Trust as an Element of the Functioning of the Information System in Management in Conditions of Forced Remote Work

Abstract

Information management, an important element of which is the information system, has a direct impact on the functioning of a company, including its competitive position. Information management is related to the shape of the organizational culture, represented, inter alia, by the context of trust, relationship, and communication. The shape of the organizational culture, including the functioning of the information system, is particularly influenced by factors (usually external) that appear in a sudden and unpredictable manner. This impact increases with the intensity and scale of their influence. The recent COVID-19 pandemic should undoubtedly be considered such a factor. As a result, many enterprises suddenly had to switch to remote work. The aim of this paper is to analyze the essence and recognize the impact of the forced transition to a remote form of work on trust as a shaping and effective factor in the functioning of the company’s information system. To achieve this goal, the results of qualitative research conducted by the authors during the period March 2020–February 2021 and quantitative research conducted in February 2021 were used. In connection with the conducted research, it was found that trust is a very important factor influencing the efficiency and quality of employees’ work. It was also found that the forced need to switch to remote work mode was a problem for most people. This was influenced by both the time of the pandemic, as well as technical and organizational problems. As a result of observations, own experiences, interviews, and a questionnaire survey, the authors state that the necessity to switch from traditional to remote work resulted in an increase in the costs of functioning of people, including employees.

The Development of the Effectiveness of Remote Work as Perceived by Employees and Managers

“…For this paper, an employee opinion survey was used as the principal research method, with the resulting scores further evaluated based on structured interviews with managers. Similar methods have been used by other researchers (Lis, Ptak & Lis 2021, Kakkar et al 2022, Robak 2022. Computed-Assisted Web Interviews (CAWI) were conducted with 500 respondents (employees of companies with international capital) who had worked in the office (on-site in the company) before March 2020 and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then remotely between March 2020 and May 2021, as required by their employer.…”

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“…Another important aspect was mental healthpeople whose mental condition was better were about twice as likely to maintain or improve their performance of collaborative tasks compared to others (Laker et al, 2020). Employees' individual approach to remote work was also related to their previous experience with working onlineit allowed them to avoid or reduce the occurrence of negative incidents when they were forced to work remotely (Lis et al, 2021).…”

“…Urbaniec et al, 2022). Trust proved to have a significant impact on dealing with communication problems (both technical and organisational) (Lis et al, 2021). In addition, managers are largely expected to act in accordance with the concept of agile management and have the ability to employ remote leadership techniques (Steude, 2021).…”