Facilitating Telecommuting as a Means of Congestion Reduction, MTI Report 09-14

Walls, Safirova and Jiang (2007) note the paucity of studies that examine telecommuting among individuals across organizations and studies that compare telecommuters with non-telecommuters. This study responds to this call by gaining a deeper understanding of telecommuting patterns and adoption behavior through an examination of perceived obstacles and facilitators of telecommuting. The study involved data collection using survey methodology, focus groups, and archival data collection. Respondents include telecommuters and non-telecommuters as well as supervisors from a wide variety of organizations. The study also included collecting benchmarking data regarding telecommuting policies and practices of companies in Silicon Valley in an attempt to understand factors that impact telecommuting

Telecommuting resistance, soft but strong: Development of telecommuting over time, and related rhetoric, in three organisations

Telecommuting, or working part of the time from another location than the office, normally from home, has been tried by several organisations in the recent years. This has not always been a success. Still, many arguments in favour of telecommuting are forwarded by previous studies. This paper investigates the development of telecommuting in three organisations, and elaborates on mechanisms behind the fact that the practice of telecommuting has not been as widespread as expected. The study is longitudinal, covering three years, and mainly based on interviews. The practice of telecommuting is found to have a negative development over time in all three cases. The social/symbolic aspects are found to be strong, but initially not reflected upon by the organisations. Many arguments in early phases of telecommuting are of a rational/functional nature, and tend to treat work as an output-related activity, without considering social and symbolic aspects of distancing oneself from the worksite and the colleagues. Over time, symbolic aspects become more pronounced. This complements/overrides the rational/functional arguments initially used by those in favour of telecommuting. This shift over time needs to be taken into account to understand the initial positive response to, but difficulties to sustain telecommuting.Telework; telecommuting; Geographical dispersion; Organisation

Telecommuting and Emissions Reductions: Evaluating Results from the ecommute Program

In 1999 Congress passed the National Air Quality and Telecommuting Act. This Act established pilot telecommuting programs in five major U.S. metropolitan areas with the express purpose of studying the feasibility of addressing air quality concerns through telecommuting. This study provides the first analysis of data from the “ecommute” program. Using two-and-one-half years of data, we look at telecommuting frequency, mode choice, and emissions reductions. We also look at reporting behavior, dropout rates, and other information to assess the program’s performance. We analyze results by city - Denver, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia are the five pilot cities. And finally, we use the program’s emissions reduction findings to calculate how much telecommuting would be needed to reach an annual volatile organic compounds emission reduction target in each city. This discussion paper is one in a series of four RFF papers on telecommuting published in December 2004. In addition to analysis of the ecommute data described in this paper, Safirova and Walls (discussion paper 04-43) similarly analyze data from a 2002 survey conducted by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) of telecommuters and nontelecommuters. These same authors put these findings into context by providing a review of the empirical literature on telecommuting (discussion paper 04-44). Finally, Nelson presents an assessment of institutional and regulatory barriers to using telecommuting in a mobile source emissions trading program (04-45). The studies by RFF are part of a larger report on the ecommute program completed by the Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF) for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More information about the overall project can be found on the ecommute/GETF website: http://www.ecommute.net/program/.telecommuting, mode choice, air quality, emissions

A Review of the Literature on Telecommuting and Its Implications for Vehicle Travel and Emissions

In this paper, we review 20 relatively recent empirical studies of telecommuting, all of which focus on the trip reduction perspective. The studies include earlier ones with smaller datasets, such as some pilot studies of individual employers, and more recent studies based on broader surveys of both telecommuters and nontelecommuters. We focus on the results of the studies with respect to participation and frequency of telecommuting, the effects on vehicle-miles-traveled (VMT) and trips, and in some cases, the impacts on emissions and air quality. Although there does not seem to be a consensus, there is a predominant view that certain factors increase both the likelihood of telecommuting and the frequency of telecommuting. These factors are having children in the household, being female, having more education, having a longer commute trip, having worked longer for one’s current employer and/or in one’s current position, and having a job that does not require face-to-face contact with coworkers or clients. Most studies of VMT and trip reductions from telecommuting show that telecommuters significantly reduce both daily trips and VMT. Not only does commute VMT fall, but noncommute VMT appears to fall in some cases as well. The studies of VMT, however, tend to focus on the reductions for individual employees who choose to telecommute. Although an individual telecommuter may experience a sharp reduction in VMT, total benefits depend on how many people are telecommuting, how often they are doing so, and the duration of telecommuting. More research is needed with larger and more broadly based datasets across employers that include both individual employee characteristics and employer and job characteristics. This would allow a better analysis of telecommuting choice and frequency as well as more reliable estimates of VMT and emissions impacts. This discussion paper is one in a series of four RFF papers on telecommuting published in December 2004. Discussion papers 04-42 and 04-43 present analyses of two recent datasets on telecommuters. In 04-42, Nelson and Walls analyze data from five pilot cities enrolled in the "ecommute" program. In 04-43, Safirova and Walls analyze data from a broad survey conducted by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) of telecommuters and nontelecommuters. Finally, in 04-45 Nelson presents an assessment of institutional and regulatory barriers to using telecommuting in a mobile source emissions trading program. The studies by RFF are part of a larger report on the ecommute program completed by the Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF) for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More information about the overall project can be found on the ecommute/GETF website: http://www.ecommute.net/program/.telecommuting, mode choice, air quality, emissions

The Practice of Telecommuting: A Fresh Perspective

Telecommuting has been a popular practice for an increasing number of firms and governmental bodies over the past decade or more. This research paper reviews antecedents, implementation considerations, known consequences, barriers, and recommendations that need to be determined prior to the adoption of telecommuting practices. The paper demonstrates that the phenomenon of telecommuting is the result of historical, sociological, and technological shifts and advancements. While firms have successfully implemented various elements of telecommuting practices, challenges along the way have yielded insights and lessons that merit further examination and discussion. This paper asserts that with selected individuals, proper structure, and sufficient feedback mechanisms in place, the adoption of telecommuting has the capacity to strengthen a firm’s bottom line and provide tangible benefit for its employees. As a case in point, online learning, developed in parallel with the growth of telecommuting, yields substantial benefits for employees and the companies in which they serve. For employees, online learning is convenient, accommodates multiple learning styles, and is an engaging learning mechanism. For corporations, online learning encourages cost-effectiveness, uniformity in quality and flexibility, and enhanced cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary communications, all necessary to meet the challenges of the ever-changing global marketplace.telecommuting; technology; online learning; social media; innovation; institutional learning; cross-cultural communications.

Modeling the Choice of Telecommuting 3: Identifying the Choice Set and Estimating Binary Choice Models for Technology-Based Alternatives

Previous papers in this series have presented a conceptual model of the individual decision to telecommute and explored relationships among constraints, preference, and choice. A related paper has developed a binary model of the preference for home-based telecommuting. Noting that there is a wide gap between preferring to telecommute (88% of the sample) and actually telecommuting (13%), this paper develops binary logit models of telecommuting adoption. Two approaches to dealing with constraints are compared: incorporating them directly into the utility function, and using them to define the choice set. Models using the first approach appear to be statistically superior in this analysis, explaining 63-64% of the information in the data. Variables significant to choice include those relating to work and travel drives, and awareness, manager support, job suitability, technology, and discipline constraints. The best model was used to analyze the impact of relaxing three key constraints on the 355 people in the sample for whom telecommuting was previously identified to be a Preferred Impossible Alternative. When unawareness, lack of manager support, and job unsuitability constraints are relaxed, 28% of the people in the PIA category would be expected to adopt telecommuting. The importance of behavioral models to accurately forecasting telecommuting adoption is emphasized and is suggested to have wider implications for predicting technology-based activity changes.telecommuting, teleworking, discrete choice, choice set

Examples of State Flexible Work Arrangement (FWA) Laws

Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) alter the time and/or place that work is conducted on a regular basis -- in a manner that is as manageable and predictable as possible for both employees and employers. This document charts examples of state FWA laws

Appendix E: Telecommuting: A Case Study in Public Policy Approaches

Telecommuting: A Case Study in Public Policy Approaches from the event: Senate Special Committee on Aging Hearing held April 30, 2008 for Workplace Flexibility 2010

Managerial Approaches to Telecommuting

The purpose of this theoretical paper is to synthesize the current knowledge on the topic of telecommuter managerial approaches by cross-analyzing certain commonalities and differences among relevant literature and scholarly sources. This paper will explore key themes such as trust management, performance-based reviews, communication, boundary management, work-life balance, and social and professional isolation. Additionally, this analysis will identify significant issues and contradictions amidst the research of flexible work arrangement management styles. Furthermore, it will outline the most significant disadvantages and repercussions of telecommuting and discuss them in relationship to the management styles best suited to alleviating these issues. Then, this paper will develop and present a theory which clearly outlines the best approaches for managing telecommuters by succinctly tying together the crucial variables embodying this literature. After, this paper will provide recommendations and methods for implementing these managerial approaches in the organization. Lastly, this paper will explain the theory’s implications on the overarching knowledge and topic of telecommuter managerial approaches and nature of the workforce