Covid-19 Pandemic and Work From Home Model for Digital India

Article Critique
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Article critique
Introduction
The 21st-century business environment is characterized by the increased adoption of technological solutions as a corporate strategy. The digitalization experienced in most industries introduced the dimension of remote working characterized by using information and communication technology (ICT) to facilitate working outside the employer's physical workplace (Miele & Tirabeni, 2020). Remote working is synonymous with an array of strategies that involve using ICT to meet work objectives, such as teleworking, telecommuting, online working, and working from home. Teleworking has emerged as the dominant term in how organizations and employees use ICT to facilitate remote working practices. The challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic have accelerated the adoption of teleworking across all sectors (Bieńkowska et al., 2022). Subsequently, in the recent past, there has been increased investigation addressing the impact of Covid-19 and work systems in different organizational settings. One of these studies is by Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) titled "Covid-19 pandemic and Work from home as the new paradigm of human resource management for digital India." In this study, Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) address adopting the Work from Home (WFH) system implemented in the Indian marketplace following the Covid-19 outbreak. According to Hensher et al. (2021), the WFH model has existed in different organizational settings but has not been substantially adopted as a primary working model in most organizations. The surge in adoption during the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in numerous challenges as it became integral to meeting organizational objectives. Dsouza and Chitranshi's (2022) study highlights the application of the WFH model inherent in understanding the recent developments in teleworking within India. This paper offers a critique of the research by Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022), highlighting the various ideologies emerging from the study and the methodology adopted by the researchers to develop a comprehensive account. The paper presents a summary of the study, a critical analysis, the drawbacks and strengths of the study, recommendations to improve the research, and a conclusion that offers a recap of the key insights gathered.
Summary
The study by Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) is premised on the notion that the WFH model is a relatively new concept for engaging at work in the Indian corporate culture. The adoption of WFH in India has largely been experienced in IT-based organizations and a few businesses in other sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic influenced the rapid adoption of WFH as a compulsory measure, following government directives to manage and prevent the spread of Covid-19. Subsequently, most businesses and workplaces have turned to WFH as a strategic undertaking to ensure employees remain productive and functional. Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) investigate the concept of WFH as a new paradigm and preference by assessing employee efficiency and perceived productivity, environmental effects, socio-demographic changes, and employer factors. The research was accomplished by gathering feedback from the workforce in specific sectors. A quantitative survey questionnaire was used to assess the perceptions about WFH in a sample of 178 respondents, including human resource (HR) professionals, employees, and employers that were purposefully selected. The data collected was used to draw comparisons between females and males, senior management and junior management, teleworkers and those without commitments to work from home, and income brackets, among other factors. The data collected was used to establish if the WFH model effectively improved the value of human resources and benefited both employers and employees in India. The study concluded that the WFH was a viable business model that presented multiple benefits for all stakeholders, and HR managers should be aware of the strategy for improving the future work environment in India.
Critical Analysis
The findings and conclusion by Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) are aligned with a study by Nayak and Pandit (2021) that identified teleworking as a strategic undertaking during the COVID-19 pandemic to increase employee engagement and productivity in a challenging business environment. However, Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) suggest that WFH is a new concept in the Indian corporate culture. Nayak and Pandit (2021) review that teleworking and similar approaches to work have existed in the 21st century with the adoption of ICT and internet-based technologies. Nevertheless, there is a consensus between Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) and Sharma et al. (2022), who highlight that the COVID-19 pandemic has recently influenced the adoption of WFH in most organizations. Hensher et al. (2021) also highlight that adopting WFH models during the pandemic in different industries has been instrumental, but many organizations were not ready for the drastic change. Similar to Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022), Nayak and Pandit (2021) established that employee productivity and organizational performance could be improved through teleworking by saving on cost and time, which are constraints associated with commuting to work and maintaining the employer's premises where employees physically engage at the workplace. Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) found that organizations with female managers increase the chances of a better quality of work arrangements compared to male managers. Tomei (2021) and Hilbrecht et al. (2008) also made similar findings supporting that teleworking was more preferred by females, especially those with young children and on maternity leave. Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) support findings by other researchers that WFH can lead to improved work-family-life balance (Hilbrecht et al., 2008; Igeltjørn & Habib, 2020).
Dsouza and Chitranshi (2022) found no significant link between environmental factors and the choice of WFH in the workforce. The findings are contrary to Louw (2022), who notes that the choice of teleworking was linked to the ability of employees to re...