Information and Communication Technology for Sustainanble Development

Question: You are an employee of a large organisation based in Sydney. By introducing teleworking in the organisation, your supervisor plans to contribute to sustainable development and has asked you to research about teleworking. You are to write a report to be presented at the next executive meeting. The report should include: Teleworking and its challenges to the organisation and the teleworkers. You should consider the social, economic, ethical and legal factors. A critical review whether teleworking would really reduce nett greenhouse gas emissions as widely believed. Answer: Executive summary With the advent of various technologies the companies are switching over to the process of teleworking or telecommuting. This is not only proving to be economically and environmentally beneficial for the organizations but also economically and personally beneficial for the individuals who are opting for these kind of professions. The report includes brief description of the telecommuting process and its benefits to the society. The report further investigates the scope of teleworking within the existing organizational and technological infrastructure of Cisco Ltd which is one of the largest IT Company in Sydney. For the purpose of the proposal of implementing the telecommuting service within Cisco, the report focuses widely on the drawbacks of the system and on the sustainability of the system. The research for the purpose includes the referenced journals and published books. The analysis of the facts and published figures show that although the introduction of teleworking has the capability of reducing costs as well as carbon emissions however the adoption of teleworking will also bring about difficulties like isolation from society, legal workplace problems, emission of electronic energy and also communication and security problems within the companies as well as the individuals availing it. Hence the report shows that Cisco should not avail the telecommuting services for important positions like the code cracking and other IT solutions. The recommendation part shows that by taking he mentioned options like organizing the tele management community, appointing coordinator and providing legal rules and security system will help Cisco to successfully implement the system. However it may be noted that the from the discussion of the report it is clear that sustainability cannot be completely attained by introducing full time teleworking servicers. It can be reduced but not completely erased. Introduction Organizational background Tele commuting or tale workers are a recent introduction in the professional field which gives hundreds of individuals to work from their home without commuting to a centrally located workplace (Cox, 2009). Cisco ltd is a large IT based company located in New South Wales, Sydney and deals with providing IT solutions on software systems, Hardware and other online services to the multinational companies in Australia and other parts of the world. The company employs around 2500 people currently who are working in around 20 local projects in Australia and 13 international projects. The company is presently focusing on expansion strategy in UK and USA with higher focus on the creation of sustainable working conditions. Employing 25% of IT professionals as teleworkers will give the company a good scope. Research problem The major issue that will be discussed in the report is the negative effects or the problems faced by organizations in employing teleworkers. Around 16% of the employees work from home on a regular basis in Australia (D'Costa and Lane, 2010). The issue that will be discussed in the report will show whether increasing the percentage can be beneficial for the sustainable development of the country as well as Cisco Ltd. Objectives of the research The following objectives are to be achieved from the discussion of the report To determine the advantage of tele working in Cisco in respect of enterprise flexibility and cost savings To ascertain the challenges faced by Cisco in employing tele workers and also the challenges faced by the individual tele workers To evaluate the extent of sustainability that can be achieved by Cisco by employing telecommuters Research methodology The report will be prepared with the help of secondary data collected from the various peer reviewed journals and academic books published in this context. For the useful analysis of the data the websites and the company blogs of other companies using telecommuting services will also be viewed. Sustainable development Sustainable development may be defined as the process of developing new opportunities for the present generation without compromising and maintaining the environmental balance of the future. Dutcher (2012) opined that sustainable development is a better way of doing things. By incorporating sustainable activities like environment preservation, incorporation of health plans, planning of new communities, sustainable food chains it is possible to increase the quality of the life of the individuals. Sustainable development ensures that an economic development takes place howe3ver in the process there is no depletion of natural resources. ICT can contribute to sustainability by introducing technologically advanced electronic devices that will help to promote services without any commutation of people and goods (Nishina, 2010).The use of the ICT for introduction of Tele commuting has helped to reduce the use of resources by the individuals. Different sustainability programs are being conducted all over the world which includes WorldFish project, The Economy and Environment program of South East Asia etc which creates opportunities to balance the depletion of the different resources. As per the reports of Australian weather department, the country is experiencing extreme weather conditions which are crippling the financial conditions of the country. The city aims to reduce the carbon emissions by 70% within the year 2020 (Ozcelik, 2010). Hence to make the atmosphere sustainable different large and small organizations are contributing to the process by engaging in activities like tri generation, renewable energy master plan, solar project plan, and energy efficiency programs and installing energy efficient street park lights. Teleworking and its benefits According to Renick (2010), teleworking or telecommuting is a form of employment where the individual is given an option to work from home or any convenient place with the help of electronic media. The opportunity of teleworking helps the individuals to reduce the commutation expenses and also helps the organization to reduce costs relating to transportation, electricity etc. The different forms of telework are namely electronic homework, satellite centers, neighborhood centers and mobile work. As per the Forbes report approximately 50% of the employees in Middle East, Latin America and Asia are engaged in frequent telecommuting and nearly 10% of the workers practice telecommuting from home on regular basis. Although very few companies in US employ telecommuters however an exception is seen in case of call centre companies providing IT solutions to the national and international clients in US. Around 40% of the employees in these types of companies are seen to be teleworkers (Allen et al. 2013). The overall process of teleworking is facilitated by ICT tools like virtual private networks, conference calling, Voice over IP, video conferencing and virtual call centre. The trend of teleworking emerged in past 5 years and strengthened due to the introduction of devices like laptops, cloud computing, wifi availability, Smartphone and Personal digital assistants (PDAs). Benefits of teleworking Benefit to individuals: The option of work from home gives the employees an opportunity to maintain work life balance. Lautsch and Kossek (2011) opined that it also helps them to save money by reduction of transport and other allowances. The availing of this working condition also increase the productivity of the individuals as they can avoid physical stress. Benefit to the communities: This option helps to create employment rate by employing large number of telecommuters. In the Middle East around 25% of the retired population is recorded to have recruited as telecommuters. The other benefits to the society are the reduction of the traffic rate and accidents, cost reduction of transportation infrastructures, reduction of greenhouse gases and energy use (Baard and Thomas, 2010). Benefit to the employers: The organizations are also benefited from the employment of the telecommuters which includes reduction of direct costs, expansion of talent pools, reduction of spread of illness and also earning of ax credit due to availability of sustainable development features. Challenges of teleworking to organization and teleworkers Challenges faced by employers and organization Technical difficulties: The major concern that the employers face s the barriers in respect of internet connections, internet speed, network slowdowns and availability of correct ICT options for the employees working as teleworkers in their homes (Richard, 2012). Disparity in organizational culture: Working from home doesnt give the teleworkers an opportunity to adopt the organizational culture of the company. This creates a situation of internal resistance for the teleworkers (Cox, 2009). Moreover there occurs a lack of trust on the part of the employer since the employer anticipates that the productivity of the employee will decrease due to homely distractions. High technological costs: The introduction of telework within the existing system of any organization will be a costly method. In case of Cisco limited the employers will not incur much cost because it is an IT company which already has the facilities of ICT installed within the organization. However Dutcher (2012) opined that problems like installation of laptops, computers, secure network, and cloud computation may involve high costs for the companies. Security issues: The companies may have issues relating to security breaches, dislocation of files, and transfer of data in case of teleworkers. In case of office work the security protocols are maintained by installing firewalls to protect from malware and blocking threatening profiles. However this is not possible in case of home working facilities. Challenges faced by employees working as telecommuters Low interaction: Around 22% of the employees are of the opinion that availing the options of telecommuting crates a prolonged situation of isolation for the individual.Richard (2012) states that the level of effective interaction between the teleworkers and the organizations gets reduced. This negatively affects the mindset of the employee and reduces the productivity. Exclusion from workplace decisions: Survey of Queensland university of Technology shows that the telecommuters find themselves detached from any kind of official information or decision like change in policies or management. Moreover the co workers at office dont feel the importance of involving them in social activities like picnics, annul functions or club meetings. Other issues: The employees also face problem related to stagnant career growth line involving no promotions, lack of assistance in the work form any higher authorities of the company and lack of balance between work and personal distractions at home (Baard and Thomas, 2010). Relation between teleworking and reduction of green house gas emissions According to the IT industry, teleworking has the capability to reduce CO2 emissions by around 265m tones. As per the reports of WHO in 2005 internal use of video conferencing as means of working allowed to save around 54,000 tons of CO2 by reducing the transportation level of the employees. Richard (2012) suggested that the theory of moving electrons consuming less energy compared to moving molecules have induced the organizations as well as the government of different countries to adopt the opportunities of teleworking. However Noonan and Glass (2012) argued that although the carbon emissions may be reduced however the telecommuters use the same technologies as in office and this makes duplicate use of same energy thereby reducing the energy resources. The reports created by the companies showing the large reduction in the CO2 levels have been prepared making vague assumptions there are no accurate figures as prove to the theory. Moreover Baard and Thomas (2010) added that the extensive se of teleworking involves high degree of e-emissions from the use of technological devices which may contribute to negative environmental situations. Conclusions On analyzing the various reports and the studies it can be concluded that use of teleworking as an employment opportunity may be feasible. However the various disadvantages focused in the report shows that a full time tale working for a prolonged period may result into creating a negative situation for both organization as well as the employees. The report shows that the extensive use of telecommuting services will create negative environmental situations like reduction of life cycle of the computers and increase of e- emissions. The computers are responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions. Hence although the teleworking will reduce the CO2 emission but it will consequently increased by the use of computers. In this report Cisco Ltd is an IT company hence it is already into the business of providing IT solutions to the clients with extensive use of ICT appliances like PDAs and Laptops. If the company further introduces the system of teleworking within the organization then rate of CO2 emission from the computers will increase Moreover the WHS standards are applicable also in case of teleworkers which shows that any kind of occupational health hazard of the telecommuter will be the responsibility of the company. Hence it is not advisable for Cisco ltd to undertake full time teleworkers for important posts. In addition to this the Queensland department of Industrial Relations sets out a number of regulations that should be followed by organizations as well as the individuals to be eligible to work as telecommuters. For Cisco ltd to avail the opportunity the company needs to acknowledge the following facts namely Telecommuting should be a voluntary offer on the part of the employee The service can be availed based on the work suitability Maintenance of equal salary structure in spite of tale commuting services The high legal obligations will make it difficult for Cisco ltd to avail the services. Moreover the ethical issues like the security breach will pose as a bigger problem in maintaining the quality of work by Cisco LTD. The company being an IT company needs to have access to important data loss or duplication of which will hamper the reputation of the company. In recent British council survey of employees in Australia showed that around 30% of the teleworkers are having trouble balancing the productivity of the work along with the personal distractions. This shows that the emotional and the social life of the individuals working as telecommuter are hampered to a great extent. They dont feel associated with the daily working life rather are isolated from any kind of social activities. The discussion of the problem sows that Cisco ltd will also face problem relating to the emotional and organizational attachment with the telecommuters. Since the company has an existing employee base of 2500 hence it would become difficult for the company to manage the office workers along with the commuters in each and every project. Hence an overall discussion of the benefits and the problem that teleworking service is facing it can be concluded that it is not a viable option for Cisco ltd. Although the company may benefit from the reduction of direct costs however the rate of carbon emission cannot be controlled accurately and also the legal and social problems will make it difficult for the organization to function effectively. Recommendations The following recommendations may be useful for the management and implementation of the telecommuting services in Cisco ltd. Use of mobile technology: Since extensive use of computers results in CO 2 emissions hence it is advisable to the supervisors of Cisco to use the mobile or the PDA services for the purpos4e of telecommuting works. Cisco ltd is dealing in outsourcing and BPO services hence after providing necessary training to the teleworkers the company can focus on using their services in the BPO activities. The use of mobile will not result in e-emissions and neither will result in increase of CO2 level. Install security facilities: To prevent any kind of malware or transfer or dislocation of important files the company can install similar firewall security system in the home computers of the teleworkers. This will ensure that the company has an access to the security system of the teleworkers. Selection of the right employees: the system of the telecommuting to be sucessful Cisco ltd needs to ensure that the right employees are selceted for the posts. The company in this respct can arraange for initail office trainning for the newly recruited employes. Moreover the company can alos recuit experinced candidates who have working knowledge of IT as wel as expeisnce in the field of telecommuting. This will ensure the level of productivity within the organisation. Build an effecicint system of teleworking: Cisco ltd needs to build a new system to ensure the smooth workings of the telecommuters. In this respect the ocmpany needs to appoint a telework corordinator and form a seprate group of 10 workers each under one co ordiantor. His wil ensure that the productivity of the employeees can be monitored and laos they will get any kind of technical assitance form the ofiice. Creation of telework policy: Cisco ldt further needs to create a new telework policy in compliance with the workplace regulations so that an effective communication is possible between the teleworkers and the office representatitives. The policy will define the parametres of the progrm including the correct job specifications and personnel requirements. The policy will also define the slary stucture that is feasible to be paid to the teleworkers. The salary stucture will be euqla to that of an office employe and wll include the divisions of rewards and incentives along with the times of performance apprials. This will create a level of ocnfidence among the employees to availa the teleworking services. In reagrd to the job suitability of the employees the management at Cisco should be careful t chose employees for work like writing of reports, case analysis, data analysis, writing of regualtions and decsions. These jobs donot require any kiind of physical precense on the par t of the employee hence the employee is able to fufill the task accordingly. Manaintan organisational enviornment: Although the teleworkers are not present physically in the company premisese however the mangement at Cisco should concentarte on manageing the organisational atmosphere with the employees. For this the managent will have to maintain a sense of control and supervision on the dialy work target, incarse the level of trust, make elcetronic based collaboration and redesign the working procedures. Reference list Books Cox, W. (2009).Improving quality of life through telecommuting. Winnipeg, Man.: Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Journals Allen, T. D., Johnson, R. C., Kiburz, K., Shockley, K. .M. (2013). A finer-grained meta-analytic assessment of the relationship between work-family conflict and flexible work arrangements, Personnel Psychology, 66(2), pp-345-376. Baard, N. and Thomas, A. (2010). Teleworking in South Africa: Employee benefits and challenges.,SA j. hum. resour. manag., 8(1). D'Costa, A. and Lane, M. (2010) The adoption of single sign-on and multifactor authentication in organisations -- A critical evaluation using TOE framework, Issues in Informing Science Information Technology, 7, pp. 161-189. Dutcher, E. (2012) The Effects of Telecommuting on Productivity: An Experimental Examination.The Role of Dull and Creative Tasks, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 84, pp- 355-363 Lautsch, B. A and Kossek, E. E. (2011). Managing a blended workforce: Telecommuters and non-telecommuters,Organizational Dynamics, 40(1), pp-10-17 Nishina, M. (2010). Applications of Teleworking Based on a Study of Disabled Workers.Industrial Health, 48(3), pp.292-295. Noonan, M., and Glass, J. (2012). The hard truth about telecommuting., Monthly Labor Review, 135(6),pp- 38-45 Ozcelik, Y. (2010). The rise of teleworking in the USA: key issues for managers in the information age.IJBIS, 5(3), p.211. Renick, T. (2010) The Advantages of Being Voiceless.Teaching Theology Religion, 13(3), pp.248-250. Richard. L. (2012) Telecommuting: Implementation for Success, International Journal of Business and Social Science , 3(15), pp-20-29