What to look for to increase work added value? Remote work and perceived productivity: A study in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic

• Authors: Ryszard Barczyk , Joanna Spychała , Zuzanna Urbanowicz , Agnieszka Ziomek

Abstracts

EN

In the era of digitisation, the role of remote work is growing. The digitisation of work has brought new opportunities and threats to the economic function of labour. This function, pointing to the fundamental role of employment, which is to provide added value for the employer and remuneration for the employee, has acquired a new meaning. Therefore, in the era of digitisation, it seems justified to assess the impact of remote work on labour productivity (in terms of organizational factors, cost factors and work quality). The subject of the study is to analyse the productivity factors of remote work (based on work performed under permanent and short-term employment, including various work models and irregular work patterns). The main objective of the research is to identify factors determining perceived productivity of individual workers who perform their job remotely and to measure the importance of factors determining labour productivity. The methodology used in the study is based on the analysis of the literature and conclusions drawn from a survey conducted in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary (a total sample of 450 units). Logistic regression and the k-means method were used in the statistical analysis. They allow measuring the relationship between the strength of a stimulus represented by the percentage of cases showing a specific response on how productivity is verified by the stimulus. Moreover, they bring the possibility to group factors in clusters representing workers with different sets of productivity factors. Results show that across the study sample, high stress, low employee control, and limited communication with managers minimise the growth of remote work productivity, since social relationships at work are correlated with productivity. Nonetheless, work organisation traits such as proper work environment, travel cost savings, technical assistance access, and a fast Internet connection remain positively related to remote work productivity.

Keywords

EN

remote work; productivity; work digitisation; labour mobility; organisation

• Publisher: Wydział Ekonomii Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu
• Journal: Research Papers in Economics and Finance
• Year: 2022
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 46-71

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

Ryszard Barczyk

• University of Economics and Business, Poznań, Poland

author

Joanna Spychała

• University of Economics and Business, Poznań, Poland

author

Zuzanna Urbanowicz

• University of Economics and Business, Poznań, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000227016390

author

Agnieszka Ziomek

• University of Economics and Business, Poznań, Poland

• https://orcid.org/0000000170525855

References

• Aboelmaged, M. G., & El Subbaugh, S.M. (2012). Factors influencing perceived productivity of Egyptian teleworkers: An empirical study Measuring Business Excellence. Bradford, 16 (2), 3-22. DOI:10.1108/13683041211230285
• Allen, T.D., Golden, T.D., & Shockley, K.M. (2015). How Effective Is Telecommuting? Assessing the Status of Our Scientific Findings. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 16(2), 40–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615593273
• Andrews, D., & Hansell D. (2021). Productivity-Enhancing Labour Reallocation in Australia Economic Record, 97(317), 157-169. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4932.12601
• Apanowicz, J. (2002). Metodologia ogólna. Retrieved October 26, 2021, from https://wsaib.pl/images/files/E-Publikacje/MO.pdf
• Bao, L., Li, T., Xia, X., Zhu, K., Li, H., & Yang, X. (2020). How does Working from Home Affect Developer Productivity?--A Case Study of Baidu During COVID-19 Pandemic. arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.13167.
• Baruch, Y., & Nicholson, N. (1997). Home, sweet work: Requirements for effective home working. Journal of General Management, 23(2), 15-30.
• Bentley, T.A., Teo, S.T.T., McLeod, L., Tan, F., Bosua, R., & Gloet, M. (2016). The role of organisational support in teleworker wellbeing: A socio-technical systems approach. Applied Ergonomics, 52, 207-215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2015.07.019
• Bernstein, E., Blunden, H., Brodsky, A., Sohn, W., & Waber, B. (2020). The implications of working without an office. Special Issue on The New Reality of WFH: Harvard Business Review.
• Bhattacherjee, A. (2012). Social Science Research: Principles, Methods, and Practices. Retrieved October 26, 2021, from http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/oa_textbooks/3
• Blasi, J. R., & Kruse, D. L. (2006). U.S. high-performance work practices at Century’s end, Industrial Relations, 45 (4 ), 547–578.
• Bryant, L. (2021). Lateral layers and loops: Why managers need to curate the fabric of the digital firm in a post-lockdown world. Business Information Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/02663821211035039
• Butler, J., Czerwinski, M., Iqbal, S., Jaffe, S., Nowak, K., Peloquin, E., & Yang, L. (2021). Personal Productivity and Well-being. New Future of Work Report, Cornell University Library, Ithaca.
• Cannito, M., & Scavarda, A. (2020). Childcare and Remote Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Ideal Worker Model, Parenthood and Gender Inequalities in Italy. Italian Sociological Review, 10(3), 801-820.
• Charalampous, M., Grant, C.A., Tramontano, C., & Michailidis, E. (2019). Systematically reviewing remote e-workers’ well-being at work: a multidimensional approach. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 28(1), 51-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359432X.2018.1541886
• Choudhury P., Foroughi C., & Larson B. (2020). Work-from-anywhere: The productivity effects of geographic flexibility, Strategic Management Journal, 42(4), 655-683. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3251
• Chung, H., Birkett, H., Forbes, S., & Seo, H. (2021). Covid-19, Flexible Working, and Implications for Gender Equality in the United Kingdom. Gender & Society, 35(2), 218-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/08912432211001304
• Davidescu A.A.M., Apostu S.A., Strat V.A., Scrădeanu A.I., Zgură I.D., Horga M.G. (2021). The impact of teleworking on the romanians employees' job satisfaction. An empirical evidence based on multiple correspondence analysis (mca) and logistic regression Amfiteatru Economic, 23(58), 637-653. https://doi.org/10.24818/EA/2021/58/637
• Davidescu, A.A., Apostu, S., Paul, A. & Casuneanu, I. (2020), Work Flexibility, Job Satisfaction, and Job Performance among Romanian Employees-Implications for Sustainable Human Resource Management, Sustainability, vol. 12(15), 6086.
• Eurofound (2021). Retrieved August 20, 2021, from https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/topic/digitalisation.
• Evans, A.M, Meyers, M.Ch., Van De Calseyde, P., & Stavrova, O. (2021). Extroversion and Conscientiousness Predict Deteriorating Job Outcomes During the COVID-19 Transition to Enforced Remote Work. Social Psychological and Personality Science, Original Manuscript. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211039092
• Filipetti A., & Peyrache A. (2013). Is the Convergence Party Over? Labour Productivity and the Technology Gap in Europe, Journal of Common Market Studies, 51(6), 1006-1022. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12066
• Galanti, T., Guidetti, G., Mazzei, E., Zappalà, S., & Toscano, F. (2021). Work From Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak: The Impact on Employees' Remote Work Productivity, Engagement, and Stress. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 63(7), https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002236
• Ganguly, K.K., Tahsin, N., Fuad, M.M.N., Ahammed, T., Asad, M., Huq, S.F., A T M Fazlay, R., & Sakib, K. (2020). Impact on the Productivity of Remotely Working IT Professionals of Bangladesh during the Coronavirus Disease 2019. Cornell University Library, Ithaca.
• Grant, C.A., Wallace, L.M., & Spurgeon, P.C. (2013). An exploration of the psychological factors affecting remote e-worker’s job effectiveness, well-being and work-life balance. Employee Relations, 35(5), 527–546.
• Hardy, P., Leandro, S.M., & Fontanari, J.F. (2020). The paradox of productivity during quarantine: an agent-based simulation. Cornell University Library, Ithaca.
• Hughes J. (2008). The High-Performance Paradigm: A Review and Evaluation, Learning as Work Research Paper, No. 16. Retrieved on October 26, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242107746_The_High-Performance_Paradigm_A_Review_and_Evaluation
• Judzik D., & Sala H. (2013). Productivity, deunionization and trade: Wage effects and labour share implications, International Labour Review, 152(2), 205-236. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2013.00178.x
• Karl, K.A., Peluchette, J.V., & Aghakhani N. (2021). Virtual Work Meetings During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Good, Bad, and Ugly. Small Group Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/10464964211015286
• Kelliher, C., & Anderson, D. (2010). Doing more with less? Flexible working practices and the intensification of work. Human Relations, 63(1), 83-106. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726709349199
• Kordalska, A.,& Olczyk, A. (2020). What fosters firm-level labour productivity in Eastern European and Central Asian countries?, Bank i Kredyt 51(1), 91-120.
• Krajcsák, Z., & Kozák, A. (2022). The moderating role of remote work in the relationship between organizational culture and OCB: Case studies from the financial sector. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 19(2), 300-315. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAMR-07-2021-0247.
• Kreyer, N., Pousttchi, K., & Turowski, K. (2003). Mobile Payment Procedures: Scope and Characteristics. E-Service Journal, 2(3), 7–22. https://doi.org/10.2979/esj.2003.2.3.7
• Krugman, P. (1997). In Praise of Cheap Labor. Bad jobs at bad wages are better than no jobs at all. Retrieved October 25, 2021, from https://slate.com/business/1997/03/in-praise-of-cheap-labor.html
• Matthews, B., See, Z.S., & Day, J. (2020). Crisis and extended realities: remote presence in the time of COVID-19. Media International Australia, 178(1), 198-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X20967165
• Miele F., & Tirabeni L. (2020). Digital technologies and power dynamics in the organization: A conceptual review of remote working and wearable technologies at work, Sociology Compass, 14(6), 12795. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12795
• Muhanguzi S., & Kyobe M. (2017). Aligning Work Practices, Mobile Technology and Strategy for Performance Improvement: The Case of SMEs in Uganda, The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, 60(1), 1-22. https://10.1002/j.1681-4835.2014.tb00423.x
• Mussini M. (2018). A spatial decomposition of the shift-share components of labour productivity inequality in Italy, Papers in Regional Science Volume 98, Issue 1, https://10.1111/pirs.12362
• Nakrošienė, A., Bučiūnienė, I., & Goštautaitė, B. (2019). Working from home: characteristics and outcomes of telework, International Journal of Manpower, 40 (1), 87-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-07-2017-0172
• OECD, (2021). Building inclusive labour markets: Active labour market policies for the most vulnerable groups. Retrieved October 30, 2021 from https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/building-inclusive-labour-markets-active-labour-market-policies-for-the-most-vulnerable-groups-607662d9/
• Osterman P. (1999). Securing Prosperity. New Rules for a New Economy, Journal of Labour and Society, 3(4), 5-8. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-4580.1999.00005.x
• Park, S., Jeong, S., & Chai, D.S. (2021). Remote e-Workers’ Psychological Well-being and Career Development in the Era of COVID-19: Challenges, Success Factors, and the Roles of HRD Professionals. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 23(3), 222-236.
• Patel V., Chesmore A., Legner M., & Pandey S. (2021). Trends in Workplace Wearable Technologies and Connected-Worker Solutions for Next-Generation Occupational Safety, Health, and Productivity, Advanced Intelligent Systems Early View, https://doi.org/10.1002/aisy.202100099
• Phillips, S. (2020). Working through the pandemic: Accelerating the transition to remote working. Business Information Review, 37(3), 129-134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266382120953087
• Pokojski, Z., Kister, A., & Lipowski, M. (2022). Remote work efficiency from the employers’ Perspective-What’s next? Sustainability, 14(7), 4220. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074220
• Procter, S. (2008). New forms of work and the high performance paradigm, The SAGE Handbook of Industrial Relations. http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781849200431.n8
• O’Neill, T.A., Hambley, L.A., & Bercovich, A. (2014). Prediction of cyberslacking when employees are working away from the office. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 291–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.015Osterman, P. (1999). Securing Prosperity: The American Labor Market, How It Has Changed, and What To Do About It. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
• Reuschke, D., & Felstead, A. (2020). Changing workplace geographies in the COVID-19 crisis. Dialogues in Human Geography, 10(2), 208-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820620934249
• Sablok, G., Stanton, P., Bartram, T., Burgess, J. & Boyle, B. (2017), Human resource development practices, managers and multinational enterprises in Australia, Education & Training, 59(5), 483-501.
• Sánchez, A.M., Pérez, M.P., Carnicer, P. L., & Jiménez, M.J.V. (2007). Teleworking and workplace flexibility: a study of impact on firm performance", Personnel Review, 36(1), 42-64.
• Sandoval-Reyes, J., Idrovo-Carlier, S., & Duque-Oliva, E. (2021). Remote Work, Work Stress, and Work–Life during Pandemic Times: A Latin America Situation. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(13), 7069.
• Snell, J.J. (2000), External labor markets: Job inclusion structures and processes, Louisiana Tech University. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
• Tanpipat, W., Lim, H.W., & Deng, X. (2021). Implementing Remote Working Policy in Corporate Offices in Thailand: Strategic Facility Management Perspective. Sustainability, 13(3), 1284. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031284
• Torten, R., Reaiche, C., & Caraballo, E.L. (2016). Teleworking in the New Milleneum. The Journal of Developing Areas, 50 (5), 317-326.
• Toscano, F., & Zappalà, S. (2020). Social Isolation and Stress as Predictors of Productivity Perception and Remote Work Satisfaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Concern about the Virus in a Moderated Double Mediation, Sustainability, 12 (23), 9804.
• Wang, B., Liu, Y., Qian, J., & Parker, S.K. (2020). Achieving Effective Remote Working During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Work Design Perspective. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12290
• Wamboe E., Adekola A., & Sergi B. (2014). ICTs and labour productivity growth in sub-Saharan Africa, International Labour Review, 155(2), 231-252. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2014.00021.x
• Yarberry, S., & Sims, C. (2021). The Impact of COVID-19-Prompted Virtual/Remote Work Environments on Employees’ Career Development: Social Learning Theory, Belongingness, and Self-Empowerment. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 23(3), 237-252. https://doi.org/10.1177/15234223211017850
• Yi, J. & Ifft, J. (2019), Labor-use efficiency and New York dairy farm financial performance, Agricultural Finance Review, 79(5), 646-665.
• Yoon, H.J., Chang, Y., Sadique, F., & Al Balushi, I. (2021). Mechanisms for Hopeful Employee Career Development in COVID-19: A Hope-Action Theory Perspective. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 23(3), 203-221. https://doi.org/10.1177/15234223211017848

Identifiers

DOI

10.18559/ref.2022.1.4

Biblioteka Nauki

2207162