Orientation: Professional workers increasingly have the ability to do their work outside normal working hours, while being away from the workplace or from the comfort of their homes. Advancements in technology have made flexible work arrangements (FWAs) much easier and viable for corporates to consider. Research purpose: Although research mostly confirms the benefits of FWAs, research on the outcomes of FWAs is somewhat inconclusive and sometimes contradicting, both within and across developed and emerging economies. Motivation for the study: It is important to advance our understanding of the use of FWAs and their outcomes so that organisations in emerging economies have a valid basis for considering the implementation of FWAs. Research approach/design and method: This study applied survey-based research to investigate the use and outcome of two of the most common FWAs – flexible working-time hours and telecommuting – amongst software developers in an emerging economy. Main findings: The results indicate that employers in South African software development sector have largely adopted FWAs, and that developers use flexible working arrangements and perceive them to be beneficial for themselves and their organisations. The study results confirm that FWAs do not correlate with fewer working hours but do correlate with increased levels of both engagement and performance. Practical/managerial implications: The findings are important in the light of critical shortage of and the resulting high pressure on software developers. Employers in emerging economies such as South Africa could seriously consider implementing FWAs, can probably do so with confidence and are likely to receive support from their staff. Contribution/value-add: The findings of this study are significant because they confirm that the workplace flexibility provided by FWA is effective, also in a developing economy such as South Africa.

中文翻译：

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弯曲还是不弯曲？新兴经济体中软件开发人员之间的灵活工作安排

方向：专业工人越来越有能力在正常工作时间之外进行工作，同时又要远离工作场所或在家中感到舒适。技术的进步使灵活的工作安排（FWA）更加容易和可行，可供公司考虑。研究目的：尽管研究大多证实了FWA的好处，但对FWA成果的研究在发达经济体和新兴经济体之内和之间都没有定论，有时甚至是矛盾的。研究的动机：增进我们对FWA的使用及其结果的理解很重要，以便新兴经济体的组织有一个考虑实施FWA的有效基础。研究方法/设计与方法：这项研究应用了基于调查的研究，以调查新兴经济体中软件开发人员中两个最常见的FWA（灵活的工作时间和远程通勤）的使用和结果。主要发现：结果表明，南非软件开发部门的雇主在很大程度上采用了FWA，并且开发人员使用了灵活的工作安排，并认为它们对自己和组织有利。研究结果证实，FWA与更少的工作时间无关，但与参与度和绩效水平的提高相关。实际/管理上的意义：鉴于严重缺乏软件开发商以及由此带来的巨大压力，这一发现非常重要。南非等新兴经济体的雇主可以认真考虑实施FWA，可以充满信心地这样做，并且很可能会得到其员工的支持。贡献/增值：这项研究的发现具有重要意义，因为它们证实了FWA提供的工作场所灵活性在南非等发展中经济体中也是有效的。