ABSTRACT
Over the last twenty years, the emergent work trends of teleworking and service management have evolved in parallel although developed from differing philosophy. Teleport development has tended to take a systems perspective, with a focus on how organisations can improve internal work processes and reduce costs through structural redesign and technological support. Teleworking employees’ jobs are physically changed, in terms of location, personal interaction, reporting procedures, direct supervision, etc. Service management considers the role of individuals and their behaviour toward affecting external customer perceptions of quality; thus, the emphasis is on employees who have contact with customers, supported through redesign of their job functions and methods of supervision. Customer contact employees themselves may be psychologically changed due to expanded responsibilities. Although the perspectives behind these two work approaches may be different (systematic and structural versus individual and interpersonal), teleport and service management may be quite complementary, such that each adds value to the operations of the other and to the organisation as a whole.
