Alternative Work Arrangements Research Articles

TWO STUDIES EXAMINING THE INTERCONNECTED EFFECTS OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE BENEFITS, EMPLOYEE RECOMMENDATIONS, AND JOB QUALITIES ON EMPLOYEE ATTRACTION AND JOB ACQUISITION INTENT.

Our proposal is based on Spence's (1978) signaling theory, which states that companies intentionally boost their attractiveness as employers by communicating about work-life balance benefits, positive employee recommendations, and highly desirable job attributes. In order to test these theories, we do two experiments. Findings from our initial study corroborate the combined and direct effects of these factors on an applicant's attractiveness as an employer. In a two-part, two-level collaborative design, we were able to do this by using carefully crafted scenarios to manage and impact the positive effects of work-life balance, employee ideas, and job attributes. A total of 320 MBA students from India were polled for this data. Examining information gathered from 360 Indian graduates of MBA programs using a 3x2x2 cross-subject design, Study 2 assessed the impact of three unique alternative work arrangements.

TEARS OF HOPE: THE PLIGHT OF WORKING STUDENTS UNDER TVL-LATE AFTERNOON PROGRAM

This study investigated the challenges faced by working students enrolled in the Technical Vocational Livelihood Late-Afternoon Program (TVL-LAP) and examined the impact of their employment on their academic performance. The research design employed was descriptive-qualitative, using a phenomenological approach to capture the participants' authentic stories and experiences through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Thematic analysis using Creswell’s (2013) six steps in the qualitative data analysis process was applied to identify prominent patterns within the interviews, which were categorized according to the main themes and core ideas. After the data analysis, three (3) essential themes emerged across all the study questions. Essential themes in the experiences and challenges focused on providing for economic needs, meeting multiple demands, and seeking consideration. Self-motivation, finding time to study, and compassionate teachers and peers were revealed as essential themes in coping mechanisms. Commitment to goals in life, the value of support from God and others, and helping oneself surfaced in shared insights. Findings suggest that providing flexible schedules or alternative work arrangements, offering academic support services, encouraging peer support groups, and providing training and support in time management and problem-solving can help students become more resourceful and efficient in balancing academic and work responsibilities.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0758/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

The gig verse: building a sustainable future

Purpose Despite the popularity of gig employment amid the changing business landscape, gig scholarship is somewhat limited and the untold reality about gig is yet to be fully revealed. This study aims to critically address the nature of gig employment, its ambiguities, evolution, theoretical premises and the appropriate future road ahead. Design/methodology/approach This paper adopts a dual analytical approach – bibliometric and thematic analyses. After incorporating the exclusion–inclusion criteria, the authors identified 2,135 articles for the bibliometric analyses by using VOSviewer. Additionally, for the deep-delving synthesis, the authors conducted thematic analyses following Braun and Clarke (2006), based on 351 papers. Findings The findings revealed that gig work, in its different forms, is emerging as an alternative work arrangement with respect to the future of work. This study also identified multilevel perspectives of gig employment along with its holistic nomological network. Finally, this study offers some critical research directions that should help enhance the theoretical and practical strengths of this nascent scholarship in future. Research limitations/implications The review findings are limited in nature owing to the paucity of quality research papers published in the said domain. Practical implications The paper brings more clarity to what gig is and isn’t, along with its critical perspectives from multilevel lenses. Originality/value This paper identifies critical perspectives related to gig work and suggests appropriate directions for future gig work related scholarship.

Legitimacy versus incentives: Explaining the difference between early and late union responses to nonstandard employment in the Netherlands

With the spread of alternative work arrangements across European labor markets, union responses to nonstandard employment have increasingly received scholarly attention. Based on a process-tracing analysis of the Netherlands between 1971 and 1996, I propose an alternative framework for understanding the divergence between early and late union responses to nonstandard employment. Rather than a choice between cooperation with management or outsiders, this case study shows that trade unions initially faced a dilemma between a legitimacy-based and an incentive-based strategy when nonstandard employment took off. Whereas the first strategy is inherently exclusive, the latter allows for more inclusive union responses. Contrary to the incentive-based strategy, the attractiveness of the legitimacy-based strategy decreases with higher levels of nonstandard employment, explaining why inclusive union responses typically become more dominant over time.

Opening the Black Box of Self-Employment: Identifying Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States

Opening the Black Box of Self-Employment: Identifying Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States

Exploring the endogenous effects among car dependency, work arrangement choice, and daily travel using the 2017 NHTS data

The paper presents an effort in investigating the cause-effect relationships among telecommuting, car dependency, and trip making behavior. Data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) was used to develop a structural equations model (with latent constructs) to examine the endogenous effects between the decision to telework, the degree of car dependency, and the number of daily trips. Using confirmatory factor analysis, car dependency was measured by vehicle ownership, annual mileage, and car use frequency. The model provided interesting insights. Car dependency had a negative (both direct and total) impact on telework, an inference that confirms the role of car dependency as a resistant factor against alternative work arrangements and potentially any other new tech-based policies. In the opposite direction and surprisingly, telework encouraged car dependency, which might indicate that teleworkers tended to utilize the relaxed temporal-spatial constraints for non-work trips, and they were unlikely to give up private vehicle ownership simply because of their option to telecommute. Second, number of daily trips tended to increase the probability to telework, confirming the positive endogenous role of daily activity patterns on work arrangement decisions in a daily framework. Lastly, the significant negative impact of telework on daily trips was positively mediated through car dependency, leading to a smaller negative total impact on daily trips. Our study confirms that the association between telework and trip generation is quite a complex and multi-faceted relationship, leaving the argument regarding whether or not telework increases the number of daily trips as a debatable topic that calls for further exploration.

Alternative work arrangements: Individual, organizational and environmental outcomes

Flexible working models are widely used around the world. Furthermore, several countries are currently transitioning to a 4-day workweek. These working models have significant effects on organizational behavior and the environment. The study investigates the employees' attitudes and behaviors toward flexible working and 4-day workweek and the impact on the environment. The semi-structured interview method was used in the study to determine employee attitudes and behaviors; the carbon footprint calculation method was used to determine the environmental impact of a 4-day workweek. According to the study's findings, it has been discovered that there would be a positive impact on socialization, happiness, stress factor, motivation, personal time, mental health, comfort, work-life balance, time-saving, willingness, positive working environment, personal time, and physical health. Furthermore, a 4-day workweek reduced commuting emissions by 20%, resulting in a 6,07 kg tCO2e reduction per person. As a result, the study attempted to draw attention holistically to the positive effects of the flexible working model and 4-day workweek. The study is intended to serve as a tool for decision-makers and human resource managers.

Employee preferences for working from home in Australia

We surveyed 1,113 Australian employees with jobs that have some capability of being done remotely at least some of the time. Survey respondents were presented stated preference experiments where they were offered a choice between alternative working arrangements for their present job that varied in terms of ability to work remotely and wage rates. This data was used to develop and estimate a discrete choice model of worker preferences for remote working. We found that the average worker in our sample would be willing to forego roughly 4 - 8 per cent of their annual wages to have the ability to work remotely some workdays and/or workhours. However, we found considerable heterogeneity across our sample. Roughly 55 per cent of the sample were not willing to forego wages to have the ability to work remotely, while roughly 20 per cent were willing to forego 16 - 33 per cent in annual wages for the same. We found that attitudes towards the impacts of remote working on human relations were a significant predictor of these differences. Workers who did not value the ability to work remotely were more concerned about negative impacts on their relationships with their colleagues, supervisors, and the firm as a whole, as well as opportunities for learning and career advancement.

Alternative Work Arrangements During COVID-19 and Employee Wellbeing: An HR Process Approach

Alternative Work Arrangements During COVID-19 and Employee Wellbeing: An HR Process Approach

Work and identity in direct selling: meaning from work and exploitation in an undocumented immigrant network

ABSTRACT This article examines the work identities of undocumented Mexican immigrants in the direct selling industry, an alternative work arrangement in which they selling branded products and recruit others to join them as sales consultants. Drawing on qualitative research with undocumented direct sellers in Philadelphia, this research shows that direct selling pays in meaningful work and new identities, rather than in wages. While existing research documents the importance of hard worker identities for undocumented immigrants coping with structural marginality, undocumented direct sellers believe their work offers autonomy, education, and geographic mobility. Ultimately, multi-level marketing companies profit from undocumented workers’ precarity by promising freedom from work and from the struggles of enduring illegality.

Flexible Public Service Delivery: Views, Challenges, and Prospects of Government Workers in Times of Pandemic

The alternative work arrangements implemented in public organizations at the onset of the pandemic influenced both work and life of public servants. The current study explored the advantages of alternative work arrangements adopted by the local government units in Bataan. It also determined the organizational support of the organization to their employees for the continuous effective delivery of services during the pandemic. The study employed a quantitative descriptive study via a survey questionnaire from 200 respondents, recruited through snowball sampling, from the city/municipalities and the provincial government of Bataan. Using inferential statistics, the study analyzed how the advantages of alternative work arrangements and organizational support differ considering the sociodemographic characteristics. Moreover, the study explored the association between alternative work arrangements and organizational support. Results revealed that the alternative work arrangement was relatively advantageous to the employees and that the organization was relatively supportive of the new work setup. No significant difference was observed in the advantages of alternative work arrangements in terms of the socio-demographic profile. While there was no statistical difference in organizational support, respondents with single civil status reported receiving greater support than married ones. A positive moderate correlation was observed between the alternative work arrangements and organizational support. Results indicated that almost twenty percent of the variability in the alternative work arrangement can be explained by the variability in organizational support. The findings contribute to a better understanding of alternative work arrangements and organizational support, as well as practical recommendations for increasing the benefits to employees and maintaining productivity while enjoying work-life balance. Keywords: alternative work arrangement, remote work, organizational support

An Analysis of Organizational Support for Telecommuting in Public Accounting Firms

ABSTRACT Research suggests that organizational support for alternative work arrangements (AWAs) is essential for the effective implementation of AWAs in public accounting, yet studies consistently suggest that such organizational support is lacking. Despite mass adoption of telecommuting (one type of AWA) during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent evidence suggests that firms vary greatly in the extent to which they plan to support telecommuting in the post-pandemic environment. Using a sample of 133 public accounting professionals, we explore whether several factors under the organization’s control influence perceived organizational support for telecommuting, and whether such support is linked with perceived career penalties from telecommuting usage and turnover intentions. We find that supervisor support for personal/family needs and procedural justice regarding telecommuting requirements are positively associated with perceptions of organizational support for telecommuting. Further, greater perceived organizational support for telecommuting is associated with both lower perceived career penalties from telecommuting usage and lower turnover intentions.

The Five Most Important Lessons I Learned Along the Path to Clinical Professor

Data from the Academy indicate that non-tenure track (NTT) faculty are not ascending academic ranks to the same extent as tenured/tenure-track faculty. The reasons for this are likely multifactorial but may include a lack of direction, purpose, and resources. While there is more than one way to arrive at a particular destination in academia, it seems wise to listen and learn from those who have traveled the path. In this Commentary, which is directed to new and mid-career NTT faculty, I discuss the five most important lessons I learned along the path to becoming a clinical professor. This includes the importance of humility and serving others, setting goals (and advocating for the time you need to reach them), working smart (not simply hard), taking an active role in advancing the profession, and finally, taking time away from work and seeking alternative work arrangements that promote work-life balance.

Influencing Factors of Team Effectiveness in Global Virtual Teams

Virtual teams are gaining importance because they have given organisations and employees the ability to work from anywhere in the world without relocating them. The ability to work remotely and collaborate virtually has allowed organisations to expand their reach and tap into a global talent pool. Additionally, COVID-19 has resulted in seeking alternative work arrangements, including the information technology (IT) industry. However, virtual teams also have challenges that can affect team efficiency and effectiveness. Factors such as knowledge sharing, trust, language and cultural differences, distance, and time zone differences can all impact virtual team performance. This research describes several important factors that affect global virtual team efficiency, especially in IT projects, and underlying solutions are addressed to reduce the barriers. By understanding the challenges and implementing effective solutions, organisations can leverage the benefits of virtual teams.

Benefits and Challenges of a Shortened Workweek: Creative and innovative strategies

Although employees always want flexibility, the pandemic has increased their desire for the same in their work life. Many alternative work arrangements exist (e.g., flextime, compressed workweek, shortened workweek/4-day workweek, remote work, hybrid, and job sharing). However, this study focused on a 4-day workweek. Recently, 4-day workweeks have gained momentum worldwide. In 2022, many companies piloted a 4-day workweek. Therefore, this study (1) discusses the benefits and challenges of a 4-day workweek, (2) identifies creative and innovative management strategies for implementing a 4-day workweek, and (3) indicates directions for future research.

A survival analysis of organizational turnover in the auditing profession

This study uses survival analysis to examine employee turnover in the auditing profession. Building on the Job Demands-Resources model, I analyze the impact of job characteristics (demands and resources) and personal characteristics on organizational turnover. The study is based on a survey among a sample of 309 employees who either were or had been employed in the Belgian auditing profession. At any particular point in time, excess job demands (e.g., workload) increase and job resources (e.g., organizational support for alternative work arrangements) decrease the risk of organizational turnover. Higher family involvement (personal demands) is also associated with increased turnover risk.

Keeping up with the New Normal: The Impact of Working-from-Home on the Psychological Well-Being of Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major disruption in the lives of many people around the world. In this systematic review of literature, I intend to examine how the recent pandemic impacted the psychological well-being of Filipino workers and their means of coping with the challenges of working from home. A total of nine papers were reviewed that met the set inclusion-exclusion criteria and were analyzed thematically. As shown in the existing studies, the alternative work arrangements brought positive and negative impacts on the workers' psychological well-being with improved employee engagement and experience; various challenges were rendering adverse effects. Employees use physical, social, and cognitive mechanisms to achieve work-life balance to cope with the challenges at work. Although onsite working is slowly being imposed, the possibility and feasibility of working from home remain viable for public and private offices because it was evident that workers could still maintain work productivity and carry out their tasks even remotely. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, Working from Home, Psychological Well-being, Philippines, Coping, Literature Review

Workplace gender segregation in standard and non‐standard employment regimes in the US labour market

AbstractThis study provides a comprehensive analysis of workplace gender segregation in non‐standard employment in the United States. It compares segregation in standard and three non‐standard work arrangements paying special attention to independent contracting – a segment of contingent employment representing novel and consequential developments in work organization. In line with the prediction that inequality is lower in more marketized sectors of the labour market, my analyses based on a representative sample of the contemporary US workforce reveal that workplace gender segregation is lower in non‐standard employment. I further find that the degree of segregation corresponds to the degree of attachment to the employer and that segregation is lower in segments of the economy with higher market competition. Overall, my analyses indicate that a shift towards alternative work arrangements can reduce overall workplace segregation but does not lead to uniform desegregation across occupations, and that institutions of employment and market pressures faced by employers play significant roles in the effect of alternative work arrangements on workplace segregation.

Encountering weak signals: Economic development practitioners’ perceptions of remote work arrangements

While alternative work arrangements, such as remote work, have long been part of the work landscape, their growth in recent years signifies a profound transformation in the organization of workplaces. While the pandemic has increased the visibility and diffusion of these practices, the years preceding it saw a significant rise in remote work arrangements. This study examines economic development practitioners’ perceptions of the presence and impact of remote work arrangements. It uses interviews with practitioners and remote-utilizing businesses in Connecticut to explore understandings of remote work trends. Economic development practitioners’ strategies for responding to remote work trends were also analyzed. It draws on the concepts of weak signals and maladaptive learning processes to demonstrate how alternative work arrangements, entrenched professional routines, and institutionalized mental models may hamper the ability of practitioners to detect and understand alternative work trends. Moreover, response strategies reflect traditional economic development orientations and are rationalized to support existing policy approaches. Focusing on the period before the pandemic provides insight into the factors influencing practitioners’ receptivity and responsiveness to emergent developments that have the potential to alter conventional strategies and development trajectories.

The Effect of Teleworking on Work Stress Among Non-Teaching Employees in Public Universities: A Case of the University of Nairobi and South Eastern Kenya University

Teleworking is an alternative work arrangement, where information and communication technologies enable employees to work outside the traditional working space. Work related stress can therefore spill over to the virtual offices from the traditional offices. This study aimed at finding out if teleworking had any effect on work stress among non-teaching employees in the public universities. University of Nairobi and South Eastern Kenyan University were picked to represent all other public universities. The theories guiding the study were the Organizational adaptation theory and the transactional theory of stress. The researcher used descriptive design and the target population was the senior administrative staff (grade 11 to 15), middle grades (grade A to F) and grade 1 to 4. A sample size of 357 was obtained from the target population of 3289 and questionnaires were administered. Data was presented through charts, graphs and tables. Regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between the teleworking and work stress. The results revealed that Public universities were using teleworking as an alternative way of organization work with Zoom being the most used form although there seemed to be some departments where teleworking was a challenge due to nature of work. Teleworking came with its own challenges among them being internet connectivity issues and power outages. The study concluded that teleworking had an effect on work stress among the non-teaching employees in the public universities in Kenya. Social isolation contributed most to the work stress, followed by the inability to make decisions remotely. Convenience due to Teleworking reduced the level of work stress. The study recommended that public universities should work on their ICT infrastructure to ensure that employees are well connected since network and internet connection were sighted as the most challenging issue in the teleworking. A proper reporting and feedback teleworking mechanism should be employed to ensure that feedback is received on time to facilitate action taking. Investing in training of staff is also important since it will make employees work with a lot of ease hence, less stress. Employees need to interact physically once in a while which in turn reduces stress levels. A well-organized way of working would reduce the pressure that comes with teleworking. Keywords: Teleworking, Work Stress, Non-teaching Employees, Public Universities, University of Nairobi, South Eastern Kenya University, Kenya DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/15-2-04 Publication date: January 31 st 2023