Driving, Communicating and Working: Understanding the Work-related Communication Behaviours of Business Travellers on Work-related Car Journeys

Abstract

Despite an increasing number of workers requiring to travel extensively in carrying out their work, there are significant gaps in knowledge related to how business travellers make use of journey time. This paper addresses this gap in knowledge by examining the journey-time behaviours of business people travelling by car on work-related journeys. One of the central focuses of the paper is on the extent to which business travellers use mobile communication technologies and the extent to which they experience a pressure to remain in ‘perpetual contact’ with colleagues and clients while travelling.

Keywords:

• Work-related travel
• travel-time behaviour
• mobile communication technology
• perpetual contact