This thesis investigated patterns in, and perceptions of, labour force participation (LFP) amongst a group of mothers with dependent children. A mixed-methods (i.e. questionnaires, interviews and documentary evidence), single case study approach involving a series of three studies, was utilised, involving employees and ex-employees from the Queensland University of Technology. Using questionnaire data (N = 283), Study One explored the predictive value of seven structural (age of youngest child, education, childcare costs, wages, partner's income, number of children and social security payments) and four attitudinal (attitudes towards working mothers, sex-role attitudes, attitudes towards exclusive maternal care and career salience) factors, in a hierarchical logistic regression model using full-time / part-time work status as the dependent variable. Associations between these factors and hours worked, were also tested for a sub-sample of women with under school aged children (N = 112). Results showed that the factors leading to greater LFP for both samples were having older children, less access to social security payments and more liberal attitudes towards working mothers. Lower levels of partner's income also predicted full-time status for the larger sample and more liberal attitudes towards exclusive maternal care was associated with hours worked for women with under school aged children. Study Two explored the way in which women with under school aged children describe the influences, benefits and trade-offs associated with their LFP decisions. Analysis of data from interviews with a sub-sample of women from Study One, indicated four major categories of issues influenced LFP decisions and/or contributed to benefits or trade-offs following on from those decisions. These categories included financial issues, personal independence, work-related issues and value of maternal care. The salience of this issues varied across groups of at-home, part-time and full-time working mothers. The most important consideration for at-home women was the emphasis on caring for their children themselves, as opposed to using familial or formal childcare. Part-time women appeared to be the most satisfied with their work and parenting arrangements, because they could fulfil their roles as wives and mothers, but also benefit from spending autonomy and competence, by engaging in paid work. Full-time women reported greater opportunities in the workplace than part-time women, although they experienced substantial ambivalence about their full-time status. This conflict was ameliorated by the availability of flexible work and when partner's had reduced working hours. Based on the salience of work-related factors reported in Study Two, Study Three explored the degree of consistency between the espoused values evident in organisational work-family policy documentation and women's reported experiences of these policies (N = 24). For example, options such as flexible work arrangements and part-time work appear to promote values related to balance and integration of the work and family spheres. However, interview data suggests women's experiences of part-time work were inconsistent with assumptions about job commitment and career progression. The research extends the current understanding of the range of variables that influence maternal LFP and the processes by which LFP decisions are made. The findings are interpreted in light of a number of existing theoretical perspectives, as well as suggesting a preliminary model of decision-making that could be tested in other groups of women in future studies. The current research may also inform public policy on issues such as childcare and social security allowances and organisational human resource policy in terms of the implementation of work-family options.

Thesis (MTech (Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University, 2016. / Climate change imposes indisputable burdens on economic development by significantly causing damage to the environment. In the transportation sector, carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles are seen as top environmental pollutants around the world and in South Africa. Despite increasing environmental issues, many people, including business leaders, generally think of environmental issues as disconnected from their everyday business lives and behavioural patterns. The Republic of South Africa as a member of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) encourages any practices and processes that will control, reduce or prevent anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The adoption of telecommuting for travel reduction can impact positively on environmental sustainability by reducing the amount of commuter driving and thus reducing carbon emissions. Telecommuting is an arrangement where an employee works from home or out of office using telecommunication links (internet, email and/or telephone) to reduce commuting to and from the office, enhance productivity in the organisation, and reduce office space requirements. However, despite the well documented benefits of telecommuting, the uptake of telecommuting in South Africa is slow. This study falls under the Green Information Technology research field. The aim of the study is to identify the reasons behind the slow adoption of telecommuting in South African organisations. The study followed embedded multiple-case studies. Qualitative data were collected from nine companies using semi-structured interviews with 19 participants comprising of Information Technology (IT) and Human Resource (HR) managers, telecommuters and non-telecommuters. The companies were selected to be as diverse as possible in the operating sector and both purposive and snowball strategies were used.

The pandemic has had significant effects on our society overall. This has meant organizations have been forced to rethink their structure and work arrangement. Our object of study is the imposed and fast changes to work arrangement, our case has been a municipal organization. Employees have been interviewed to give us insight into their experiences of working during these conditions and how they anticipate working in the future. Our results show that the organization has successfully adapted to these changes and become more of a distributed organization that relies heavily on Teams to perform its communication and collaboration tasks. The work arrangement has had positive effects on efficiency; however, this has affected their sociality and their groups have become smaller. The anticipated future seems to be more of a hybrid organization, which allows for both remote work and co-located work. These findings are relevant for organizations going through a similar transformation in order to get insight from our findings to help them in their process.

Telecommuting, or working away from the office, has during the covid-19 pandemic proved both challenging and advantageous. The new prerequisites and lessons learned has led companies to adopt Hybrid Virtual Models (HVM), a combination between in office work and telecommuting. The purpose of this study has been to analyze this new way of working in order to provide practitioners with important insight into the implications and possibilities with HVM. The theoretical contribution consists of broadening scarce theoretical coverage by highlighting important aspects for its implementation and usage. Empirical data has been gathered using an abductive method and indicates that voluntary HVM leads to increased organizational performance in terms of less sick days and increased employer attractiveness as a result of being highly desired. Concluded in the study is that a balance between office work and flexible telecommuting is the best way to organize to meet the demands of the future. / Pandemin flyttade mycket av verksamheten från kontoret till anställdas hem. I takt med att restriktionerna lättas ställs företagen inför frågan hur de ska organisera sig givet de nya förutsättningarna. Distansarbete har visat vara både utmanande och fördelaktigt. Detta har lett till att företagen infört virtuella hybridmodeller (HVM). En kombination av arbete på kontoret och på distans. Studiens syfte har varit att analysera detta nya sätt att arbeta för att ge branschverksamma viktiga insikter om konsekvenser och möjligheter med hybridorganisering. Det teoretiska bidraget breddar det tidigare knapphändiga teoretiska underlaget genom att belysa aspekter för hybridarbetets genomförande och användning. Empirisk data har samlats in genom en abduktiv metod och visar att HVM tenderar att öka prestation på grund av färre sjukdagar och image av att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Studien kommer fram till att en balans mellan kontorsarbete och distansarbete är det bästa sättet att organisera sig för att möta framtidens krav

No description available.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka om det fanns ett samband mellan upplevd möjlighet till flexibla arbetsarrangemang och arbetstillfredsställelse, samt att se om variansen i arbetstillfredsställelse bäst predicerades av temporal eller spatial flexibilitet. Data samlades in genom en digital enkät där arbetstillfredsställelse mättes genom mätverktyget Minnesota Satisfaction Questionaire (MSQ) och flexibla arbetsarrangemang mättes genom New Ways of Working Scale. Resultatet visade att temporal- och spatial flexibilitet var signifikant positivt korrelerade med arbetstillfredsställelse. Resultatet visade även att prediktorerna temporal- och spatial flexibilitet tillsammans kunde förklara en signifikant del av variansen i arbetstillfredsställelse men att det endast var spatial flexibilitet som ensam kunde förklara en signifikant del. Resultatet kan ses som en indikation på att det flexibla arbetsarrangemanget med dess innebörd om ökad autonomi och kontroll har en positiv inverkan på arbetstagares arbetstillfredsställelse och kan därför således användas i konkurrenssyfte av arbetsgivare för att bibehålla och attrahera ny personal. / The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between flexible work arrangement and job satisfaction, and to determine whether the variance in job satisfaction was better predicted by temporal or spatial flexibility. Data were collected through a digital survey, where job satisfaction was measured using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and flexible work was measured using the New Ways of Working Scale. The results showed that both temporal and spatial flexibility were significantly correlated with job satisfaction. Furthermore, the predictors of temporal and spatial flexibility together accounted for a significant part of the variance, but it was only spatial flexibility that could independently explain a significant part. These findings indicate that flexible work, with its implications of increased autonomy and control, has a positive impact on employees' job satisfaction. Therefore, it can be utilized by employers as a competitive advantage to retain and attract new personnel.

No description available.

Bakgrund: Covid-19 pandemin skapade en förändring i organisationers arbete, då allmänna råd var att arbetsgivare skulle möjliggöra ett distansarbete. Detta innebar en intensifiering i användandet av flexibla arbetsarrangemang. FWA var tidigare inget prioriterat arbetssätt i organisationer, men det blev snabbt en nödvändighet för att kunna fortsätta bedriva verksamheter. FWA möjliggörs med hjälp av digitala hjälpmedel, och under pandemin påskyndades även utvecklingen av tekniken. Den digitala tekniken gör att individer kan utföra sitt arbete på alternativa platser och under olika tider, detta förhållande regleras inte till samma utsträckning som när organisationer enbart arbetar på kontoret. Den ökade användningen av FWA har påverkat organisationer positivt men det har även inneburit nya utmaningar. Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka och därmed öka förståelsen för hur anställda i organisationer upplevt och arbetat med flexibla arbetsarrangemang före, under och efter pandemin.  Metod: Studien grundas i en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer, genom intervjuerna har författarna erhållit empirin. Det har även samlats in sekundärdata från olika källor som vetenskapliga artiklar. Empiri och Slutsats: Respondenternas svar på intervjufrågorna presenteras i empirin där författarna lyfter olika citat och sammanfattar olika ståndpunkter som lyfts fram under intervjuerna. I slutsatsen framförs det hur avgörande den digitala tekniken är för ett arbete med FWA, samt vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som finns i ett arbete med FWA och hur det kan utspela sig i framtiden. / Background: The Covid-19 pandemic created a change in the work of organizations, as general advice was that employers should enable teleworking. This generated an intensification in the use of flexible work arrangements. FWA was previously not a priority approach in organizations, but it quickly became a necessity to be able to continue running businesses. FWA is made possible with the help of digital aids, and during the pandemic, the development of technology was also accelerated. Digital technology allows individuals to perform their work in alternative locations and at different times, this relationship is not regulated to the same extent as when organizations only work in the office. The increased use of FWA has had a positive effect on organizations, but it has also entailed new challenges. Purpose: The thesis aims to investigate and thereby increase the understanding of how employees in organizations experienced and worked with flexible work arrangements before, during and after the pandemic. Method: The study is based on a qualitative method with semi-structured interviews, through the interviews the authors have gained empiricism. This also collected secondary data from various sources such as scientific articles. Empirical and Conclusion: The respondents' answers to the interview questions are presented in the empirical work, where the authors highlight different quotes and summarize different points of view that are highlighted during the interviews. The conclusion highlights how crucial digital technology is for working with FWA, as well as what challenges and opportunities there are in working with FWA and how it can play out in the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic will significantly transform workplace dynamics, resulting in a notable surge in remote work environments. This qualitative grounded theory study aims to investigate the impact of distributed work arrangements on employee engagement within the evolving work landscape. To accomplish this, the study will employ semi-structured interviews, a demographic survey, as well as research tools such as Zoom and NVivo. The research will be conducted within the United States, with a sample comprising human resources managers and employees representing diverse industries. The primary objective of this study will be to gain an in-depth understanding of how distributed work arrangements influence employee engagement, considering the unique circumstances and challenges that will arise in the evolving work landscape. By employing a qualitative grounded theory approach, the research aims to generate theories and conceptual frameworks that can inform organizational practices and policies related to remote work.The study will employ purposive sampling techniques to recruit a diverse sample of HR managers and employees from various industries within the United States. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted to gather rich and nuanced data, enabling participants to share their experiences, perceptions, and challenges related to distributed work arrangements. Furthermore, a demographic survey will supplement the interview data, offering additional insights into the background characteristics of the participants. Zoom will serve as the primary platform for conducting semi-structured interviews, facilitating participation from individuals across the country and enabling them to engage effectively, regardless of geographical constraints. NVivo, a qualitative data analysis software, will organize, code, and analyze the interview transcripts and survey data. This study will identify emerging themes, patterns, and relationships, contributing to developing a grounded theory. The findings of this study are expected to shed light on the factors that will shape employee engagement and distributed work arrangements, including communication, collaboration, autonomy, work-life balance, and organizational support. These insights will inform organizations about strategies to enhance employee engagement in the future work environment, resulting in improved productivity, job satisfaction, and overall well-being. The study described in this research proposal seeks to make a substantial contribution to the body of knowledge on remote work by thoroughly examining the impact of distributed work arrangements on employee engagement. The findings are expected to empower organizations to make well-informed decisions regarding their remote work policies and practices in the future. Dissemination of these findings will be accomplished through scholarly papers and presentations, ensuring that the insights reach a wide and relevant audience. / Business Administration/Human Resource Management

The purpose of the study was to investigate how individuals with access to flexible work arrangements (FWA) perceive their job satisfaction and whether computer skills had any impact on this relationship. Data collection was conducted through a Google survey questionnaire. The measurement instrument was based on MSQ to collect job satisfaction data and a questionnaire from a previous study regarding computer skills. The survey was then distributed to employees of a governmental agency for their responses. The study included 52 participants, whose responses were analysed using multiple regression analysis in SPSS, with computer skills used as a moderating variable, flexible work arrangements as an independent variable, and job satisfaction as a dependent variable. This aimed to explore any potential connection between job satisfaction and flexible work arrangements (FWA), as well as the influence of computer proficiency. The study's results revealed no significant correlation between FWA and job satisfaction. However, it was found that in the context of FWA, there was a significant correlation between computer proficiency and job satisfaction. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur personer med möjlighet till flexibla arbetsarrangemang (FWA) upplever sin arbetstillfredsställelse samt om datorvana har någon påverkan på detta samband. Metoden som användes för att samla in data var en enkät via Google survey. Mätinstrumentet baserades på MSQ för att samla in data gällande arbetstillfredsställelse och en enkät från en tidigare studie kring datorvana. Enkäten skickades sedan ut till en statlig myndighet där personalen fick svara. Studien hade 52 deltagare där svaren analyserades genom en multipel regressionsanalys i SPSS där datorvana användes som en modererande variabel, flexibla arbetsarrangemang som en oberoende variabel och arbetstillfredsställelse som en beroende variabel. Detta för att kunna se om det fanns någon koppling mellan arbetstillfredsställelse och flexibla arbetsarrangemang (FWA) men även om datorvana har en effekt på detta. Resultatet av studien visade inget relevant samband mellan FWA och arbetstillfredsställelse. Däremot så visade det sig att vid FWA (Flexibla arbetsarrangemang) så fanns det ett signifikant samband mellan datorvana och arbetstillfredsställelse.