An Examination of the Work Outcomes of Professionals in a Virtual Organization

Abstract

Although there has been plenty of speculation, little empirical research has addressed the impact of telecommuting on the work outcomes of professionals. This research proposes that telecommuting will have an impact on a number of work characteristics and experiences, including autonomy, work-family conflict, role ambiguity and role conflict, which will in turn impact three critical work outcomes: job satisfaction, career advancement prospects and turnover intentions. Data was collected from 89 professionals who telecommute and 71 professionals from similar job types who chose not to telecommute. Contrary to popular opinion, telecommuting was not found to have a significant impact on the studied variables. These findings are discussed and the chapter concludes with study limitations and directions for future research.