Description
Book SynopsisMoving Towards the Virtual Workplace provides the first comprehensive overview of the many impacts of telework/telecommuting adoption, from both a managerial and societal perspective. This book argues that telework will be increasingly adopted in the twenty-first century, representing a far-reaching move toward the virtual workplace, with dramatic implications for the management of the workforce and for society at large.
Telework, like mass production, has the potential to change society. It permits the significant reduction of the spatial and temporal constraints faced by the conventional organization of the workplace. The new virtual workplace constitutes a key step in the evolution towards a virtual society.
In order to realistically assess telework's diffusion potential, the book studies, both conceptually and empirically, the technological, institutional, organizational and individual-level parameters that influence the decision to adopt telework, and the likelihood of telework's success.
The book concludes that telework can have enormous socioeconomic impacts, both as a macro-level tool, reducing road transport externalities, and as a managerial instrument to motivate highly skilled workers in knowledge-based industries. As such this fascinating book will be invaluable to scholars of management, transport, economics and industrial and union relations. The telework and business community, both scholarly and practical will also find the book of great interest.
Trade Review'This book is a first of its kind. It goes right to the heart of he issue of the extent to which telework is a substitute for travel and whether it is a more defensible policy tool for managing congestion than, for example, road pricing. This is a must read for those in both the transportation policy and management and the telecommunications policy arenas.' -- Roger R. Stough, George Mason University, US
'There are clearly changes taking place in the way work is viewed and is being conducted. This research monograph looks at how these changes are affecting travel behavior at the micro level and, with this, highlight the economic and social implications of these changes. Its arguments are founded on a careful empirical analysis of behavior and attitudes of individuals and companies. This allows more detailed assessment of key links between travel and work-place choices than is often the case. The book will inevitably be of considerable interest to those concerned with urban development, transport efficiency and environmental protection.' -- Kenneth Button, George Mason University, US
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction 2. A Societal Perspective on Telework 3. A Managerial Perspective on Telework Adoption: Target Group Implementation 4. A Managerial Perspective on Telework Adoption: Parameters Affecting the Employer’s View 5. A Managerial Perspective on Telework: Parameters Affecting the Employee’s View 6. A Societal Perspective on Telework: The Alleviation of Road Transport Externalities Appendices References Index
