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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT, VOL. 42, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 1995

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Telecommuting: Problems Associated with Communications Technologies and Their Capabilities Yash P. Gupta, Jahangir Karimi, and Toni M. Somers

TABLE I Abstract-Recent advances in information and communications ABILITIES PERCEIVED TO BE IMPORTANT BY TELECOMMUTERS technologieshave permitted new flexibility in work arrangements. COMMUNICATIONS The number of people who either work from their home or Communications Abilities take work home from their job is increasing. This evolution has Ability to transfer information via modem quickly. lead to a different set of needs at the person’s residence than Ability to quickly transfer documents via facsimile machine. is traditionally required by the residential market. This paper Ensuring that the modem does not automatically disconnect with presents an empirical study, based on 375 responses, to clarify: incoming phone call. 1) the small business and residential market communications’ Lack of justification for an additional phone line. needs and problems; 2) the new communications technologies’ Quality of documents received via facsimile (ex. quality picture/paper). potential to fill those modern needs; and 3) the impact of the Quality of communications via phone line (too much noise, static, etc.) communications’ needs and problems on the telecommuters’ Ability to service customers (present or potential), in different locations effectiveness. The implication of the findings from this study for effectively. the technologies providers, managers, university community, and Affordability of additional phone lines. researchers are discussed in detail. Ability to efficiently get information from one location to another. ~

Ability to handle variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday momings and Friday aftemoons). Ability of customers to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). Ease of locating customer information when needed. Reducing the instances of “playing telephone tag.” Ability of persons at more than one location to simultaneously examine documents (ex. for editing, signatures, etc.).

I. INTRODUCTION

D

URING the 1970’s and early 1980’s enthusiastic predictions were made concerning the impact that technological innovations in microelectronics and telecommunications would have on organizational work arrangements, especially, on telecommuting.’ Organizational leaders lamented to recognize that the “current organizational ship” could not survive in future economic waters unless major changes were made [37]. 1995 [44].2 Approximately 500 large companies have formal telecommuting programs, and many small businesses provide Toffler [50, p. 2041, for example, posited that: selected workers some opportunity to work at home [20]. “[Innovations in microelectronics and telecommunicaA 1986 survey on the long-term implications of information tions] could shift literally millions of jobs out of the technology (IT) in the United Kingdom projected that befactories and offices into which the Second Wave (Intween 10-15% of the skilled workforce would be engaged dustrial Revolution) swept them, and right back to where in telecommuting by 1995, increasing to 1 5 2 0 % by the year they came from originally, the home.” 2010 [35]. On the other hand, in France, it is predicted that The popular image of telecommuting is captured on the telecommuting will not develop substantially even by the year cover of Forbes, the business magazine, showing an empty 2005 [6], [29].3 Previous research on telecommuting has suggested that freeway leading to a deserted metropolis and the plaint, “It’s 8:45-D0 you know where your employees are?’ [27]. 1) telecommuters are computer-based information workers, More recent forecasts on the proliferation of telecommuting, and 2) telecommuting is most often expected to be allhowever, have been mixed. In the United States the number or-nothing, that is full-time work from home [14], [45]. of telecommuters increased two-and-a-half times in four years, Mokhtarian [32] argued that these are not the necessary from 2.2 million in 1988 to 5.5 million in 1991 [32], and the conditions for telecommuting to occur, and similar to Martino trend is likely to continue at an annual rate of 8% through and Wirth [30] stressed the need for a common definition of telecommuting and contended that there are at least 50 Manuscript received August 5, 1994. Review of this manuscript was arranged by Editor E. Geisler. Y. P. Gupta and J. Karimi are with the College of Business and Administration, University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, CO 80217-3364 USA. T. M. Somers is with the School of Business Administration, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202 USA. IEEE Log Number 9414327. ‘There are altematives to the term telecommuting such as “telework,” “remote work,” and “distance work.”

2According to a Wall Street Journal recent special report on telecommunications, the projected total number (in millions) and percentage of people in several key occupational categories who spend 20% or more of their time away from their desk or immediate work areas are 27.3 (74%); the distribution in the categories are: Technical Professionals 7.1 (75%), Nontechnical Professionals 14.4 (74%), Owners 2.4 (75%), Managers 3.4 (72%) 1531. An exposition of developments related to telecommuting in Netherlands, Japan, United Kingdom, Finland, Germany, and Australia is provided by Hammer etal. [15], Spinks [48], Klnsman [25], [7], Kauppi 1211, Huws et al. [15], and Wood et al. [ S I , respectively.

0018-9391/95$04.00 0 1995 IEEE

EEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT, VOL. 42, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 1995

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Fig. 1. New communications technologies: Relation between network and media.

definitions of telecommuting in the literature. Telecommuting is defined here as work carried out in a location where, remote from central offices or production facilities, the worker has no personal contact with co-workers, but is able to communicate with them using the communications technologies. Telecommuting has the capacity of redrawing the geographical and organizational boundaries of the traditional, centralized enterprise. Thereby, it enhances individual autonomy, control, flexibility, convenience, and family togethemess and improves flexibility in work arrangements that, in tum, results in higher productivity [l], [51, [23], [28], [34]. US West Communications, for example, reported that the productivity of telecommuters increased, some by as much as 40%. Further, the company reported savings of $4000-$21 000 annually per telecommuter in terms of space, reduced absenteeism, and retention of workers who might otherwise have left the company [31].4 New communications technologies that facilitate telecommuting include narrowband and broadband Integrated Service Digital Networks (ISDN) (see Fig. 1) [131, 1191, [241, [491. ISDN services in the United States have grown from a $5.7 million industry in 1989 to $26.4 million in 1993. Overall, service revenues for 1994 are estimated to be $47.6 million and, within the next four years, ISDN services will blossom into a $2.25 billion industry [33], [43]. These technologies, as shown in Fig. 1, can link together a variety of media, such as facsimile, audio and video conferencing, and multimedia electronic mail. According to one industry observer, today the majority of medium-and large size businesses in the US have 4The director of marketing for AT&T Virtual Office Solutions says, “for every dollar spent, we saved $2,” on their telecommuting project. With approximately 8000 employees functioning in the virtual world, managers report productivity up 45% and office space saving up 50% [46].

access to high capacity networks that carry two-way video. Interactive two-way entertainment, information, and education services for business will be available in the near future [22].5 These technologies will have the potential to be used increasingly for telecommuting work.6 Previous literature has dealt with various aspects of telecommuting, such as manager’s and employee’s attitude towards telecommuting7 [8], [lo]; impact on job satisfaction and productivity of telecommuters [9]; impact on commute travel [15], [26], [42]; impact on residential relocation [36], [38]; work and family tradeoffs for telecommuters [3], [lo], [27], 1541; quality of working life [47]; mode of transportation [32]; energy and air quality [4]; legal and public policy issues [ 121, [20], 1301; and organizational, behavioral, and social issues [40], [41], [51]. For technology managers and providers, however, there are a number of pressing issues: what services and technology to offer, where, when, to whom, at what price, and what is the best way to promote it. With the changing face of the marketplace and the increase ’According to one industry observer [22], since 1988, AT&T has deployed wideband ISDN, which can deliver high quality color images simultaneously with voice and data, at more than 300 locations in United States, and in a dozen countnes abroad The seven regional Bell operating companies and the largest independent telephone companies have filed more than 200 ISDN tariffs in 46 states, the majority already in effect By the end of 1994, there will be 66 mllion ISDN capable local access lines which could support simultaneous voice, data, and image services In a little more than three years, 70% of all access lines in the US will be ISDN capable 6According to 1993 Gartner Group Market projections, by 1997 the ISDN lines for personal conferencing units is expected to grow to close to a six mllion level In addition, based on the Forrester research, by 1995 ISDN will offer the best balance of low cost, connection availability, higher speeds, and industrial-scale manageability 7 A recent conference board survey of 155 companies shows that while more than 70% offered telecommuting ophons to their employees, fewer than 1% took part, cibng mstrusc by managers that telecommuters could he as productive while unsupervised [ 181

GUPTA et al.: TELECOMMUTING: PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR CAPABILITIES

Usage Mode Remote Job Entry

Applications Telecommuting Medical Claims processing Remote Maintenance Order Processing Insurance Claim Processing

On-line Information Services

Information Retrieval Interactive Multimedia & Two-way Video Services

Real Time Data Acquisition Document Sharing

Home Shopping Prodigy, CompuServe, and Dial-up Videos Distance Learning and Training Videos Product Support Court Case Monitoring Medical Imaging Mapping Service Automatic Caller Identification Multiple Call Appearances Video conferencing and desktop conferencing Interactive two-way entertainment, information, and education services for businesses. Home Security

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Advantages of the New Communications Technologies Allows personal contact with those at work while working from home. Electronic data interchange. CD-Rom could be used with maintenance procedures when maintenance help is needed. Allow simultaneous order-taking over a facsimile machine while talking on the phone and verifying the purchaser’s credit. Independent insurance agents could use interactive access to obtain photographs of an accident or damaged home. Allow elderly the freedom to shop from their homes through video image5 at the store. Hundreds of DB’s can now be accessed through a single ISDN-based network. Transmission of images around the world, long distance multimedia library. Data base look-up to check status of current projects. Immediate access to court records across the state or across the country. For doctors depending on ISDN’s affordability. Fast, digital transfer of images to multiple locations. Database recall could dramatically increase customer service. Using a message waiting light to hold calls rather than purchasing additional phone lines. Face-to-face interactions via a broadband ISDN, using interactive multimedia and fiber-optic network, can increase transfer rate up to 150 Mbps. Simultaneous voice, data, and image services.

Home of high risk people such as those with heart disease can be equipped with video devices for close monitoring. Signing of Contracts Document signed in different locations. Real Estate IDigital transfer of images or video of properties listed to customers. Interactive Document Editing and Saving time and money using digital transfer of documents.

appropriate or difficult to measure using a survey instrument, for example, their “willingness to pay” for the product and services. Therefore, the selection of the participants for these focus groups was extremely important. The telecommuting market primarily consists of three categories: Those who are self-employed, those who work from their homes, and those who take work home. There were three focus groups. The first two consisted of representatives of a major regional phone company, and the third primarily comprised persons who owned a small business, some of whom ran it from their home. The representatives of a major regional phone company were chosen for the first two focus groups because 1) we thought they were the best sources of information regarding what present customers desire, and 2 ) we wanted to overcome the myopic view that our participants might have had about innovation [2].Bennett and Cooper [2] suggested that consumers verbalize their wants and needs, but they tend to talk in terms of the familiar, Le., what is around them at a particular moment. Managers, therefore, learn only about the familiar needs of consumers, expressed in consumers’ own terms, for a particular point in time. The consumers’ views are limited in three ways: 1) consumer’s 11. RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY perceptions of their needs are restricted to the familiar, to To accomplish the objectives of the study, analysis was items consumers can relate to. and a true innovation is very performed on many levels. Focus groups were used as the often out of the scope of the normal experience of the primary sources of information for designing the survey in- consumer; 2 ) consumers’ ability to express these needs, to strument. They were used 1) to gather qualitative data, 2 ) verbalize what they want, particularly when they do not know to better understand the market for the new communications what is technologically feasible is limited; and 3) because technologies and its issues, and 3) to analyze issues not of the dynamic nature of these expressed needs, they may

in advanced technologies and user demands, this task is immense. Concomitantly, the characteristics and needs of telecommuters are evolving due to the changing regulatory and work environments, and the growing use of technology to increase efficiencies. This evolution has also led to a different set of needs at the person’s residence than is traditionally required by the residential market. The purpose of this study is to clarify the communications needs and problems of small business and residential markets, and the new communications technologies’ potential to fill these modern needs. Specifically, for small businesses and residential market users, this study intends to identify: 1) communications problems facing them; 2 ) features of the new communications technologies that are considered as significant benefits over traditional means of communications; 3) patterns shared among these user groups regarding business classifications and residential locations; and 4) the perceived impact of the communications problems and capabilities on their performance. Eventually, this information will be useful in determining users’ willingness to pay for various communications abilities.

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well have changed by the time the new product is designed, tested, and manufactured. These representatives are, in most cases, in direct contact with their customers and could easily identify needs that are not being met. The purpose of these focus groups, held much like “brainstorming sessions,” was to identify customers’ needs and to determine if the benefits of the new communications technologies could meet them. By working with the focus groups we tried to gain as much information as possible regarding potential customer perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of having the new communications technologies infrastructure. The groups were asked to estimate how much the benefits would be worth to allow us to gauge the economic value of these added services. This perceived added value can be considered as being the customers’ willingness to pay. Each focus group was facilitated in the same manner. First, the participants were given a summary of the main purposes of the study. Next, they observed a short video relating some of the practical benefits of the new communications technologies. The group participants were then taken to a conference room where they could talk in a relaxed atmosphere and videotaped for future reference. Details about each focus group are discussed below. A. Focus Group #1 The members of the first focus group consisted of one assistant manager, three staff managers in business marketing and two other representatives of the regional phone company via teleconference. The participants had heard of the new communications technologies in passing, but were not aware of many of their features. Subsequently, the potential benefits of the new technologies to the residentiaUsmal1 business market were explained. The question was asked “What do telecommuters want, not what can we do?> This question was asked to remind the participants that the new technologies will be complicated to promote. The major concerns of the participants about promotion of the new technologies were cost, ability to communicate the benefits of the new technologies, the deployment time frame, and cannibalism of present communications products. Table I is a summary of the capabilities that are perceived to be important by telecommuters.

E. Focus Group #2 The second focus group was held shortly after the first one. The purpose of this focus group was to help identify relevant

questions that would be beneficial in designing the survey instrument and in developing a listing of possible applications. The main objectives of this focus group were to understand the characteristics of the market for the new technologies, to identify the nature of businesses that would benefit from the new technologies, to identify the characteristics of firms that would not consider the new communications technologies, the reasons this latter group is not interested in the new technologies, and finally, the features of the new technologies that make it attractive. This focus group consisted of eight individuals drawn from the business marketing group of a phone company.

TABLE I11 COMhRJNlCATIONS PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY TFlLECOMMUTERS

Communications Problems Information transferred via modem is too slow. Slow document transfer via facsimile machine. Modem automatically disconnects with incoming phone call. Not quite enough use to justify an additional phone line (neither the volume of phone calls, or use of technology). Unsatisfactory reproduction of documents via facsimile (ex. poor quality picture/paper). Unsatisfactory telephone communications (too much noise, static, etc.). Customers (present or potential), are geographically too far away to be effectively serviced. Need additional phone lines, but they are too expensive. Spend unproductive time getting information from one location to another. Complaints from customers regarding the ability to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). Variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons). Can’t easily locate customer information when needed. Playing “telephone tag.” Documents need to be examined by persons in more than one location (for editing, signatures, etc.).

Table I1 represents a summary of potential applications of the new communications technologies identified by the second focus group. It was clear from this group’s discussions, that from the users’ perspective of the new communications technologies, the ability to visually demonstrate the advantages of these technologies will be important. If users can see the possible applications, they will have a better understanding of what benefits are available from such technologies. However, different applications will be important to different people. Therefore, the information obtained will be useful in identifying the market segments by the applications that are most important to each group. C. Focus Group #3

The third focus group consisted primarily of small business owners and residential users of telephones. When selecting the participants the researchers took into consideration the need for a diversity of business backgrounds and communications requirements. Personal invitations to participate in the focus group included only a hint of information regarding what we would be discussing except for the idea that we would be identifying applications for a futuristic telephone system. This introduction was intended to avoid limiting their scope of thinking and counter the pitfalls of closed-mindedness. The participants of this “user focus group” included a church secretary, an attorney, computer consultants, a customer service representative for an insurance company, an owner of a small software developing company, owners of a manufacturer’s representative company, and support personnel. Initially there were many questions for the support personnel, who carefully answered the questions, making sure emphasis was not made on the technical aspects of the new communications technologies. Concentration was focused on the capabilities of the new technologies rather than the mechanics of how they actually worked. This method was used to discourage discussion conceming the technical aspects of

GUWA et al.: TELECOMMUTING: PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES AND THEIR CAPABILITIES

309

YO E3Non-Business Owners

Business Owners

Fig. 2. Sample characteristics by business ownership and place of main residence.

Never(1) USeldom (2) HOccasionally (3) 25 20 15

10 5

0

Urban

Suburban

Rural

Nares: Mean

3.0

3.11

2.95

St.Dev 1.45 1.40 1.33 F-Ratio =.2095; F-Bob =.8112 Fig. 3. Extent to which business activities are presently performed from home (business owners).

30

25 20 15 10

5

n Urban

Suburban

Rural

*N Mean X I 1 2.48 213 SL Dev 1.09 1.13 1.13 F-Ratio = 21449; F-Bob. 4 1 6 8

Fig. 4. Extent to which business activities are presently performed from home (nonbusiness owners).

the new technologies, but to promote a dialogue of possible applications they could provide. Before viewing the video, which illustrated examples of applications of new communications technologies, the participants were informed on the sequence of activities. They were asked to watch the video closely with an inquisitive mind and to keep note of any questions they had. After viewing the video, the group moved to a conference room for discussion. After initial questions were answered, the participants were asked to discuss the major communications problems they faced and their favorite features offered by the new technologies. Table I11 lists communications problems experienced by telecommuters. To determine the value of the new communications technologies to the group participants, we discussed what these benefits would be worth to them financially. All agreed that the benefits, and therefore the value of the new technologies, would be different depending on each business. Each business

must do its own costhenefit analysis. For example, overnight delivery costs about $20/night. Transmitting information via modem ties up both a computer for approximately an hour, and a phone line in addition to incurring the long-distance charges. The value of the service depends on the application(s) used and the economic benefit from these applications. Most agreed that new technologies would be affordable even at $50-$100 more than the costs currently accrued. Value also depends on the absorption by others. These technologies are only valuable if others have it and may be worth more after others have it. 111. DESIGNING THE INSTRUMENT The design of the survey instrument took many matters into consideration. The questionnaire was organized to identify a variety of problems that telecommuters were experiencing, as well as the relative importance of these problems. In addition, the survey explored communications abilities that would improve telecommuters’ productivity and efficiency, and the perceived importance of these capabilities. Questions regarding the business’ relative standing as compared with their competitors was included to gauge the responses. This survey was designed to determine not only what communications issues were being faced with but also the

importance of these issues. Based on information gathered in the focus groups, it was obvious that as the value to the customer increases, so will his or her willingness to pay. Though a dollar amount was never discussed in the questionnaire, this information can be used to determine the


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Mean Median Mode St Dev Low Value High Value Range

Business Owners Urban 12 294 5 1 15 463 0

Business Owners Suburban 16 472 8 0 21 39

50 50

0 90 90

Business Owners Rural 12.222 5 0 15 811 0 70 70

Nonbusiness Owners Urban 3 545 2

Nonbusiness Owners Suburban 6 722 25

Nonbusiness Owners Rural 5 75 2

0

0 10 679 0 70 70

0 8 874 0 40 40

5 674 0 25 25

TABLE V ONE WAY ANOVA COMPARISON OF MEANSFOR COMMUNICA’ITONS PROBLEMS BY TELECOMMUTERS BASEDON THEIR BUSIh’FSS SITUATION (OWNERS VERSUS

Communications Problems Information transferred via modem i s too slow. Slow document transfer via facsimile machine. Modem automatically disconnects with incoming phone call. Not quite enough use to justify an additional phone line (neither the volume of phone calls, or use of technology). Unsatisfactory reproduction of documents via facsimile (ex. poor quality picture/paper). Unsatisfactory telephone communications (too much noise, static, etc.) Customers (present or potential), are geographically too far away to be effectively serviced. Need additional phone lines, but they are too expensive. Spend unproductive time getting information from one location to another. Complaints from customers regarding the ability to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). Variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerour calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons). Can’t easily locate customer information when needed. Playing “telephone tag.” Documents need to be examined by persons in more than one location (for editing, signatures, etc.).

F-Ratio 0.2274 0.0825 0.0595 0.3913

GI to G3 ‘omparison F-Prob. Duncan Test 0.797 0.929 0.9423 0.6771 31 & G3**

EXPERIENCED NONOWNERS) F-Ratio

G4 to F-Prob.

0.3465 2.0441 1.3531 1.118

0.7077 0.1331 0.2618 0.3297

2.7806***

0.0651

2.7142***

0.0704

1.0566

0.3506

1.7891

0.1706

0.788

0.457

0.793

0.4544

0.4165 0.5592

0.6602 0.5731

1.3761 1.0483

0.2557 0.3531

1.724

0.1824

4.3925**

0.0139

0.887

0.4144

1.1419

0.3219

0.3896 0.778 1

0.6781 0.4615

1.1671 10.7994*

0.3141

0.8216

0.4421

3.4807**

0.0333

.oooo

Notes: I) Group 1 (GI)-Business owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 4 (G4)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 2 (G2)-Business owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 5 (GS&nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 6 (G6tnonbusiness owners’ main residence are in mal areas Group 3 (G?)-Business owners’ main residence are in rural areas

2) * p < .01;** p

Comparisor tem Duncan Test

G5 & G6**

a

G5 & G6** G4 & G5**

b

G5 & G6** G4 & G5** G5 & G6**

C

d

-

< .05;***p < .10

3) Duncan test indicates pairs of groups significantly different at the 0.050 level (**) or at 0.10 level (***)

relative value of each ability. The survey not only focused on those presently using the new communications technologies,

of the US. For sample selection, the databases of a regional phone company were separated into two databases: one con-

but also on t h o s e who plan to use it in the foreseeable future.

taining the residential customers and the other containing the

As technological abilities dramatically advance and prices

business customers. Each database was separately randomized. A sample of 1500 records was taken from each database. The residential database contained 706 481 records and the business database 55 006 records. The questionnaire contained several questions regarding present business situation (business owner, nonbusiness owner), place of main residence (urban, suburban, rural), and the extent to which business activities are performed from home. Respondents were asked to indicate the appropriate statements that best described the present business situation and the place of their main residence. Figs. 2-4 and Table IV show sample characteristics.

drop, the number of people buying the services offered by these technologies will be increased rapidly. The questionnaire focused on what technologies were being used “at home” and “outside the home.” A. Survey Population and Sample Selection

Two samples were selected separately. The two populations from which the samples were selected were residential and business customers with one or two lines in the southern states


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TABLE VI ONE WAY ANOVA COMPARISON OF MEANSFOR COMMUNICATIONS ~ I L I T I E SPERCEIVED TO BE IMPORTANT BY TELECOMMUTERS BASEDON THEIRBUSINESSSITUATION (OWNERS VERSUS NONOWNERS)

GI F-Ratio

Communications Abilities

G3 Coml F-Prob.

ison Duncan Test

(

F-Ratio

to G6 Co ~arison

F-Prob.

Ability to transfer information via modem quickly. 3.0325*** 0.051 2.2422 0.1102 Ability to quickly transfer documents via facsimile machine. 0.0247 0.5988 0.5509 3.7858** Ensuring that the modem does not automatically disconnect 0.6299 0.534 2.014 0.1374 with incoming phone call. Lack of justification for an additional phone line. 1.0414 0.3554 0.6366 0.5306 Quality of documents received via facsimile 1.3251 0.2691 0.54 0.5838 (ex. quality picture/paper). Quality of communications via phone line 1.2653 0.2853 0.9816 0.377 (too much noise, static, etc.). Ability to service customers (present or potential), 2.9020*** 0.0582 G1 & G3** 0.6368 0.5303 in different locations effectively. Affordability of additional phone lines. 1.1012 2.1151 0.1244 0.3349 Ability to efficiently get information from one location to another. 2.1647 0.1186 0.9948 0.372 Ability of customers to easily get in touch with you 0.5921 GI & G2 4.3718** 0.0144 0.5544 (ex. telephone line busy). G1 & G3** Ability to handle variable telephone traffic throughout the day or 1.0106 0.3666 0.4026 0.6692 week (numerous calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons). Ease of locating customer information when needed. 1.6583 0.8824 0.1942 0.4158 Reducing the instances of “playing telephone tag.” 1.7282 5.4920* 0.0049 0.1814 Ability of persons at more than one location to 0.448 3.4882** 0.9562 0.0329 simultaneously examine documents (ex. for editing, signatures, etc.). Notes: 1) Group I ((31)-Business owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 4 (G4)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 2 (G2)-Business owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 5 (GS)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 3 (G3)-Business owners’ main residence are in rural areas Group 6 (Gh)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in rural areas 2) * p < O.l;** p < .05;***p < .10 3) Duncan test indicates pairs of groups significantly different at the 0.050 level ( * * ) or at 0.10 level ( * * * )

Our sample consisted of approximately 152 business owners and 172 nonbusiness owners. About 40% of the business owners reported annual sales in the $100 000-$500 000 range, whereas 26% indicated annual sales exceeding this range. Business owners (96%) typically have between 1 and 25 employees and have been in existence 10.5 median years. On the other hand, 40% of the nonbusiness owners indicated that the business they worked for had annual sales surpassing 4 million. Nonbusiness owners (61%) work for a business that typically has between 51 and 1000 employees and has been in existence 42.0 median years. Over half of these telecommuters resided in suburban areas. Although suburban business owners were inclined to perform business activities at home more frequently than urban and rural business owners, they did not differ significantly in the mean frequency to which they perform business activities from their home. Similar results were found for the nonbusiness owners. In addition, the extent to which these activities are “presently” performed from home are compared to the extent to which these activities are “planned” to be performed from home in the foreseeable future (for both the business and nonbusiness owners by the residential classification). We found significant differences only for the suburban business and nonbusiness owners (for business owners t = -2.27, Prob. = 0.026, and for nonbusiness owners

t

=

-2.32, Prob.

=

0.023).

They reported a significant increase in the extent to which these activities will be performed from their homes in the foreseeable future. In the following, the differences among problems and capabilities in the use of communications technologies were

Duncan Test GS & G6** G5 & G6**

item

35 & G6** 35 & G6**

examined separately by business situation and residential classification.

Iv. SMALL BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTIALMARKETDIFFERENCES The total sample was divided into six study groups based upon two characteristics of interest: 1) business situation, that is, whether telecommuters own a business (business owners) or work for an organization which they do not own (nonbusiness owners), and 2 ) place of residence (urban, suburban, Since these new technologies are currently offered to large corporations in big cities, ubiquity is the key factor to their success. In big cities with large companies, because of large concentration of customers, usage of private lines are easily justifiable, relative to remote location where a lot of smaller users need public network services. The new communications technologies’ true potential, however, may lie in smaller and mid-sized companies that can’t afford more expensive alternatives, such as frame relay with slower speeds andlor ‘For the purpose of this study we assumed that a business owner is a telecommuter who works out of hisiher home, which is located either in an urban, suburban, or rural area. A nonbusiness owner, is also a telecommuter, works at hisiher home located either in an urban, suburban or rural area, e.g., a university faculty member working for a university from hidher residence. Therefore both business and nonbusiness owners are telecommuters, however, one owns the business for which he/she works and the other does not. 9The key to ISDN renaissance will be attracting not only high-end business customers but small business and residential customers, according to Don Auble of Ameritech, a US telecom service provider that currently has about 30 000 ISDN lines deployed nationwide. Anywhere from 60-70% of telecom customers can now get an ISDN line from any given point in the US [43].

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT. VOL. 42, NO 4, NOVEMBER 1995

TABLE W ONE WAYANOVA COMPARISON OF MEANSFOR COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY TELECOMMUTERS BASEDON THEIR BUSINFSS SITUATION AND THEIR RESIDENTLAL CLASSIFICATION Communications Problems Information transferred via modem is too slow Slow document transfer via facsimile machine. Modem automatically disconnects with incoming phone call. Not quite enough use to justify an additional phone line (neither the volume of phone calls, or use of technology). Unsatisfactory reproduction of documents via facsimile (ex. poor quality picture/paper). Unsatisfactory telephone communications (too much noise, static, etc.) Customers (present and potential), are geographically too far away to he effectively serviced. Need additional phone lines, but they are too expensive.

Spend unproductive time getting information from one location to another. Complaints from customers regarding the ability to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). Variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday mornings and Friday aftemoons). Can’t easily locate customer information when needed. Playing “telephone tag.”

F-Ratio 0.7999 0.9244 0.5161 1.2144

to G6 Compari. F -Prob. 0.5506 0.4656 0.764 0.3026

2.2171***

0.0529

1.14 0.656

0.3393 0.6572

2.0361***

0.0738

1.3014 2.5793**

0.2634 0.0266

1.5405

0.1773

0.6227 4.4887*

0.6826

5.7800*

0.0000

Documents need to be examined by persons in more than one location (for editing, signatures, etc.). Notes: I) Group 1 (GI)-Business owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 2 (G2)-Business owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 3 (G3)-Business owners’ main residence are in rural areas 2) * p < .01;**p < .05;***p < .10 3) Duncan test indicates pairs of groups significantly different at the 0.050 level

0.0006

2

Duncan Test

Item -

G1 & G3** G1 & G5**

a

G2 G2 G3 G3

G5** G6** G4** G6**

b

G5 & G6** G3 & G6** G3 & G4**

C

& G6** & G6** & G5** & G5** & G5** & G6**

d

G2 G5 G4 G2 G3 G5

& & & &

e

-

Group 4 (G4)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 5 (G5)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 6 (G6jnonbusiness owners’ main residence are in mral areas (**) or

switched multimegabit data services (SMDS) with speeds up to 155 Mbls. These groups were formed.to study whether, and to what extent, they differed in their emphasis placed on various problems and capabilities associated with their use of communications technologies. Analysis of variance was used to test whether the reported problems and the perceived abilities had indeed varied among the six groups of telecommuters. First, we examined various problems telecommuters reported experiencing with the technology. The results are shown in Table V. Surprisingly, business owners (groups 1-3) appeared to be very similar with respect to how likely these various problems occurred in their use of communications technologies.” In fact, only item (a) exhibited significant mean differences among the business owners.ll To examine which of

these groups differed from one another, pair-wise comparisons using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test were performed at the 0.05 level of significance. Based on this test, business owners, whose main residences were in urban and rural areas, differed significantly ( p < 0.05) for item (a). That is, item (a) was ‘OAn F-test on the mean responses to each of these problems was performed. The F-value allows us to retain or reject the null hypothesis that all group means are equal; rejection allows us to conclude that some of the group means are different. “ A significant value of F indicates that at least one of the pairwise differences is significant, but it does not indicate which differences are significant and which are not.

at 0.10 level (***)

significantly more frequent among business owners who reside in rural areas as compared to business owners who reside in urban areas. Among nonbusiness owners (groups 4-6), however, four problems emerged as being significantly different, Le., items (a)-(d). Based on the Duncan painvise comparison, telecommuters who resided in suburban and rural areas were significantly different for all four problems. Also, the urban and suburban telecommuters were significantly different in the frequency of occurrence for problems (b) and (c). Telecommuters in suburban areas experienced these problems more often than those in urban and rural areas. Problem (a) deals with both unsatisfactory reproduction of documents via facsimile and the quality of the paper. From information brought out by the focus groups, the extent of facsimile usage was reported to be quite high and increasing among users. Participants in the focus groups reported that it would be beneficial to be able to transfer, edit, and print out the documents at a remote location on good quality paper. The new communications technologies, by supporting the interactive document editing and transfer capabilities, and by supporting high-speed fax for transferring images, will reduce the scope of this problem. Problem (b) concerns the need for additional phone lines. Although the decision to obtain additional phone lines depends on the line usage, irregular traffic may also create additional demands. As was shown in Table 11, by providing


313

TABLE VIII ONE WAYANOVA COMPARISON OF MEANSFOR COMMUNICATIONS ABILITIES PERCEIVEDTO BE IMPORTANT BY TELECOMMUTERS BASEDON THEIRBUSINESSSITUATION AND THEIRRESIDENTIAL CLASSIFICATION

F-Ratio 4.3772”

F-Prob. 0.0007

Ability to quickly transfer documents via facsimile machine. Ensuring that the modem does not automatically disconnect with incoming phone call. Lack of justification for an additional phone line. Quality of documents received via facsimile (ex. quality picturdpaper). Quality of communications via phone line (too much noise, static, etc.). Ability to service customers (present or potential), in different locations effectively. Affordability of additional phone lines. Ability to efficiently get information from one location to another.

1.711 1.8794***

0.1318 0.0978

0.8065 1.2745 0.9096 1.5274

0.5457 0.2748 0.475 0.181

1.6186 3.0564**

0.1548 0.0104

Ability of customers to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy)

2.3874**

0.0348 1

0.8059

0.5461

1.0534 2.7569**

0.3864 0.0188

4.2859*

0.0009

Communications Abilities Ability to transfer information via modem quickly.

Ability to handle variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday momings and Friday aftemoons.). Ease of locating customer information when needed. Reducing the instances of “playing telephone tag.” Ability of persons at more than one location to simultaneously examine documents (ex. for editing, signatures, etc.).

Notes: 1) Group 1 (G1)-Business owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group 2 (GZ)-Business owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 3 (G3)-Business owners’ main residence are in rural areas

2) * p < .01;** p

< .05;*** p < .10

Duncan Test GI & G5** G1 & G6** G2 & G5** G3 & G5**

Item a

G1 & G5**

b

G1 & G4** G1 & G5** G1 & G6** G1 & G2** G1 & G3** G1 & G5**

C

G2 & G6** G5 & G6** G1 & G5** G2 & G5** G3 & G5** G5 & G6**

d

e f

Group 4 (G4)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in urban areas Group S (GS)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in suburban areas Group 6 (G6)-nonbusiness owners’ main residence are in rural areas

3) Duncan test indicates pairs of groups significantly different at the 0.050 level (* * ) or at 0.10 level (* * * )

multiple call appearance services, the new communications technologies will allow a business to hold three calls on one single physical line, therefore, eliminates the need for separate phone lines. Problems (c) and (d) involve playing “telephone tag” and the inability to share documents. These two problems result in unproductive time. As was shown in Table 11, the document sharing features supported by the new communications technologies will allow documents to be examined by persons in more than one location. This will result in the elimination of much of this “running” time. Document sharing support provided by the new communications technologies will allow documents to be signed or examined by persons in different locations (for example, signing of contracts, or lawyers who need to read copies of depositions). Second, a similar analysis is performed on the abilities perceived by telecommuters as important for their effectiveness. Table VI presents the comparison of the mean responses of all the telecommuters by their place of residence, using the one-way analysis of variance. As shown in Table VI, the business owners who lived in urban areas were different from those business owners residing in rural areas on item (c) and (d). When compared to urban business owners, business owners in rural areas reported that these abilities were more important for performance of

their organization. Business owners living in urban areas also differed from business owners living in suburban areas on item (d). Business owners living in the suburbs, however, felt item (d) was more important for firms’ effectiveness than business owners who lived in the city. Therefore, the results indicate that the small business owner’s primary place of residence has a significant impact on hisher ability to provide services to hisker customers, and vice versa, on the ability of hisker customers to request for services. The small business owners living in big cities, because of a large concentration of customers, can probably afford additional phone lines. However, as their main residence moves away from big cities to suburban and rural areas, their need for additional public or private network services, for customer service purposes, increases. As shown in Table 11, by providing the automatic caller identification and multiple call appearances services, the new communications technologies will have a significant potential to improve customer service for business owners who reside in suburban and rural areas. Nonbusiness owners, however, differed on items (a), (b), (e), and (f). In particular, nonbusiness owners who live in the suburbs (group 5 ) were significantly different from nonbusiness owners who live in rural areas (group 6) on all items. Interestingly, these were the same two groups that had differed significantly on problems associated with the use

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FACTORANALYSIS

TABLE M COMMUNICATIONS PROBLEMS

OF THE

Communications Problems Factor I Playing “telephone tag.” 0.7579 Documents need to be examined by persons in more than one location (for editing, signatures, etc.). 0.7561 Spend unproductive time getting information from one location to another. 0.6636 Variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday mornings and Friday 0.6282 afternoons). Complaints from customers regarding the ability to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). 0.6174 Can’t easily locate customer information when needed. 0.5744 Information transferred via modem is too slow. Modem automatically disconnects with incoming phone call. Unsatisfactory reproduction of documents via facsimile (ex. poor quality picture/paper). Slow document transfer via facsimile machine. Not quite enough use to justify an additional phone line (neither the volume of phone calls, or use of technology). Need additional phone lines, but they are too expensive. Customers (present or potential), axe geographically too far away to be effectively serviced. Unsatisfactory telephone communications (too much noise, static, etc.). Reliability for each factor 0.8337 Notes: 1) Response Scale: 1-never occurs, 2-rarely occurs, 3--occasionally occurs, k f t e n occurs, S+onstantly occurs 2) Reliability for 14-item construct = 0.8894.

of communications technologies. Furthermore, these abilities were more important for nonbusiness owners in the suburbs in comparison to nonbusiness owners who resided in rural areas. Therefore, for nonbusiness owners, the place of main residence also has a significant impact on their ability to effectively use communications technologies to accomplish their work. The results also show that there will be a potential demand for document sharing and high-speed fax services provided by the new communications technologies from the nonbusiness owners. Third, we look at telecommuters in the six groups to find out if the differences in problems and abilities are focused on specific groups, e.g., business owners residing in urban areas versus nonbusiness owners living in urban areas. For the problems, as indicated in Table VII, the differences among the means are significant for five items (a, b, c, d, e) among these six groups. Based on the Duncan test, problems (b) and (e) happen more often among business owners residing in suburban areas as compared to nonbusiness owners residing in suburban areas. This suggests that the small business owners living in the suburban areas have more problems with the limited services provided with one or two telephone lines, e.g., ability to share documents and poor quality of facsimile machine than nonbusiness owners living in the suburban areas. For the same reason, business owners residing in rural areas also differed from nonbusiness owners residing in rural areas for problems (b) and (c). For problems (c), (d), and (e), nonbusiness owners in the suburbs differed from nonbusiness owners residing in rural areas. Again, limited services provided by one or two telephone lines have created disadvantages for the telecommuters living in the rural areas in comparison to ones living in the suburban areas. Fourth, we look at the abilities perceived to be important for telecommuters in the six groups to find out if the differences in the abilities are limited to any specific groups. Table VI11 presents results of one-way ANOVA’s for the abilities. As shown in Table VIII, significant differences among the means

Factor 2

Factor 3

0.3036 0.7701 0.7108 0.6279 0.5986

0.4035 0.7676

0.7358 0.6879 0.5756 0.4604 0.6793

were found for six abilities (a, b, c, d, e, f) among the six groups. Painvise results indicated that business owners who reside in urban areas were more likely to associate higher importance with items (a, b, c, d, f) than nonbusiness owners who reside in suburban areas. This result correctly confirms that these abilities to move information quickly and to provide easier (customer) contact, are more important to the businessowners in urban areas than nonbusiness owners residing in the suburban areas. Nonbusiness owners in suburban and rural areas differed on items (e) and (0.That is, reducing the instances of “phone-tag’’ and to share documents were more important for telecommuters in rural areas than in the suburban areas. In addition, business owners living in suburb and rural areas were significantly different from nonbusiness owners in suburban areas on item (f). That is, the ability to share documents is more important to business owners residing in the suburban and rural areas than nonbusiness owners residing in the suburban areas. The results suggest that the effect of the site of business (business owner versus nonowner) and residential classification (urban, suburban, rural) can account for some clear cut differences in problems and capabilities experienced by telecommuters. For technology providers, this information is beneficial in establishing areas for ongoing improvement in providing new services. In the following section, we determine how these sets of problems and abilities are related to the telecommuters’ effectiveness. V. TELECOMMUTERS’ EFFECTIVENESS

Next, exploratory factor analyses are conducted on: 1) 14 “problems” that telecommuters reportedly experienced in their use of communications technologies; and 2) 14 “abilities” of communications technologies that telecommuters perceived to be important for their effectiveness. After identifying the factors, several analyses regarding how these factors effect a firm’s performance are conducted.

315


TABLE X FACTOR ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATIONS ABILITIES PERCEIVED TO BE IMPORTANT FOR FIRMS’ PERFORMANCE CommunicationsAbilities Affordability of additional phone lines. Ability to handle variable telephone traffic throughout the day or week (ex. numerous calls on Monday mornings and Friday afternoons). Ability of customers to easily get in touch with you (ex. telephone line busy). Ease of locating customer information when needed. Ability to service customers (present or potential), in different locations effectively. Ability to efficiently get information from one location to another. Quality of communications via phone line (too much noise, static, etc.). Reducing the instances of “playing telephone tag.” Lack of justification for an additional phone line. Ability to transfer information via modem quickly. Ability to quickly transfer documents via facsimile machine. Quality of documents received via facsimile. (ex. quality picture/paper). Ensuring that the modem does not automatically disconnect with incoming phone call. Ability of persons at more than one location to simultaneously examine documents (ex. for editing, signatures, etc.). Reliability for each factor

A. The Principal Components Analysis Factor analysis is used here to group the set of communications problems, which covary together, and maximally separates them from one another to identify different constructs which are further used as independent variables in a regression analysis. This technique is used to examine the underlying groupings of items with the intent to identify meaningful, interpretable composite factors of the problems and abilities that can parsimoniously describe the data for these constructs. To assess whether the items on the questionnaire constituted different types of problems, principal components factor analysis was performed on the 14 items in the questionnaire. Without specifying the number of factors, three factors were extracted for the communications problems using the rule where eigenvalue is greater than one, as usually recommended when deriving principal component factors [39]. The loadings of the 14 items on each factor (only factor loadings greater than 0.40 are considered) are provided in Table IX. The varimax rotation of the solution suggested that these factors, represented by high factor loadings, cumulatively accounted for 56% of the variance. Reliability, which measures the internal consistency of the items, was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. The alpha values, given in Table IX, indicated that the 14 communications problems had an overall reliability of 0.89. The reliability of each factor ranged from 0.68 to 0.83. The first factor can be named “voiceldata communications problems,” as it contains statements that indicate problems with transmission of voice and data. Factor 2 is named “datddocument transfer problems” because it primarily represents problems with communications equipment, such as fax and modems. Factor 3 is labeled “limited price/performance tradeoffs” to the telecommuters, which suggests that currently the benefits of effective communications systems come with substantial costs and risks. Similarly, a principal components analysis, followed by a varimax rotation, was utilized to determine the underlying structure of the set of items constituting the communications

Factor I 0.8203 0.7908

Factor 2

0.785 0.7438 0.6897 0.6437 0.6134 0.608 1

0.3486

0.3592

0.6 0.3413

0.8222 0.793 0.767 0.7611 0.6103

0.9274

0.8694

TABLE XI ITEMSMEASURING FIRMS’PERFORMANCE RELATIVE TO MAJOR COMPETITORS-MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS; R = 258 Performance Measure Mean St. Dev. Revenue growth over the last three years 3.54 0.903 Service quality as perceived by customers 4.035 0.787 Net profit 3.394 0.939 Cash flow from ooeration 7 44 0 919 Aggregate Mean and St. Dev. of perf. measures I 3.624 I 0.744 Notes: Response Scale: (1) much worse than competition, (2) worse than competition, (3) same as competition, (4) better than competition, (5) much better than competition.

abilities. The results reported in Table X suggest that these abilities can essentially be represented by two factors on which all the items load. These two factors significantly accounted for 66% of the variance in the communications abilities. The reliability coefficients, given in Table X for all items (0.94) and for both factors (0.93 and 0.88, respectively), were considered quite acceptable for empirical research of this nature [39]. Factors were named based on the inherent construct identified from the item loadings. Factor 1 is composed of abilities that deal with improved customer service through better and/or more affordable communications abilities. This factor is called “enhanced voiceldata communications.” Factor 2 is composed of abilities that are related to the quality of communications services. This factor is called “enhanced datddocument transfer ability.” Telecommuters’ effectiveness was measured in terms of their firms’ performance. Telecommuters who are employed or own their own business were asked to rate the performance of their firms. In a case where a telecommuter worked for a firm which s h e did not own and s h e also owned a business, s h e was asked to answer these questions about the business that s h e owned. Firms’ performance was measured using a four-item scale which asked telecommuters to assess how the performance of their firm compared to their major competitors using a five-point range (anchored from 1-much worse than


316

Factor Voice/data communications problems Datddocument transfer problems Limited price/performance tradeoffs Enhanced voice/data transfer ability Enhanced daddocument transfer ability

Mean 2.1729 1.8146 1.8805 3.0583 2.4895

Standard Deviation 0.8306 0.807 0.8078 1.1564 1.1916

competition to 5-much better than competition). Table XI shows the items measuring firms’ performance relative to major competitors. B. Correlation and Regression Analysis

Table XI1 show the results of the correlation analysis between problems and abilities of communications technologies. This result suggests that all three factors representing the communications problems are negatively and significantly related to the firms’ performance. These “negative” findings suggest that as the likelihood of occurrence of communications problems increases, there is a tendency for their firm’s performance to be worse than the competition. Table XI1 also suggests that both types of communications abilities (i.e., enhanced voice/data communications and enhanced datddocument transfer capabilities) are significantly and positively correlated with firms’ performance. This implies that teleconimuters who perceived these abilities as important for their firms’ effectiveness also reported that their firms’ performance tends to be better, or much better, than their major competitors. Therefore, the correlation analysis supports our initial arguments that for small firms: 1) problems associated with communications technologies will tend to have a negative impact on their performance; 2) communications abilities have an important positive impact on their performance; and 3) a direct link exists between communications abilities and their performance. Table XI1 also displays the results of a regression analysis. The dependent variable, firms’ performance, is regressed on the problems and abilities of communications technologies. As can be seen from the results in Table XII, the communications problems and abilities account for 43% of the variance in the criterion variable, and thus provides a reasonable stariing point for explaining firms’ performance with respect to use of communications technologies. The results also suggest that the communications abilities are important for enhancing firms’ effectiveness and tend to be more powerful predictors of firms’ performance than communications problems.

Correlation with

Firms’P e r f o m n e e [.4633] [.4265] [.2343] 0.4847 0.4633

Standard Regression CoefJicients [.2137] [.18091

[.1535] 0.2233 0.2376

&Value

t-Prob.

[2.61]*

0.0095 0.0402 0.0977 0.0025 0.011

[2.06]** [1.66]*** 3.05” 2.56**

A. Technology Providers The technology providers must deal with extraordinary marketing decisions, given the changing face of the marketplace, i.e., the rapid increase in advanced technologies, customer demands, and escalating governmental regulations. This paper provides an approach for identifying voice and data communications needs, and a measure of market potential for the new communications technologies services. The study indicates that the perception of 1) business owners and nonbusiness owners, and 2) people living in rural, suburban and urban areas, viz-a-viz communications technologies and their capabilities differ significantly. This implies that the communications technologies’ vendors should market and advertise specific features of their services to certain segments of their customers by identifying which group with common characteristics share the same communications needs. Technology providers should also develop help and customer support systems appropriately, since a standardized customer service program cannot satisfy the needs of all telecommuters. Accordingly, in order to deliver the customized help, employees need to have customized training programs. B. Managers

This study has shown that: 1) firms can improve their performance through effective use of communications technologies in facilitating telecommuting; 2) an increasing number of firms are likely to implement telecommuting programs in the near future because of the potential of the new communications technologies to meet telecommuters’ communications needs; and 3) the performance of a firm is significantly related to the problems and abilities of its communications technologies. It is, therefore, reasonable to assume that telecommuting will spread even more while the technology continues to develop. As mentioned before, managers are barrier to telecommuting because of mistrust that telecommuters could be as productive while unsupervised. This clearly suggests that employers implementing telecommuting programs in their firms should pay special attention to the issues regarding employee loyalty and the feeling of corporate identity.

C. University Community VI. DISCUSSION AND

IMPLICATIONS

This paper has interesting implications for technology providers, managers, university community, and researchers.

This study has shown that telecommuting will experience a tremendous growth because of the potential of the new communications technologies to fill telecommuters’ communi-


cations needs, and that an increasing number of telecommuters will perform their business activities from their homes. Therefore, the university community must design new graduate and executive programs for employees to take advantage of the new communication technologies. As recently argued by Ives [17], “We must prepare our students for the IT world of the future, not the world of the past. Not only must we reshape our curriculum, but we must take a very hard look at the market we are serving.” Physically, attending class is inefficient at best and impossible for many working people, while at the same time the consumer requires greater flexibility in managing the conflicting demands of family, work, and study. Our educational system needs to be more creative in how it conducts its business. Therefore, it is time to offer a full range of college courses using the new communications technologies. Educational programs must reflect the ability of students to interact with the new technologies. This can be achieved by embedding the use of the new technologies in their course work. Neither private-sector nor public-sector programs currently exist to facilitate this transformation, yet the basic concepts and the technology do exist. This will assume even greater importance as the new communications technologies will make it possible to export jobs to other countries.

D. Researchers For researchers, this paper has provided an empirical study of large (375 business and residential) groups of telecommuters on the relationship among communications’problems and abilities and firms’ performance. The results of this study provides information that will allow further analysis on communications’ problems that the residential and the small businesses are facing, and possible solutions. The results, however, must be treated with caution due to some inherent limitations. First, the distinction between self-employed (business owner) and employee status is less clear for telecommuters than for conventional workers, because of employer’s practices and because of conflicting definitions administered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the US Department of Labor [52].Several telecommuters are unwilling to accept that they work at home because, in many instances, they are a part of the underground economy and fear revealing the existence of work that was not reported to IRS. On the other hand, some respondents may fabricate an at-home business or athome work to acquire tax advantages. Second, the data was collected from residential and business customers of a regional phone company in the southern states of the United States. This helped increase the internal validity of the research by minimizing the effects of differences among states. However, this limited the generalizability of the results, especially since states within the United States may differ with respect to traffic congestion, officehousing cost, progress in telecommunication with respect to high-speed transmission lines, multimedia technology, etc. Kraut [27] argued that research on telecommuters’ characteristics requires a large sample, which is often beyond the means of standard small scale academic research. Third, the distinction among urban, suburban, and rural was selfreported and may carry response errors. Future research may

317

build on this study through replications in other states by using objective measures for the business and the residential classification. VII. CONCLUSION The findings indicate that, although the new communications technologies’ services have potential benefits to a diverse base of both residential and small business telecommuters, there are differences (in problems and abilities) based on business situations (business owner versus nonowner) and residential classification (urban, suburban, rural). These differences, are not focused on specific groups, e.g., business owner versus nonbusiness owner, or on specific problemdabilities. Depending on both business situation and residential classification, the nature of problems and the abilities perceived to be important vary. This study has also found that some problems are significantly and negatively correlated with the telecommuters’ effectiveness measured in terms of their firms’ performance, and that other abilities are also significantly and positively correlated with firms’ performance. These results give further credence to the crucial importance of communications technologies to a firms’ performance, and to the role that the new communications technologies services can play in the competitive positioning of small businesses in Ihe near future.

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Yash P. Gupta received the Ph.D degree from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom He is presently Dean in the College of Business, University of Colorado at Denver. He was previously a professor at the University of Louisville and the University of Manitoba He has published in numerous journals, including the International Journal of Production Research, European Journal of Operational Research, Computers and Operations Research, Decision Sciences, International Journal of the Production and Operations Management Society, IEEE Transactions on Relinbility, Information Systems Research, and the Journal of Manufactunng Systems.

Jahangir Karimi received the Ph.D. degree in management information systems from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1983 He is presently Associate Professor of Information Systems at the College of Business, University of Colorado at Denver. During the 1993-1994 academc year, he was on sabbatical leave at the University of Hong Kong’s Deparrment of Computer Science. He has published in IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Management Information Systems Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Management Information Systems, and several conference proceedings His research interests include information technology management in national and international environments, informahon systems modeling, analysis and design, software engineering, and telecommuting Dr. K a n m is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Computlng Society, and the Society for Information Management

Toni M. Somers received the M B A degree from Bowling Green State University and the Ph D degree from the University of Toledo She is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of Finance and Business Economcs at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI She has published in many journals, including IEEE Transactions on Relrabrl

ity, European Journal of Operational Research, and INFOR Her current research interests include man ufacturing and strategy, TQM, and management information systems Dr. Somers is a men11ier of DSI, POMS, and INFORMS