This study investigated whether the percentage of time that weekly employees spend in virtual workspaces is related to job satisfaction (JS), organizational commitment (OC), perceived supervisor support (PSS) and perceived coworker support (PCS). One hundred thirty-five virtual workers employed by 1 of 5 large, privately owned companies reported the percentage of their work time spent performing virtual work and completed 4 instruments to measure JS, OC, PSS, and PCS. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression, multivariate multiple regression, and multivariate analysis of variance. Results showed that virtual workers who spent 75% or more of their time engaged in virtual work had higher JS, OC, and PSS than virtual workers who spent 25% or less of their work time working virtually. No relationship was found between the percentage of time spent working virtually and PCS. Results were also examined to determine whether gender or age moderated any of the relationships found between the percentage of time working virtually and organizational outcomes. Neither gender nor age moderated the relationships observed. The study results showed that as employee time performing virtual work increases, employee and corporate benefits also increase in large, privately owned companies. The results of the study have several potential implications for positive social change for organizations, employees, and society as a whole by providing information to organizations considering increasing the percentage of time employees spend engaging in virtual work, helping society determine how performing virtual work affects an employee's well-being, potentially providing insight to employees regarding the pros and cons of virtual work.

The problem is that traditional jobs have been office-based, with close supervision. In the Virtual Office (VO) situation managers have a resistance towards the managing of the workforce because they do not know how to manage virtual workers off-site, workers that they cannot see. They feel that managing virtual workers off-site places a huge burden on them. The biggest difference is the shift in management style from direct control to management of results. The biggest challenge for most organisations is to manage the workforce of the VO. The objectives of this research project are to determine how managers can manage a virtual workforce, improve communication and control the workforce. Comprehensive research has been done on the topic VO that includes articles from magazines, newspapers, Internet and textbooks. As sufficient reference resources are not available in South Africa the research was especially based on USA reference resources, due to the reported successful implementation of Virtual Offices in that country. Managers can effective management a virtual workforce by making use of MBO and not by monitoring activities. They can improve communication with the workforce by staying connected and they can control the workforce through feedback and support. This research has proved that the paradigm shift in the corporate world of work, any time, anywhere, in real space or in cyberspace is here to stay. Virtual workers and managers working away from the office is now a reality, and will become more common in the future. Companies who wait for the future to allow the VO to effectively take shape may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Now is the time for companies to create the conditions for the VO to emerge. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

The problem is that traditional jobs have been office-based, with close supervision. In the Virtual Office (VO) situation managers have a resistance towards the managing of the workforce because they do not know how to manage virtual workers off-site, workers that they cannot see. They feel that managing virtual workers off-site places a huge burden on them. The biggest difference is the shift in management style from direct control to management of results. The biggest challenge for most organisations is to manage the workforce of the VO. The objectives of this research project are to determine how managers can manage a virtual workforce, improve communication and control the workforce. Comprehensive research has been done on the topic VO that includes articles from magazines, newspapers, Internet and textbooks. As sufficient reference resources are not available in South Africa the research was especially based on USA reference resources, due to the reported successful implementation of Virtual Offices in that country. Managers can effective management a virtual workforce by making use of MBO and not by monitoring activities. They can improve communication with the workforce by staying connected and they can control the workforce through feedback and support. This research has proved that the paradigm shift in the corporate world of work, any time, anywhere, in real space or in cyberspace is here to stay. Virtual workers and managers working away from the office is now a reality, and will become more common in the future. Companies who wait for the future to allow the VO to effectively take shape may find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. Now is the time for companies to create the conditions for the VO to emerge. / Business Management / M. Tech. (Business Administration)