Unit7, Article 33: New Tech, Old Habits: Despite world class IT networks, Japanese and Korean workers are still chained to their desks.

Reaction:

Ihlwan, M., & Hall, K. (2007). New tech, old habits; Despite world-class IT networks, Japanese and Korean workers are still chained to their desks. . In P. De Palma (Ed.), Annual editions: Computers in society 10/11 (pp. 152-153). New York: McGraw Hill.

Summary:

In New Tech, Old Habits, Ihlwan and Hall briefly describe trends of telecommuting in Japan and Korea vs. the United States. They make the point that Japan and Korea have some of the best wireless and broadband networks in the world and then ask the question: are Japanese and Korean companies using this networking technology to their best advantage? Their answer is that these companies are not utilizing networks nearly as much as they could. Most, but not all, companies in Japan and Korea do not allow their employees to work from home or even to bring a laptop computer home when they need to work late. Reasons for this decision include a cultural expectation for workers in Asian companies to work together, face to face, on projects and a fear that many company executives have that their employees might lose valuable data if they take computers with them out of the office. According to the article, trends show that telecommuting in Japan and Korea may be on the rise as younger managers take over positions and companies find out how much money telecommuting can save them in overhead costs.

Reaction:

I do not find it surprising that Japanese and Korean companies are more hesitant to allow their employees to telecommute than American companies are. Their cultures are more formal and telecommuting (at least in America) seems like a more relaxed and informal way of doing business. Telecommuting is also much more individualized than Japanese and Korean companies may be used to. When telecommuting, employees are evaluated based on the amount of work and the quality of work that they are able to do, whereas in Japanese and Korean companies the time commitment make by employees for the company may be of more value to managers.