WORKING FROM HOME OR THE EVOLUTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS IN THE AGE OF COVID-19: THE CASE OF AN INDUSTRIAL SME IN SWITZERLAND

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic forced organizations to implement teleworking. Some companies were not favorable to it before the crisis but had to adapt. In this context, this new form of work had a major impact on interactions among organizations’ group of individuals. There is a large literature on teleworking prior to 2020, and social science researchers observed that, despite its technological feasibility, teleworking was not being implemented in organizations. One of the reasons for this is the fear from managers of losing control over employees when they are used to controlling by observing workers. The crisis of Covid-19 imposed teleworking on organizations, and companies that were accustomed to face-to-face interactions introduced new regulations to continue monitoring the execution of tasks. As a result, new areas of uncertainty emerged within organizations, opening new opportunities for employees to renegotiate their position and power within the company. This paper presents a case study carried out within a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) in Switzerland. It illustrated how renegotiating one’s working environment depended on both physical and digital visibilities. Furthermore, the implementation of teleworking shifted the power relationships between the different company groups of individuals.