Teleworking and the Implications for Outsourced Services: Case Study at the Administration Secretariat of the Superior Court of Justice
Teleworking, Outsourcing, Public Administration
This research project proposes to carry out a case study on the evolution of teleworking at the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) between 2019 and 2023 and the implications for outsourced services managed by the Secretariat of Administration. The modernization of work processes has gradually contributed to institutional transformations
towards virtualization in the provision of services, which contributes to the gradual reduction of visitors to the organization's physical facilities. In this scenario, teleworking became a reality for its staff, driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increasing adoption from 2019 to 2023. The body made great progress in terms of technological transformation, culminating in the 100% digital judicial process in 2008, resulting in efficiency, savings and agility (Freitas and Medeiros, 2015). The implementation of the Electronic Processing System transferred responsibilities from civil servants to lawyers, marking a significant transition in the court's dynamics. This transition meant that lawyers did not need to visit the institution's facilities to obtain services. At this juncture, teleworking in the institution, as a consequence of the adoption of information and communication technology (STIC) solutions, imposes significant challenges for the management of labor outsourcing contracts, since many of the outsourced activities are motivated by the need of face-to-face service to the public who frequent the institution’s physical facilities. Therefore, the agency needs to adapt to this trend and needs continuous assessments of its structural arrangements to better manage available human resources.
According to Sampieri (2013), descriptive case studies seek to specify important properties, characteristics and traits of any phenomenon we analyze. Therefore, the study of the relationship between teleworking and the demand for outsourced services aims to uncover the implications of this phenomenon that allows for the monitoring and adequate sizing of outsourced labor in light of this new reality. Correlational studies, according to Sampieri (2013), aim to understand the relationship or level of association between different concepts, categories or variables in a specific context. They often examine the relationships between two, three, four or more variables, evaluating the degree of association between them, quantifying and analyzing these relationships. Therefore, the main objective is to investigate which outsourced services were affected by the
increase in teleworking through an exploratory documentary research of contracts and databases on
the evolution of teleworking and access control of people in the institution, as well as the institution's level of maturity in management of these contracted outsourced human resources. According to Santos and Reis (2021), in a study on teleworking, it highlights that the performance policies of employees in these organizations must be reviewed and realigned to a reality that has not previously been intensely tested. From this perspective, according to Vieira (2020), the consolidation of an organizational culture focused on results constitutes an essential prerequisite for success and maximum use of the positive impacts expected with the implementation of teleworking strategies. A case study will be conducted with a qualitative and quantitative field approach, exploratory and applied with documentary analysis, theoretical framework, databases, structured interviews with
managers through the use of a maturity model and descriptive statistical analysis of the data to answer the following questions : "What are the implications for outsourced labor services arising from the implementation of teleworking? How mature is the institution in monitoring outsourced labor activities managed by the Administration Secretariat?