The Impact of Remote Work on Performance Monitoring

• Main Authors: Gustavsson, Robert, Söderlund, Marcus
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Företagsekonomiska institutionen 2021
• Subjects: Management control; Remote work; Digitalisation; Performance Monitoring; EPM; Tight and loose control.; Business Administration; Företagsekonomi
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-447695

This study aims to examine how the shift from analog to remote work, as a result of digitalization, has affected performance monitoring in organizations and impacted management control systems. Earlier studies within the subject show that a shift results in a reduction in performance monitoring or that classical performance monitoring are replaced with electronic performance monitoring (EPM). In order to examine how performance monitoring changes as a result of the shift and if management control has gotten tighter or looser, this thesis has been based on four semi-structured interviews that were held with managers from three different Swedish organizations. The shift to remote work shows tendencies of a loosening of control in the organizations and to compensate for the loss, managers have implemented different Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) systems. The most common EPM systems implemented were video meetings, but other EPM systems were also implemented such as online monitoring. But managers still experience an overall loosening of control as a result of the shift to remote work. Trust seems to be a factor that becomes more important as a result of the shift and seems to have a mitigating effect on the degree of EPM systems the managers choose to implement.