Ask Operation Management Expert

The Pursuit of Happiness: Flexibility The management team at Learner’s Edge, an online continuing education company, decided to adopt a ROWE (results-only work environment) policy, developed by Best Buy employees and summarized in its slogan, “Work whenever you want, wherever you want, as long as the work gets done.” Kyle Pederson was one of only three Learner’s Edge employees who showed up the first day of the experiment. And the second day, and the third. “For almost a month, everyone cleared out,” Pederson said. “It was just me, my co-founder and our executive director all wondering, ‘What on earth have we done?’ ” Clearly, they were testing the outer limits of workplace flexibility, from which even Best Buy pulled back when it recently canceled the program. But while Best Buy reported continuing financial woes as one reason for canceling their ROWE program, employers like Learner’s Edge report “better work, higher productivity” after the initial phase of the program in their companies. Employees have learned the ways they work best. In fact, some of Pederson’s employees have returned to the office, while others gather at Starbucks or over dinner . . . whatever gets the work done. Suntell president and chief operating officer, Veronica Wooten, whose risk management software firm adopted the ROWE program a few years ago, is also a fan of the flexible workplace. “We made the transition, and started letting go and letting people make their own decisions,” Wooten says. Her company’s customer base increased 20 percent, meetings were reduced by 50 percent, and expenses decreased 12 percent (Wooten used the savings to give everyone a raise). It seems that everyone should be happy with this degree of job flexibility, from the night-owl employee to the board of directors. But happiness, like job satisfaction, is a complex construct. Employees worldwide do seem to increasingly value flexible work environments, with roughly two of three workers of all ages wanting to work from home, at least occasionally. Eighty percent of the U.S. female labor force finds a flexible work schedule very or extremely important, 58 percent rate work–life balance as their number-one goal, and flexibility is the single most important part of that balance for them. Southeast Asian employees are most interested in flexibility, while workers in North America, Europe, and the Australia/New Zealand region place flexibility in their top three wants. Yet research correlates job satisfaction most strongly with the nature of the work itself, not where it is performed. Thus, while as employees we say we want flexibility, what actually makes us satisfied is often something else. Then there are the costs of such work arrangements. Employers like Yahoo!’s Marissa Mayer are concerned that flexible workers will become detached from the organization, communicate less, be less available, and lose the benefits of teamwork. Employees have similar concerns: Will out of sight mean out of mind? International research suggests that employee and employer happiness depends on correctly motivating the individual. For ROWE or any flexible arrangement to work, companies need to create clear job descriptions, set attainable goals, and rely on strong metrics to indicate productivity. Managers need to foster close connections and communicate meaningfully to keep flexible workers engaged in the company, its culture, and its processes. And employees need to get the work done, no matter where and when they do it.

1. Briefly describe the job attitude of Job Satisfaction.

2. What characteristics of flexible work arrangements might contribute to increased levels of job satisfaction?

3. How might flexible work affect a company's bottom line?

Operation Management, Management Studies

  • Category:- Operation Management
  • Reference No.:- M91984288

Have any Question?


Related Questions in Operation Management

Conflictdefine functional versus dysfunctional conflict in

Conflict Define functional versus dysfunctional conflict in a work group and explain how you can increase functional conflict and decrease dysfunctional conflict. Develop a response that includes examples and evidence to ...

For this assignment you will need to find 2 articles in

For this assignment, you will need to find 2 articles in business that can help describe what are IT strategic initiative being undertaken by an organization are like. Choose a different organization for each of the arti ...

Coping with problems joe is a little nervous he has just

Coping With Problems Joe is a little nervous. He has just been transferred from another plant to take over a production line. Production is down and there is a serious problem with absenteeism. To make matters worse, the ...

Over 30 years ago michael porter identified a holistic

Over 30 years ago Michael Porter identified a holistic approach to understanding how competitive forces shape strategy. He posited that the only way to truly insulate an organization from underlying economic volatility i ...

You are the contracting officer for an air-to-ground

You are the contracting officer for an air-to-ground missile development program. A contract for pre-production models of the missile was awarded by your predecessor and the contractor is behind schedule. In a program me ...

The ikea case provides an excellent opportunity to apply

The IKEA case provides an excellent opportunity to apply strategic management concepts to a large privately-held company that is expanding into India. IKEA is a Netherlands-based Swedish company with a presence in 44 cou ...

Can you answer for me the following questions about social

Can you answer for me the following questions about social loafing and the three main causes of free-riding. 1. Give a description of the phenomenon of social loafing. 2. Give a description of the phenomenon of free-ridi ...

1 analyzing the bridgestonefirestone and ford motor company

1. Analyzing the Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford motor company, is it sufficient to use the ISO/QS 9000 standards as the main basis of vendor/product selection? 2. What position to these cars company ( 1. Volkswagen, 2. F ...

Research the effect of primary and secondary seat belt laws

Research the effect of primary and secondary seat belt laws on the occurrence of motor-vehicle injuries and fatalities. Explain how epidemiologic studies influenced the development of current seat belt laws. Describe how ...

Please provide a brief paragrap of the key takaways from

Please provide a brief paragrap of the key takaways from each of the following topics: Designing Clear Visuals in business reports Designing Successful Documents and Websites Writing Winning Proposals

  • 4,153,160 Questions Asked
  • 13,132 Experts
  • 2,558,936 Questions Answered

Ask Experts for help!!

Looking for Assignment Help?

Start excelling in your Courses, Get help with Assignment

Write us your full requirement for evaluation and you will receive response within 20 minutes turnaround time.

Ask Now Help with Problems, Get a Best Answer

Why might a bank avoid the use of interest rate swaps even

Why might a bank avoid the use of interest rate swaps, even when the institution is exposed to significant interest rate

Describe the difference between zero coupon bonds and

Describe the difference between zero coupon bonds and coupon bonds. Under what conditions will a coupon bond sell at a p

Compute the present value of an annuity of 880 per year

Compute the present value of an annuity of $ 880 per year for 16 years, given a discount rate of 6 percent per annum. As

Compute the present value of an 1150 payment made in ten

Compute the present value of an $1,150 payment made in ten years when the discount rate is 12 percent. (Do not round int

Compute the present value of an annuity of 699 per year

Compute the present value of an annuity of $ 699 per year for 19 years, given a discount rate of 6 percent per annum. As