ABSTRACT
Most often, management enjoy blaming employees for the inability to get things done. ‘They can't or won't change,’ is the frequent cry of frustrated managers, desperate to find new directions for their companies. But when it comes to telework it is often the reverse. Managers and supervisors are the people who can't or won't change, usually citing lack of control and concerns about work productivity as their reasons for eyeing telework with considerable suspicion. Others, concerned that they have too much capital tied up in factories and office buildings, are reluctant to change the status quo. But as everyone knows, hesitation in the face of the economic and social changes we are going through can be disastrous. Telework — and variations of it — may not be the only solution, but it is a very distinct part of the work revolution. And with technology and cost breakthroughs making it ever more viable, organizations can ignore these sweeping developments at their peril.
A survey by UK telecommunications giant BT on why companies reject telework concluded ‘possibly the most compelling reason Is the amount of capital tied up in offices, company cars, existing communications and employment practices. But in the rapidly evolving world economy of the 20th century, organizations, like the products and services they offer, must adapt or they will rapidly become extinct.’
