PERCEIVED EFFECTS OF WORK FROM OFFICE AND TELECOMMUTING ON THE

WORK PERFORMANCE OF ACCOUNTANTS

By:

Mabale, Jeremy Rancell M.

Tanael, Jemillie F.
 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

Telecommuting is an employment arrangement in which the employee works

outside of the employer's office. Often this means working from home or at a

location close to home, such as a coffee shop, library, or co-working space (Doyle,

2020). “Telecommuting” is a term first coined in the early 1970s by Jack Nilles. He

was the first to explore the possibility of using technology to work away from the

main office. This is a circumstance wherein an employee work mostly from home

and communicate with the organization through email and phone. When the

COVID-19 started, a lot of company have lost their business, they are struggling in

this situation which affects their business. One of the main reasons is that the

employees are not familiar with this new normal and having a hard time with this

pandemic. However, some businesses are eager to figure out their business afloat

through telecommuting. Countless solutions were available on the market, some of

them already intensely in commercial and private use, and more started to appear in

a high-demand market created by COVID-19.

Telecommuting became an increasingly popular work mode in firms. It can

help employees to schedule and reconcile their professional and private lives more

easily. At the same time, telecommuting might also lead to a blurring of boundaries
between work and family life which may increase work-family conflict (Sarbu, 2018).

Telecommuting decreases the possibility for employees to reconcile professional

and struggling them to unplug from their work making the work-life barrier thinner.

Telecommuting also helps reducing air pollutions. Working from home makes

the employees use their private vehicles lesser and commuters travel less. State of

California Telecommuting Pilot Project showed decreases in travel translate into

emissions reductions of: 48% for total organic gases, 64% for carbon monoxide, 69%

for nitrogen oxide, and 78% for particulate matter (Henderson, D., Koenig, B.,

Mokhtarian, P., 2000).

Telecommuting can have variety of benefits for both individual employees

and the company they work for. Some of these benefits include employee's

flexibility of work schedule which they can work at their own pace without pressure,

less transportation costs, and less time spent commuting (Contributor, n.d.). The

main focus of this study is to determine the effects of work from office and work

from home on the work performance of the accountants.

Work performance is how well an individual performs a job, role, task, or

responsibility. This includes tangible things such as revenue targets and intangible

things such as communication (Spacey,2017). The accountants must be productive in

every work task they have. By this study, they can make a comparison between work

from office and work from home. Quality of work is one of the work performances

that every employee should have. This study can be a huge help for the future
employees to settle on a decision on the most proficient method to deal with

unexpected circumstances like this pandemic that the entire world encountering.

Background of the Study

Remote work is not just a different way to work – it is a different way to live

(Salihefendic, 2019). Telecommuting or work from home is a big explosion to the

civilized world. Most people prefer to stay at home since the pandemic spread all

over the world. Due to the six months of lockdown in the Philippines, everyone

encounters the difficulties of living. Nevertheless, they have learned to handle the

circumstances and start to work online. During the COVID-19 pandemic, those who

are fortunate enough to have eluded layoff are most likely can adjust to this kind of

working environment. In some companies, they were forced to do the termination

of an employment contract due to redundancy, minimize the expenses of the

company, and also due to the human rights codes. Employees who are minors,

pregnant, and elders are protected by this code. Human rights code shields people

from being subject upon differential treatment or laid off from work because of

certain protected grounds. Employees who are pregnant, are recovering from

maternity leave, are currently on or are presumed to get back from an incapacity

leave, and the older, are completely protected by this human rights code (Levitt,

2020). These workers may be laid off because of their health and safety grounds due

to this virus, however, the company might simply choose not to contact and recall

them once the business re-opens. The researchers desire to differentiate the effects
of work from office and telecommunicating on the work performance of the

accountants. The change in the workplace is one of the major causes that affect the

growth of a business. The purpose of the study is to determine which is more cost-

effective and favorable to the accountants. Employees should be satisfied with their

job and organization, therefore prompt to the company's fulfillment. Through this,

they might have a better connection and work performance.

Before the pandemic, 2.5% of U.S. employees remote worked full-time. After

the coronavirus occurred, it forced millions of employees to adapt to working in

their houses (Merrefield, 2020). Employees working from home are said to be more

productive and gained more time management skills. But they are also experiencing

loneliness due to the lack of co-worker interaction and unplugging after work. Many

companies will not be allowing their entire workforce to work remotely. The main

reason for this is because of Work-Life balance. They discovered that the barrier

between work and personal time is being occupied by work during the shutdown,

and making it more difficult to “turn off” the work (Forbes Magazine, n.d.). Rather

than appreciating the lessened commute interval, they are replacing them with

more working hours. They realized that workers require face-to-face, real-time

interaction with their co-workers, and stricter work-balance to get solid overall

outcomes.

Statement of the Problem

 In the early 2000s, only some portion of full-time workers works from home

frequently. But in 2019, this has raised to 173%, excluding the self-employed

residents. In March 2020, about 15% of the total workforce were telecommuting

(Bowers, 2020). Then the pandemic strikes, and suddenly everyone is forced to work

from home. Despite the work from home makes the employees manage their time

more effectively. Some of them, however, are experiencing difficulty unplugging

from their work.

This study aims to study the perceived effects of work from office and

telecommuting on the work performance of accountants. It specifically aims also to

accomplish the following questions:

1) What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

a) Gender;

b) Age;

c) Position in a company?

d) Place of work;

e) Type of office environment they prefer to work?

2) What is the effect of work from office on the work performance of

selected respondents?

3) What is the effect of telecommuting on the work performance of

selected respondents?
 4) Is there significant difference between the effects of work from office and

telecommuting on the work performance of selected respondents?

Hypothesis

The researchers formulated their hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance.

They hypothesized that there is no significant difference between the effects of work

from office and telecommuting on the work performance of selected accountants.

Theoretical Framework

Theory is a well-founded statement of a set of ideas that explains observed

facts or phenomena. Some theories helped the researchers in conducting this study

in a way that they explain essential ideas relating to the research. This study was

anchored on the effects of the telecommuting.

Opportunities for telecommuting for working from home expanded alongside

the capabilities of home computing. Since the presentation of personal computers

during the 1980s and laptops and phones during the 1990s, the costs and sizes of

these gadgets have decreased while the speed and bandwidth have increased (Kizza,

2013). Individuals are increased autonomy and flexibility; to organizations, increased

human resource capacity and savings in direct expenses; and to society, a reduction

in environmental damage, solutions for special‐needs populations, and savings in

infrastructure and energy (Harpaz, 2002). As these innovations have progressed,

expanding quantities of office laborers have gotten ready to work from outside the
workplace. Moreover, the shift from manufacturing to an information economy has

extended the quantity of occupations that lend themselves to working from home.

Telecommuting can change the work outcomes has revealed a number of findings

useful to academics and practitioners. For example, several researchers have found

that job satisfaction is highest among people who telecommute a moderate amount

compared to those who telecommute either a small amount or more extensively.

(Golden, 2006b; Golden & Veiga, 2005; Virick et al., 2010). The degree of working

from home has been positively associated with organizational commitment and

negatively associated with purpose to leave the association, to such an extent that

broader working from home has been related with greater commitment to the

association.

Conceptual Framework

This framework shows the overall of the study. It can be expressed by using

the input-process-output framework (IPO).

 INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

 The profile of the

respondents in terms
of; Gender; Age;
Position in a
company; Place of
work; Type of office
environment they
prefer to work.
 The effect of work o Descriptive
research
from office on the
o Statistical
work performance of Treatment Work Performance
selected respondents. o Survey of the accountants

 The effect of Questionnaire

o Analysis of Data
telecommuting on the
work performance.
 Significant difference
between the effects
of work from office
and telecommuting
on the work
performance.
 Figure 1

FEEDBACK

Input comprises of profile of the respondents such as; gender; age; position

in a company; place of work; type of office environment they prefer to work; the

effect of work from office on the work performance of selected respondents; the

effect of telecommuting on the work performance and significant difference

between the effects of work from office and telecommuting on the work

performance.

Process specifies the methodology used to meet the objectives of the

descriptive study through statistical treatment, survey questionnaire, and analysis of

data.

Output refers to the process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task,

or function which is the work performance.

Significance of the Study

The study will be undertaken to find out which workplace makes the

accountants more productive. It will be presented by the responses of certain

accountants. The study additionally aims to differentiate the effectiveness of work

from office or telecommunicating on work in terms of work performances.

Benefiting the study are the various sectors are following:

 Businesses –   The research benefits the businesses in selecting which

workplace is more suited for their employees. As the businesses implemented the

work from office or telecommunicating on work, comes with the information of

what can make the company productive and more cost-effective.

Employees –   Through this study, the employees will determine their work

performance by way of differentiating their work based on work from office and

telecommunicating on work.

Future Researchers –   The outcome of the study is beneficial to future

researchers. The study can be used as one of the bases for a new study in

differentiating between work from office and telecommuting.

Scope and Limitation

This research aims to determine which work-place is more effective for the

accountants to be more productive, creative, and efficient that will greatly affect

their work performance. The information needed will be gathered using online-

surveys. Respondents are given ample time and space to the respondent to answer

these surveys, and so researchers can expect unbiased responses. In addition, the

following are also noted in the conduct of this study:

 20 accountants working at San Pedro, Binan, and Santa Rosa as part of

respondents for this study.

 Work performance involves revenue, delivering documents on schedule,

communicating with co-workers, creativity, decision-making, leadership,

 management, cost, efficiency, throughput, quality of work, ethics, and

professionalism of the accountants.

Definition of Terms

This part is for the purpose of classification, the important terms used in the

study have been defined.

 Autonomy. It is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision.

 Layoff. Temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of

an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for

business reasons, such as personnel management or scaling back (lessening

the size of) an association. 

 Online-survey. This survey consists of survey questions that can be easily

deployed to the respondents online via email, or can simply access the

survey using an internet connection. They are less expensive, and data can

be collected and analyzed quickly.

 Redundancy. The state of being not or no longer needed or useful.

 Remote work. The growing trend of employees who don’t walk into a

traditional office each weekday morning, instead opting to work remotely

part- or full-time from home, abroad, or a well-designed coworking space in

the name of flexibility, technological progress, and productivity.

 Telecommunicating. Telecommuting is an employment arrangement in

which the employee works outside of the employer's office. Often this means
 working from home or at a location close to homes, such as a coffee shop,

library, or co-working space. 

 Work-Life balance. Level of prioritization between personal and professional

activities in an individual's life and the level to which activities related to their

job are present in the home.

 Work Performance. A kind of evaluation report indicating how well an

employee is executing the expected related work activities.

 Work-place. A place where people work, such as an office or factory.

 References

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the-office/

Doyle, A., (2020), What is Telecommuting?

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Forbes Magazine (n.d.) See You in the Office https://technoadvantage.com/pro-

cons-work-from-home-or-returning-to-the-office/

Golden, 2006b; Golden & Veiga, 2005; Virick et al., (2010), Research investigating

how the extent of telecommuting might alter work outcomes has revealed a

number of findings useful to academics and practitioners.

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