The research examines the factors leading individuals to undertake self-employed teleworking and their experiences in managing flexibility and restructuring their home and work boundaries. The research contributes to the existing literature on self-employed home teleworking as this particular form of telework has been given less attention compared to employed telework. The experiences of self-employed home teleworkers have been collected using diaries, questionnaires and telephone interviews. The findings reveal that respondents are generally 'pushed' into becoming self-employed rather than voluntarily choosing this option. The literature describes these as 'refugees', and once the advantages of self-employed teleworking become clear most of them become 'converts'. The findings indicate general enthusiasm for the freedom and flexibility which self-employment permits. Nevertheless, control and flexibility were also found to generate anxiety and stress. Flexibility brings with it a number of challenges, largely concerned with the balancing between work and non-work activities in the home. This research therefore challenges existing conceptions of self-employed teleworking as either liberating or exploitative and as either facilitating or hindering the achievement of a work-life balance. The findings indicate that flexibility needs to be managed appropriately in order to help achieve a work life balance as it does have the potential of hindering family and work domains as the boundaries become increasingly blurred. The research examines the experiences of managing the blurriness and integration of boundaries and contributes to the literature by further developing and refining existing notions of boundary. The research adds that the ability to manage boundaries appropriately is a factor leading individuals to reconcile to self-employed home teleworking and become converts after initially being pushed into it.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:521409 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Mustafa, Mona |
| Publisher | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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