Determinants of Telecommuting Applications/Technologies Adoption in Nongovernmental Institutions in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

The study, therefore, developed a framework to predict telecommuting applications/technologies adoption in non-governmental organizations in Nairobi. The correlation results showed that all the factors had a significant and positive relationship with telecommuting technologies adoption, as all the p values were lower than 0.05. Relative advantage (r = .580, p = .000); compatibility (r = .557, p = .000); complexity (r = .670, p = .000); trialability (r = .655, p = .000); observability (r = .498, p = .000); perceived usefulness/performance expectancy (r = .656, p = .000); perceived ease of use/effort expectancy (r = .580, p = .000); facilitating conditions (r = .396, p = .000); social influence (r = .446, p = .000); organizational support (r = .333, p = .000); With the advancement in technology, the world has become more digitized, and people have become more accessible no matter their geographical location. As a result, some organizations have adopted teleworking or telecommuting. Teleworking/telecommuting is the method of working from other places that are not the traditional place of work. This new form of working comes with many benefits, but also many challenges that need to be taken into consideration. An organization that has adopted teleworking the employees have changed their perception of how often they need to be at the traditional office, attaining better work-life balance and flexibility in their work. From their originators, telecommuting strategies have not grown as fast as predicted by the originator, Jack Nilles, which has been explained to be because of a lack of technology and managerial resistance by later researchers. This research investigated the determinants of telecommuting applications/technologies adoption in non-governmental organizations in Nairobi. This was based on three specific objectives which were: To determine the characteristics that influence the adoption of telecommuting applications/technologies by NGOs, to develop a framework for predicting telecommuting applications technologies adoption by NGOs in Nairobi, and to validate the framework developed. The study explored how modern institutions can evolve to meet employee demands of seeking more flexibility while at the same time dealing with the challenges that may affect the organization negatively. Therefore, developed a framework that will help in predicting telecommuting adoption in the NGO sector. It investigated different existing literature on telecommuting characteristics, organizational instincts, and user characteristics donate onion donations and frameworks that helped understand telecommuting in different industries and countries. The research targeted supervisors and workers from two NGOs in Nairobi county. Questionnaires were used as the data collection tool which collected data that was related to demographics and data regarding specific objectives. Descriptive statistics including the means and standard deviations were used to analyze the data using IBM SPSS package version 27. This was organized using frequency tables and percentages, as well as means and standard deviations. For inferential statistics, correlation, and regression analysis were used. SEM analysis was adopted to show relationships between the variables based on the study model. resource availability (r = .501, p = .000); staff training (r = .393, p = .000) and trust (r = .680, p = .000) all show a significant influence on telecommuting technologies adoption in Nairobi, Kenya. Regression analysis results also indicated that all the factors have a significant and positive relationship with telecommuting technologies adoption; relative advantage (R2 = .336, p = .000); compatibility (R2 = .310, p = .000); complexity (R2 = .450, p = .000); trialability (R2 = .429, p = .000); observability (R2 = .248, p = .000); perceived usefulness/performance expectancy (R2 = .430, p = .000); perceived ease of use/effort expectancy (R2 = .336, p = .000); facilitating conditions (R2 = .157, p = .000); social influence (R2 = .199, p = .000); organizational support (R2 = .111, p = .000); resource availability (R2 = .251, p = .000); staff training (R2 = .155, p = .000) and trust (R2 = .462, p = .000). The study, therefore, concluded that technological characteristics, facilitating and individual factors, organizational characteristics, and user characteristics positively and significantly influenced telecommuting technologies adoption by NGOs in Nairobi County. The study recommends more usage of telecommuting frameworks that can enhance staff training and other aspects. This is because these factors were found to be an important component of telecommuting, and therefore will have a positive effect on telecommuting applications in Nairobi County. The organizations should also provide adequate knowledge to the workers through organizing conferences that enhance knowledge of the use of equipment and knowledge to as to enhance efficiency in the telecommuting aspects.