IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v45y2024i1p57-82.html

Responsible autonomy: The interplay of autonomy, control and trust for knowledge professionals working remotely during COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Neve Abgeller

    (Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK)

  • Reinhard Bachmann

    (School of Finance and Management, SOAS, University of London, UK)

  • Tony Dobbins

    (Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK)

  • Deirdre Anderson

    (School of Management, Cranfield University, UK)

Abstract

This article revisits the concept of responsible autonomy, analysing the interplay of employee autonomy, management control and trust experienced by knowledge professionals in the UK compelled to work remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. The authors theorise about the tensions and paradoxes of responsible autonomy in the contemporary context of the COVID-19 crisis, drawing on empirical findings gathered in May 2020 and May 2021. Many participants experienced increased autonomy and discretion, but also work intensification and blurred work–life boundaries. Interestingly, many accepted this paradox as a palatable trade-off for the autonomy of being able to work from home, particularly where there was reciprocal trust between employee and manager. Trust is the glue in responsible autonomy, yet exists in tension with intrusive managerial control.

Suggested Citation

  • Neve Abgeller & Reinhard Bachmann & Tony Dobbins & Deirdre Anderson, 2024. "Responsible autonomy: The interplay of autonomy, control and trust for knowledge professionals working remotely during COVID-19," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(1), pages 57-82, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:45:y:2024:i:1:p:57-82
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X221140156
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X221140156
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X221140156?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helena Falkenberg & Petra Lindfors & Tarani Chandola & Jenny Head, 2020. "Do gender and socioeconomic status matter when combining work and family: Could control at work and at home help? Results from the Whitehall II study," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 41(1), pages 29-54, February.
    2. Neve Isaeva & Reinhard Bachmann & Alexandra Bristow & Mark N.K. Saunders, 2015. "Why the epistemologies of trust researchers matter," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(2), pages 153-169, October.
    3. Venkatesh, Viswanath, 2020. "Impacts of COVID-19: A research agenda to support people in their fight," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Suhaer Yunus & Ahmed Mohammed Sayed Mostafa, 2022. "Flexible working practices and job-related anxiety: Examining the roles of trust in management and job autonomy," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1340-1368, August.
    5. Helena Lopes & Teresa Calapez & Diniz Lopes, 2017. "The determinants of work autonomy and employee involvement: A multilevel analysis," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 38(3), pages 448-472, August.
    6. Helge Hvid & Henrik Lambrecht Lund & Sidsel Lond Grosen & Helle Holt, 2010. "Associational control: Between self-management and standardization in the financial sector," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 31(4), pages 639-659, November.
    7. Märt Masso, 2013. "Determinants of employee work schedule and method control," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 34(3), pages 451-469, August.
    8. Melissa Mazmanian & Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2013. "The Autonomy Paradox: The Implications of Mobile Email Devices for Knowledge Professionals," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(5), pages 1337-1357, October.
    9. Alan Felstead & Nick Jewson & Sally Walters, 2003. "Managerial Control of Employees Working at Home," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(2), pages 241-264, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Neve Abgeller & Mark NK Saunders & Reinhard Bachmann & Aneil Mishra, 2025. "Identifying Trust Exchange Dynamics and Constituents of Employee Trust within Management Consulting," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 39(2), pages 336-360, April.
    2. Philip Siaw Kissi & Opoku Gyabaah & Vera Ami Ayitey, 2026. "Job autonomy-technology collaboration and digital disruption on job insecurity and its implication on employee health in aviation industry: moderation effect of emotional intelligence," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 1-31, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sabakun Naher Shetu, 2025. "Determinants of generation Z consumers’ mobile online shopping apps continuance intention to use during COVID-19 and beyond—an empirical study," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Surhan Cam & Serap Palaz, 2023. "Mutual interests management with a purposive approach: Evidence from the Turkish shipyards for an amorphous impact model between (subjective) well‐being and performance," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 40-70, January.
    3. Jie Li & Sijia Zhong, 2025. "Understanding the well-being of digital nomads from the perspective of self-determination theory – the case of China," Information Technology & Tourism, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 1229-1251, December.
    4. Viktoria Maria Baumeister & Leonie Petra Kuen & Maike Bruckes & Gerhard Schewe, 2021. "The Relationship of Work-Related ICT Use With Well-being, Incorporating the Role of Resources and Demands: A Meta-Analysis," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    5. Angela Garcia Calvo & Martin Kenney & John Zysman, 2023. "Understanding work in the online platform economy: the narrow, the broad, and the systemic perspectives," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 32(4), pages 795-814.
    6. Sujin Park & Ali Tafti & Galit Shmueli, 2024. "Transporting Causal Effects Across Populations Using Structural Causal Modeling: An Illustration to Work-from-Home Productivity," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 686-705, June.
    7. Marta Fana & Francesco Sabato Massimo & Angelo Moro, 2021. "Autonomy and control in mass remote working during the Covid-19 pandemic. Evidence from a cross-professional and cross-national analysis," LEM Papers Series 2021/28, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    8. Yi Sun & Shihui Li & Lingling Yu, 2022. "The dark sides of AI personal assistant: effects of service failure on user continuance intention," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 32(1), pages 17-39, March.
    9. Peter Ping Li, 2017. "The time for transition: Future trust research," Journal of Trust Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, January.
    10. Nurmi, Niina & Koroma, Johanna, 2020. "The emotional benefits and performance costs of building a psychologically safe language climate in MNCs," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    11. Armanda Cetrulo & Dario Guarascio & Maria Enrica Virgillito, 2020. "Anatomy of the Italian occupational structure: concentrated power and distributed knowledge," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(6), pages 1345-1379.
    12. Nada Endrissat & Aurélie Leclercq Vandelannoitte, 2021. "From sites to vibes: Technology and the spatial production of coworking spaces," Post-Print hal-03332209, HAL.
    13. Ruthanne Huising, 2014. "The Erosion of Expert Control Through Censure Episodes," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1633-1661, December.
    14. Christian P Theurer & Andranik Tumasjan & Isabell M Welpe, 2018. "Contextual work design and employee innovative work behavior: When does autonomy matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-35, October.
    15. Jens Thoemmes, 2024. "Negotiating Telework in France: Collective Bargaining Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," Post-Print hal-04619772, HAL.
    16. Rainoldi, Mattia & Ladkin, Adele & Buhalis, Dimitrios, 2025. "Digital nomads' work-leisure management practices," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    17. Jieun Lee, 2022. "Moral Hazard on Productivity Among Work-From-Home Workers Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic," Papers 2209.05684, arXiv.org.
    18. Andrea Salvatori & Seetha Menon & Wouter Zwysen, 2018. "The effect of computer use on job quality: Evidence from Europe," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 200, OECD Publishing.
    19. Masood Badri & Mugheer Al Khaili & Guang Yang & Muna Al Bahar & Asma Al Rashdi, 2022. "Examining the Structural Effect of Working Time on Well-Being: Evidence from Abu Dhabi," International Journal of Social Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 11(2), pages 24-44, September.
    20. Nur Nahar Yasmin, 2024. "Four-day workweek in corporate sector: post-pandemic work arrangement for Bangladesh," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(7), pages 1-26, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:45:y:2024:i:1:p:57-82. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.