Working Around the Clock: Temporal Distance, Intrafirm Communication, and Time Shifting of the Employee Workday

Simple item page
dc.citation.firstpage1660en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber5en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleOrganization Scienceen_US
dc.citation.lastpage1681en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber35en_US
dc.contributor.authorChauvin, Jasminaen_US
dc.contributor.authorChoudhury, Prithwirajen_US
dc.contributor.authorFang, Tommy Panen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-11-04T16:25:10Zen_US
dc.date.available2024-11-04T16:25:10Zen_US
dc.date.issued2024en_US
dc.description.abstractThis paper examines the effects of temporal distance generated by time zone separation on communication in geographically distributed organizations. We build on prior research, which highlights time zone separation as a significant challenge, but argue that employees may time shift—move work-related communication to outside of regular business hours—to counteract temporal distance. We propose a theory in which employees’ tendency to time shift depends on the demands of their tasks and collaborative relationships and individuals’ ability to supply work outside of regular business hours. Analyzing communication-level data from 12,038 employees of a large multinational firm and using cities’ shifts to/from daylight saving time for identification, we find that temporal distance leads to sizable but smaller than expected reductions in volumes of rich, synchronous communication between employees. Consistent with our arguments, increased temporal distance significantly increases time shifting of work-related communication, especially among workers whose jobs are nonroutine and interactions in strong collaborative relationships. We further document that female employees and employees based in countries with stricter legal work hour limits engage in significantly less time-shifted communication. Our study improves understanding of a ubiquitous source of collaboration friction. It also sheds light on a potential source of inequities in workplace outcomes stemming from differences in individuals’ ability to work outside of regular business hours. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17558.en_US
dc.identifier.citationChauvin, J., Choudhury, P., & Fang, T. P. (2024). Working Around the Clock: Temporal Distance, Intrafirm Communication, and Time Shifting of the Employee Workday. Organization Science, 35(5), 1660–1681. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17558en_US
dc.identifier.digitalchauvin-et-al-2024en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.17558en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/117991en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherINFORMSen_US
dc.rightsExcept where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the terms of the license or beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en_US
dc.titleWorking Around the Clock: Temporal Distance, Intrafirm Communication, and Time Shifting of the Employee Workdayen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
chauvin-et-al-2024.pdf
Size:
3.34 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
Collections
Faculty Publications