the necessary rituals. Indeed, several writers argue that for home-work pro- grams to succeed, organizations must require home workers to continue to participate in face-to-face meetings and other organizational gatherings. Nonetheless, Shamir (1992) argues that organizational culture will always be weaker and more diffi cult to maintain in the case of home workers than in the case of employees, who are concentrated under one roof, share the same experiences and are continuously exposed to the informal communication networks that help them interpret these experiences and construct a shared social reality.

Networking, Collectivization and Redressal

Proposition: ICTs are instrumental in maintaining participants’ links with other teleworking colleagues and with their organizations, in the process facilitating at times, the initiation of redressal processes. Nonetheless, they could neither completely take the place of nor provide identical benefi ts as face-to-face meetings/contact.

All participants mentioned missing social networks at the workplace. There was a sense of loneliness, but for participants with very young chil- dren, being able to spend time with them made up for this. Participants relied on telephone calls to keep in touch with friends at the workplace. Apart from the friendship and bonding, the social nature of the workplace facilitated work in two ways. First, to seek help when one is stuck on a transcript. Such a facility was not available at home where one had to rely on one’s own judgment. Having to manage doubts on one’s own was a source of stress, particularly given the focus on quality and output. Par- ticipants would call up other colleagues in an attempt to garner some help, but they found that even such an avenue proved to be of limited utility given the medium. Second, the offi ce environment, being fi lled with people and activity, helped one to stay alert and hence, enhanced performance.

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One participant spoke about missing out on the leisure activities organized in the offi ce.

The offi ce intranet and email system were instrumental in maintaining teleworkers’ connectedness with their employing organization. Through these media, employees were kept abreast of issues related to work, leisure, administration, policies among others, and were invited to participate in various activities.

Mann and Holdsworth (2003), whose fi ndings support those of the present study, underscore that teleworkers’ sense of social isolation and loneliness resulted in anxiety, irritation and worry, culminating in a per- vasive negative mood. Reliance on computer-mediated communication rather than face-to-face communication contributed to a decrease in workers’ emotional well-being. They believe that the fi nding that tele- workers experience more mental ill-health than offi ce workers can be explained by the theory that social relationships reduce the likelihood of stress-related disorders. The social interaction, buzz and banter of the workplace are very important for many workers and hence, teleworkers must have social contact elsewhere to remain mentally healthy and work effi ciently.

The fi nding runs contrary to earlier studies where teleworkers point out the negative implications of social networks at the workplace. Perman’s respondents opined that talking to co-workers is evaluated ‘more as a job burden than as a job advantage’ (1991: 171). Aside from such social inter- actions being identifi ed as a ‘waste’, teleworkers also say that being available for consultation does not always lead to effi cient work.

Participant narratives pointed out that teleworkers formed an exclusive group by themselves. They had an e-group through which they maintained contact with each other and shared their concerns. They also met up as a group with the management once every three months at the offi ce. The e-group and group meetings helped the teleworkers collectively redress their problems. Participants maintain that through these means, they have been able to articulate and solve issues relating to connectivity, holiday compensation, projections and attendance and inequity between them and offi ce-based workers. While one participant opined that since tele- workers were in the minority, they lacked bargaining power, all of them acknowledged that they had been able to work with the management to fi nd solutions to their problems.

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Home-based medical transcriptionists felt that offi ce-goers could get away with underperforming. People who went to the offi ce to work could get away with 600 lines in an eight-hour shift, although essentially they are expected to do 750 lines per shift (which works out to only 90 percent of teleworkers’ requirement). Most of the offi ce medical transcriptionists thus did much less work and had many distractions such as food breaks, games breaks or just whiling away their time. But, even if they did less than that, they were not penalized and they still received attendance by virtue of being present in the offi ce. For the teleworkers, under such circumstances, having to complete 80 percent projections for a half day attendance when offi ce-based medical transcriptionists could get a half day attendance for four hours work was considered unfair. Moreover, 80 percent projections were seen as impractical given that full-day work was based on a projection of 90 percent. So the home-based medical transcriptionists asked for 50 percent projections to meet the half day requirements, but management agreed instead to bring it down to 70 percent.

Moreover, since offi ce-based medical transcriptionists get paid for overtime work and for working on holidays, they can avoid work during their shifts and instead do overtime and work holidays to make more money. Home-based medical transcriptionists do not get that benefi t and have spoken to the management about this. In the management’s view, since teleworkers are working from home, they can work on holidays too, which is very inconvenient for the workers. They could not spend time with their families and their basic reason for opting for teleworking was to be with their families. This issue was ultimately resolved in that, home-based medical transcriptionists are no longer expected to work on holidays unless it is an emergency and if they do work on holidays, they get paid for it.

Career Redefi ned

Proposition: Although teleworking limits organizational-linked career progression, it provides a continuity with the world of work and presents an opportunity to pursue self-selected interests and goals.

That teleworking hampered participants’ career progression within the organization was not described as a source of distress. All participants clearly stated that if they had to move up the organizational hierarchy,

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they had to return to offi ce-based work because the next level above proofers called for either leading a team or working as a quality analyst; both of which necessitated physical presence in the organization in order to interact with and coordinate offi ce-based and home-based medical transcriptionists as well as participate in planning, decision-making and other organizational tasks. Being unable to comply with these requirements on account of their home-based status did not cause concern.

Individual and family aspirations combined to provide participants with a sense of meaning and purpose in life such that organizational- linked career progression assumed limited signifi cance. Jeeta and Sarika saw the current teleworking arrangement as a short-term option. Jeeta, as mentioned earlier, plans to return to full-time medical practice as soon as her family’s fi nancial needs are met. Sarika will return to offi ce-based work after a couple of years, when her parents move to her brother’s home and her daughter moves out for further studies. Her aim is to move into an administrative or training position. Both Renu and Beena plan to continue teleworking so that they can devote their time to their children who are still very young. According to Renu, even after her daughter grows up, she will still need the attention of the parents though the nature of her needs will be different. Moreover, Renu wishes to pursue other interests such as interior designing after her daughter grows up a little and she feels that teleworking would give her the opportunity to do so. Beena sees her- self continuing to combine teleworking and medical practice, although in what proportion she does not know. She will wait for her second son to grow up and become a little independent before deciding. But she will not give up either in the long run.

While home work may be incommensurate with bureaucratic careers, this is not the only type of career available to workers. Kanter (1989) has identifi ed three principal forms of career patterns: bureaucratic, professional and entrepreneurial. Bureaucratic careers assume organizational forms, being equated with promotion to positions of higher rank and advance- ment in the hierarchy. Professional careers are defi ned by craft or skill positions. Opportunity in the professional form involves the chance to take on ever more demanding or challenging or important or rewarding assignments that involve greater exercise of the skills that defi ne the pro- fessional’s stock-in-trade. An entrepreneurial career is one in which growth occurs through the creation of new value or new organizational capacity, such as a new product or a new market.

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Derr (1986) has found that people’s personal defi nitions of career success may rest on fi ve different criteria: getting ahead (upward mobility), getting secure (company loyalty and sense of belonging), getting free (autonomy), getting high (excitement of the work itself) and getting bal- anced (fi nding an equilibrium between personal and professional life). The fi rst two criteria are clearly organizationally based. The last three, however, are theoretically available to home workers.

Existing literature on female careers indicates that the notions of career and career success for women are different from those for men. This lit- erature suggests that the ongoing process of attachment to signifi cant others is an important source of identity, maturity and personal growth for women. Women’s career gains and professional accomplishments are complements of, not substitutes for, strong interdependent relationships (Shamir 1992). Undoubtedly, then, women have ‘split dreams’; images of work and relationships that create a preferred lifestyle rather than the concrete plans to chalk out particular occupational roles that character- ize men’s career aspirations.

Conclusion

Through a case study design examining four teleworking women medical transcriptionists from Bangalore, India, the present work has developed propositions highlighting the link between teleworking and issues such as work-life balance, organizational control, career development, networking and collectivization. As such, the study propositions—which warrant further testing in a larger empirical research to establish their reliability and provide a fi rm basis for policy makers and other interventionists— throw light on various dimensions of teleworking, thereby deepening our understanding.

Notwithstanding its contribution, omissions of the study raise issues for further research. The inclusion of male teleworkers in the study, for instance, would have thrown further light on the degree to which telework has been able to change the gendered allocation of domestic work and the gender ideologies that exist within the household. That is, do male tele- workers perform more household work simply by virtue of being the one who is at home? How do they see their contribution to domestic work? Is working from home a feminizing experience that threatens male teleworkers’ traditional gender identity, thereby leading them to

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reconstruct their jobs, sense of self and workplace so as to counter femi- nine connotations? How do female and male teleworkers experience work–family boundaries in terms of the nature and direction of spill over? What are the differences in co-resident support that female and male teleworkers receive?

Second, an understanding of the experiences and perspectives of co- residents would have enriched our understanding of the relationships between telework, gender and family. An inclusion of co-residents would have provided a multiple stakeholder insight on matters pertaining to boundaries between work and home, spatial arrangements, temporal dis- tribution, role allocation, worker identity, social support and so on.

Third, the perceived benefi ts of teleworking raise issues related to the psychological contracts perspective of work–life balance. In keeping with Eisenberger et al. (1986) and Alvesson’s (2000) work, whether organ- izational sensitivity and support towards employee needs enhance per- ceptions of organizational support and mutuality, in turn giving rise to reciprocity, obligations and commitment, remains to be explored.

Finally, although the infl uence of gendered ideologies within the house- hold operates in a manner similar to that reported in the West, further ex- plorations into the role played by joint households in India can be expected to provide interesting insights. This assumes relevance because the incidence of joint households is found to be increasing in metropolitan and large cities due to the prohibitive costs of real estate as well as due to the need for social support in the case of dual-earner couples (see D’Cruz and Bharat 2001).

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