Management Issues in the Adoption of Telework Amongst SMEs in Europe

This paper seeks to highlight key managerial issues facing small and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] during the adoption of telework, based on the findings of a recent European Commission-funded project conducted in five European regions located in Italy, France, Finland, Hungary and the UK. Teleworking can be defined as working offsite (eg at home, at a customer site, on the move) whilst linked all day or for some period in the day to the employing organisation´s ICT systems. Increasing interest in its adoption has led to many analytical studies that have investigated managerial/organisational issues in the implementation of telework in large firms, but little research has been conducted on smaller firms. A quantitative survey, involving over 1500 firms in the five regions, focussed on a comparative analysis of attitudes to telework and current teleworking activities, whilst the qualitative research component, involving face-to-face interviews with over 50 stakeholders in each region, examined related issues at individual firm-level. Both sets of findings show high levels of adoption of the necessary technological equipment but much lower levels of active preparation and managerial enthusiasm for its widespread implementation. Issues of employer/employee trust, work autonomy, change management practices and regional infrastructural support are discussed