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The four dimensions of the definition of Telework

Telework has many definitions, but these definitions all include the following four dimensions. The first dimension regards work location. Telework is work that occurs somewhere other than a centralized organizational office. Workers supplant or supplement time in the office with time in other locations, such as a home, a field site, or a satellite office. The second dimension is the importance of ICTs. In most current definitions, out-of-office work activities must be technologically mediated to be considered telework. The third dimension is locational time distribution. Teleworkers regularly spend a significant portion of their work time to take responsibility of their works. The forth dimension is the contractual relationship between worker and employer. Distinctions among different types of telework are sometimes based on whether workers are regular employees, self-employed, or contract workers. P.4.

the category of telework

In our taxonomy, the various types of teleworkers are differentiated by their patterns on two dimensions: (a) their contractual relationship with the employer and (b) locational time distribution. The first dimension distinguishes workers who are employees of an organization from those who are not—contract workers or the self-employed—whom we characterize generally as freelance teleworkers. In some circumstances it might be useful to distinguish between these two forms of freelance work, as the groups might differ in some important ways. The aim of this article, however, is to demonstrate the value of a frame- work based on broad worker categories, so our analysis combines the groups. The second and more critical dimension is based on the pattern of work locations: (a) those who do some work at home or in a satellite office, whom we term fixed-site teleworkers; (b) those who work predominantly in the field, whom we term mobile teleworkers; and (c) those who mix office work with work in the home and in the field, whom we term flexiworkers. The resultant taxonomy is shown in Table 3.

do not differentiate a:do not distinguish between telework that substitutes for and telework that supplements work in the office. b: does not distinguish telework by its influence on commute time.

Furthermore, many agencies are already using tools such as smartphones to increase mobility and to enhance work environments and bring distributed teams closer together. Mobile phones, smartphones,and Personal Data Assistants (PDA) allow teleworkers instant communication anytime,anywhere.These handheld devices can also deliver text messaging, camera, and video recording functionality.