THE EFFECTS OF TELECOMMUTING ON SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS

The Effects of Telecommuting on Software Developers

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION3

Background7

Problem Statement8

Purpose11

Significance of the Study11

Nature of the Study14

Research Questions17

Hypotheses17

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW19

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY27

Research Design & Data Collection27

Sample And Instrumentation28

Data Analysis28

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS & FINDINGS30

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION32

Discussion32

Conclusion41

REFERENCES43

APPENDICES53

APPENDICES53

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

The advent of the superhighway makes it possible to telecommute from home and conduct daily activities that would have normally been done in the work place. According to the Families and Work Institute? 81% of software developers surveyed would sacrifice advancement opportunities and 70% surveyed would change employers just to telecommute (Rose? 1998? p118). In support of both the software developer as well as the environment? the U.S. Federal government mandated that future telecommuting? beginning in 2000 (§ 359 Public Law 106-346) where it makes sense? would be pursued as a means to reduce the number of commuter trips for all government software developers. In addition? selected research claims that telecommuting leads to increased software developer/family job satisfaction.

If carefully managed? telecommuting obviously has benefits for both the software developer and the organization. However? many of the consequences described as "benefits" have negative implications for the parties involved and for the relationship between the organization and the software developer. A closer examination of the benefits and drawbacks shown in the Figure indicates that many of the "benefits" for the software developer actually represent benefits gained by the organization through passing employment-related expenses and responsibilities to the software developer.

For example? the company saves the cost of office space and equipment by having an software developer work at home rather than at a central office site. The software developer is then faced with turning over a room or a portion of his home to the employer. Rarely? if at all? is there mention in the telecommuting literature of the possibility of the employer compensating the software developer for home-based work by paying a portion of rent? mortgage? or utility costs. More often? there is mention of plans like the one used by a pizza company in a major Canadian city? which pays its home-based order takers a piece rate for each order successfully completed and then deducts a fiat rate per month for the software developer's use of a computer terminal and special phone line (Galt 1992). Telecommuting savings for the company can actually represent greater expenses? explicit or implicit? for the software developer.

Additionally? the software developer is faced with the very real problem of making a psychological division between "home" and "work" when "work" is located in the home. A study by Olson and Primps (1984) found that "the ideal solution? although costly? is a separate area used only for work. . . . Many software developers needed to usurp important living space (e.g.? the dining room table) for elaborate computer equipment that could not be moved easily." A financial or psychological inability to create a home/work division may lead to the software developer becoming a workaholic? unable to separate herself from work when ...