Legitimizing and Elevating Telework: Chinese Constructions of a Nonstandard Work Arrangement
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-2013
Keywords
business communication, telework, technology, China, legitimacy, guanxi, post-80s generation, nonstandard work arrangements, Chinese values
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/1050651913479912
Abstract
Telework—the performance of paid labor activities at sites other than conventional workplaces and through the use of communication technologies—has not been considered a legitimate work form in China. Analyzing in-depth interviews thematically, the authors found that teleworkers from the post-80s generation not only legitimized their work form pragmatically and morally but also elevated it as a better choice for more achievement, flexibility, autonomy, efficiency, and professional development. Although they evaluated their choice positively, these teleworkers also acknowledged the unique challenges in cultivating guanxi (building relationships) and careers in China when working remotely. The authors suggest that telework in China offers a contested site for studying the dialectic tensions between traditional Chinese values and Western business discourses.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Journal of Business and Technical Communication, v. 27, issue 3, p. 243-262
Scholar Commons Citation
Long, Ziyu; Kuang, Kai; and Buzzanell, Patrice M., "Legitimizing and Elevating Telework: Chinese Constructions of a Nonstandard Work Arrangement" (2013). Communication Faculty Publications. 744.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/spe_facpub/744
