Is Working from Home a Boon or a Bane?

Is Working from Home a Boon or a Bane?

Subroto could not believe that it was the same Hyderabad which he had left 11 years ago when his company had sent him to Shenzhen on an international assignment in 2007. Travelling on the roads of Hyderabad on a week day during the rush hour, he was shocked to see the sea of vehicles and the snail pace at which the traffic moved as Victor, his ex-colleague and good old friend from Hyderabad maneuvered his Maruti Suzuki Baleno with seasoned craftsmanship and meandered through the traffic.

Subroto: You are a lucky chap that you don’t have to travel to and from work every day. Otherwise this must be such a criminal wastage of time and it must also be physically draining.

Victor: True, Subroto. As you know, I have been telecommuting for more than 5 years now and it is a big relief that I don’t have to deal with the harrowing traffic menace. With time, the traffic and commute time have increased.

Saving on the commute time is just one of the many advantages of working-from-home. For me, it has really come as a boon. Now I have less stress and more personal time than I could ever have when working out of an office. I am regular with the gym, I am able to run the household errands during breaks, I am able to squeeze out play time with my boy in the evenings and I also keep upgrading myself with new courses on Coursera. With no disturbance, which was the biggest problem at our modern open office, I am able to focus on my work and my productivity seems to have improved over the years…I wish Shweta (Victor’s wife) also worked from home, at least to escape this traffic.................

Discussion Questions

I. What do you understand by telecommuting.

II. What are the benefits and drawbacks of telecommuting for the companies?

III. What are the benefits and drawbacks of telecommuting for the employees?

IV. .................

Exhibits

Exhibit I: Why Employees Want to Work Outside the Office

Is Working from Home a Boon or a Bane?

Preamble

The purpose of this Teaching Plan is neither to outline the answers to Case Debate’s discussion questions nor to suggest an ideal way of conducting an effective debate basis the given topic. It is more to share the authors’ perspectives, basis their classroom orchestration of this Case Debate, on possible ways of orchestrating this Case Debate.

Purpose of Case Debate

Purpose of this Case Debate, which is a prelude to the Case Method of Teaching, is to inculcate the following skills [Exhibit (TP)-I] that would amply benefit the participants during their careers..........

As this Case Debate is based on a very generic topic, the purpose is not to dwell into only the research-based inputs but more to prepare the students/participants for the process of case discussion – except that while the case discussion would be based on the case facts, the Case Debate encourages the students/participants to present their ideas with no rigorous business dilemma................

Exhibits

Exhibit (TP)-I: CASE DEBATE – SKILL SCOPING

Exhibit (TP)-II: Recommendations for Deriving Maximum Benefit from Work-From-Home Arrangements

Exhibit (TP)-III: Classroom Orchestration Plan – Is Working from Home a Boon or a Bane?