BCPM0075 Dissertation

Introduction

Most of the research in Iran outlines that over 70 percent of employees are committed to their responsibilities at places of work. Studies have referred to the engaged workers as individuals who are involved, committed and much concerned about their responsibilities, workplace and fellow workers The collected data by researchers for the past couple of years has clearly indicated a persistent decrease in workers' involvement within their workplaces in different organisations across Iran. Mesároš  and Colleagues (2018) . This particular study joins the conversation of exploring the manner in which the integrity of the project plays an important role  in the continuity plan of the business. In this regard the paper considered integrity of the project as the technique of configured data capturing from the system of decision support. The paper establishes and concludes that management of the project integrity is very crucial or sustainability and its success since after successful organization of the project, it becomes easy to be supported.

Contrary to the cultural decline in workers’ commitment, there is an intensive development of remote/telecommuting work alternatives encountered by various organizations across the country. Oswald and Colleagues (2018) observing  the intensive rise in the percentage of remote workers by 80% between the years 2005 and 2013 (Keers and van Fenema 2018), it is clear that since the the covid-19 pandemic strike, working remotely has become  very common among various organisations . Organisational culture scientists define this as the culture of involvement, i.e., a working environment in which the employees establish a culture supported by efficient work, attentive participation of the employees, effective leadership and job-organization fit (Aubry, and Lavoie  2018). Following the intense development alongside the creation of remote working alternatives, much concern has risen among owners of different organisations within the nation concerning their capability to establish, control and retain better workplace culture involvement among workers who rarely interact with them. Despite the establishment of the organizational framework for the management of the integrity of the project, such systems are internally organized and the role of the remote team in the upholding of the construction project remains to be unresolved issue. Now considering the fact that success of the construction project is never dependent on the on the internal stakeholders mobilization only but external factors as well, this dissertation  is therefore very relevant since it will highlight the contribution and the role which remote team  plays towards upholding project’s intergrity.

Background Information

As the construction industry continues to face the severe impacts of the outbreak of Corona virus, most of the companies have been compelled to either limit their activities or shut down completely. As a result, the concept of working from home has found its relevance in the presence of construction industry. The companies have therefore resorted to adopting new ways of communicating and working with teams in remote locations Wang and Colleagues (2021). This reality has been characterized by various challenges for the companies of construction which are currently in the process of managing their respective sites of construction remotely while at the same time ensuring that there sufficient workforce connection. Not only do the companies rely on the tools of project management but also relevant technology for overcoming the challenges.

The engagement practice among the remote workers is observed to improve in line with the increase or advancement in technologies supporting remote  activities or operations. In other words, as the situation demands for remote working like in the case of COVID-19 requirement of keeping social distance, the number of remote workers increases significances. However, researchers have failed to pay attention to this issue of concern which calls for the increase in the application of technology in the systems of management to accommodate remote workers. According to most leaders of organisations, organisational culture observed within the traditional office is assumed to cover the virtual work environment although this is contrary to the research conducted by (Kejriwal, Sequeda, and Lopez 2019). 

This particular research was conducted to bridge the gaps and increase understanding of remote employees' work and place within the organizations. The research results provide leaders of different organisations with information and tools required for adequate understanding of the management practices involving remote employees. The aim of this case study is to provide a range of responses to the essential factors contributing towards enhancement, eroding and maintaining workplace involvement for around 20 remote employees across the globe who has served the company for at least one year through the help of critical incident technique (CIT). The study through its framework was meant to offer the correct information and support to the literature and improve remote workers’ knowledge about employees' engagement.

The ability of organisational leaders to practice effective management and control of the organisation is currently suppressed by the rapid changes in technology. Considering the accessibility of mobile devices, most workers propose the distribution of such management support instruments within their places of work to ensure working alternatives in remote conditions. In the late 1990s, leaders of various organisations used to offer face-to-face management as well as oversight to the workers operating in the office desks, and by this, they did not have the ability to provide an immediate response to the concerns and demands of the workers. Wang and Colleagues (2021) The current workplaces are treated to be working environments comprising both remote and in-office workers, despite  variation in needs of the employees as a result of a difference in the environment of operation. The major challenge that the management team has experienced is the increase in the total number of remote workers with reduced knowledge on workplace involvement.

Overview of the dissertation structure

This paper is divided into different sections right from the introduction where general view of the author is highlighted, research problem, in which the author identifies the existing knowledge gap to be addressed in relation to remote engagement of employees, is introduced, and objectives of the research as well as related research questions to monitor the research procedure are presented. It build upon the theory of involvement of workers outlined by Chawla and Colleagues (2018) through the identification of events and feedbacks regarded to be essential in influencing workplace involvement of remote employees. The paper also outlines the research methodology involving the use of Computer Information Technology (CIT) to assist in creating the taxonomy of responses to those incidents that are crucial for the maintenance, strengthening, and deterioration of the engagement at the workplace of remote workers nationally. It is assumed that employees are  on permanent employment basis as opposed to contracts causing one of the limitations of the study to only select 14 employees for this case study. The significance of the research is outlined in the form of contribution to the productivity of management team.

Justification of the study

According to the research conducted by different scholars, over 70% of workers in the US have no commitment to their duties, and this results in a  rise in organizational expenditure per year (Keegan ,Ringhofer and Huemann 2018). The actual challenge faced by the management is the high percentage of non-committed remote workers constituting 50% of the total employees who are subjected to a work culture that suppresses their role within the company, reducing their career development capabilities while  promoting the culture of isolation (Erdogan, Šaparauskas and Turskis 2017). Such non-committed workers contribute to the high cost of development within the country per year. Following the availability of insufficient information on the levels of employees’ engagement, this research joins this discussion at advanced to study employees’ involvement in their duties and establish a taxonomy of the essential events and responses capable of enhancing and maintaining the desired level of participation among remote workers. 

Study Purpose

The primary objective of this particular project was to assist in understanding the role played by the remote teams in the maintenance of project integrity as an integral part of the plans of business continuity. A business continuity plan refers to the process that concentrates on the system creation necessary for prevention and recovery from potential threats. In order to meet the aims and objectives of the project, it will be essential to ensure that all the elements which are related to the project are met. The paper has therefore focused on exploring how the integrity of the project plays a vital role in the business continuity plan. In this context, project integrity refers to the approaches used in capturing the configured data from the support system of decision and automation of relevant information hence data authenticity. The research was conducted to establish a range of responses to various factors contributing to the maintenance, enhancement and eroding of involvement on the part of workers at the workplace.

Methodology

Understanding the significance of the project integrity in any kind of management framework should be considered in the context of contribution to the business's continuity plan. Through this business plan, one would be able to identify the resources that are significantly needed for the operation of the business successfully. What is the extent of contribution of a remote team towards the maintenance of the continuity plans of the business for the project’s management?  How can the project’s integrity be maintained during the execution stage of the project? The thorough literature review carried out above has proved to be effective in providing the foundation for data collection since it pokes holes in the areas where researchers have done minimal work.

Adopted research Framework

The conceptual framework for this particular research work was a proposal for studying the issues related to workplace involvement by employees in remote areas. The conceptual system designed based on the commitment theory of a particular scientist established the basic foundation for understanding the benefit of employee engagement in the construction project management and outlining the perspective of different individuals about workplace engagement. The framework adopted for the research is as illustrated below.

The primary aim of this particular case study involving the use of Computer Information Technology (CIT) was to assist in creating the taxonomy of responses to those incidents that are crucial for the maintenance, strengthening, and deterioration of the engagement at the workplace of 14 remote workers nationally. These employees have worked for their organisations for not less than one year. This particular investigation was completed using CIT- a set of procedures that are useful in collecting direct observation of the behaviour under the definition criteria as deemed necessary. The results were expected to assist in identifying which responses were very influential regarding the incidents of remote works engagement besides enhancing understanding of the remote work culture emergence. This chapter includes the research rationale and design, the researcher’s role, the sampling technique, and the sampling size. There is a provision of details related to the instruction of data collection and the recruitment plans. Besides, the relevant strategies to be used to enhance the trustworthiness of this particular research work and discussions on the consideration of research ethics have been presented.

Research Rationale and Design

To build the foundation of the present research theoretically, there would be a need to adopt the approach of grounded theory to capture the firsthand account of the remote workers regarding the challenges and experience they have gained while working from home. The engagement of the employees and the organisation’s culture in the office's traditional environment have been appropriately studied. However, what is not clearly known is how such practices can be experienced and defined within the context of the remote work environment.

To further explore the remote workplace engagement phenomenon; this particular study involved using the methodology of an exploratory qualitative case study. A qualitative approach is an appropriate and efficient method for research that offers a researcher or the research team a probative tactic to thoroughly investigate the problem in existence. In the case of the exploratory qualitative case study, the study process involved collection, interpretation and analysis of data. The collection of the responses of the incidents observed to be important and meeting the criteria systematically defined was achieved by the use of CIT. Also, there was the use of CIT in gathering observations directly regarding the behaviour while at the same time extrapolating the usefulness potentially regarding the problem solution as well as the development of the principles which are human-centred broadly. The case study method is usually appropriate when the study seeks to provide a detailed explanation of the present social circumstances or situation and when there is no or limited control over the events and the exploration just involve a contemporary phenomenon.

Qualitative Research Rationale

The study by extension sought to establish how the practitioners, scholars, leaders, and managers can help in the definition, identification, and influence the culture of remote workers’ engagement as part of enhancing the project integrity and business plan. The problem is generally about more workers in Iran not being engaged at work has been costing the country a lot of financial losses on an annual basis. There is a steady increase in the number of remote workers while the levels of engagement of the remote workers have been decreasing. This trend has significantly affected the business plans and project integrity.

Exploratory Research Rationale

The methodology of the exploratory single case study is usually considered to be appropriate particularly when there is very little known about the matter or the phenomenon under investigation, which in this case was remote workers’ engagement towards the improvement of the project integrity and business plans. Therefore, the case study was identified to be useful as one of the strategies for studying the organisation processes and the exploratory investigations. The focus of the phenomenological approach was on the participant’s lived experiences and how they experienced the phenomenon itself. The study’s focus was the participant’s experience as remote employees in an evolving phenomenon.

Methodological Steps involved

The intricacy of understanding how the engagement of the workplace is remotely experienced needs an approach of the research that openly provides an opportunity to examine the matter or phenomenon as it is experienced.  As a result of the minimal availability of data directly related to the engagement of the workplace remotely, the study involved the use of the method of an exploratory case study to discover the responses to the incidents that have a significant influence on the engagement in remote workplaces. In order to allow for the successful engagement in the processes of qualitative analysis through the approach of the exploratory case study, there was the use of CIT as the data and research collection methodology.

The procedures involved in CIT are primarily five steps. The first step involved the identification of the general aims. This required establishing the pertinent questions of research before the research work could be carried out. Throughout this stage, there was a design of the research questions that assisted in understanding how employee socialisation and organisational adaptability influence the employees’ learning in the places of work. In step 2, there was a planning stage that involved addressing the situation pending for observations, the observers to be engaged, the methods of data analysis after collections, and the existing guidelines’. Step 3 involved the processes of data collection.  In this step, there was an observation of the incidents and their subsequent collection through a group interview, one-on-one interview, through filed notes or questionnaires. The choice of the method of data collection was based on the observed phenomenon, available time for carrying out observations, and other factors with the potential of affecting the ability of the researcher to complete the processes of collection. In step 4, there was a summary of the research and a description of data for other relevant purposes.

In order to allow for the analysis of data collected through CIT, there was a selection of a frame of reference in the determination of how data were to be used. There was then the establishment of the categories of incidents to identify major and subareas for the storage of the data collected. Finally, step five involve interpretation and reporting of the collected data. At this stage, any of the arising biases in the previous four steps were addressed.

This particular study was guided by the following assumptions:

• The sample was made up of a representative, a set of participants that provided accounts of their experiences in work and reactions to the incidents they had encountered in their operations as remote workers.
• The level of engagement of the population targeted mirrored or reflected the 70% disengagement level of the country’s workforce.
• Every worker had experienced varying workplace engagement levels as influenced by the relationship between their supervisors and co-workers.
• A potential confirmation of participants of their remote work status was one criterion of inclusion.
• The participants experienced no personal gains through taking part in this particular study.
• Participants were not required or asked to share their experience during the interview with any other person apart from the interviewer.
• Finally, the collected data from this particular study would be helpful for organisations that engage or offer remote work options.

Selection Logic Participants

As already pointed in the previous sections of this paper, remote workers were those on permanent employment contracts and terms.  These individuals permanently worked from an alternative place or location outside their workplace. The remote worker profile for this particular study was basically an individual who had been working remotely as an organisation’s full-time employee for one year. There was the use of purposeful sampling in the provision of the richest data possible which relates to the experience of engagement for the remote workers. All the participants in this particular study:

• Represented individuals classified as remote workers that had been working on a permanent basis from a remote location different from the workplace of their organisations.
• Met the definition of a full-time employee as per the structures of the organisations
• Showed the ability to fully participate in the study at their time of appointments outlined in their agreements of participation
• Finally, volunteered to take place in the study as participants as opposed to the condition of employment.

Conformability

In order to address the concerns and issues of conformability, there was an application of data triangulation to assist in the reduction of any form of biasness. The information was collected from several sources to ensure strength provision in the case study validity in construction Chawla and Colleagues (2018) One of the primary objectives regarding addressing conformability is illustrating that the study’s results are a true reflection of the individuals who participated in the study instead of the researcher's preference and characteristics.

Ethical Procedures

As earlier noted, during the meeting initially, the potential participants received information in detail regarding the research processes, the researcher's role, the anticipated role from them, and other questions that might have been related to the entire process of the interview. There was an issue of a letter of understanding related to the voluntary nature of the study as well as the protocol of the interview.

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