Abstract

Air travel forms a substantial component of an organisation’s carbon profile, and questions around business travel are becoming more pertinent given the accelerating climate crisis. The current coronavirus pandemic, however, has effectively stopped much travel and organisations had to adapt by switching most interactions to online meetings. Drawing on social practice theory, this paper examines changes in staff air travel behaviour observed in a New Zealand government agency, following the nationwide lockdown in 2020. Integrating air travel data, a staff wellbeing survey and 18 interviews, the research reveals fundamental differences in the meaning of face-to-face versus online meetings, the inseparable nature of productivity and personal wellbeing, and the change processes that staff noted when faced with a (temporary) new reality of restricted mobility. Whether modified routines remain or not will not only be influenced by the government’s imposed carbon budgets, but also will be a question of organisational leadership, politics, and ultimately the ethics of trading off environmental impacts with other perceived needs.

摘要

航空旅行是组织碳排放的重要组成部分，鉴于气候危机的加剧，有关商务旅行的问题变得越来越相关。然而，当前的冠状病毒大流行有效地阻止了许多旅行，组织不得不通过将大多数互动切换到在线会议来适应。本文借鉴社会实践理论，考察了新西兰政府机构在 2020 年全国封锁后观察到的员工航空旅行行为的变化。该研究整合了航空旅行数据、员工幸福感调查和 18 次访谈，揭示了航空旅行的根本差异。面对面与在线会议的意义，生产力和个人幸福不可分割的本质，以及工作人员在面临（临时）流动受限的新现实时注意到的变化过程。修改后的惯例是否保留不仅会受到政府强制碳预算的影响，还会成为组织领导、政治以及最终权衡环境影响与其他感知需求的道德问题。