TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
List of Tables/Illustration ……………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………… 7
Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8
1.1 Background of the Problem or Definition of the Problem ……………………………………… 11
1.2 Need for study, research aim & objectives and the hypothesis to be tested …………… 15
1.3 Approaches to the dissertation ………………………………………………………………………….. 17
1.4 The organisation of the research ……………………………………………………………………….. 18
1.5 The scope and limitations of the research …………………………………………………………… 19
1.6 Major contributions of the study ……………………………………………………………………….. 20
2.1 The Virtual Office / Working…………………………………………………………………… 22
2.1.1 Mobile telework / virtual working …………………………………………………………………… 22
2.1.2 Key models of virtual office setup …………………………………………………………………… 26
2.1.3 Virtual office implementation and Impact ………………………………………………………… 28
2.2 3pl India and Virtual Working ………………………………………………………………… 32
2.2.1 3pl operations in India …………………………………………………………………………………… 33
2.2.2 Key functions that can be virtualised ……………………………………………………………….. 36
2.3 Workforce ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 38
2.3.1 Multigenerational workforce ………………………………………………………………………….. 38
2.3.2 Work/life balance ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 41
2.4 Virtual Team ………………………………………………………………………………………….. 42
2.4.1 Formation of a virtual team and Challenges to overcome ………………………………….. 42
2.4.2 Key Factors of managing a virtual team and the challenges ……………………………….. 43
3.1 Research Methodology …………………………………………………………………………………….. 48
3.1.1 Research Philosophy–Epistemology-Positivism/Ontology-Objectivism …………….. 49
3.1.2 Research Approach – Deductive ………………………………………………………………….. 51
3.1.3 Research Strategy – Survey (online / email) ………………………………………………….. 52
3.1.4 Research Choice – Mono Method – Quantitative Research ……………………………… 53
3.1.5 Time Horizon – Cross-sectional ……………………………………………………………………. 53
The Feasibility of Mobile Telework/Virtual Working
3.2 Proposed Sampling Method – Non-probability – Snowball ……………………………………. 53
3.3 Data Collection ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 54
3.4 Practical Efforts ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 56
3.5 Limitation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 56
3.6 Ethics …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 57
3.8 Personal bias …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 58
4.0 Data Analysis/Findings ……………………………………………………………………………. 58
4.1 Questionnaire findings ……………………………………………………………………………………… 59
5.1 Limitation of the research …………………………………………………………………………………. 98
7.1 Self-assessment and Learning from the course ………………………………………………….. 106
8.0 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………………………. 110
Cover Letter for Questionnaire ……………………………………………………………………………… 122
Questionnaire …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 123
SPSS – data coding screenshot………………………………………………………………………………. 128
Netq-Survey Screen Shot ……………………………………………………………………………………… 129
Time Allocation …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 129