Search results

Working-from-home (WFH) practice has been adopted by many companies of a variety of industries in a diverse manner; however, it is not until the recent outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic WFH gains worldwide popularity. With so many different views out there and based on work–family balance theory, this study aims to find out the factors which affect peoples' WFH effectiveness and whether they want the extended WFH practice when the pandemic crisis is over.

This paper adopted an online survey approach by posting questionnaires on the university website and different social media channels to collect views from full-time Hong Kong workers who have had WFH experience during the coronavirus outbreak. A total of 1,976 effective responses were collected for the data analysis.

The findings of this study indicate that WFH effectiveness is improved by personal and family well-being but reduced by environmental and resource constraints. When workers are experiencing higher WFH effectiveness, they have a higher preference for WFH even after the pandemic; the female workers preferred WFH twice per week, while the male workers more often preferred WFH once per week. Finally, workers from the management and the self-employed levels demonstrated a lower preference for WFH, compared to the front-line and middle-grade workers.

This paper fulfils to provide a timely reflection on workers' post-pandemic WFH preference, the factors affecting their WFH effectiveness and the demographic differences inducing to the differentiated preferences.

This paper aims to attempt to explore the nature of relationship between work–life balance and emotional exhaustion experienced by the employed individuals while working from home during the pandemic COVID-19 induced nationwide lockdown in the Indian setting.

Data were collected from 180 working professionals in North India who were working from home during the lockdown. PROCESS macro developed for SPSS was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings depicted that in comparison to men, women felt more emotional exhaustion due to personal life interference in work during work from home period. Surprisingly, the relationship between work interference with personal life, and emotional exhaustion did not differ by gender. It was found that the participative leadership could contribute to reduction of work interference with personal life, and through such an influence, emotional exhaustion experienced by an employee could be reduced to some extent.

Many previous studies have explored the nature of the relationship between work–life balance and emotional exhaustion, but rarely any study could cover any Pandemic affected working scenario. This study attempted to investigate such a relationship when employees were obligated to mandatorily work from home during the countrywide lockdown.

The outbreak of COVID-19 saw a robust increase in viewership of over-the-top (OTT) media platforms. This study aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on OTT platforms in India, as it has led to reshaping consumer content preferences.

The authors have conducted primary research by doing a survey and focus group discussion. The first study has focused on the impact of various factors such as time, content, convenience, satisfaction and work from home (WFH) on OTT platforms during the COVID-19 crisis and the second study has focused on change in behavior of people before and during lockdown using visual representation.

The findings of this study show that lockdown has played a major role in the increase in viewership of OTT platforms, as people working from home are also using OTT platforms more. The average hours spent on OTT have increased from 0–2 to 2–5 h and average spending that users are willing to make on OTT platforms is Rs 100–300 (per month). The satisfaction level of customers is directly related to space to watch with family, time to use OTT platforms, the quality of content on OTT platforms and preference of OTT platform over television. Also, factors such as age group, occupation, city and income groups also determine the usage of the OTT platform.

The main contribution of this paper is to analyze the customer needs that impact their satisfaction level.

This study presents an effort to identify and understand the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the graduate employability (GE) of Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) final year students. It examines the readiness of USIM's final year students to the internship during the lockdown period, the readiness to join GE programs and also employment prospects in the future.

A questionnaire survey was employed, and 1,445 USIM final year students participated in this study.

The findings reveal that USIM final year students are ready to perform their internship even during the lockdown period. Besides, the students are also ready to join GE programs conducted by USIM, even while COVID-19 pandemic still currently occurs. Meanwhile, for the employment prospects in the future, results show that they believed that the employment prospects in the future after COVID-19 is low. In addition, academic background and internship areas exacerbate COVID-19's impact on the perceptions of USIM final year students on the employment prospects in the future.

This study is believed to be a pioneering study in identifying the impact of COVID-19 on the GE. It also contributes by identifying students' readiness to perform their internship during lockdown period via work from home (WFH) approach as well as their perceptions on the employment prospects in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of flexible working arrangements (FWAs) on return on labour (ROL).

Data from 4,204 employees and their employers were used to construct regression models to assess separately, the direct relationships between the FWAs and ROL and also the indirect relationships, with job satisfaction and staff turnover as mediating variables, applying Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation rules.

Flexible work hours significantly and directly increased ROL and indirectly through reduction in staff turnover, while the negative direct effect of job sharing on ROL was indirectly reduced by its positive effect on job satisfaction. Time in lieu of overtime (TOIL) and working from home reduced ROL with the direct negative effects of TOIL on ROL worsened by a reduction in job satisfaction.

The results suggest that not all FWAs increase ROL and that the direct effects of FWAs on ROL emanate from the efficacy with which work is reallocated in FWA negotiations. The indirect effects derive from employees’ reciprocation of FWAs through improved job satisfaction and turnover. The onus is therefore, on employers to maximise returns from FWAs through efficient work reallocation during negotiations.

The study makes a contribution by examining the direction of effects of FWAs on ROL and the pathways (direct and indirect) by which the effects occur. Research in this area has hitherto considered subjective and qualitative performance measures. FWAs, such as job sharing and TOIL, which are rarely considered in the literature, are covered in the study.

Social distancing is an important strategy to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is imperative to understand the behavioral impact of social distancing on individuals. This research studied social distancing from a cognitive appraisal of voluntary social distancing compliance (CAVSD) point of view and a non-medical perspective, specifically the psychological impact (PI) of social distancing on the usage intensity of social networking sites (SNS) during the COVID-19 outbreak in India.

The study was conducted on 477 SNS users as a full sample and groups based on age, sex and work status. The model was empirically investigated using structural equation modeling.

CAVSD was negatively associated with PI although it was not a significant predictor, while CAVSD and PI were significant predictors of SNS usage intensity; moreover, SNS usage intensity differed between groups of people.

These findings are significant for organizations, corporations and educational institutions in both the public and private sectors. There is a need to identify subsections of individuals in need of social support and relief from isolation and loneliness. Individuals are relying on social media to handle social distancing and the pandemic, and this shows up in an increase in social networking activity.

This study contributes to the existing literature by positing social networking as a basic virtual need for socialization, and social media platform assists in that. Cognitive appraisal is an important determinant of individual response.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the workplace experiences of women employees during maternity and post-maternity periods to reveal the institutional order that coordinated the social relations and shaped their experiences through local and extra-local texts.

The institutional ethnography research framework allowed for mapping of workplace experiences of women employees during their maternity and post-maternity periods in their local context, connecting them to the invisible extra-local social relations.

The research study explored the disjuncture between the gender diversity initiatives that aimed at the inclusion of women employees and the workplace experiences of women employees in terms of work disengagement and work role degradation, including career discontinuity.

The gender diversity and inclusion initiatives of an organization need to examine the local and extra-local institutional texts that govern their context and coordinate social relations, such that there is no inconsistency between the intentions, implementation and outcomes.

The state needs to revisit the maternity benefit act to provide additional measures to protect the career continuity of women, who choose maternity at some point in their work lives.

The paper explored the institutional order that influences the career continuity of women employees during maternity and post-maternity periods using institutional ethnography research framework in an information technology services organization in India. No such research study has even been attempted.

In the wake of COVID-19, most of the countries at present, are in a dilemma whether to extend lockdown at the cost of economy or to improve the hard-hit economy by lifting the lockdown. It is indicated by the reputed organizations and medical fraternity that corona will stay here for a longer period contrary to the earlier assumptions. Hence the purpose of this study is to suggest a strategy which balances both preventive measures and economic losses to control the pandemic.

There is a need for the identification of the critical success factors (CSFs) for developing COVID-19 preventive strategies to control the pandemic with an economy-centric approach.

The six CSFs identified are “Effective communication”, “Social distancing”, “Adopting new technology”, “Modify the rules and regulation at workplace”, “Sealing the borders of the territory” and “Strong leadership and government control”.

The study has a vital contribution to literature as no previous study has identified CSFs for developing COVID-19 preventive strategies while focusing on the economy.

Further, these identified CSFs are helpful in medium and longer-term planning which is required to rebalance and re-energize the economy following this epidemic crisis.

The study has given a model that depicts the cause and influence relationship between the key factors in the system under question. The importance of study increases many fold, as resources are limited and the outcome of the study could be used to channelize the resources effectively.

A raíz del surgimiento de COVID-19, en la actulidad la mayoría de los países se encuentran en un dilema entre extender el confinamiento a costa de la economía o mejorar la afectada economía levantando las cuarentenas. Diversas organizaciones incluyendo la comunidad médica indican que el coronavirus permanecerá por un período más largo, contrario a las suposiciones anteriores. En este contexto, es muy necesaria una estrategia que equilibre tanto las medidas preventivas como las pérdidas económicas.

Existe la necesidad de identificar los factores críticos de éxito (CSF) para desarrollar estrategias preventivas de COVID-19 para controlar la pandemia con un enfoque centrado en la economía.

Los seis CSF identificados son “Comunicación efectiva”, “Distanciamiento social”, “Adopción de nuevas tecnologías”, “Modificar las reglas y regulaciones en el lugar de trabajo”, “Sellar las fronteras del territorio” y “Liderazgo fuerte y control gubernamental”.

Este estudio tiene una contribución relevante para la literatura, ya que ningún estudio anterior ha identificado CSF para desarrollar estrategias preventivas de COVID-19 mientras se enfoca en la economía.

Además, los CSF identificados son útiles en la planificación a mediano y largo plazo que se requiere para reequilibrar y reactivar la economía después de esta crisis epidémica.

El estudio ha proporcionado un modelo que describe la relación de causa-efecto entre los factores clave del sistema analizado. La importancia del estudio se hace más evidente ya que ante recursos limitados, los resultados podría utilizarse para canalizar los recursos de manera eficaz.

Como resultado do surgimento do COVID-19, a maioria dos países está atualmente em um dilema entre estender o confinamento às custas da economia ou melhorar a economia afetada suspendendo as quarentenas. Várias organizações, incluindo a comunidade médica, indicam que o coronavírus permanecerá por um período mais longo, ao contrário das suposições anteriores. Nesse contexto, uma estratégia que equilibre medidas preventivas e perdas econômicas é muito necessária.

É necessário identificar os Fatores Críticos de Sucesso (CSF) para desenvolver estratégias preventivas ao COVID-19 para controlar a pandemia com uma abordagem centrada na economia.

Os seis CSF identificados são “Comunicação eficaz”, “Distanciamento social”, “Adoção de novas tecnologias”, “Modificar regras e regulamentos no local de trabalho”, “Selar as fronteiras do território” e “Liderança forte e controle governamental”.

Este estudo tem uma contribuição relevante para a literatura, uma vez que nenhum estudo anterior identificou a CSF para desenvolver estratégias preventivas ao COVID-19 com foco na economia.

Além disso, os CSF identificados são úteis no planejamento de médio e longo prazo necessário para reequilibrar e reativar a economia após esta crise epidêmica.

O estudo forneceu um modelo que descreve a relação causa-efeito entre os fatores-chave do sistema analisado. A importância do estudo fica mais evidente uma vez que, diante de uma situação de recursos limitados, os resultados poderiam ser usados para canalizar recursos de forma eficaz.

The coronavirus pandemic has, in a matter of months, changed the ways in which people work around the world. It has created a revolution in work from home, and brought to the forefront technologies such as 3D printing and artificial intelligence. In doing so, it has created conditions for challenges to ideas of managing people and work that emerged, along with the first offices and mills, in the very different world of the First Industrial Revolution.

The technologies that have enabled a rapid switch to alternative ways of work and study were already long in place. In this chapter, I look at the rise in adoption of these technologies set against a backdrop of the history of work from home, and argue that the global pandemic has possibly hastened the downsizing of the traditional office, and the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Prior research has shown that a work environment that facilitates work-life balance not only benefits the personal lives of employees but also leads to better job performance and ethical decision-making. Allocation of time between career and personal life is an age-old challenge for working people. Work-life balance refers to the manner in which people distribute time between their jobs and other activities, such as family, personal pursuits, and community involvement. This study compares the work-life balance perspectives of current and future accountants. Three research questions are examined. The first relates to the importance accountants place on work-life balance. The second concerns how work-life balance perspectives of current practitioners compare to future accountants. The third considers how gender differences affect work-life balance perspectives. Data for analysis was obtained via a survey of current accounting practitioners and of future accountants (students near graduation). Findings indicate that both current and future accountants believe that a healthy work-life balance is connected to work satisfaction, work performance, and ethical decision-making.