ENG 122 Final Research Paper

Running head: TELECOMMUTING 1

Impacts of telecommuting on employee experience, organizational success and workplace

culture.

Marshakie Applewhite

ENG122: English Composition II

Instructor: Dr. Paula Hayes

July 6, 2017

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1. The page number needs to

be moved over to the right

margin. APA errors. [Paula

Hayes]

2. culture.

Do not put a period in your

title. APA [Paula Hayes]

TELECOMMUTING 2

Impacts of telecommuting on employee experience, organizational success and workplace

culture.

Telecommuting is the work arrangement by which the workers have a work arrangement

where they can work from any other physical location other than the workplace. They can work

from home or from any other location that is close to the workplace such as a library or a java

shop. This arrangement allows the workers to travel to their workplaces through

telecommunication devices such as internet connections or telephones to connect with their

colleagues as they conduct their work in another geographical location. The employees can

occasionally visit the offices to engage with the other employees in meetings; however, this may

be rare because of the ability to carry out teleconferencing. Telecommuting is a common practice

in the American workforce. It has allowed many employees to achieve the much coveted work-

life balance. However, just with any other invention, the telecommuting has an effect on the

employee experience, workplace culture and organizational success. The use of telecommuting

in the workplace in America is increasingly becoming popular and beneficial, therefore, it is

necessary that an organization will be able to look into the impact of telecommuting.

Telecommunication is based on three main principles. One principle is the manipulation,

transformation, and processing of information. This is where the employees can be able to access

information from any location that they are working from and can pass information to their

colleagues easily (Pinsonneau, 1999). For telecommuting to be effective, then information

transfer should be as efficient as it is while the employee is still in the workplace. Therefore, the

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1. Impacts of

telecommuting on

employee experience,

organizational success and

workplace culture.

Do not use bold for the title or

a period. APA [Paula Hayes]

2. work arrangement by

which the workers have a

work arrangement

Edit for wordiness and

redundancy. [Paula Hayes]

3. telecommuting.

Somewhere in this first

paragraph as you are

"defining" the meaning of

telecommuting you need to

cite a source for the definition

you use. Even if you are

writing your own definition, it

would be preferable in

academic writing to

paraphrase or quote a

definition from a source.

[Paula Hayes]

4. principles.

This is a clear organizing

topic sentence, good! [Paula

Hayes]

TELECOMMUTING 3

information transfer should be fast and easy. The employee should be in contact with their

colleagues so as ensure that the quality of work delivered is similar to what it would have been if

they worked in the office. Another principle is that the employee should be committed to the

organization that they are working for (Pinsonneau, 1999). The lack of supervision of the

employee as they work outside the office may make the employees less motivated to work and

may make them provide less quality of work. Therefore, the organization has to be sure that the

employee is dedicated to the organization. This will ensure that their performance does not fall

once they telecommute. Contract employees cannot be treated the same as organizational

employees. This is because their commitment to the organization is less than that of the

organizational employees. Strong limits should be imposed on how they conduct telecommuting

to ensure that their performance remains constant. Apple computers has a substantial work force

that telecommutes from home based offices located all over the world, as does Bank of America,

McGraw Hill, Xerox, Chevron and many other Fortune 500 companies. The future is very

obviously in the corner of telecommuting.

The last principle is the lack of limitation of space and time. The employees can work in

whichever geographical location. Companies today try to save on space by delocalizing the space

in which employees work. The company can have satellite offices that are close to the residences

of the employees or even allow the workers to work from home (Pinsonneau, 1999). This

reduces the expenses the company incurs in providing a conducive working environment for

their employees while the same time provides the employee with a proper work environment. It

allows them to achieve the work-life balance which will lead to better job satisfaction and

ultimately better work performance.

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1. 1999).

1999 is an old source. Do you

have any more recent

sources? Try not to go back

that far. [Paula Hayes]

2. McGraw

Good that you listed some

examples. Now, pick one of

those examples and add a

paragraph where you discuss

specifically how that company

has benefited or used

telecommuting. That is how

you build an example--you

have to explain the

relationship of the company

you mention to the topic you

are exploring. [Paula Hayes]

3. and

Explain space and time as a

problem or challenge that

some companies face.

[Paula Hayes]

4. (Pinsonneau,

Do not rely mostly on one

source in the writing, you

want to instead create a

variety of sources in the

writing. [Paula Hayes]

TELECOMMUTING 4

Telecommuting has several impacts on the working experience of the employees. It tends

to improve their efficiency and performance in the workplace. (Cross, & Raizman, 1986) present

concepts for designing work environments via computer-assisted systems, and they present

creative applications for assimilating telecommunications technology to increase productivity as

well as develop new business opportunities. This is because the employees get to design their

workplace. In telecommuting, the employee can work where and when they feel most

comfortable. It will enable them to focus on their task and provide better performance. The

employees also get to achieve a work-life balance. Telecommuting allows the employee to be

close to their families and engage in family activities as their schedule is flexible. This causes

increased job satisfaction which results in better performance and loyalty to the company

(Mamaghani, 2012). It also reduces the workplace stress of the employee. This is because the

employee can easily remove the stressors in the environment. This allows them to have more

concentration in their work and consequently improved performance.

There are however some drawbacks to telecommuting on work experience of the

employees. One is that the employee may end up being overburdened with work. This is because

they do not work within the normal business hours and can, therefore, work at any time. If the

employee lacks discipline, they will end up piling heaps of work and this will prevent them from

engaging with their families. It also increases the risks of the company information getting into

the wrong hands. This is because the employee is working in a different location where other

people can easily access the company information without detection (Mamaghani, 2012). This

puts the company security at serious risk. There is also inadequate feedback in telecommuting.

This is because the employees are not in one geographical location and cannot communicate as

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1. loyalty

Loyalty to the company is an

interesting point here. Why

would telecommuting

increase loyalty to a

company? [Paula Hayes]

2. stress

Do you have any studies you

can cite that discuss the

reduction of stress? [Paula

Hayes]

TELECOMMUTING 5

efficiently as they would. Any failure in the telecommunication devices will cause significant

delays in information transfer which slows down the company processes.

Telecommuting can also have an effect on the organizational culture of the organization.

The organizational culture is the norms and behavior that the employees stick to while working

in the organization. These norms are created after the interaction of the employees as a way to

maintain order among them. Telecommuting brings about employee isolation, where the

employees do not work in the same environment and therefore, do not get time to interact. This

reduces the cohesion of the employees in the workplace which weakens the organizational

culture (Gainey, 1999). The organization should be aware of this and create ways to ensure that

the organizational culture of the company remains strong. One way is by creating an

organizational culture that supports the individualistic working of the employees. This will

encourage the practice of telecommuting while growing the organizational culture.

Telecommuting also has an impact on organizational success. One reason is that the

employees will display increased performance. Telecommuting allows the employees to work

whenever they want wherever they want. The employees will, therefore, tend to concentrate on

their work as they are working from the remote locations. This will lead to increased

performance. The employees will also have increased job satisfaction. This is because they can

attain the work-life balance. This will drive them to better their performance which will lead to

organizational success (Pinsonneau, 1999). It also allows the organization to retain employees.

Many employees are resigning from their workplaces in search of a work-life balance.

Telecommuting allows the employee to work from their location and achieve the work-life

balance. This ensures that they can retain talent in the organization, leading to organizational

success (Pinsonneau, 1999). The organization can also employ skilled individuals to the

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1. organizational

Yes, I can see where that

would occur. [Paula Hayes]

TELECOMMUTING 6

company easily as the option of working from their homes will be attractive if they do not want

to relocate. This will lead to organizational success.

Telecommuting will also help the company cut down on expenses. With more employees

working in other locations, the company can cut the amount of energy it uses in the offices as

well as the maintenance cost for establishing a proper work environment (Pinsonneau, 1999).

This saves on the operating cost of the company thus leading to a higher profit margin. It will

also allow the company to be flexible and responsive to unexpected occurrences. Telecommuting

can be used to decentralize the functions of the organization into different locations, all of which

have their respective managers. This allows the companies to enjoy organizational success as

management is easier and more efficient. Companies in earthquake areas decentralize their

operations into different locations. This ensures that even when the earthquake affects the parent

company, the other factions are still operational. This guarantees organizational success

(Pinsonneau, 1999). The company will also have flexible working hours. This means that the

customer can be attended to at all times, which leads to customer satisfaction and increased sales.

Flexible working hours increases the responsiveness of the company and thereby leading to

organizational success.

The pitfalls of telecommuting are that it will be hard to find a motivational technique that

can be used for all the employees. The employees work in different locations, and they have

different needs. It will be hard to assess the employees and find a way to motivate them, which

may lead to poor performance from the employees (Pinsonneau, 1999).

Telecommuting is the process by which employees work in any other setting other than

the workplace. It has allowed the transformation of the workplace to the traditional business

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TELECOMMUTING 7

hours office to a global office where employees work at whatever time they want. This has both

advantages and disadvantages to the employee workplace experience, organizational culture, and

organizational success. As organizations are adopting this method of working, they should be

aware of the potential effects of adopting this method. This will ensure that the company remains

afloat while keeping the employees satisfied. The use of telecommuting in the workplace in

America is increasingly becoming popular, and therefore it is necessary that an organization will

be able to look into the impact of telecommuting.

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TELECOMMUTING 8

References

Cross, T. B., & Raizman, M. B. (1986). Telecommuting: The future technology of work.

Homewood, Ill: Dow Jones-Irwin

Gainey, T. W. (1999, September 22). Telecommuting's Impact on Organization Culture and

Individual Workers: Examining the Effect of Employee Isolation. Retrieved July 3, 2017,

from FPO: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/SAM-Advanced-Management-

Journal/57829884.html

Mamaghani, F. (2012, September 22). Impact of telecommuting on organization productivity.

Retrieved July 3, 2017, from FPO: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/European-

Journal-Management/312171947.html

Pinsonneau, A. (1999, November). The Impacts of Telecommuting on Individuals and

Organizations. Retrieved July 3, 2017, from Expertise: http://expertise.hec.ca/gresi/wp-

content/uploads/2013/02/cahier9909.pdf

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