It is important for corporation to maintain ¡§flexibility¡¨ in order to enhance core competitive edge and to respond to market change quickly. So to have flexible human resource measures is an important organization strategy. Since high-tech industry is going to be the trend for Taiwan, the research will begin with the high-tech industry and explore the relations between ¡§financial performance resulted from flexible work arrangement¡¨ and ¡§overall organization performance¡¨. In addition, the research will also discuss, with different organizational characteristics and various extent of manpower allocation measures, whether the financial outcome resulted from flexible human resource measures would have an impact on the overall organization financial performance outcome. Therefore, 344 questionnaires were distributed in Hsinchu Science District and high-tech companies in greater Taipei area. 69 valid questionnaires and 3 not valid questionnaires were collected in Hsinchu while 43 valid questionnaires were collected in northern Taiwan. There were in total 112 valid questionnaires. The research will analyze organization characteristics and conditions (such as the scale of business, total month of existence of the company since it was founded, capital structure, number of departments and number of rankings) with frequency distribution, descriptive statistics, and matrix. In addition, the research will also use ¡§linear association¡¨ to examine the influence ¡§the interrelations among organization background, measures¡¦ extent of flexibility, flexible measures and the extent of flexibility¡¨ has toward ¡§organization overall finance performance¡¨. On the other hand, we use ¡§related analysis¡¨ to explore the association between ¡§flexible measures¡¦ financial performance of job capacity, quantity and salary¡¨ and ¡§overall flexible finance performance¡¨. The findings are as below: 1. In the various flexible high-tech industry human resource measures, it is correlated from both the profit performance resulted from developing multi-task staff, and the overall organization profit performance. 2. It is negatively correlated between the performance resulted from non-typical employee or the fluctuated salary, and the overall organization profit performance. It can be found in the interviews that depending on the industry characteristics, the outcome of high-tech companies to out-source non-core operation and to adopt fluctuate salary is not as good as the outcome of conventional industries. 3. The more the number of departments is, the more detailed job specification is. So, by assigning these non-core operations to the non-typical employee, the cost of time and manpower can be saved and the effectiveness and efficiency can be increased. 4. The cost of hiring a foreign employee is way lower than that of hiring a native employee with similar work experience. Therefore, it can lower the human resource cost for high-tech industry to adopt high proportion of foreign employees. 5. The human resource cost here refers to ¡§salary cost, welfare cost, training cost, dismissal fee and retirement fee¡¨. In high-tech industry, it is highly emphasized on the employees¡¦ welfare and training. Employees¡¦ salary is pretty good, too. So, it should be carefully evaluated the cost of downsizing and retaining extra employees. From this we can see the significant influence of downsizing on the decrease of human resource cost. Although downsizing might jeopardize the morale, it is still a form of warning in certain way. 6. The more the number of departments is, the larger the scale of organization is. Many training cost or welfare measures can be cost-effective under the situation of larger economic scale. 7. On the other hand, from the valid questionnaire collected, we found that most non-typical staff is in the position of non-professional operations. This is different from what we found in the literature review ¡§to react to environment with flexibility, we should simplify organization design and manpower allocation, or outsource those non-core operations¡¨. Further exploration on this is required for future researchers to explore.

<p> This dissertation explores the nature and incidence of several non-standard work arrangements (NSWAs). Statistics confirm the growing prevalence of NSWAs. By 1995, less than one third of Canadian workers were employed in a single full-time, permanent job with a "normal" work schedule. Conventional wisdom suggests that the net effect of the increasing incidence of NSWAs is negative for workers. However, certain NSWAs potentially provide better work-life balance for employees and more flexible utilization of labour for employers. Thus, it is suggested that far too little attention has been paid to the varying nature of particular NSWAs. A typology of NSWAs, consisting of five dimensions and three types, is conceptualized. After examining the dataset and some preliminary data analysis, a modified typology of four dimensions and two types is presented and analyzed. In particular, the two key types of NSWAs are categorized as employee-friendly or employer-friendly. In addition to the typology, the workplace and worker characteristics that affect the incidence of NSWAs is examined.</p> <p> This dissertation has a quantitative research design, and utilizes Statistics Canada's 1999 Workplace and Employee Survey (WES). The chosen dataset and methodology also allow inferences to be made regarding employer strategies. Results suggest that job satisfaction is positively related to employee-friendly NSWAs but negatively related to employer-friendly NSWAs. When controlling for a range of worker and workplace variables, it was found that industry, occupation, gender, tenure, and employee participation are related to the incidence of NSWAs. Finally, consistent with existing research, only a tenuous link was found between workplace outcomes and the incidence of NSWAs. The implication is that the implementation of NSWAs is affected more by employers' strategic choices rather than economic necessity.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Flexible work arrangements (FWAs) are widely implemented in organizations today. Yet very little information exists about why individuals are attracted to organizations that offer FWAs. The purpose of the current study was to tease apart the influence of the dimensions of FWAs: flextime and flexplace (both structural and perceived), as well as the combination of the two on organizational attraction and anticipated organizational support. Individual difference variables that have the potential to impact individuals’ attraction to organizations that offer FWAs were also examined as moderating variables. The mediating effect of anticipated organizational support was also examined. Upper level undergraduate students (N = 190) participated in a 3x3 within-subjects experiment in which they rated nine hypothetical organizations that varied in flextime and flexplace. Results from multilevel analysis indicated that significant variance in organizational attraction as well as anticipated organizational support is attributable to the type of work arrangement offered (both flexibility in time and place), with flextime having a stronger effect than flexplace. Contrary to expectation, effects were independent; there was not a significant interaction between flextime and flexplace. The relationship between (both structural and perceived) flexplace and organizational attraction was stronger for individuals who prefer to integrate their work and nonwork roles. Additionally, the relationship between (both structural and perceived) flextime and organizational attraction was stronger for individuals who reported a stronger need for medical treatment. Finally, the relationship between perceived flextime and organizational attraction as well as the relationship between perceived flexplace and organizational attraction were stronger for those who reported more role demands. Contrary to expectation, sociability did not moderate the flexplace-organizational attraction/anticipated organizational support relationships. Limitations and future directions for research on FWAs are discussed.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Co-Chair: Hayriye Ayhan; Committee Co-Chair: Sigrun Andradottir; Committee Member: David M. Goldsman; Committee Member: Douglas G. Down; Committee Member: Robert D. Foley. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

With the increasing need for highway maintenance and the decreasingly available funds, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Austin District has sought to better utilize maintenance section employee resources by implementing a compressed workweek. The primary goal of this thesis is to establish a framework and methodology to study the effects of a compressed workweek on maintenance crews in both rural and urban environments. Secondly, this thesis will provide a background of best practices of popular flexible work arrangements, including compressed workweeks, telework, and flextime. The compressed workweek is a type of flexible work arrangement that allows employees to work longer days during a part of the week in exchange for a partial or full day off later in the week. Compressed workweeks can offer numerous benefits to maintenance crews, including increased production, less set up and shut down time per week, decreased operating costs, reduced overhead, and increased employee morale. TxDOT will implement a six-month pilot project in two rural maintenance sections and one urban section. Compressed workweeks have proven to be successful in other districts with rural maintenance sections, but application of a compressed workweek in an urban maintenance section has yet to be studied. Therefore, maintenance crew activity data from previous years will be compared to data collected during the trial period to understand changes in productivity and to estimate vehicle operating costs. Lastly, surveys of maintenance employees will be conducted throughout the study to solve any personal issues that arise as well as determine employee satisfaction with the new schedule. / text

Interest in flexible work arrangements has proliferated in the last years, fuelled by technological advancements that allow people to work from anywhere at any time. This systematic literature review explores the impact of flexibility in time and place of work on intra-group relations and subsequent effects on group-level outcomes. Findings suggest that flexibility in place of work has positive effects on employee-supervisor relationships but negative effects on co-worker relationships. Although teleworkers remain well connected to their co-workers and overall workgroup communication does not appear to change, informal socialisation processes are affected. Knowledge sharing and creation is subsequently challenged. Furthermore, managers of mixed workgroups face issues of fairness and justice as well as challenges of creating and maintaining group cohesion when some of their employees are not always present. However, little is known of how flexibility in time of work impacts intra-group relations and group outcomes from groups containing flexible workers have not been explored. This paper therefore identifies significant gaps in the literature and presents opportunities for further research.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Workers who request a flexible schedule to accommodate their biologically-determined sleep-wake cycle (chronotype) may face prejudice if supervisors perceive them, particularly “night owls”, as lazy or unconscientious. Such bias may be exacerbated in organizational cultures characterized by stability and control. Thus, chronotype bias was examined in a 2 (rigid vs. flexible organizational norms) X 3 (morningness chronotype, eveningness chronotype, educational pursuit/control as reason for a flexible schedule request) online scenario study. Participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (N=398) and were instructed to act as managers to decide whether to approve a fictitious employee’s request for a flexible schedule. Organizational culture and reason for schedule request were orthogonally manipulated in the scenarios. Ps completed measures of schedule approval (including an open-ended justification item), beliefs about the employee’s performance (job-specific task performance, contextual performance, personal discipline, and conscientiousness), and manipulation checks, as well as measures of their own chronotype. Ps were less likely to approve a flexible schedule request for employees with chronotype-based requests (both morningness and eveningness) compared to control (educational pursuit/control request). Task performance beliefs mediated the effect. Organizational norms had both a direct and moderating effect on schedule approval, such that approval was higher and chronotype bias was weakened in the flexible norm condition compared to the rigid norm condition. Ps’ own chronotype had no direct or moderating effect on schedule approval. Qualitative content analysis of Ps’ justification for the schedule approval decision revealed that Ps justified their decision on the impact of schedule approval on the organization.

The goal of this investigation was to examine personal and environmental factors that may influence levels of daily physical activity in a sample of university staff employees who use flexible work arrangements (flextime or telework). Our first aim was to investigate the link between self-efficacy, perceived barriers, and flexible work arrangements on daily physical activity. Our second aim was to investigate the link between work stress, job burnout, work-to-family conflict and flexible work arrangements on physical activity. Lastly, we investigated if the use of flexible work arrangements buffered the relationship between barriers, as well as job burnout, on physical activity. University staff employees who worked full-time, currently used a flexible work arrangement, lived with at least one family member were eligible to participate. Using a daily diary design, data were collected from 61 university staff employees. Participants completed an initial survey followed by daily diaries over the course of one workweek, resulting in 281 diary days. Data were analyzed with multilevel negative binomial models. Daily barriers and use of flextime were associated with lower physical activity. Self-efficacy, telework, work stress, and work-to-family conflict were not significantly associated with daily physical activity. Flexible work arrangements did not moderate the association between barriers and physical activity. However, flextime moderated the association between job burnout and physical activity. Individuals with high job burnout engaged in more physical activity on flextime days compared to non-flexible workdays. Implications regarding physical activity, flexible work arrangements, and workplace wellness programs are discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / The goal of this study was to examine minutes spent engaging in physical activity each day among university staff members who use flexible work arrangements. Flexible work arrangements can help employees have more control over their work hours and schedules. In our sample, we were interested in exploring how personal factors, such as the confidence in their ability (i.e. self-efficacy), and barriers influenced the amount of time staff spent engaging in physical activity each day. We were also interested in exploring how work factors, specifically stress from work, feeling burned out from work, and feelings of work interfering with family, influenced the amount of time spent engaging in physical activity. Lastly, we examined how the time spent engaging in physical activity differed on workdays staff used a flexible work arrangement and on days they did not use a flexible work arrangement. We collected data from 61 university staff employees. Participants completed an initial survey followed by short surveys each night for one workweek. We found that the more barriers an individual reported, the less time they spent on physical activity. In addition, on workdays when staff used a flextime arrangement (i.e. control over when work is completed), they engaged in fewer minutes of physical activity than on days they worked typical hours. Self-efficacy, work stress, feeling that work interfered with family, and telework (i.e. control over where work is completed) did not influence physical activity. Interestingly, we found that on workdays that flextime was used, staff with high levels of burnout from their job engaged in more physical activity compared to standard workdays (i.e. no control over their schedule). Implications regarding physical activity, flexible work arrangements, and workplace wellness programs are discussed.

M. Tech. Business Administration / Working from home is a worldwide trend and effect companies in various ways. With advancement of the information technology and Internet the virtual organizations have become a trend with more and more professionals working from home. Several studies have focused mostly in developed nations with little or no research found in the South African context. This study focused on South African circumstances and examined the cost saving implications for Business Connexion and their employees if they would be able and allowed to work from home. Further, relationships between operational and professional factors, with virtual work were studied.

Some managers tend to resist virtual work and find it challenging to manage the productivity of subordinates working virtually. This phenomenological study examined managers' perceptions of subordinate productivity in virtual work arrangements. Adaptive structuration theory and McGregor's X and Y theory guided this study. The primary research questions focused on the managers' perceptions of worker productivity in virtual work arrangements and the related challenges. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 40 business managers responsible for overseeing the productivity of virtual workers. The study was conducted in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area. Utilizing the Stevick'Colaizzi'Keen method of data analysis, 3 primary themes emerged: (a) subordinate productivity was not negatively affected by the use of virtual work arrangements, (b) virtual work arrangements posed challenges for managers responsible for overseeing virtual worker productivity with the lack of face'to'face interaction identified as the most significant, and (c) there was managerial support for the use of virtual work arrangements. Social change implications, given the findings, include an increased awareness of worker productivity in virtual work arrangements, which could lead to increased opportunities for individuals to work in a virtual setting. The increase in virtual work arrangements benefits society by reducing fuel consumption, road congestion, and related pollutants. Organizational leaders can use the findings from the study to develop business strategies to sustain virtual worker productivity and address the related challenges to improve the quality of life for managers of virtual workers.