That point is tellingly made by sociologist Christena Nippert-Eng in Home and Work . Respecting the different ways in which people answer these questions can give managers valuable insights including insights into how best to use information technology. Someone accustomed to combining home and work commitments on an all-purpose pocket calendar, for instance, will find a shared computer calendar system at work more cumbersome than useful. On a positive note, many knowledge workers, including Nippert-Eng herself, use working at home for contemplative activities such as writing. They go to the office when they need the stimulation of colleagues.
Information technology makes such flexible arrangements easier.
Drawing clear lines between home and work is too important to many people's productivity, and to their privacy. Telecommuting is an option, not a requirement. Not every workplace, of course, can or should offer such discretion. Employees may need to meet with each other, or meet the public, during regular hours. Or the work may require capital equipment that can't be taken home no backyard steel mills.