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Organisational and workforce factors

The EMERGENCE case studies of eWork relocation illustrate three important company and organisational factors in the relocation of eWork (Flecker and Kirschenhofer, 2002):

1. relocations supported by parent companies, alliances of associations of firms, etc.

2. concentration within a group of companies

3. outsourcing of specific functions or tasks

Regional ‘pull’ factors do not always directly decide where work is relocated to. In the first two situations, the existing locations of the actual companies concerned are powerful determinants of both the source and destination of the eWork relocation. In the third situation, normally one in which a specific function or task is relocated without affecting the source company organisation (except maybe the loss of a function), decision-making focuses upon finding the right company to do the work regardless of where that company is located. As far as the ‘source’ company is concerned, no conscious choice of a specific location has been made. Nevertheless, the company which is chosen to provide the remote service has probably built its market position on the basis of particular competitive advantages, many of which may be the result of the region in which it is based.

In each of these three situations, but especially in the first two, a successful relocation often seems to depend on an organisational learning process taking place. In this context, EMERGENCE identified a number of important organisational facilitators:

• existing contacts and support from parent or partner companies

• clearly delineated tasks or projects, including a high degree of standardisation, codification and formalisation, plus as exact as possible specification and documentation of the eWork to be undertaken

• worker involvement in the preparation and implementation of the relocation

• adaptation of work routines, organisation and technology to the new relocated environment

• organisational change at the source region, as well as at the destination, to adapt to the new overall division of labour

• dedicated and extensive efforts regarding knowledge transfer and training through as much codification as is possible and desirable.

One somewhat surprising finding from the EMERGENCE research is that eWork relocations can result in the increased geographic mobility of personnel. Apart from increased commuting (which is only relevant for short distance relocations), this can take one of two forms:

• a permanent move by staff to stay with their relocating job — this sometimes also means a new employer for the staff member if outsourcing is involved

• temporary moves of, for example, managers and trainers to set up the relocated facility, plus more travel by staff members to meet colleagues in the new locations for regular or occasional face to face encounters.

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© 2002, Institute for Employment Studies