The workplace of the future. The COVID-19 pandemic and working from home in Swiss small businesses
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Author (Corporation)
Publication date
2024
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Collections
Type
01A - Journal article
Editors
Editor (Corporation)
Supervisor
Parent work
Journal of Strategy and Management
Special issue
DOI of the original publication
Link
Series
Series number
Volume
17
Issue / Number
4
Pages / Duration
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Emerald
Place of publication / Event location
Bingley
Edition
Version
Programming language
Assignee
Practice partner / Client
Abstract
Purpose
Micro and small enterprises (MSE) play a critical role in the Swiss economy but had no meaningfully adopted working from home (WFH) policy before the COVID-19 crisis. The timing of the study’s data collection allowed a unique assessment of Swiss MSEs’ adoption of WFH enabled by the adoption of digital technologies due to the first government-mandated COVID-19 lockdown. The study also set out to assess the permanence of any changes in the adoption of WFH by MSEs after initial government COVID-19 restrictions ended.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a threefold theoretical framework combining social, technical and spatial dimensions. Data were collected via telephone interviews. The utilised sampling frame included 153,000 small businesses with 4–49 employees, and the realised sample for the study was 503 interviews with MSE owners and managing directors (MDs).
Findings
The Swiss government’s COVID-19 crisis lockdown policies accelerated the digital transformation of work by employees in Swiss MSEs by increasing the number of employees WFH. However, the number of MSEs with WFH employees decreased after the first lockdown ended. Small business leadership is an important influence on the persistence of any increases in WFH.
Originality/value
The data collection uniquely captures the effects of externally driven digital transformation of work in small businesses by the adoption of WFH. The findings show that small businesses can rapidly learn new ways of working and support the claim that Swiss MSE MDs play a critical role in the adoption of WFH. They also confirm the importance of digital leadership and culture for realising the potential of WFH in small businesses.
Keywords
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Conference end date
Date of the last check
ISBN
ISSN
1755-425X
Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
Hybrid
License
Citation
Peter, M. K., Würsch, L., Neher, A., Lindeque, J. P., & Mändli Lerch, K. (2024). The workplace of the future. The COVID-19 pandemic and working from home in Swiss small businesses. Journal of Strategy and Management, 17(4). https://doi.org/10.1108/JSMA-09-2023-0248