| Description |
Despite growing in numbers, telecommuting has received mixed reactions from organizations and scholars who have conducted research on this topic. The purpose of this study was to shed light on the understudied topic of assimilation in telecommuting environments, to see if existing understandings of assimilation are sufficiently rich to explain the complex phenomenon of telecommuting. Eighty-seven telecommuters and 215 nontelecommuters participated in an online survey, comprising descriptive demographic questions and items from the revised Organizational Assimilation Index. Noteworthy findings are: telecommuters are surprisingly more acculturated, negotiate their roles more and report higher familiarity with supervisors and recognition than nontelecommuters; male telecommuters are more acculturated than female nontelecommuters, and female telecommuters are more acculturated than both male and female nontelecommuters; various patterns and practices of communication influence acculturation, involvement, job competency and role negotiation positively in telecommuters; and finally, perceiving coworkers' benefits to be more attractive results in higher acculturation and familiarity with supervisors and recognition, but lower role negotiation, in telecommuters. Implications of these findings are discussed, along with limitations and recommendations for future research. |
