Are Telecommuters in the IT Industry More Productive Than Traditional Office Workers, Research Paper Example

Null Hypotheses:

1. There is no difference between the customer satisfaction ratings of telecommuters and traditional office workers in the IT industry.
2. There is no difference between the metrics scores of telecommuters and traditional office workers in the IT industry.
3. There is no difference between the amount of time wasted in at-home offices and traditional office buildings.

Units of Analysis: In each of the hypotheses, the Units of Analysis are workers in the IT industry.

Variables: In the each hypothesis, the independent variable is work environment. In the first, the dependent variable is customer satisfaction rating. In he second, it is the metric score. In the third, it the amount of time wasted.

Coding Schemes:

Work Environment will be W. Telecommuters will be T. Traditional office workers will be O. Wasted will be TW. Metrics scores will be M. Customer Satisfaction will be measured by the following scale: 1 = Very Unsatisfied, 2 = Somewhat Unsatisfied, 3 = Somewhat Satisfied, 4 = Very Satisfied.

Definitions: Operational Definitions will be marked as OD. Conceptual Definitions will be marked as CD.

Work Environment

CD: The area and atmosphere in which a person works.

OD: The exact location of an IT worker – including only home offices and traditional business offices. Other environmental factors will not be considered.

Metrics Score

CD: The mathematical measurement of an employee’s performance.

OD: Employees’ scores, based on their performance according to the IT Balanced Scorecard.

Customer Service Rating

CD: A customer’s rating of an individual’s commitment to customer service.

OD: An employee’s customer service rating according to a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 as the lowest rating and five as the highest.

Time Wasted

CD: Time spent in an inefficient manner.

OD: Minutes spent by employees in applications unrelated to work.

Testing:

This study is best suited for a two-tail test, as it would be helpful to know not only if telecommuters performed better than traditional office workers, but also if they performed worse.