International Business Machines Corp - Case Study Example

 International Business Machines Corp. This report identifies the concept of telecommuting at IBM, Indiana and the various problems encountered in the successful implementation of this technology. The company has a feedback system which serves as the basis of the findings on which this report is based. The problems of telecommuters, the concerns of the management and the probable causes for the same are discussed and suitable solutions are suggested which can be implemented with ease by the office. 1. Introduction International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is the pioneer in innovation in information technology and has leveraged the same for its benefit to the extent possible which is demonstrated by its telecommuting initiative. This report analyzes the success and concerns of this initiative by identifying the process and the special features of this technological trend. A deeper insight is gained into the reasons for it being accepted or rejected for adoption by the employees at IBM Indiana and also proposes an action plan to address any immediate and long-term concerns to aid its implementation and sustenance. Prior to identifying the concerns in implementation, an understanding of the feedback from the employees and a quantitative analysis of the results would be useful for framing further initiatives for the success of telecommuting initiative for IBM, Indiana. Telecommuting is a practice among the corporate world “where paid workers work away from their normal place of work, usually from home” (InnoVisions Canada, n.d.). The reasons for telecommuting are many and it includes reducing layoffs, costs of real estate, etc. It is beneficial for both the organization as well the employees and offers advantages on both professional and personal fronts. While for the organization it offers the advantage of “increased productivity from the employees, reducing costs on real-estate, lesser absenteeism, etc. the benefits for the employees are in terms of flexibility in working hours, less commuting, more freedom of work, improved lifestyle, etc. (InnoVisions Canada, n.d.) 2. Summary of problems faced However, there are a few concerns that have been identified from the feedback given by the employees and addressing them is of importance to the organization. At the Indiana office where it is initially implemented, it is observed that about 10% of the telecommuters still complain of the lack of efficient support system and that the PCs, the phone lines and the scheduling are inefficient to sustain this initiative. They observed that the PCs provided to them are outdated IBM desktops with low configuration which makes them inefficient in complying with the latest technologies needed to implement this technique. The inefficiency of the support system to ensure the home phone to ring instead of directing the call to the voice mail is a major concern for all. Also, the lack of peer interaction, difficulty in exchanging information, reduced team work environment, lack of networking and socialization are other concerns expressed by these telecommuters. Lack of interaction with peers is resulting in frustration and a feeling of isolation is creeping in many of these employees (wps.prenhall.com, pp164-169). Some also are yet to adapt to the new way of working at home and find that it is encroaching into their private life with less time for personal life due to reasons like workholism, lack of space at home, etc. There are some who find the exchange of data becoming difficult, but the major concern is the affect on print quality due to broken linkages in the support system. Also, the inefficiency of the system to access important data crucial for immediate solutions which otherwise can be accessed through the office LANs at the office premises is another concern for the telecommuters. There is a feeling of discomfort among some to adopt change in their working style, while others fear a loss of opportunity if they do not work at the workplace. Cooney (2007) notes that “the growing number of teleworkers fear that this trend to change their lifestyle and work style can damage their advancement in career and also hurt their personal growth in the company”. This may be attributed to lesser interaction with the peers and the managers leading to probable alienation from the workplace. 3. Causes When adapting to the change in the place of work and lifestyle, there can be various kinds of problems encountered by both the individual employee and the organization which facilitates the change. The primary reason for failure in implementation of any new technique can be the simple reason of resistance to change by virtue of human nature. Further, problems in adapting to the new way of working, inefficient knowledge of the system, low quality infrastructure which normally elevates the problem can also be attributed to the reluctance of the staff to adopt the new technology. There can be an ingrained lack of trust in the efficiency of new technologies and comfortability. Also, the inability of the employee to adapt to the change in time, frustration built up due to the initial hiccups in starting the technique, reduced communication with peers and customers can also be reason for the any of the mentioned problems. Further, the technological problems and the administrative problems also could aggravate the frustration among the telecommuters. Insufficient motivation to adopt the new way of working at home can be a major reason for future problems with the implementation of this technique. Inefficient support systems with low-end technology can be one reason for the cropping of problems in the implementation of the same. In addition, the management also loses certain control over the staff and there is less monitoring of the productivity and efficiency of work. For the employees, telecommuting means losing out on the comforts of the ideal office environment and adjusting to the less satisfactory home office environment, which is facilitated with minimum resources. Also, since there is no networking, the employees lose out on the chance to form unions to address any concern to their community. There is also the problem of organizing one’s work due to the lack of available tools for the same. Hence, it is observed that both inefficiency of the system as well as the employee to adapt to the technology can be reason for problems cropping up in the implementation of the new telecommuting at IBM Indiana. 4. Action plan to rectify the problem The major concern for IBM, Indiana is the existence of low configuration systems and infrastructure. Also, since the PCs are installed by the company, there is little choice for the employee to choose a higher configuration to make his work smoother. There have been more complaints on the efficiency of the support system. Hence, firstly the support system needs to be revved up by ensuring employees are provided with high configuration PCs with high efficiency support system. This initiative is already started and IBM needs to ensure that all 300 telecommuters at Indiana are given the company’s ThinkPads to work efficiently. The existing 14.4Kbauds network speed can be improved to increase speed of data communication. Quoting Helm (2004), “on any given day, approximately 128,000 IBM employees telecommute, either from a customer site or their homes”. The present facility of accepting calls from customers at home on the phones given by the office need to be able to ring the home phone as these are presently being diverted to the voicemail. This can be avoided to ensure customer satisfaction and direct support call to the executive concerned. This can save a lot of time and help give better service to the customer which should be the priority in any business. Also, the facility of mobile communication would help the service to improve on all aspects as it enables customer calls and communication within the organization more effective. Further, the employees often feign from adopting any new technology due to the lack of sufficient training on hoe to utilize the technology. Hence, it is necessary to ensure the training and evaluation of the result of the same for all employees thereby increasing the productivity. The tools for facilitating telecommuting should be easy on the employee as well as the other stakeholders so there is maximum utilization of the technology which is the basis for the introduction of these initiatives. As employees find it difficult to organize their work and life working form home, they should be encouraged to use technology for this task as there are a number of tools for this purpose. Making a practice of using tools for organizing the activities ensures the smooth functioning of the project for all concerned as it is imperative that the telecommuters work in a team on any project. It also helps the scheduling of work by others in the team and the office. Further, since the printing quality of documents is a major concern for telecommuters, improving the support system and infrastructure for the same would reduce frustration for the employee, which can affect his work. As Jim Sinocchi of IBM observed, “the culture is changing” (Helm, 2004) and people need to change their thinking accordingly. It can be observed that many a problems can be addressed by simply changing the outlook and working on the approach to the problem. Many of the problems mentioned at the facility at Indiana can and have been addressed by counseling the employees to change their attitude towards adopting this initiative and take it as a challenge and responsibility to ensure security for their employment as inflexibility may cost someone their job due to cost cutting practices at regular intervals. Employees should be made more accountable for the success of the company and encouraged to contribute to their ability to provide a productive job for many. Also, there is the problem of most of the employees cribbing of the lack of peer interaction and a step in this direction to reduce this effect has already been initiated by the company byway of introducing IBM clubs which facilitate interaction for personal and professional benefits. In addition to this, the office can consider utilizing video-conferencing as an efficient tool for daily communication between the telecommuters and the office at all times which can be a boon for the customers too. This can also ensure that the feeling of isolation is reduced among the employees who derive a certain amount of motivation to work to their full capabilities when in a team and discuss things over informal meetings. It ahs to be observed that most of the brainstorming sessions have not yielded much productive ideas but informal meets over the weekends or over a cup of coffee have given rise to a lot of innovative ideas much to the benefit of technology. This also fosters team work and results in faster and better results. 5. Conclusion The more mundane tasks for the telecommuting community of IBM, Indiana can be improved for efficiency by introducing higher speed networks, improving communication with the customers over IBM phones, encourage employees to get more organized, improve infrastructure and support system, and imparting training and evaluating its success for efficient utilization of the resources. Also, encouraging basic attitudinal changes in the employee’s outlook towards changes in work can go along way in addressing the small but important problems at IBM, Indiana and help sustain the unique cost cutting imitative of telecommuting. References- 1. Helm, Burt (2004). “Paving the Road for Telecommuters”. BusinessWeek. < http://www.bestworkplaces.org/pdf/f500/bizweek_9-29-04_5.pdf>. 2. “ABOUT TELEWORK”. InnoVisions Canada. 2009. http://www.ivc.ca/part2.html 3. Cooney, Michael (2007). “Telecommute. Kill a career?” NETWORKWORLD. < http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/011707-telecommute-career.html> 4. “Telecommuting at IBM-INDIANA”. 2004. pp 164-169. < http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/5547/5681051/5e_Cases/Case_Study_I-2.pdf>. Read More