To: John McLean

From: Team Telework

Date: November 11, 2015
Subject: Annotated Bibliography
Dear John McLean,
The purpose of this memo is to provide you with a list of our sources on why teleworking can
increase productivity.
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J. & Ying, J. (2015). Does Working from Home Work?
Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 165-218.
Retrieved from http://web.stanford.edu/~nbloom/WFH.pdf
This article is a study of a telework experiment conducted at a Chinese travel agency
called Cstrip. Call Centre employees were randomly assigned either to work from home or in the
office for nine months. The purpose of this study was to prove whether or not telework was
beneficial to employees. With this in mind, this telework experiment proved that those who
worked from home had a 13% performance increase, of which 9% was from working more
minutes per shift (fewer breaks and sick days) and 4% from more calls per minute (attributed to a
quieter and more convenient working environment). Homeworkers also reported improved work
satisfaction. Due to the success of the experiment, Cstrip made the option to telework.
Butler, S., Aasheim, C. & Williams, S. (2007). Does Telecommuting Improve Productivity?
Communications
of
the
ACM,
50(4)
101-103.
Retrieved
from
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer?sid=c602f103-137f-496e-bd57-663ef090b0ad
%40sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=118
This article discusses the effects of telecommuting on organizational productivity at the
Kentucky American Water Company (KAWC). As many employers place a priority on labor
productivity (working in an office setting), telecommuting, which has traditionally been believed
to increase productivity, has become an attractive tool for managing employees. The authors of
this article look beyond traditional telecommuting data, which is largely self-reported, to find out
the true effect of telecommuting on productivity over the long term. The study reveals that
telecommuting has a positive effect on productivity. The Study specifically focused on 3
important factors, which consisted of: amount of work (number of hours each employee worked
per month), intensity of work (number of calls each employee handled per month), and
efficiency of work.
Dutcher, G. (2012). The effects of telecommuting on productivity: An experimental
examination. The role of dull and creative tasks. Journal of economic behaviour &
organization,
84(1)
355-363.
Retrieved
from
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/s0167268112000893
This article looks at the many controversies of telework by using an experimental
approach. The experiment consisted of mock office tasks. Participants were either placed in a lab
setting (mimic the office setting) or out of the lab (mimic working from home) to do dull tasks
(e.g. typing to mimic office work) or creative tasks (e.g. tasks that require more thinking and
are not repetitive). This method was used to compare whether telework productivity increased or
decreased depending on the task given. Results of this study showed that teleworking has

positive effects on productivity of tasks if they are creative; however, the study showed negative
effects on productivity with tasks that are dull.
Greenwood, D. (2012). Teleworking boosts productivity by 25% to 30%. Retrieved from
http://ww.nbr.co.nz/article/teleworking-boosts-productivity-25-30-wb-132422
This article specifically focuses on the overall benefits employees and employers from
New Zealand receive from teleworking. Whether it is from overall work-life satisfaction, it
increased work productivity to saving money on the cost of office space. For instance, the article
reveals how some employees with low salary are still productive in their jobs because they have
flexibility to work from home but still maintain a balanced work-life. The article also provides
information on why people should telework. For example, the author suggest that it is easier to
telework because of the current technologies available to us i.e. software that can be easily used
from home, Skype to keep in contact with employers or fellow coworkers, etc. As a result, New
Zealand continues to give more workers the flexibility to choose to work in the office or work
from home.
Wright, A. (2015). Study: Teleworkers More Productive - Even When Sick. Retrieved from
http://www.shrm.org/hrdisciplines/technology/articles/pages/teleworkers-more-productiveeven-when-sick.aspx
This article focuses on the many benefits that telework provides to employees and
employers if proper guidance and management are in place. For instance, the article reveals
when an employer truly trusts their employees to work from home due to the full support and
resources in place there is an increase in productivity. The article suggests that if the employer
has doubts about teleworking and does not have proper support/resources or protocols planned
out; telework is less likely to be successful. The article also provides research on why telework
increases productivity. For example, the article states that 95% of employees believe that
telework has high impact on retention. This is due to less distraction and the flexibility
employees have to be able to work at a time they find they are most productive. Another reason
the article states why telework increases productivity is because teleworkers will not call in sick
and will continue to work. As oppose to those who work in the office who take days off of work.
If you have any questions or concerns on our list of sources please contact us as soon as possible.
Thank you.