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Why some firms adopt telecommuting while others do not: A contingency perspective
Author(s) -
Mayo Margarita,
Pastor JuanCarlos,
GomezMejia Luis,
Cruz Cristina
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.20322
Subject(s) - telecommuting , contingency , business , contingency theory , organizational commitment , perspective (graphical) , leadership style , workforce , marketing , transactional leadership , internationalization , industrial organization , economics , management , linguistics , chemistry , philosophy , artificial intelligence , electronics , computer science , international trade , economic growth
Using a contingency perspective and data from 122 CEOs of Spanish firms, this paper examines what makes a firm likely to adopt telecommuting. We hypothesized that employer adoption of telecommuting would depend on organizational constraints (age and size of the firm), the international composition of the workforce, and the top executives' leadership style. In turn, we argue that firms adopting telecommuting would emphasize outcome‐based control systems. Our empirical evidence showed that telecommuting correlated with small organizational size, a high proportion of international employees, and variable compensation. A contingent reward leadership style at the top moderated the effects of firm age and internationalization on the adoption of telecommuting. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.