1

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature and Study

This chapter presents and discusses foreign and local literature and studies that are closely

related to the present research. The information in this chapter is sought to support this study

and lead the researchers in determining the factors that affect the work performance of the

certified public accountants.

Foreign Literature

Working from home is regarded as a sustainable travel-demand management strategy

(Nam Kim, S., 2016). There are three methods in investigating how much telecommuting

lessens travel which are the following (1) increasing the telecommuting frequency by the

round-trip commute distance, (2) estimating travel changes using quasi-experiments, and (3)

determining the marginal effect of telecommuting on travel using econometric analyses.

Nonetheless, each approach has methodological limitations, and past investigations neglect to

take into consideration various aspects of household travel other than the telecommuter's

commute. Against this backdrop, this study presents an alternative approach to deal with

assessing the effect of the household head's telecommuting on total household travel other

than his or her commute travel using data from the 2006 Household Travel Survey in Korea.

This bounce-back impact duplicates when the household head telecommutes, although not on

regular commuting days. The effect proposes that the benefits of telecommuting are

fundamentally not exactly as expected. Subsequently, organizers and policymakers should

consider this counteracting effect when predicting the travel reduction effect of telecommuting
 2

or determining the level of telecommuting required to accomplish environmental policy

objectives for urban sustainability.

As companies around the world are forced to telecommute amid the COVID-19

pandemic, many people are grappling with the reality of working from home for extended

periods (Stieg, C., 2020). Everybody appears to have solid sentiments about "WFH" life. It is

substantially more complicated than just laptops and video conferencing. For instance, what

does work from home do to their performance, productivity, and creativity? A 2012 study

found that people performed “dull” tasks better in a controlled workspace setting than they did

in a less-structured remote environment. It is an exploration that proposes that telecommuting

makes them better at some tasks, and worse at others. On the other side, the 2012 study also

found that when faced with a creative task, people were more productive working from home.

Other research recommends that structure kills creativity.

Telecommuting, the replacement of information technology capabilities for presence at

a central work location, creates a large group of opportunities and challenges for managers and

workers in organizations (Stephens, G., Szajna, B., 2015). A longitudinal contextual study of the

proposal and adoption of a telecommuting program to explore the motives that underlie the

decision to telecommute. The purpose behind the investigation was to comprehend the

benefits and hindrances of telecommuting from the worker’s perspective. A decision to

telecommute or not to telecommute is exceptionally individualized, but, regardless of the

ultimate decision, employees had to consider common issues. Motivations to telecommute

were both instrumental and emotional. They included: the casual atmosphere at home, cost

savings, more time to spend with family, lack of a commute, and avoidance of workplace issues.
 3

Motivations to remain at the office were also instrumental and emotional, including the need

for social interaction, career visibility, need for direct supervision, and the desire to separate

home and work life.

A rising share of employees now consistently engage in working from home (WFH)

however, there are concerns this can prompt “shirking from home” (Bloom, N., Liang, J.,

Roberts, J., Ying, Z, J., 2014) Call center employees who volunteered to WFH were randomly

assigned either to work from home or in the office for nine months. Homeworking prompted a

13% performance increase, of which 9% was from working more minutes per shift (fewer

breaks and days off) and 4% from more calls per minute (attributed to a quieter and more

convenient working environment). Home workers also reported improved work satisfaction,

and their attrition rate halved, but their promotion rate conditional on performance fell. Due to

the achievement of the experiment, they carried out the alternative to WFH to the entire firm

and allowed the experimental employees to reselect between the home and office.

Interestingly, over half of them switched, which led to the gains from WFH almost doubling to

22%. These features the advantages of learning and selection effects when adopting modern

management practices like WFH.

The Global Workforce characteristics are evolving around the world. It is showing the

developing variety across areas with an uplifted multicultural environment. The most recent

decade had seen a wonderful change in the trend of the approach of the associations through

different innovative practices. One of the developing practices is Employee friendly strategy,

Work-from-Home (Lakshmi, V., Mishra, S., Nigam, R., 2017). Working from home has advanced

and developed quickly over the last decade. In the postindustrial economy, a developing
 4

number of occupations can be performed with just a few tools, essentially a phone and a

computer with web access. The popularity of Work-from-home (Telecommuting) has gained

attention recently with an ever-increasing number of employees willing to telecommute. Work-

from-Home (Telecommuting) owes a lot of continuous improvements and upgrades in

technology. More mobile and capable technology keep the home workers united with the

office, partners, clients, and the world.

Local Literature

The prevalence of telework/telecommuting or working from home arrangements

enabled by digital technology has been increasing (Prasetyo Y.T., Ramos, J.P., 2020). The Public

authority even passed a bill in 2019 also called as "Telecommuting Act" which allows the

employers of various types of businesses to impose telecommuting or alternative work

arrangements to their employees in the Philippines. The effect of work from home arrangement

on the profitability of employees in the Philippines is evaluated in this study. It also analyzed

the causal relationship between “Work from Home Factors”, “Job Satisfaction”, “Job

Performance”, Commuting Satisfaction”, “Job Stress” and “Productivity” using Structural

Equation Modelling. According to this study “Work from Home Factors” has a significant

positive outcome on “Job Satisfaction” and “Productivity” yet, it does not work on “Job Stress”.

Secondly, “Work from Home Factors” negatively affects “Job Performance”. And lastly, “Job

Performance” has a negative significant effect on “Productivity”. Through the use of application

of SEM, this study prepares knowledge about the interrelationship between “Work from Home

Factors”, “Job Satisfaction”, “Job Performance”, “Commuting Satisfaction”, “Job Stress” and
 5

“Productivity” This investigation would be useful to various organization and management

should they consider telecommuting as one of their work arrangements.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing a shift in standard in how work is done in the

Philippines (Consignado, P.M, Navarro, A.A., Pomoy, R.A., 2020). Businesses in the non-essential

sector were forced to accept that work can be performed outside the office premises, such as

through Work-From-Home (“WFH”) arrangements. The concept of employees working from

home in the Philippines is not unusual. Organizations constantly had the choice of where an

employee can perform his or her job — in the office premises, in the field, at home, or

elsewhere. As such, even without the law, companies can place their employees on

telecommuting. Nonetheless, the Philippines has recently established legislation, the

Telecommuting Act, which at first glimpse may appear to entirely cover all WFH arrangements.

With the need for continued physical distancing, Philippine industries are deeply encouraged to

select alternative work arrangements, such as WFH arrangements, as part of the ‘new normal’

post-ECQ. In cases of WFH arrangements done with the use of telecommunication and

computer technologies, Philippine businesses should adopt a formal telecommuting program

under the Telecommuting Act. Even though the requirements for adopting formal

telecommuting arrangements are more severe than a WFH arrangement during the ECQ, the

same requirements precisely guarantee employers that their adoption of a telecommuting

program would be in line with Philippine laws.

The majority of the business operations of organizations have shifted to a work-from-

home scheme since enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been established in some parts

of the country (Sanchez, D., 2020). Due to the lack of proper equipment, furniture, and the
 6

extension of working hours, numerous office employees can find the adjustment difficult.

According to experts, working for long periods of time at their dining table is bad for their body

and overall health. Telecommuting does not just involve tracking down a comfortable spot in

their home and completing the present plan for the day, but they should also be extra cautious

with their position and routine to battle the anxiety that may come from working in a

compromised position.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law that formalizes the option for

employees to work from home or work remotely outside the workplace (McKenzie, B., 2019).

Telecommuting specified as an alternative work arrangement that employers can impose on

their employees under Republic Act No. 11165 or the Telecommuting Act. Essentially, the new

legislation rules out the rights and obligations of managers and employees when a

telecommuting program is in place. It also includes provisions for resolving complaints arising

from the telecommuting program. The telecommuting program's terms and conditions shall not

be less than the minimum labor standards provided by law, and telecommuting employees shall

be treated in the same manner as comparable employees working at the work premises,

including matters pertaining to salary, premium payments, and other monetary benefits, rest

periods and holidays, workload and performance standards, access to training and career

opportunities, as well as collective rights granted to workers. Further, under the new law, the

telecommuting employees shall not be separated from the working community in the work

premises but shall be given an opportunity to continually meet with their co-workers.

Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) defined that other alternatives or flexible work

arrangements are similar such as the compressed workweek scheme and flexible holidays, this
 7

program is under the new law is made subject to the confirmation of the employer and the

reported employees.

A survey of 300 men and 300 women employees from large private sector firms, aged

18 to 60 was approved by the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment and

Investing in Women. The survey aimed to understand results of COVID-19 on the work and

personal lives of employees. A majority of employees stated their work was rejected, hours

and pay decreased, and they were forced to take unpaid leave. Only 37% of employees could

report that COVID-19 had no impact on their job. 6 out of 10 families experienced a loss of

income and above 60% of those affected started working from home. However, approximately

70% of employees declared they were capable to be equally or more productive during the

crisis – 21% of women and 14% of men reported being more productive. Overall, 4 in 10 adults

felt pressure to do more household work and child care (Investing in women, 2020). In

conclusion, COVID-19 has huge impacts to the employees in the Philippines because they

experience the difficulties and new way of living when the pandemic started.

Foreign Studies

Adaptability in the area of work hours has shown positive organizational impacts on

efficiency and maintenance, less is reflected about the income impacts of working from home

(Glass, J., Noonan, M., 2016). They have depicted the segment and word-related attributes of

the workers occupied with working from home, at that point track their income development

with fixed-effects models, focusing on sexual orientation and parental status. Results show

significant variation in the income impacts of working from home dependent on the number of
 8

hours work telecommuted. Telecommuting, as opposed to the workplace, produces equivalent

income, however, "taking work home" or additional time working from home yields altogether

more modest increments than extra time dealing on the office. Scarcely any sexual orientation

or parental status contrasts arose in these cycles. These trends reflect negative results of the

developing capacity of laborers to perform their work from any area. Rather than upgrading

adaptability in when and where employees work, the ability to telecommute for the most part

increases the workday and infringes on the home and family time of the workers.

This study investigated the impact of telecommuting on employees’ performance. The

progressive nature of the environment in which our organizations operate and customers'

needs made this investigation very necessary. The researcher concluded that telecommuting

has an impact on employee performance. It was suggested that managers of

telecommunication out-fits should proceed with the composition that allows employees to

work at the agreed place since it was found to have a vital connection with fast service but also

ensure that, there is a great mechanism on the area to observe the actions of the

telecommuters (Uche, E., Uchenna, O., Uruakpa, P. C., 2018).

It has also helped them during this stressful time of the pandemic. Working from home

which is also known as teleworking is when employees carry out their organizational duties

remotely such as in their homes instead of the norm of working in the office. Findings reported

that a majority of the respondents agreed that working from home has higher benefits than

drawbacks and this proved that working from home produces more convenience for the

employees (Abdullah, N., Anuarsham, A., Khamsah, M., Rahmat, N., Zawawi, F., 2020).
 9

Telecommuting has been recorded for its capability to encourage work-family balance and

job satisfaction. Nonetheless, for employees trying to progress in their careers, it is usually

advised to give attention, since telecommuting is often viewed as indicating a lack of

commitment to one's career. Despite the prevalence of such advice, almost no study has

investigated if telecommuting impacts career success has accurate results. Additionally,

telecommuting was negatively related to promotions and salary increase, indicating it is not

simply telecommuting per se that affects career success, but rather the degree of

telecommuting. Moreover, work context played a highly important role. A larger number of

promotions were received by telecommuters when they worked where telecommuting was

highly standardized, and when they engaged in higher supplemental work. Telecommuters with

higher supplemental work and higher face-to-face meetings with their administrator also

received greater payroll increases (Eddleston, K., Goldern, T., 2020).

The study examined telecommuting and traditional work environments as determinants of

job satisfaction as observed by individual contributors and administrators of a multinational

production firm based in the USA. The respondents have better job satisfaction as they practice

telecommuting and that they prefer this as an alternative job environment over the usual office

setup. In the light of the foregoing data, it is suggested that management of today analyze how

technology can be of advantage not only for the machinery to improve its productivity and

product but most importantly to improve the employees’ benefit (Caranto, M. M., Oribiana, M.

Z., Sergio, R. P., 2020).

Local Studies
 10

The prevalence of telecommuting or working from home the arrangement enabled by

digital technology has been increasing. In the Philippines, the government even passed a bill in

2019 otherwise known as the “Telecommuting Act” which approves the employers of different

types of organizations to implement work from home or alternative workplace arrangements to

their employees (Etezadi, J., Khalifa, M., 2016)A total of 250 electronic polls is gathered from

participants in the Philippines. This study found that work from home factors has a critical

beneficial outcome on job satisfaction and efficiency at the same time, it does not influence job

stress. Besides, work from home factors adversely influences job performance. Furthermore,

job performance has a negative critical impact on productivity.

Most teachers are responsive in reporting the daily accomplishment of tasks. Teachers

feel connected with the school despite their work from home arrangement while checking

students' output is the primary task they carry in the new normal of education (Butron, P.V.,

2021). Increase their versatility by giving psychological health and psychosocial support. Create

strategies to improve the time management of instructors in checking student outputs. Support

teachers with providing more time with giving feedbacks to guardians and students, remedial

lessons, and contacting students.

Nowadays, telecommuting is being exercised by most organizations that want to give

their agents substantial autonomy over their work practices (Aban, C. J., Chiu, J., Perez, V. E.,

Ricarte, K. K., 2019). Perceived organizational support has positive effect towards the

satisfaction of the telecommuters in their respective jobs, as well as the commitment of the

telecommuters to their organization. It is clear that regardless of the different work

arrangements and absence of personal interaction, remote workers in the National Capital
 11

Region show a positive perception of their association's help. Association these days should

apply endeavors to make the occupations of remote workers significantly more fascinating by

allowing them to attempt their own strategies, introducing various tasks from time to time that

make them utilize their capacities.

Through the help of managers' perception regarding the migration of the BPO

company's employees from an office environment to a home-based solution (Vergini, S. D.,

2018).

Table 1

Perception of the managers regarding the migration of employees from office environment to
a home-based
 12

It would show that having a negative mindset about migration may appear in less focus

on any benefits that may exist. These managers may not be well fitted to managing in a remote

workforce condition. The majority of negative issues faced by managers, despite whether or not

they seemed positive about the migration, involved less access to employees, the slow decision

of issues, slow communication and feedback, and harder to manage or monitor employees

since the migration. These problems fall mainly into two categories: communication and

control. Remote workers rely on effective communication, and the lack of face-to-face

interaction results in slower communication.

Making a functional work environment offers co-workers a collaborative atmosphere

that makes them more involved at work. A total of 350 co-workers aged 18-60 years old, from

27 different co-working spaces in Metro Manila, Philippines participated in the study. The

research revealed that the workplace has no direct effect on perceived work performance;

however, perceived work performance enhances when coworkers are more committed and

have better collaborative skills. Nonetheless, the rest of the hypothesized assumptions were

affirmed in the result of the study. This research can help HR managers and business owners to

create a more flexible and constructive workplace setting for their employees. Further, the

results can be used as a foundation for the major alteration of the usual workplace into an

innovative and creative workplace (Boco, L., Gloria, J. C., Go, H. A., Paje, R., 2019).

Synthesis

The related literature and studies discussed above prove helpful to the researchers in

determining and analyzing the effect of work from home and work from office on the work

performance of the accountants.

Seung Nam Kim (2016) enumerates the three methods in investigating the advantage of

telecommuting in terms of travel distance. (1) increasing the telecommuting frequency by

the round-trip commute distance, (2) estimating travel changes using quasi-experiments,
 14

and (3) determining the marginal effect of telecommuting on travel using econometric

analyses.

Cory Stieg (2020) underscores that telecommuting makes the employees better at some

task and become more productive. Nicholas Bloom, James Liang, John Roberts, and Zhichun

Jenny Ying (2014) appends that homeworking reported improved work satisfaction but the

promotion rate conditional on performance fell.

Georgy Stephens and Bernadette Szajna (2015) and Sante Delle-Vergini (2019) agree

that telecommuting lacks social interaction results in slower communication.

Telecommuters need career visibility, direct supervision, and the desire to separate home

and work life.

Baker McKenzie (2019) states that telecommuting employees shall not be separated

from the working community in the work premises but shall be given an opportunity to

continually meet with their co-workers. 

V. Lakshmi, S. Mishra, Rachna Nigam (2017) confirms that through working from home,

a growing number of occupations can be performed with just a few tools, essentially a

phone and a computer with web access.

Yogi Tri Prasetyo, Jon Pauline Ramos (2020), and Jamshid Etezadi and Mohamed Khalifa

(2016) come to an agreement that working from home factors has a significant positive

outcome on job satisfaction and productivity yet, it does not work on job stress. Secondly,

work from home factors negatively affects job performance. And lastly, job performance

has a negative significant effect on productivity.

Paolo Miguel Consignado, Alejandro Alfonso E Navarro, and Rashel Ann C Pomoy (2020)

validate that with the need for continued physical distancing, Philippine industries are

deeply encouraged to select alternative work arrangements, such as WFH arrangements, as

part of the ‘new normal’ post-ECQ. Philippine businesses should adopt a formal

telecommuting program under the Telecommuting Act 2019.

Investing in women (2020) states that telecommuters experience difficulties and a new

way of living when the pandemic started even if they are working from home.

Jennifer L. Glass, Mary C. Noonan (2016) there is a significant variation in the income

impacts of working from home dependent on the number of hours work telecommuted.

Kimberly A. Eddleston, Timothy D. Golden (2020) adds that telecommuters with higher

supplemental work and higher face-to-face meetings with their administrator also received

greater payroll.

Emmanuel Uche, Onyemaechi Uchenna, Peter Chinyere Uruakpa (2018) reports that

supervisors of telecommunication should proceed with the composition that allows

employees to work at the agreed place since it was found to have a vital connection with

fast service but also ensure that, there is a great mechanism on the area to observe the

actions of the telecommuters.

Nur Afiqah Akmal Abdullah, Afiqah Humaira Anuarsham, Muhammad Adib Nazhan

Khamsah, Noor Hanim Rahmat, Fatin Zafirah Zawawi (2020) affirms that the majority of the

workers agreed that working from home has higher benefits than drawbacks and this

proved that working from home produces more convenience for the employees. 
 16

Melfi Masongsong Caranto, Melchor Zabala Oribiana, and Rommel Pilapil Sergio (2020)

confirms that technology can be an advantage not only for the machinery to improve its

productivity and product but most importantly to improve the employees’ benefit. Victorino

V. Butron (2021) adds that giving psychological health and psychosocial support increases

telecommuters' versatility. Besides Deej Sanchez (2020) warns telecommuters to be extra

cautious with their position and routine to battle the anxiety that may come from working

in a compromised position.

Roma C. Paje, Lalaine B. Boco, Joseph Christian A. Gloria, and Hannah Angelica R. Go

(2019) report that telecommuting can be the foundation for the major alteration of the

usual workplace into an innovative and creative workplace.

Admittedly, these foreign and local literature and studies support the concept of this

study, as these present the proper framework and theories of the study.

References

Aban, C. J., Chiu, J., Perez, V. E., Ricarte, K. K., (2019) The Relationship of Organizational

Commitment, Job Satisfaction, and Perceived Organizational Support of Telecommuters

in The National Capital Region Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research,

Vol. 8, Supplementary Issue 4 https://sibresearch.org/uploads/3/4/0/9/34097180/riber

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covid-19: can work from home be a new norm?

https://www.oapub.org/soc/index.php/EJSSS/article/view/933

Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., Ying, Z, J., (2014) Does Working from Home? Evidence from a

Chinese Experiment, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 130, Issue 1, Pages

165–218, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju032

Boco, L., Gloria, J. C., Go, H. A., Paje, R., (2019) The Effect of Workplace Design on Employee

Engagement, Collaborative Capability, and on Perceived Work Performance in

Coworking Spaces Volume 1529, The 2nd Joint International Conference on Emerging

Computing Technology and Sports (JICETS) 2019 25-27

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1529/3/032063/meta

Butron, P.V., (2021) Responsiveness, Emotions, and Tasks of Teachers in the New Normal of

Education in the Philippines International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews,

Vol (2), Issue (4), (2021) Page 310-315

https://www.ijrpr.com/uploads/V2ISSUE4/IJRPR378.pdf

Caranto, M. M., Oribiana, M. Z., Sergio, R. P., (2020) Telecommuting Versus Traditional Work

Environment: Determinants of Job Satisfaction as Perceived by Individual Contributors

and Supervisors https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-48505-4_3

Consignado, P.M, Navarro, A.A., Pomoy, R.A., (2020) Unpacking the work-from-home Concept

in the Philippine Labor Law, https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f9cba3a1-

f21e-40ed-b448-a19fa1ffb67c

Eddleston, K., Goldern, T., (2020) Is there a price telecommuters pay? Examining the

relationship between telecommuting and objective career success

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001879119301265

Etezadi, J., Khalifa, M., (2016) Telecommuting: A Study of a Employees’ Beliefs, Pages 78-85,

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08874417.1997.11647311

Glass, J., Noonan, M., (2016) Telecommuting and Earnings Trajectories Among American

Women and Men 1989–2008, Social Forces, Volume 95, Issue 1, Pages 217–

250, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/sow034

Investing in women, (2020) Impact of COVID-19 on employees in the Philippines, May 2020,

https://investinginwomen.asia/knowledge/impact-covid-19-employees-philippines-

may-2020/

Lakshmi, V., Mishra, S., Nigam, R., (2017) Telecommuting – A Key Driver to Work-Life Balance

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A-Key-Driver-to-Work-Life-Balance-Lakshmi-

Nigam/6467ccfe96a566c7ed3df27e507e4945347a4a93?p2df
 19

McKenzie, B., (2019) Philippines: Government Enacts Law Allowing Workers to Telecommute,

https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-

law/pages/global-philippines-telecommuting.aspx

Nam Kim, S., (2016) Is telecommuting sustainable? An alternative

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Prasetyo Y.T., Ramos, J.P., (2020) The Impact of Work-Home Arrangement on the Productivity

of Employees during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines: A Structural Equation

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Stieg, C., (2020) Working from home actually makes you better at some tasks, and worse at

others, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/12/study-how-working-from-home-

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Performance https://j.ideasspread.org/index.php/jems/article/view/209
 20

Vergini, S. D., (2018) Missing in Action: Implications for the management of employees working

from home in the Philippines' BPO industry

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Vergini/publication/341281101_Missing_in_Action_Implications_for_the_management

_of_employees_working_from_home_in_the_Philippines%27_BPO_industry/links/5eb8

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employees-working-from-home-in-the-Philippines-BPO-industry.pdf

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