Kristin Albright Waters will defend her doctoral dissertation on April 1, 2016. Her dissertation examines the lived experiences of employees who telework through a case study of employees at a higher education institution. She investigated what the experiences of teleworking employees are and whether they experienced "fit" as defined by the Concept of Fit theoretical framework. Her findings showed that participants had both similar and unique individual experiences of teleworking and that overall they did experience fit as outlined by the framework, though they were unaware of the framework. She provides recommendations for modifying the framework and implications for future research, such as further analyzing the framework, gender roles, and supervisory styles.

1. Doctoral Defense
Kristin Albright Waters
April 1, 2016, 3:00pm

2. Topic Review
 Professional Staff Senate
 Taskforce – Flexible Work Life Balance
 Personal Experience
 Two jobs and teleworking
 Gap in the literature
 Lived experience
 Higher Education
The Lived Experience of Teleworking:
A Case Study from the Higher Education Environment

3. Research Questions
 RQ #1: What are the lived experiences of exempt
employees who telework?
 Results = Chapter 4
 Narratives of the lived experiences
 RQ #2: Do these employees experience fit as outlined
by the Concept of Fit theoretical framework?
 Results = Chapter 5
 Findings organized by the theoretical framework

4. Theoretical Framework:
Concept of Fit
DISTRIBUTED WORK ARRANGEMENTS
Figure 1. A framework for studying distributed work arrangements (Belanger & Collins, 1998).
Organizational
Characteristics
Individual
Characteristics
Work
Characteristics
Technology
Characteristics
FIT Outcomes
Societal
IndividualOrganizational

5. Theoretical Framework:
Concept of Fit
SUMMARY OF MODEL VARIABLES
Organizational Characteristics Examples
Organizational objectives Cost savings, increased productivity and employee demands/incentives
Organizational culture Employee commitment and loyalty
Organizational control mechanisms Outcome, behavioral, personal, and clan controls
Individual Characteristics Examples
Individual objectives Cost savings, control of work schedule
Individual skills Technical and problem solving-skills, communication, reliability and
self-sufficiency
Work Characteristics Examples
Communication pattern Base on task type: high or low information exchange requirements
Coordination requirements Based on task type: standardized, scheduled, mutual agreement and team
coordination
Technology Characteristics Examples
Security requirement Appropriate equipment and furniture, information ownership and control
established
Physical setup Quiet space, access to appropriate equipment and support
Outcomes Examples
Societal Reduced pollution, work provided in low employment areas
Organizational Increased productivity, employee retention, reduced overhead
Individual Increased satisfaction, control of work schedule, increased productivity,
reduced commuting time and costs, stress from work-family conflicts
Figure 2. Summary of model variables.

6. Participant Profile
Demographic Characteristics of Participants
Participant Gender Ethnicity
Participant
Code
Telework
Day
Bertha F AA 1 Monday
Laya F AA 2 Wednesday
Mindi F C 3 Wednesday
Paul M C 4 Tuesday
Oobleck M C 5 Monday
Terry F SEA 6 Wednesday
Lynn F C 7 Wednesday
Lucy F C 8 Friday
Jim Hatfield M C 9 N/A
Wendy F AA 10 Friday
Anne F C 11 N/A
Note. F = Female; M = Male; AA = African American; C = Caucasian; SEA =
Southeast Asian.

7. Findings
Similar experiences among
participants
Plan tasks to ‘save’ for telework day
Distractions in the office/focus
Email – first ‘thing’ they do on
telework day
Supportive supervisors
Commute
Technology: internet and computer
Want to telework more
Office of support
Unique experiences among
participants
Communication with office
Start and end time of telework day
Personal tasks
Distraction at home
Technology
Tasks – processing/creativity
Negative thoughts/perceptions
RQ #1: What are the lived experiences of exempt employees who telework?
RQ #2: Do these employees experience fit as outlined by the Concept of Fit
theoretical framework?

8. Findings, Con’t.
 4 characteristics = all present
 Fit = participants not aware of framework
 3 outcomes = all present
 Overall, participants experience fit as outlined by the
Concept of Fit theoretical framework.

9. Recommendations
RECOMMENDED MODIFICATION TO DISTRIBUTED WORK ARRANGEMENTS
Figure 1. A recommended framework (Belanger & Collins, 199) for studying distributed work
arrangements. The dashed line is the recommended addition posed by the researcher.
Organizational
Characteristics
Individual
Characteristics
Work
Characteristics
Technology
Characteristics
FIT Outcomes
Societal
IndividualOrganizational

10. Implications for Future Research
 Further analysis of Concept of Fit
 Modification to Concept of Fit
 Gender roles
 Supervisory style/relationship
 Results Oriented/Only Workplace Environment (ROWE)
 Day of Week for teleworking

11. Next Steps
 Publish findings
 ProQuest
 World at Work
 AACRAO
 Additional analysis
 New study utilizing Concept of Fit
 Further analysis with current data
 Policy modification
 HR representations at site institution
 Presentations
 Site Institution: Professional Staff Senate/President’s Council
 Regional and National Organizations: World at Work/HR/HigherEd
 System schools with teleworking policy

12. Thank you
 Questions?
 Comments?