The use of smart work in Korea: who and for what?

The smart work refers to an alternative way to organize work by using ICTs, which allows employees to undertake their duties anytime and anywhere. The potential benefits of smart work involve the improvement of efficiency and achievement of balance between work and life. The purposes of this study are (1) to examine the specific characteristics of the smart work users and the level of their intention to use of smart work and (2) to analyze the 'driver' and 'constraint' factors that influence on intention to use and actual use behavior of smart work in Korea. To fulfill these purposes, the authors describe the characteristics of smart work users and analyze the causal relationship among various kinds of driver and constraint factors, the intention to use, and the use behavior of smart work with the first nation-wide survey data on smart work in Korea. Major findings of this research are as follows. First, the level of the diffusion of smart work seems to be low in terms of the number of the users of smart work. However, younger workers who have lower rank and shorter job tenure, and workers in quasi-governmental organizations show relatively high level of the intention to use of smart work as well as actually use it more frequently than other employee groups. Second, the perceived cost of commuting and travelling, the expected benefits of using smart work, and the institutional and technological supports have positive effect on smart work adoption of public employees. In contrast, the expected disadvantage of using smart work and organizational culture and management unfriendly to smart work have a negative effect on the use of smart work. Moreover, the authors find that the intention to use of smart work has mediation effect in the relationship between the drivers/constraints and the use behavior of smart work. Based on these results, theoretical and policy implications for the promotion of smart work are presented.