Author: Hal Levin
Publication date: 7/23/07 (draft report)
Since the industrial revolution, the overriding model of work is one in which workers were gathered together in centralized facilities, first factories, then offices, to perform work. The centralized location served a significant role in providing opportunities for organizing and supervising work, communication and coordination between workers, as well as socialization and formation of corporate identity. Over the past several decades this model of work/workplace has begun to change, in response to numerous factors including the globalization of the workforce, the availability of communications technology, the recognition that knowledge workers may not need to work the s ame way as factory workers. As a result there is willingness on the part of many organizations to consider whether there are alternative ways of working, that don’t require all or most workers to assemble in centralized facilities.
This paper reviews research on and explores the links between aspects of new ways of working and sustainability. The basic question asked is whether new ways of working can contribute to a more sustainable way of working and a more sustainable world – and if so, how?
Concepts of sustainability vary greatly as do different forms of new ways of working. This paper focuses on distributed work as a new way of working of considerable interest to the members of the NewWOW network. In this paper the focus is primarily on environmental sustainability although economic and social sustainability are widely recognized as critical to overall societal sustainability.
Sustainability is more than a fad; it is an increasing focus for corporations in terms of investor relations, stock value, and customer opinion. Sustainability through new ways of working is a complex undertaking that has not been directly researched. Reductions in energy consumption, corporate real estate, and travel associated with many aspects of distributed work may provide environmental benefits consistent with a more sustainable society. Overall, there is a need for an overall model to assess sustainability in relation to new ways of working.
