The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a global shift towards telework, yet its adoption varied significantly across countries. While many Western nations saw high rates of telework adoption, Japan lagged behind. This study aimed to understand the factors influencing telework implementation and its consequences within the Japanese context. Existing research, primarily focused on Western societies, suggests positive correlations between telework and productivity, retention, commitment, and performance. However, the generalizability of these findings to non-Western cultures remains unclear. The lower telework adoption in Japan, particularly compared to other developed and East Asian nations, suggests cultural factors might play a crucial role. The study utilizes a theoretical framework viewing culture as interacting systems of ideas, institutions, interactions, and individuals, applying this to organizational contexts to explore how telework, as a new institution, interacts with existing systems in Japanese workplaces. The research questions addressed are: 1) What socio-psychological factors in Japanese workplaces were important for implementing telework? and 2) How did the implementation of telework subsequently influence socio-psychological factors?

The researchers reviewed existing literature on telework, highlighting the predominance of Western-centric studies and the lack of research on the Japanese context. They discussed potential cultural barriers to telework adoption in Japan, including the prevalence of lifetime employment, seniority-based remuneration systems, and high-context communication styles. These traditional systems, the researchers argue, foster close monitoring, micro-management, and process-oriented evaluations—practices potentially disrupted by telework. Low relational mobility in Japan, coupled with context-dependent communication, further complicates the transition to telework. The researchers also discussed the role of hierarchy in Japanese organizations, suggesting telework implementation might differ across ranks. While existing studies identified individual and organizational factors influencing telework adoption, a clear understanding of the interplay between social institutional, psychological, and cultural factors remained absent. Prior research on the consequences of telework showed mixed results; some suggested increased stress and isolation, while others highlighted potential benefits. The lack of longitudinal studies to assess causal relationships between telework and socio-psychological outcomes in Japan motivated this research.

This study employed a three-wave longitudinal online survey to examine the antecedents and consequences of telework in Japan. Wave 1 (February 2020) was conducted before the pandemic, Wave 2 (February 2021) during the initial stages of widespread telework implementation, and Wave 3 (March 2022) after a period of adaptation. The survey included a quota-based stratified sample of 1248 participants in Wave 1, balanced by gender, age, and organizational rank. The final sample for analysis included 367 participants (75% and 68% retention in Waves 2 and 3 respectively) after attrition and attention check exclusions. The survey measured various socio-psychological factors at the institutional, interactional, and individual levels. These included: seniority and meritocracy systems, social vigilance, concern for intragroup relationships, independent and interdependent social orientations, clan and market cultures, hierarchy mutability, sense of power, perceived responsibility, organizational commitment, social isolation, and superior-subordinate disintegration. Telework implementation was assessed as a binary variable (0% vs. 10-100% telework). Logistic regression was used to analyze the relationship between socio-psychological variables (Wave 1) and telework implementation (Wave 2), controlling for demographics. Linear regression examined the relationship between telework implementation (Wave 2) and socio-psychological variables (Wave 3), controlling for Wave 2 variables and demographics. Inverse probability weighting using propensity scores (based on Wave 1 demographics) addressed potential selection bias. Exploratory analyses investigated the moderating effect of managership (managers vs. non-managers).

Analysis 1 (predicting telework implementation) revealed that only the presence of a meritocratic system in Wave 1 significantly predicted telework adoption in Wave 2 (B = 0.232, z = 1.976, p = 0.048). This suggests companies with pre-existing meritocratic systems were more likely to adopt telework. Follow-up analyses controlling for managership showed this effect remained marginally significant. Analysis 2 (examining the consequences of telework) revealed that telework implementation in Wave 2 significantly predicted higher levels of independence (B = 0.162, t = 2.332, p = 0.020), hierarchy mutability (B = 0.245, t = 2.074, p = 0.039), and organizational commitment (B = 0.178, t = 2.058, p = 0.041) in Wave 3. The effect on hierarchy mutability was marginally significant after controlling for managership. Additionally, telework significantly reduced social isolation (t = -2.227, p = 0.027). Exploratory analyses showed that the effect of telework on meritocracy differed between managers and non-managers, with an increase observed among non-managers. Telework also reduced concerns about ingroup relationships among non-managers and increased the sense of power among managers.

The findings suggest that the presence of meritocratic systems facilitates telework adoption in Japanese organizations. This aligns with the argument that merit-based systems reduce the need for constant monitoring, which is often disrupted by telework. The positive consequences of telework implementation—increased independence, hierarchy mutability, organizational commitment, and reduced social isolation—contradict some previous research suggesting negative impacts. The researchers posit that earlier studies might have conflated the effects of the pandemic itself with those of telework. The increased independence likely reflects the greater autonomy and responsibility associated with telework. The increased hierarchy mutability suggests that the shift to telework might require new skills and thereby challenge existing hierarchical structures. The increased organizational commitment may be attributed to the company's decision to implement telework as a sign of trust in its employees. The differences in the effects of telework on managers and non-managers suggest that the impact of telework may be context dependent and requires further investigation.

This study provides valuable insights into the antecedents and consequences of telework in the Japanese context. The findings highlight the importance of meritocratic systems for successful telework implementation and reveal several positive consequences, including enhanced employee independence, organizational commitment, and reduced social isolation. Future research should explore the mechanisms underlying these effects, use more objective measures of institutional factors, and investigate potential survival bias. Moreover, comparing forced and voluntary telework arrangements could provide further insights into the nuanced effects of telework.

This study relied on self-reported data, potentially introducing biases. The use of single or dual-item measures for several constructs limits the precision of the findings. The study may also suffer from survival bias, as companies that found telework unsuitable might have discontinued it. Furthermore, the binary operationalization of telework might not capture the full spectrum of telework experiences (e.g., intensity, frequency).