IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eurman/v32y2014i4p564-576.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace flexibility and new product development performance: The role of telework and flexible work schedules

Author

Listed:
  • Coenen, Marja
  • Kok, Robert A.W.

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of telework and flexible work schedules on the performance of teams in new product development projects. Organizations increasingly introduce workplace flexibility practices that provide flexibility with regard to where or when the employee works. The findings of NPD teams in five cases, situated in two telecommunication firms, show that telework has a positive effect on NPD performance through enabling knowledge sharing, cross-functional cooperation and inter-organizational involvement. This improves the speed and quality of product development, provided that face-to-face contact is not completely replaced by virtual contact. A basic level of face-to face contact is necessary to offset the negative effects of telework on the quality of the shared knowledge, which are larger when the knowledge is sticky. Flexible work schedules and unexpectedly hot-desking were found to increase telework usage. This implies for managers that workplace flexibility needs enablers and cannot do without a sufficient level of face-to-face contact.

Suggested Citation

  • Coenen, Marja & Kok, Robert A.W., 2014. "Workplace flexibility and new product development performance: The role of telework and flexible work schedules," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 564-576.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:32:y:2014:i:4:p:564-576
    DOI: 10.1016/j.emj.2013.12.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026323731300159X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.emj.2013.12.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hagedoorn, John & Cloodt, Myriam, 2003. "Measuring innovative performance: is there an advantage in using multiple indicators?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1365-1379, September.
    2. Godoe, Helge, 2000. "Innovation regimes, R&D and radical innovations in telecommunications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(9), pages 1033-1046, December.
    3. Kevin Daniels & David Lamond & Peter Standen, 2001. "Teleworking: Frameworks for Organizational Research," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(8), pages 1151-1185, December.
    4. Bourreau, Marc & Dogan, Pinar, 2001. "Regulation and innovation in the telecommunications industry," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 167-184, April.
    5. Rothwell, R. & Freeman, C. & Horlsey, A. & Jervis, V. T. P. & Robertson, A. B. & Townsend, J., 1974. "SAPPHO updated - project SAPPHO phase II," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 258-291, November.
    6. Bercovitz, Janet & Feldman, Maryann, 2011. "The mechanisms of collaboration in inventive teams: Composition, social networks, and geography," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 81-93, February.
    7. Bowen, Frances E. & Rostami, Mahdi & Steel, Piers, 2010. "Timing is everything: A meta-analysis of the relationships between organizational performance and innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 1179-1185, November.
    8. M. Bourreau & P. Dogan, "undated". "Innovation and Regulation in the Telecommunications Industry," Working Paper 33652, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    9. Jarrod M. Haar, 2007. "Exploring the benefits and use of flexitime: similarities and differences," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 69-82, March.
    10. Lynne J. Millward & S. Alexander Haslam & Tom Postmes, 2007. "Putting Employees in Their Place: The Impact of Hot Desking on Organizational and Team Identification," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(4), pages 547-559, August.
    11. Strazdins, Lyndall & Korda, Rosemary J. & Lim, Lynette L-Y. & Broom, Dorothy H. & D'Souza, Rennie M., 2004. "Around-the-clock: parent work schedules and children's well-being in a 24-h economy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 1517-1527, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dziallas, Marisa & Blind, Knut, 2019. "Innovation indicators throughout the innovation process: An extensive literature analysis," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 80, pages 3-29.
    2. Kim, Suwon, 2018. "Snack-media platform market segmentation based on user heterogeneity: A Q-methodology approach," 22nd ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2018. Beyond the boundaries: Challenges for business, policy and society 190357, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Bourreau, Marc & Dogan, Pinar, 2005. "Unbundling the local loop," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 173-199, January.
    4. Massaro, Maria & Pogorel, Gérard, 2015. "Next generation of radio spectrum management licensed shared access and the trade-off between static and dynamic efficiency," 2015 Regional ITS Conference, Los Angeles 2015 146322, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    5. Jerbashian, Vahagn, 2015. "The telecommunications industry and economic growth: How the market structure matters," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 515-523.
    6. Ghezzi, Antonio & Cortimiglia, Marcelo Nogueira & Frank, Alejandro Germán, 2015. "Strategy and business model design in dynamic telecommunications industries: A study on Italian mobile network operators," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PA), pages 346-354.
    7. Christian Jaag & Urs Trinkner, 2011. "A General Framework for Regulation and Liberalization in Network Industries," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Bauer, Johannes M. & Shim, Woohyun, 2012. "Regulation and digital innovation: Theory and evidence," 23rd European Regional ITS Conference, Vienna 2012 60364, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    9. Dierk Bauknecht, 2011. "Incentive Regulation and Network Innovations," RSCAS Working Papers 2011/02, European University Institute.
    10. Baranes, Edmond & Bourreau, Marc, 2005. "An Economist's Guide to Local Loop Unbundling," MPRA Paper 2510, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Renata Sliwa, 2015. "Facility-based competition — toward more deregulation in telecommunications sector," Ekonomia i Prawo, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 14(2), pages 261-273, June.
    12. Dong Geun Choi & Heesang Lee & Tae-kyung Sung, 2011. "Research profiling for ‘standardization and innovation’," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(1), pages 259-278, July.
    13. Grigoriev, A. & Uetz, M.J., 2005. "Scheduling parallel jobs with linear speedup," Research Memorandum 015, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    14. Grove, Nico & Baumann, Oliver, 2012. "Complexity in the telecommunications industry: When integrating infrastructure and services backfires," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 40-50.
    15. Lokshin, Boris & Hagedoorn, John & Letterie, Wilko, 2011. "The bumpy road of technology partnerships: Understanding causes and consequences of partnership mal-functioning," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 297-308, March.
    16. Clò, Stefano & Florio, Massimo & Rentocchini, Francesco, 2020. "Firm ownership, quality of government and innovation: Evidence from patenting in the telecommunication industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    17. Battistella, Cinzia, 2014. "The organisation of Corporate Foresight: A multiple case study in the telecommunication industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 60-79.
    18. Zhang, Jing & Liang, Xiong-jian, 2012. "Promoting green ICT in China: A framework based on innovation system approaches," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 997-1013.
    19. Torsten J. Gerpott, 2006. "Innovationen und Regulierung in der Telekommunikationswirtschaft," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 58(54), pages 133-153, January.
    20. Werner Hölzl & Jürgen Janger & Andreas Reinstaller & Isabel Stadler & Fabian Unterlass & Stephanie Daimer & Thomas Stehnken, 2010. "Barriers to Internationalisation and Growth of EU's Innovative Companies. PRO INNO Europe: INNO-Grips II Report," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 41059.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eurman:v:32:y:2014:i:4:p:564-576. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/115/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.