Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: You are the CEO of a company with 50 employees. In order to keep your deadlines and ensure the satisfaction of your customers that you depend upon, you need every worker every working day. You are located in a high rise in the downtown area of a metropolitan city, most of your employees live in the suburban quarters and because of lack of reasonably priced parking space commute by public transport. Imagine a public transport strike. No busses, no trains, no underground. The strike lasts five days. Traffic jams everywhere and no parking space. Will your employees show up? Chances are, they will not get to work on time, if they get there at all. How many customers will be dissatisfied with your service? How many employees do you have to pay although they did not do anything? How many workable hours will be lost? What costs do you have to pay although no income was generated? If your employees were teleworking, things would have been different. The "telework" concept is based on computers interconnected through phone lines and the idea of moving information instead of people can lead to a number of direct and indirect improvements for the organization and management of the workplace and its operations. The reduction of traffic, increased productivity, greater flexibility in balancing work and family demands and improved management of office space are well known benefits of teleworking from home or a telecenter. Although telework can contribute immensely to handling business interruptions through crises or disasters, this area is little explored. California is a place very prone to disasters. Located on the St. Andreas fault, the area experienced recently two major earthquakes and geologists expect another large earthquake within the next 30 years. Apart from natural disasters, also man made circumstances are threatening: In 1997, the State of California had by far the largest number of bombing incidents in the U.S. The State of California has an expressed need for effective emergency prevention, preparedness and management. Since the implementation of a telework pilot project from 1988-1990 the number of teleworking government employees is rising steadily and in that regard the State of California is a model for governments and corporations around the world. Disasters and emergencies cause interruptions to normal business procedures, in the private as well as in the government sector. Teleworking in emergency [...]