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Monitoring what and how: Psychological implications of electronic performance monitoring

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Abstract

Link to article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/ntwe.12039/ Implementing electronic performance monitoring in the workplace might improve the efficiency and quality of employee data that are collected. These intended benefits might be discounted or even eliminated if employees have a negative reaction to the monitoring process. The goal of this exploratory study was therefore to investigate which electronic performance monitoring techniques and monitoring characteristics are associated with negative employee reactions using survey responses from 190 student workers. Results showed that close performance monitoring (via cameras, data entry, chat and phone recording) had significant negative effects on job attitudes such as job satisfaction and affective commitment. Similar effects were observed for employee self-efficacy and perceived control. Attitudes were furthermore negatively impacted when the monitoring was focused on individuals and unpredictable, which also reduced organisational citizenship behaviour while continuous monitoring reduced self-efficacy. These findings suggest that the benefits of close monitoring may be overshadowed by negative employee reactions.

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... Organisations process large quantities of employees' personal data (Hurrell et al., 2017;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Taylor & Dobbins, 2021), which they increasingly use to manage their workforce through metrics, analytics and algorithms (Bechter et al., 2022;Leonardi & Treem, 2020;Newlands, 2021). Applying these technologies in organisations challenges the way Human Resource Management functions (Angrave et al., 2016;Tambe et al., 2019) and opens up new possibilities for managing and controlling work and workers (Faraj et al., 2018;Kellogg et al., 2020;Wood et al., 2021). ...
... While HR metrics correspond to the production of basic numerical indicators, HR analytics refer to the use of more sophisticated statistical methods to analyse existing phenomena, and HRM algorithms enable certain tasks to be automated, including using AI (artificial intelligence) tools (Coron, 2022). These quantification technologies are used to improve organisational processes and decision-making (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Lloyd & Payne, 2019). These purported improvements are based on the perception the members of an organization have of quantification technologies as neutral representations that can objectify decision-making in organisations by accurately measuring economic, organisational or social phenomena (Huselid, 2018;Vassilopoulou et al., 2022). ...
... K. Lee, 2018), the skills HR specialists require to make use of these technologies (Angrave et al., 2016;Strohmeier & Parry, 2014), and how employee voice and unions are affected (Flanagan & Walker, 2021). While there is a consensus that quantification technologies, such as metrics, analytics and algorithms, are increasingly used in organisations and have far-reaching consequences for HRM and employees (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Spencer, 2018;Taylor & Dobbins, 2021), there is a lack of research investigating how employee-based quantification, in its many forms, performs in organisations. This can be explained by the predominance of the positivist paradigm in HRM research on quantification (Greasley & Thomas, 2020;Harley, 2015), the scarcity of qualitative research in this area, and the neglect of the role of performativity. ...
Article
This study examines the performativity of using numbers in the context of human resource management (HRM). We use performativity as a theoretical lens to understand how such quantification affects individuals and work. We theorise three performative effects of quantification based on multiple case studies using internal documents and semi‐structured interviews. To do this we analysed six HRM quantification projects (including cases of algorithmic HRM) at a large French multinational corporation. Each use of quantification creates a specific form of performativity. Our work complements the sparse but growing literature on metrics, analytics and algorithms in Human Resources, focusing not on the kind of reality numbers represent but on how they impact different stakeholders.
... Instead, they are more likely to see DEPM as an expression of the organization's concern for them. As a result, a supportive organizational environment characterized by trust and reciprocity may emerge between employees and the organization (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015), which undoubtedly fosters proactive behavior. Additionally, for employees, DEPM can enhance their organizational identification (Alder et al., 2008), thereby strengthening individual tendencies toward proactivity (Lau et al., 2017). ...
... In this scenario, employees develop a sense of depersonalized self-awareness and shared destiny consciousness, closely associating their individual goals with organizational goals, thereby engaging in more proactive and constructive behaviors (D� eprez et al., 2021). It is evident that DEPM encourages diligent work, stimulates intrinsic work motivation, and prompts employees to engage in more proactive behavior to contribute to the organization by conveying the organization's positive expectations for employees (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). ...
... With the perceived threat triggered by PEPM, employees' sense of organizational identification and motivation for active internalization of work will be inhibited. This undoubtedly has a negative impact on individuals' positive emotions and resilience in the workplace, ultimately suppressing proactive behaviors (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). For instance, Yost et al. (2019) found that when individuals perceive privacy infringement from organizational electronic monitoring, individuals tend to reduce their organizational citizenship behaviors to assert their freedom in response to this perceived threat. ...
Article
Nowadays, numerous enterprises are actively adopting electronic performance monitoring (EPM) systems with the goal of enhancing organizational performance by stimulating employee pro-active behavior. However, some companies have reported that the EPM system didn't achieve the expected results and even led to the opposite. To address this paradoxical phenomenon, we employed psychological reactance theory to investigate the impacts of employee differentiate perceptions of EPM (developmental EPM [DEPM] and preventive EPM [PEPM]) on individual psychological and behavior reactance. By conducting a three-wave survey questionnaire among 446 corporate employees, we find that DEPM facilitates proactive behavior, while PEPM inhibits such behaviors; Second, psychological reactance mediates the relationships among DEPM, PEPM, and proactive behavior; Third, individual trait mindfulness positively (negatively) moderates the impact of DEPM (PEPM) on psychological reactance. This research elucidates the effects of EPM on pro-active behavior, providing valuable information to support attempts to refine digitally driven monitoring models within organizations.
... While much has been made of the potential operational benefits associated with these technologies (Baritto et al., 2020;Matani, 2020), scholars have also noted that the implementation of these digital tools often includes the ability of employers to closely monitor employee performance and compliance with policies (Daus, 2019;Laguir et al., 2022;Verma, 2017). This use of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) has met with mixed results in the extant literature, with some studies finding it can increase employee productivity and resource planning (Kalischko & Riedl, 2021) while others find the use of EPM can lead to lower morale, lower job satisfaction, higher stress (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Kalischko & Riedl, 2021;Rafnsdóttir & Gudmundsdottir, 2011) and may incentivize counterproductive work behaviors (Shaffer & Darnold, 2020), especially behaviors not subject to increased monitoring (Scott et al., 2021). ...
... Electronic performance monitoring has become increasingly ubiquitous in recent years as a tool for managers to assess employee behavior and evaluate performance (Rafnsdóttir & Gudmundsdottir, 2011). While EPM has been linked to improved employee performance through productivity increases and better resource planning (Kalischko & Riedl, 2021), much of that is predicated on the inclusion of employees in the decision-making process of which behaviors to monitor and how they are applied to ensure performance standards are met (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015) and through linking employee behavior to positive incentives (Latack, 1986). Importantly, EPM has also been associated with higher employee stress, lower job satisfaction, lower morale, and lower affective commitment, especially when monitoring is continuous (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Kalischko & Riedl, 2021;Rafnsdóttir & Gudmundsdottir, 2011). ...
... While EPM has been linked to improved employee performance through productivity increases and better resource planning (Kalischko & Riedl, 2021), much of that is predicated on the inclusion of employees in the decision-making process of which behaviors to monitor and how they are applied to ensure performance standards are met (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015) and through linking employee behavior to positive incentives (Latack, 1986). Importantly, EPM has also been associated with higher employee stress, lower job satisfaction, lower morale, and lower affective commitment, especially when monitoring is continuous (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Kalischko & Riedl, 2021;Rafnsdóttir & Gudmundsdottir, 2011). Research suggests the use of coercive control systems, those used to monitor employee behavior, measure compliance with organizational rules, and sanction punitive measures in the case of noncompliance (Adler & Borys, 1996;Weaver & Trevino, 2001), may, in fact, increase counterproductive work behaviors (Shaffer & Darnold, 2020). ...
Article
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The use of electronic performance monitoring is becoming increasingly widespread in conjunction with the digitalization of today's supply chains, yet the efficacy of these systems to improve desired performance outcomes is still highly uncertain. This study examines the effect of a federal regulation mandating the adoption of electronic data logging devices for commercial truck drivers in late 2017 and the efficacy of this regulatory effort in improving safety through an analysis of motor vehicle fatalities pre- and post-mandate. Results of a difference in difference estimation show the ELD mandate failed to reduce motor vehicle fatalities, and, in fact, may have increased overall fatality rates. These findings suggest that the expected benefits of electronic monitoring are likely to be highly contingent on proper design and implementation and a failure to consider the broader effects may lead to negative outcomes.
... The current set of professional groups and organizational functions was identified based on the authors' research and applied industry collaboration in this area as well as their surveys of relevant information in academic and practitioner literature (Jeske & Calvard, 2020a;Jeske & Kapasi, 2018;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Jeske, 2021). We start with HR as the core function leading EPM efforts in most organizations. ...
... Such conditions can furthermore help to create a work environment that supports, rather than lowers, remote workers' performance and employee well-being (Bilotta et al., 2021;Jamal et al., 2021). Evaluation rounds can be further used to explore and counteract the potentially negative effects of monitoring settings on employees (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). It is, for example, important to check that critical performance dimensions for different roles are adequately captured (e.g., creativity, innovation, and flexibility criteria). ...
... Examples include health concerns arising due to emotional exhaustion, stress, anxiety, and high levels of tension at work (Baer et al., 2014;Indiparambil, 2017;Tavani, 2004). EPM alone has been linked to reduced motivation (Martin et al., 2016), organizational commitment and citizenship behavior (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). The pandemic situation, combined with remote working, increased managerial use of EPM tools but also led to more concerns about employee acceptance and reactions to EPM (see Aloisi & De Stefano, 2021;Tomczak et al., 2020). ...
Chapter
Cross-functional integration is a topic of discussion in many different disciplines. Electronic performance monitoring (EPM) is the practice of managing employee performance digitally. It is also a key example of cross-functionality. The authors reflected on organizational practice and existing literature to demonstrate the interconnections between different functions supporting EPM. A range of professions and functions play important cross-functional roles in the design, use, and implementation of EPM systems in organizations, such as IT and security, legal and data protection, and health and safety, among others. Barriers to cross-functional integration involving HR and EPM are identified, and recommendations are offered on how to overcome such barriers in practice. The practice and design of EPM serves as a powerful example for raising more explicit awareness and understanding of the opportunities and challenges affecting how HR integrates and works with a variety of other interdependent functional and professional groups and roles. The current paper addresses cross-functionality in HR practice as related to the example of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) of employees. The chapter is organized in three sections on a) the cross-functionality in relation to HR, b) the links between functions due to cross-functionality, and c) an overview of the various professionals and functions involved in EPM. All sections weave together the social, managerial and technical aspects that foster cross-functionality. The focus on EPM provides an original exploration of HR practice, which expands on limited research in this area to date.
... An additional source of disorder in the EPM literature is the diverse research methodologies used by researchers, making comparisons across studies challenging. In addition to experimental work, EPM researchers frequently conduct cross-sectional survey research using idiosyncratic or self-developed scales (e.g., Arnaud & Chandon, 2013;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Stanton, 2000). Researchers have also used vignette-based studies to explore the psychological effects of EPM. ...
... McNall and Roch (2007) found, in support of this notion, that EPM purpose influenced performance through its impact on interpersonal justice perceptions and trust in management. Wells et al. (2007) found that employees were more motivated to help their organization achieve goals when monitoring was for development rather than for performance appraisal purposes; and Jeske and Santuzzi (2015) found that monitoring with different purposes (i.e., for worker safety, to deter resource abuse) differentially influenced workers' willingness to engage in OCBs. Thus, different purposes for monitoring are likely to have different effects on individuals' motivation to perform, ultimately leading to differences in performance. ...
... Few studies have directly examined the effects of synchronous versus asynchronous monitoring and monitoring feedback on work outcomes. Although highly synchronous EPM may be perceived as more restrictive than intermittent or delayed data collection and storage, research suggests that individuals may prefer the predictability of continuous collection to the unpredictability of intermittent monitoring (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). Compared to intermittent monitoring, however, individuals may perceive more continuous monitoring as more thoroughly and accurately capturing typical performance within and across individuals; and, therefore, it may be perceived as more procedurally fair (McNall & Roch, 2007) In general, timely feedback is considered useful for learning and skill development (Northcraft et al., 2011), suggesting that individual performance may benefit from greater synchronicity in EPM feedback. ...
Article
Full-text available
Electronic performance monitoring (EPM), or the use of technological means to observe, record, and analyze information that directly or indirectly relates to employee job performance, is a now ubiquitous work practice. We conducted a comprehensive meta‐analysis of the effects of EPM on workers (K = 94 independent samples, N = 23,461). Results provide no evidence that EPM improves worker performance. Moreover, findings indicate that the presence of EPM is associated with increased worker stress, regardless of the characteristics of monitoring. Findings also demonstrate that organizations that monitor more transparently and less invasively can expect more positive attitudes from workers. Overall, results highlight that even as advances in technology make possible a variety of ways to monitor workers, organizations must continue to consider the psychological component of work. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
... An additional source of disorder in the EPM literature is the diverse research methodologies used by researchers, making comparisons across studies challenging. In addition to experimental work, EPM researchers frequently conduct cross-sectional survey research using idiosyncratic or self-developed scales (e.g., Arnaud & Chandon, 2013;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Stanton, 2000). Researchers have also used vignette-based studies to explore the psychological effects of EPM. ...
... McNall and Roch (2007) found, in support of this notion, that EPM purpose influenced performance through its impact on interpersonal justice perceptions and trust in management. Wells et al., (2007) found that employees were more motivated to help their organization achieve goals when monitoring was for development rather than for performance appraisal purposes; and Jeske and Santuzzi (2015) found that monitoring with different purposes (i.e., for worker safety, to deter resource abuse) differentially influenced workers' willingness to engage in OCBs. Thus, different purposes for monitoring are likely to have different effects on individuals' motivation to perform, ultimately leading to differences in performance. ...
... Although highly synchronous EPM may be perceived as more restrictive than intermittent or delayed data collection and storage, research suggests that individuals may prefer the predictability of continuous collection to the unpredictability of intermittent monitoring (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). Compared to intermittent monitoring, however, individuals may perceive more continuous monitoring as more thoroughly and accurately capturing typical performance within and across individuals; and, therefore, it may be perceived as more procedurally fair (McNall & Roch, 2007) In general, timely feedback is considered useful for learning and skill development (Northcraft et al., 2011), suggesting that individual performance may benefit from greater synchronicity in EPM feedback. ...
Preprint
Full-text available
Electronic performance monitoring (EPM), or the use of technological means to observe, record, and analyze information that directly or indirectly relates to employee job performance, is a now ubiquitous work practice. We conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of the effects of EPM on workers (K = 94 independent samples, N = 23,461), while taking into account the characteristics of the monitoring. Results provide no evidence that EPM improves worker performance. Moreover, findings indicate that the presence of EPM increases worker stress and strain, regardless of the characteristics of monitoring. Findings also demonstrate that organizations that monitor more transparently and less invasively can expect more positive attitudes from workers. Overall, results highlight that even as advances in technology make possible a variety of ways to monitor workers, organizations must continue to consider the psychological component of work.
... Due to its contribution to individual performance in organizations, it has gained increasingly higher managerial interest. Successful organizations monitor individual performance systematically as they seek to communicate, improve and reward individual performance (Jeske and Santuzzi 2015). However, technological advancement has altered the nature and scope of employee performance and its processes (Stanton 2000;Ambrose & Alder, 2000;Lau and Höyng 2023). ...
... First, existing research examining EPM and its individual level outcomes, including individual performance, is found to be somewhat limited. Previous studies, exploring the effects of EPM on individual outcomes, have predominantly concentrated on its specific aspects on individual behaviors, such as EPM-based feedback characteristics, EPM purpose and EPM predictability (e.g., McNall and Roch 2009;Jeske and Santuzzi 2015). However, there has been a noticeable lack of attention towards the organizational level perspective of EPM (Ahmed et al. 2022b). ...
Article
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This study utilizes organizational justice theory to investigate the relationship between electronic performance monitoring (EPM) and employee performance through serial mediation of employee perceptions of fairness and organizational identification. We collected data from 181 employees working in 11 organizations. To test the hypothesized model, a 2-1-1-1 multilevel mediation model was used. Results indicate a positive link between EPM and individual performance, mediated by employees’ perceptions of fairness and organizational identification. These findings have significant implications for organizational practitioners. Practitioners should ensure fairness in the performance monitoring processes, which in turn would foster employees’ organizational identification, thereby enhancing their work performance. This study is distinctive for its application of a 2-1-1-1 multilevel mediation analysis to HRM research, offering new insights into organizational studies from an integrated and multilevel perspective. Furthermore, it contributes to the literature by elucidating the “black box” between EPM and employee work outcomes.
... Preventive electronic performance monitoring aims at warning and deterring employees and restraining the occurrence of unfavorable behaviors to the organization; The developmental electronic performance monitoring can provide specific and meaningful performance feedback for individuals, so as to promote the learning and development of employees and improve the future performance level (Jeske et al., 2015). [12]. ...
... Preventive electronic performance monitoring aims at warning and deterring employees and inhibiting the occurrence of unfavorable behaviors to the organization (Jeske et al., 2015). [12]. On the one hand, preventive electronic performance monitoring conveys the information that the organization lacks trust in employees (Wells et al., 2007). ...
Article
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In the digital era, in order to improve organizational performance and achieve high-quality development, more and more modern enterprises begin to use electronic performance monitoring, and the accompanying work pressure directly affects employees' role behavior. However, the existing research on electronic performance monitoring is still in the stage of its concept definition, theoretical basis and influencing factors, especially the research on the influence mechanism of electronic performance monitoring on employee role behavior is very scarce. Based on the work resource-requirement model and stress cognitive evaluation theory, this paper discusses the double-edged sword effect of two dimensions of electronic performance monitoring on employees' role behavior, and analyzes the mediating role of work stress perception and the regulating role of monitoring transparency. Through a questionnaire survey of 330 employees, a total of 308 valid questionnaires were collected. The empirical results show that: (1) Developmental electronic performance monitoring has a significant positive impact on employees' role behavior; (2) Preventive electronic performance monitoring has a significant positive impact on employees' in-role behavior and a significant negative impact on employees' out-of-role behavior. (3) Challenging pressure plays an intermediary role between developmental electronic performance monitoring and employees' in-role behavior. (4) Obstructive stress plays an intermediary role between preventive electronic performance monitoring and employee role behavior; (5) Monitoring transparency positively regulates the relationship between developmental electronic performance monitoring and challenging pressure; (6) Monitoring transparency negatively regulates the relationship between preventive electronic performance monitoring and obstructive stress. The research results verify the double-edged sword effect of electronic performance monitoring on employees' role behavior.
... The participants were students who performed a simple task. Some researchers found that monitoring or surveillance has negative effects such as an increase in job tension (Doğru, 2021), an increase in stress and health complaints (Ravid et al., 2022;Siegel et al., 2022), and a decrease in job satisfaction (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Siegel et al., 2022). Some researchers found that employees might react to monitoring with decreased work effort or that employees are substantially more likely to engage in rule-breaking behaviors such as taking unapproved breaks, disregarding instructions, purposefully work at a slow pace (Thiel et al., 2022;Siegel et al., 2022). ...
... Examples from previous research will be used in developing survey questions on employee satisfaction and attitudes. For example, some questions could come from the research by Jeske, and Santuzzi (2015) which used a short scale by Brayfield and Rothe (1951) for questions on job satisfaction and an affective commitment scale from Meyer et al. (1993) for other questions. To improve the content and appearance of the questionnaire, there will be pretests and/or pilot tests to validate the instrument similar to the tests used by Huang et al. (2016) and Ham et al. (2005). ...
Preprint
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This paper proposes a study to evaluate how effective the electronic hand hygiene monitoring solutions from four companies are in improving the hand hygiene compliance rate at healthcare institutions especially over the long term. The long-term performance may be affected by negative impacts to employees, specifically increased stress and reduced job satisfaction. The study proposed in the paper tests the habit-forming theory which predicts a steady increase in hand hygiene compliance/performance in the short-term that peaks at a certain level and then is sustained over the long-term. Due to the importance of employees performing well at hand hygiene which management is expected to communicate to employees, employees are expected to accept the monitoring solution and no decreases in job satisfaction are expected after implementation. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used to obtain different perspectives and more fully understand the phenomenon. The study in effect investigates how applying technology as a factor of production would affect the hand hygiene compliance rate (the "output") as well as measures of employee stress and job satisfaction.
... Moreover, the depersonalization of HR processes through AI-driven automation may erode the human touch that is crucial for employee morale and well-being. Concerns about data privacy and security also come into play as HR departments handle sensitive employee information (Johnson et al., 2008;Piccoli et al, 2001;Ritzer, 2011;Duggan et al., 2020;Braganza et al., 2021;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the positive and negative impacts of AI on HRM to help us better understand its application in HRM. ...
... Simultaneously, exploring methods to mitigate weaknesses, such as fostering human-AI collaboration, addressing bias, and ensuring transparent algorithms, helps organizations create a harmonious and responsible AI ecosystem (Silverman & Gellman, 2015;Wallace & Clariana, 2005;Braganza et al., 2021). In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, research on strategies for AI implementation in HRM empowers organizations to make informed choices, leverage AI's potential for innovation, and cultivate an environment that prioritizes both technological advancement and ethical considerations (Duggan et al., 2020;Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Jatobá et al., 2016;Kaplan, 2016). ...
Article
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This study sorted out the literature on the application of AI in HRM from 2012 to 2021 using CiteSpace to derive the history of research in this field. Further, the research emphasis has shifted from the AI algorithm level to the application level. We proposed a conceptual paradox model to explain the positive and negative effects of AI in workplaces. We also discussed theoretically the practical implications of this study. Finally, this study offers relevant information that can help support and expand future research.
... At the "low" end of acceptance, users may feel that monitoring is intrusive and reduces privacy, or that monitoring indicates distrust of the user (e. g., Frey, 1993). This may create negative affect in users that undermines job satisfaction, commitment, and perceived control (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015), and increases job stress (Carayon, 1994;Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015). A further concern may be feelings of discomfort or anxiety associated with self-awareness instigated by monitoring (e.g., Baldwin and Holmes, 1987;Fejfar and Hoyle, 2000) and perceptions of the presence of an evaluative "other," such as a superior, colleague, or the monitoring system itself (e.g., Leitenberg, 1990;Zeidner and Matthews, 2005). ...
... At the "low" end of acceptance, users may feel that monitoring is intrusive and reduces privacy, or that monitoring indicates distrust of the user (e. g., Frey, 1993). This may create negative affect in users that undermines job satisfaction, commitment, and perceived control (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015), and increases job stress (Carayon, 1994;Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015). A further concern may be feelings of discomfort or anxiety associated with self-awareness instigated by monitoring (e.g., Baldwin and Holmes, 1987;Fejfar and Hoyle, 2000) and perceptions of the presence of an evaluative "other," such as a superior, colleague, or the monitoring system itself (e.g., Leitenberg, 1990;Zeidner and Matthews, 2005). ...
Article
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Development of adaptive aids to support human performance in complex systems is a cornerstone of human factors. Research in this area has led to a diversity of ideas regarding potential activation methods. However, little guidance has been provided on how to select among aid activation methods, and this lack of guidance could hinder adaptive aid development and deployment. Within the current paper, we review available methods of aid activation and describe a process for developing and validating adaptive aiding systems. We focus on supporting system designers who wish to select the ideal aid activation method for an intended application. The process that we recommend is an empirical approach to evaluate the feasibility, costs, and benefits of various potential methods of aid activation. This methodological framework will support practitioners making critical decisions about the design of aiding systems.
... The second part of the article focuses on the potential implications as well as practitioner suggestions which identify how health professionals and practitioners can, together with other stakeholders within their organizations, create more supportive employee experiences as well as connect these to workplace health management. In order to understand the issues around electronic performance monitoring, the next section outlines some of the pre-pandemic findings about electronic monitoring that demonstrates our current knowledge about the antecedents and effects of electronic monitoring more generally (Jeske, 2021;Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015;Ravid et al., 2020;Yost et al., 2019). These findings are complemented by insights gained about the employee experience during 2020. ...
... Electronic monitoring has been a regular feature in many factory shopfloors and offices for decades. Monitoring can be distinguished in terms of its purposes, invasiveness, synchronicity (which may allow for frequent, continuous, and instantaneous recording), and the transparency of their use and deployment (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015;Ravid et al., 2020). Electronic monitoring and its effects have been explored and summaries in many different studies and practitioner reports in recent times prior to the pandemic (e.g., Abraham et al., 2019;Bhave, 2018;Bernstrøm and Martin et al., 2016;Ravid et al., 2020;Tomczak et al., 2018), the increase in monitoring was further accelerated in numerous countries due to the start of the pandemic in 2020 as many employers across the world adopted remote working practices (e.g., Allyn, 2020; Gustavsson and Söderlund, 2021;Hill, 2020;Isaak, 2020;Passetti et al., 2021). ...
Article
This article now available online (open access): https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJWHM-02-2021-0042/full/html === Purpose This conceptual article outlines the known effects of employee monitoring on employees who are working remotely. Potential implications, as well as practitioner suggestions, are outlined to identify how practitioners can create more supportive employee experiences as well as apply these to workplace health management scenarios. Design/methodology/approach This overview is based on a selective and practically oriented review of articles that hitherto considered the health implications of remote workers being monitored electronically over the last two years. This overview is subsequently complemented by a discussion of more recent findings that outline the potential implications of monitoring for remote employees, employees' work experience and workplace health management. Findings Several practitioner-oriented suggestions are outlined that can pave the way to a more supportive employee experience for remote workers, who are monitored electronically by their employers. These include the various health and social interventions, greater managerial awareness about factors that influence well-being and more collaboration with health professionals to design interventions and new workplace policies. Organizations would also benefit from using audits and data analytics from monitoring tools to inform their interventions, while a rethink about work design, as well as organizational reviews of performance and working conditions further represent useful options to identify and set up the right conditions that foster both performance as well as employee well-being. Originality/value The article outlines practitioner-oriented suggestions that can directly and indirectly support employee well-being by recognizing the various factors that affect performance and experience.
... 3 The effects of fear of negative evaluation on unethical behavior at low and high moral disengagement climate and employees' own moral evaluations. This finding aligns with the viewpoint put forth by White et al. (2020), suggesting that the psychological and behavioral reactions triggered by digital monitoring are not solely dependent on monitoring characteristics, such as monitoring intensity (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015) or the right to know (Wells et al., 2007;Bartels & Nordstrom, 2012), but also influenced by individual and contextual factors. Currently, existing studies have explored individual factors such as employees' negative attitudes towards monitoring (Martin et al., 2016) and resistance to privacy invasion (Yost et al., 2019) as boundary conditions. ...
Article
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The dynamic nature of digital technology has presented both opportunities and challenges for organizational and human resource management practices. Managers and scholars alike have been concerned with achieving a harmonious interaction between humans and technology, as well as effectively supervising employees. Based on social information processing theory and moral disengagement theory, this paper constructs a theoretical model to examine the impact of workplace digital monitoring on employees’ unethical behavior. The study also empirically investigates the mediating role of fear of negative evaluation and the moderating effects of perceived organizational politics and moral disengagement. Based on a two-stage questionnaire survey of 438 employees, the findings demonstrate that workplace digital monitoring positively influences unethical behaviors through fear of negative evaluation, while both perception of organizational politics and moral disengagement can effectively moderate this mediating effect. The research findings provide valuable insights into the mechanisms by which workplace digital monitoring affects employees’ psychology and behavior, and offer practical guidance for enterprises seeking to mitigate its potential negative impacts.
... Barley et al. (2011) ont souligné comment l'utilisation intensive des technologies de communication peut conduire à une surcharge de travail et à un brouillage des frontières entre vie professionnelle et personnelle, affectant négativement le bien-être des employés. De plus, la surveillance numérique accrue rendue possible par ces technologies soulève des questions sur l'autonomie et la confiance au travail (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). L'impact de la digitalisation sur les relations sociales au travail est également un sujet de débat. ...
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Sur le plan théorique, cette étude apporte plusieurs contributions significatives au domaine de la QVCT et de la digitalisation. Tout d'abord, elle propose un cadre conceptuel intégratif qui synthétise les différentes dimensions de l'impact de la digitalisation sur la QVCT. Ce cadre offre une base solide pour de futures recherches en identifiant les principaux facteurs et mécanismes qui influencent cette relation complexe. De plus, notre analyse approfondie des effets positifs et négatifs de la digitalisation sur la QVCT contribue à une compréhension plus nuancée et équilibrée de ce phénomène. En mettant en lumière les paradoxes et les tensions inhérents à la transformation digitale, nous enrichissons le débat théorique sur les implications de la technologie dans le monde du travail. Notre étude contribue également à la littérature sur le changement organisationnel en soulignant l'importance d'une approche sociotechnique dans la mise en oeuvre des technologies numériques. Nous mettons en évidence la nécessité d'aligner les aspects techniques de la digitalisation avec les dimensions sociales et humaines de l'organisation pour optimiser la QVCT. Sur le plan pratique, notre recherche offre des insights précieux pour les gestionnaires, les professionnels des ressources humaines et les décideurs organisationnels. Nous proposons des stratégies concrètes pour améliorer la QVCT dans un contexte de digitalisation croissante, telles que :
... For instance, a meta-analysis examining the impact of EPM on workers found no evidence supporting its enhancement of worker performance (Ravid et al., 2023). Furthermore, numerous studies have indicated that EPM has adverse effects on employee attitudes, such as job satisfaction and affective commitment (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015;Siegel et al., 2022), as well as on work behaviors, including employee deviance and counterproductive work behaviors (Yost et al., 2019;Thiel et al., 2023a). Additionally, the pervasive nature of EPM renders it a stressor, leading employees to experience stress (Kalischko and Riedl, 2021;Ravid et al., 2023). ...
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Purpose This research aims to address the knowledge gap regarding the influence of electronic performance monitoring (EPM) on supervisors' behavior. Building upon the sociomaterial perspective and the general model of disinhibition, the study explores the internal mechanisms and boundary conditions between supervisor EPM use and supervisor undermining. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered via the Sojump platform, inviting supervisors from diverse industries in China to participate in a three-wave study, each wave being approximately two weeks apart. The study gathered multi-wave data from 225 supervisors to assess the conceptual model. Findings The results showed that supervisor EPM use was positively related to sense of power, which in turn positively related to supervisor undermining. Furthermore, supervisors' individual identity orientation moderates the relationship between supervisor EPM use and sense of power, as well as the indirect relationship between supervisor EPM use and supervisor undermining through sense of power. Practical implications This study advocates for responsible EPM use to mitigate supervisor undermining (e.g. making subordinates feel incompetent) and minimize negative leadership behaviors. Originality/value The presented results signify a substantial progression in comprehending the interplay between supervisor EPM use and individual identity orientation, and their combined impact on the sense of power and subsequent supervisor undermining.
... EPM can threaten perceived freedom of behavior, as it makes employees aware of hierarchies, their own position within them, their limited scope of control, and limited possibilities to freely act on their desires. Furthermore, invasive monitoring might be seen as micromanagement, which might not be perceived as legitimate and undermines employees' sense of discretion and task control (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). EPM can be expected to influence reactance on an affective level as a limited scope of control might lead to feelings of anger, irritation, and frustration (Bartholomew et al., 2011;Yost et al., 2019). ...
Article
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Digitalization enables continuous monitoring of not only work processes but also employees’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral activities. This study investigated how different types of electronic monitoring affect employees’ privacy and reactance and how social norms regarding electronic monitoring (opposition or support) shape these reactions. In a scenario study, we found higher privacy invasion and reactance when not solely screen time was monitored, but screen activity via screenshots or social interactions via face reader. The social norm did not influence these relations. However, we found strong compliance with the social norm of rejecting electronic monitoring, indicating a strong negative attitude toward electronic monitoring. The results suggest that invasiveness of electronic performance monitoring beyond screen time monitoring is perceived as high privacy-invasive and comparatively reactance-evoking.
... Though these two concepts focus on information and communication technology, these thoughts can also be transferred to automation and algorithmic technologies. Here, digital monitoring and evaluation or digital assistance systems can on the one side be a demanding factor and im-pact job quality in a negative way by e. g., leading to lower job performance, commitment, and external control (Posey et al. 2011;Jeske and Santuzzi 2015;Martin, Wellen and Grimmer 2016;Siegel, König and Lazar 2022). On the other side, they can also ease especially physically demanding working conditions or lead to more transparency in performance evaluation (Sharma and Sharma 2017;Wood et al. 2019;Wood 2021). ...
Article
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Innovative measurements in representative surveys are needed to draw meaningful conclusions about the prevalence of digital work and its consequences for employees’ job demands and resources. Since the digitalization of work encompasses a variety of technological developments and possible implications for employment, there are many different approaches to its operationalization. Within this article, we (1) provide a scheme for classifying different approaches to measuring digital work, (2) apply this scheme to nine different representative German employee surveys that operationalize digital work, and (3) evaluate the measurement of digital work by discussing the advantages and limitations of the different approaches. We identify three approaches to measuring digital work: equipment-based, content-based, and opinion-based. Besides the advantages and disadvantages of these approaches, we discuss the state of the art in measuring digital work and whether it would make sense to create a standardized set of questions.
... Evidence from electronic performance monitoring further suggests that constructive feedback should be specific and without threats (Baron, 1993), include positive reinforcement (McNall and Roch, 2009), and be regular and immediate so that employees can prepare themselves and form stable expectations regarding their learning (Holman et al., 2002). Feedback from technology is also likely to be perceived as more enabling if it is not tied to performance appraisal or financial incentives (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015) and if employee performance comparisons are used sparingly (Sapegina and Weibel, 2017). ...
Article
Public and academic opinion remains divided regarding the benefits and pitfalls of datafication technology in organizations, particularly regarding their impact on employees. Taking a dual-process perspective on trust, we propose that datafication technology can create small, erratic surprises in the workplace that highlight employee vulnerability and increase employees’ reliance on the systematic processing of trust. We argue that these surprises precipitate a phase in the employment relationship in which employees more actively weigh trust-related cues, and the employer should therefore engage in active trust management to protect and strengthen the relationship. Our paper develops a framework of symbolic and substantive strategies to guide organizations’ active trust management efforts to (re-)create situational normality, root goodwill intentions, and enable a more balanced interdependence between the organization and its employees. We discuss the implications of our paper for reconciling competing narratives about the future of work and for developing an understanding of trust processes.
... B. Tastatureingaben, Zeiterfassung am Computer, GPS-Überwachung) können Organisationen Informationen über das Verhalten generieren und speichern. Obwohl es Studien gibt, die zeigen, dass elektronische Leistungsüberwachung mit einer gesteigerten Aufgabenleistung (Aiello & Kolb, 1995;Bhave, 2014) zusammenhängt (vor allem wenn es einfache Routinetätigkeiten sind), erhöht diese Überwachung auch das Stressempfinden der Beschäftigten (Amick & Smith, 1992) und reduziert ihre Arbeitszufriedenheit (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015). Eine aktuelle Studie aus China zeigt, dass sich die wahrgenommene Überwachung während der Pandemie darüber hinaus negativ auf die wahrgenommene Vereinbarkeit zwischen Beruf und Privatleben der Beschäftigten auswirkte (Wang et al., 2021). ...
... Previous studies have found that increasing transparency regarding the types and purposes of data collection can minimize people's negative attitudes (Anderson & Agarwal, 2011;McNall & Roch, 2007;ten Berg et al., 2019). Therefore, it is necessary to thoroughly weigh the effects of transparency and understand when transparency positively influences employees' acceptance of being monitored.While some research has been carried out on the impact of location monitoring procedures on employees' attitudes and acceptance (Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;Jeske, 2022;Wells et al., 2007), there have been few empirical investigations of the role of transparency in the acceptance of ELM. Transparency is defined as the extent to which employees are given information and notified about the characteristics of workplace monitoring (White et al., 2020). ...
Article
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In the context of smart manufacturing, the technical development of monitoring systems has made it possible to track employees with the same systems that are used to track assets. This study contributes to our understanding of the acceptance of location-based monitoring of employees and investigates how the perceived privacy risk regarding monitoring can be tackled by examining the role of transparency and the perceived value of monitoring. We designed an experimental setting in which students assembled a 3D printer and manipulated transparency with two conditions: a detailed explanation of monitoring during the task vs. monitoring without any explanation. The results show that the higher the privacy concerns and perceived risks were, the lower was the acceptance for monitoring. However, the negative effect of perceived risk diminishes when both, transparency and the value of monitoring are high, but becomes even stronger when only transparency is high and perceived value is low.
... These experiences could lead to negative emotions (e.g., anxiety, embarrassment), as well as defensiveness or resentment towards coworkers, managers, and the organization. It would be worthwhile to build on research related to electronic surveillance at work to explore the potential psychological impacts of workplace alertness testing, as well (e.g., Jeske & Santuzzi, 2015;West & Bowman, 2016). ...
Article
Around-the-clock, 24/7 operations are common in many industries, yet contribute to employee fatigue, which can have grave consequences for worker safety, public health, and the environment. Alertness testing is one option for identifying and mitigating issues related to fatigue at work. We review alertness testing options, including fatigue risk management systems and app-based tools, and share results from a study evaluating employee and manager perceptions of alertness testing. Despite a growing body of research on the validity of app-based alertness tests, it is also critical to understand how these tools are perceived by workers and management. To investigate perceptions of alertness testing, mixed-method data were collected from organizations across four safety-sensitive industries (i.e., a mining company, fire department, and two construction companies) that were in the process of implementing an alertness testing platform. Results suggest that employees and managers are open to and optimistic about implementing new alertness testing safety tools. Employees in work environments with strong managerial support for safety were particularly open-minded to alertness testing at work. However, some employees and managers expressed reluctance towards alertness tests. We provide recommendations for how occupational health and safety professionals can effectively select alertness tests and implement alertness testing. Ethical considerations related to identifying whether workplace alertness testing is needed, and how to protect employees and their data, are discussed.
... Indeed, the results of studies on the effects of monitoring in workplaces have been highly variable and have indicated the potential to both positively and negatively affect a range of psychological variables such as stress, motivation, job satisfaction, trust and commitment. 5,6 If we are to optimally utilise the potential of metrics, we clearly need to consider the wider effects of being constantly monitored and measured and evaluate the impact in this wider context. Culture has been shown to be an important mitigator in the effects of monitoring on the individual; 6 it is highly likely that the generation of metrics will be facilitated where a good relationship has been established between the coach and the athlete, where the purpose of the metrics has been fully explained prior to the collection. ...
Article
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We live in a metrics-dominated world – so much of what we do is measured and strength and conditioning is no exception. In general, metrics are a positive force in strength and conditioning, and used correctly provide a major tool in our armoury - yet they are not without pitfalls. Consequently, although we should be encouraged to utilise metrics, it is also important to remember that their role is simply to help us make decisions – no more and no less. Metrics are not imbued with some magical quality: all metrics have potential strengths, but also potential weaknesses and ultimately metrics have no way of speaking for themselves – instead we speak for them and distil any meaning,12 and so any value lies in quality interpretation. Effective use of metrics will ultimately involve an appreciation of their value, together with an awareness of their dangers. As Muller7 highlights: ‘While we are bound to live in an age of measurement, we also live in an age of mismeasurement, over-measurement, misleading measurement, and counter�productive measurement.’ The potential benefits and the need to measure are well documented in S&C, yet sometimes we are less aware of the unintended consequences of our use of metrics and so are often blinded to some of these effects. What this article will aim to do is to highlight some of the potential pitfalls of metric fixation and highlight considerations that can ensure that whenever we use measurement and data, the wider considerations are taken into account in order to help us avoid some of the potential pitfalls.
... Since the type of work typically performed by participants is largely judged using task completion time, participants were excited about the tool's ability to potentially time them doing their work, as this would be "good for appraisals" (FG1). From a work design perspective, we understand that technology-driven performance monitoring can have negative impacts for employees [12]. However, participants expressed that they would like a way to show to themselves and their managers how they are performing and proposed timing as a solution to this. ...
... If they do not report these issues to the contractor, Rappi sends a warning through 'Soy Shopper' . It is a direct control mechanism interceded by technologies operating as Electronic Performance Monitoring (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015), where issues emerging from labor processes are identified and notified in real time. This may imply penalties or warning calls to the supervisor in charge. ...
Article
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This article describes and analyzes the labor process of Rappi, one of the main ordering and delivery platforms ( odp ) in Latin America. An exploratory qualitative case study was carried out and the results are based on the content analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews to platform workers as well as ethnographic work done in 2019–2020 in Santiago de Chile. This article contributes to, first, describe and analyze labor processes organized by an odp whose property and operation is managed in the Global South; second, it enables to explore the role played by Rappi within the Chilean retail production network; third, it connects diverse labor processes organized by odp s further on the ‘pick-up and deliver’ orders task; finally, it analyzes different control mechanisms executed by Rappi beyond algorithmic control, together with individual and collective resistance practices adopted by shoppers and riders. (Individuals are eligible for free access to the Journal of Labor and Society until 31 December 2022, using access token JLSO4U. https://brill.com/fileasset/downloads_products/37770_JLSO4U.pdf)
... Second, evidence from many case studies shows that subordinates monitored through EPM feel additional stress than associates observed through other methods (Kolb and Aiello, 1996). Third, the expected benefits of monitoring may be reduced or even removed if workers have an adverse reaction to the EPM system (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015). It sheds light on the value of trust in the relationship. ...
Article
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The present research proposes an electronic performance monitoring framework based on ambidextrous leadership and social exchange theories in a dynamic environment. It reviews and integrates essential literature on electronic performance management (EPM), trust, and ambidextrous behavior. For this, authors have reviewed relevant literature on various themes and underpinned them for managing EPM. The study emphasizes individuals’ psychological foundations that demonstrate trust behavior and relationship with their leaders. Eventually, through an ambidextrous approach, managers gain steady performance and relationships with their subordinates through EPM. The study shows that ambidexterity benefits organizations; it enhances employees’ resources, resulting in enhanced performance that leads to the performance of an organization. The authors discuss the theoretical as well as practical implications of this study.
... Due to the high reliance on technology in daily work practices, organizations can continuously observe, record, or analyze information on employees' behavior. Electronic performance monitoring results in benefits such as increased task performance (Aiello and Kolb, 1995;Bhave, 2014) but also negative effects for individual workers such as perceived stress (Amick and Smith, 1992) and reduced job satisfaction (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015). When face-to-face contacts between supervisors and subordinates are reduced, the issue of control is amplified and direct monitoring is no longer feasible (Kurland and Cooper, 2002;Sewell and Taskin, 2015). ...
Article
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This article examines managerial control practices in a public bureaucracy at the moment of introducing remote work as part with a new ways of working (NWW) project. The qualitative study builds on 38 interviews with supervisors and subordinates conducted before the advent of COVID-19. By interpreting interviewees’ conversations about current and anticipated future work practices in the changing work setting, we reveal tacit and hidden practices of managerial control that are currently prevalent in many organizations introducing remote working. Three constitutive moments of the organization’s transformation to NWW are analytically distinguished: (i) how implicit becomes explicit, (ii) how collective becomes self, and (iii) how personal becomes impersonal. Our findings emphasize that the transition to NWW must take into account prevailing institutional logics and must reconnect to a fundamental and often neglected question: What does doing work mean within the particular organization? Negotiating this fundamental question might help to overcome supervisors’ uncertainties about managerial control and provide clarity to subordinates about what is expected from them while working remotely. Finally, we discuss how the transition to NWW may serve as both an opportunity and a potential threat to established organizational practices while highlighting the challenge supervisors face when the institutional logics conflict with remote working.
... Research shows that the digital model of speech signal can be roughly divided into the excitation model, acoustic tube model, and radiation model, and from the perspective of mathematics, speech signal is a series of unsteady and time-varying process. Considering the voice privacy of long-term experiments and the limited computing power of embedded chips, the final solution of voice feature extraction is to embed short-term energy, spectral entropy, for resonance and brightness into intelligent wearable devices for online real-time feature processing [14]. ...
Article
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In order to improve the accuracy of the evaluation results of multiperception intelligent wearable devices, the mathematical statistical characteristics based on speech, behavior, environment, and physical signs are proposed; first, the PCA feature compression algorithm was used to reduce the dimension of these features, and the differences among different training samples were compared and analyzed; then, three weak classifiers are designed using the logistic regression algorithm, and finally, a strong classifier with higher prediction accuracy is designed according to the boosting decision fusion method and ensemble learning idea. The results showed that the accuracy of the logistic regression model trained with the feature data of voice PCA was 0.964, but the recall rate and crossover results were significantly reduced to 0.844 and 0.846, respectively. The accuracy, accuracy and recall of the decision fusion model based on the boosting method and integrated learning are 0.969, and the prediction accuracy of K-folds cross-validation is also as high as 0.956; the superposition fusion results of three weak classifiers achieve a better classification effect.
... Researchers also point out that the more a talented employee feels heard and understood, the more his or her engagement scores rise (Baumruk, 2006) On the other hand, a growing body of literature on AI adoption points towards a more oppressive form of digital Taylorism. For example, workers placed under biometric surveillance suffer higher degrees of technostress and burn-out (Mahapatra and Pati, 2018;Khedhaouria and Cucchi, 2019;Dragano and Lunau, 2020), loss of dignity, autonomy, and trust (Jeske and Santuzzi, 2015;Tomczak et al., 2018). Second, emotion-sensing AI, especially those that rely primarily on facial biometrics, has been shown to be widely inaccurate when dealing with gender, ethnicity, and race (Buolamwini and Gebru, 2018). ...
Article
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Affective computing, also known as emotional AI, is an emerging and cutting-edge field of AI research. It draws on computer science, engineering, psychology, physiology, and neu-roscience to computationally model, track, and classify human emotions and affective states. While the US once dominated the field in terms of research and citation from 1995-2015, China is now emerging as a global contender in research output, claiming second place for the most cited country from 2016-2020. This article maps the rhizomatic growth and development of scientific publications devoted to emotion-sensing AI technologies. It employs a bibliometric analysis that identifies major national contributors and international alliances in the field over the past 25 years. Contrary to the ongoing political rhetoric of a new Cold War, we argue that there are in fact vibrant AI research alliances and ongoing collaborations between the West and China, especially with the US, despite competing interests and ethical concerns. Our observations of historical data indicate two major collaborative networks: the "US/Asia-Pacific cluster" consisting of the US, China, Singapore, Japan and the "European" cluster of Germany, the UK, and the Netherlands. Our analysis also uncovers a major shift in the focus of affective computing research away from diagnosis and detection of mental illnesses to more commercially viable applications in smart city design. In this article, we also discuss the absence of Russia in the list of top countries for scientific output as well as state-of-the-art techniques such as the ensemble method of symbolic and sub-symbolic AI.
... For example, organizations have been documented to have used AI to record workers' overall aptitude in various skills and settings, their physical and mental health, their reproductive plans, and their food intake, with the goal of promoting and rewarding healthy behavior (Bock, 2015;O'Connor, 2015). The use of AI for these purposes has been demonstrated to have negative effects on workers' job satisfaction, affective commitment, feelings of self-efficacy and perceived control (Jeske, & Santuzzi, 2015), and beliefs that they are unseen and unnoticed by management (Anteby & Chan, 2018). Moreover, workers have also expressed data accuracy concerns, a lack of transparency about the nature and purpose of the collected data, and the inability to appeal judgments based on incorrect, biased, or incomplete data (Angwin et al., 2016;Bodie et al., 2017;Levy & Barocas, 2017;Rosenblat & Stark, 2016). ...
Chapter
This chapter focuses on intensified working life via the intensified job demands (IJDs) model from the perspective of recovery from work by paying particular attention to the potentially mediating and buffering roles of recovery in the linkages between IJDs and their consequences. In empirical analyses, we examined the buffering role of psychological detachment from work during off-job time in the relationship between intensified job demands and job performance and meaning of work. We found that high psychological detachment, as a recovery experience, buffered against work intensification over time in relation to job performance and meaning of work. Thus, good detachment from work during off-job time mitigated longitudinally the association between work intensification and job performance and meaning of work. However, overall the prospective buffering effects of detachment were modest in our two-wave data as were also the longitudinal direct effects of IJDs and psychological detachment on job performance and meaning of work. More research would be needed to test the suggested theoretical model more comprehensively.
... For example, organizations have been documented to have used AI to record workers' overall aptitude in various skills and settings, their physical and mental health, their reproductive plans, and their food intake, with the goal of promoting and rewarding healthy behavior (Bock, 2015;O'Connor, 2015). The use of AI for these purposes has been demonstrated to have negative effects on workers' job satisfaction, affective commitment, feelings of self-efficacy and perceived control (Jeske, & Santuzzi, 2015), and workers' beliefs that they are unseen and unnoticed by management (Anteby & Chan, 2018). Moreover, workers have also expressed data accuracy concerns, a lack of transparency about the nature and purpose of the collected data, and the inability to appeal judgements based on incorrect, biased, or incomplete data (Angwin et al., 2016;Bodie et al., 2017;Levy & Barocas, 2017;Rosenblat & Stark, 2016). ...
Chapter
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In the current economic environment, organizations are increasingly relying on technology, resulting in higher efficiency, reduced physical human effort, blurring boundaries between working life and private life, and more flexibility for both employers and employees. In this chapter we focus on the impact of three different technology-related changes in the workplace: (1) telework, (2) automation, and (3) algorithmic management. First, we discuss how telework has gained tremendous popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it impacts performance, work-life balance, and social aspects of work. Second, we focus on the positive and negative sides of automation and digitalization: improvements of working and living conditions on the one hand and anxiety and stress among workers on the other. Third, we discuss how AI-based algorithms are used to direct, evaluate, and discipline workers and how workers respond to these forms of algorithm management. All in all, we provide organizations with suggestions and advice as to how they can successfully implement these new technologies in a human-friendly manner. In doing so, we hope that this chapter will stimulate interesting new avenues of research for understanding challenges and opportunities associated with technology in the workplace.
Article
Purpose In recent years, organizations have progressively adopted electronic performance monitoring (EPM) to obtain accurate employee performance data and improve management efficiency in response to the growing complexity of the work environment. However, existing research has primarily focused on examining the effect of EPM on employee behaviors within established job designs, neglecting the consequential role of EPM in shaping employees’ bottom-up job redesign (i.e. job crafting). This study aims to explore whether and how EPM affects employee job crafting. Design/methodology/approach To test proposed hypotheses, we conducted two time-lagged surveys across different cultural contexts and a scenario experiment on an online platform in China. Findings The results revealed the negative indirect relationship between EPM and employee job crafting via role breadth self-efficacy. This indirect relationship was moderated by constructive supervisor feedback and job complexity, with the above relationships being weak (versus strong) when constructive supervisor feedback was high (versus low) or job complexity was low (versus high). Practical implications The results have crucial implications for organizational practices, suggesting that managers should provide constructive feedback to break the trade-off between EPM and job crafting. Additionally, managers may need to give employees with high job complexity more autonomy rather than intense monitoring. Originality/value This study is the first to clarify the effect of EPM on employee job crafting. As job crafting captures the important value of employees in organizational job design, our effort helps to enrich the understanding of EPM effectiveness.
Thesis
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هدفت الدراسة الى التعرف على تأثير طرق قياس الأداء على الرضا الوظيفي لممثلي مراكز الاستشارات الهاتفية في شركات الاتصالات اليمنية، ومن اجل تحقيق هدف الدراسة، واختبار صحة فرضياتها تم تطوير استبانة لجمع البيانات من ممثلي مراكز الاتصال في شركات الاتصالات اليمنية الثلاث المشمولة في الدراسة وقد تم توزيع 200 ورقة استبيان وذلك لتلافي الفاقد والمرفوض وكانت عينة البحث 170 مفردة موزعة على الشركات الثلاث. وقد تم استخدام تحليل الانحدار المتعدد والانحدار البسيط وتحليل التباين الأحادي والمتعدد لاختبار فرضيات الدراسة. وقد أظهرت نتائج الدراسة ما يلي: 1. وجود تأثير ذات دلالة إحصائية لنظام قياس الأداء على مستوى الرضا الوظيفي في مراكز الاتصال بشركات الاتصالات اليمنية. 2. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية لواقعية معايير قياس الأداء وقابلية تطبيقها على رضا الموظفين. 3. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية بتفهم الموظفين لنقاط ضمان الجودة على رضا الموظفين. 4. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية للمراقبة الشديدة للأداء على رضا الموظفين ولم يثبت وجود تأثير سلبي. 5. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية للمتابعة والتغذية المرتجعة على رضا الموظفين. 6. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية للتوجيه على رضا الموظفين. 7. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية لإدراك الموظف لعدالة قياس الأداء على رضاه الوظيفي. 8. وجود تأثير إيجابي ذو دلالة إحصائية لبرنامج التقدير والمكافئات على رضا الموظفين. 9. عدم وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في مستوى الرضا الوظيفي تعزى الى التفاعل بين مكان العمل في مراكز الاتصال بشركات الاتصالات اليمنية ونظام قياس الأداء. 10. وجود فروق ذات دلالة إحصائية في مستوى الرضا الوظيفي في مراكز الاتصال بشركات الاتصالات اليمنية يعزى الى مكان العمل. وفي ضوء هذه النتائج تم صياغة بعض التوصيات لتحسين طرق قياس الأداء وتعزيز التأثير الإيجابي لنظام قياس الأداء عموماً. The aim of the study was to identify the impact of performance measurement methods on the job satisfaction of the call centers representatives in the Yemeni telecommunications companies. In order to achieve the objective of the study and to test the validity of its hypotheses, a questionnaire was developed to gather data from the call center representatives in the three Yemeni telecommunications companies, 200 questionnaires has been distributed in order to avoid loss and doubt. The research sample was 170 items distributed among the three companies. Multiple & simple regressions analysis also One-Way & Two-Way ANOVA analysis were used to test the hypotheses of the study. The results of the study showed the following: There is a statistically significant impact of the performance measurement system at the level of job satisfaction in the call centers of the Yemeni telecommunications companies. There is a statistically significant positive impact of the reality & applicability of performance measurement standards on employee satisfaction. There is a statistically significant positive impact of employees' understanding of quality assurance points on employee satisfaction. There is a statistically significant positive impact of intensive performance monitoring on employee satisfaction. There is a statistically significant Positive impact of follow-up and feedback on employee satisfaction. There is a statistically significant positive impact of couching on employee satisfaction. There is a statistically significant Positive impact to the employee's understanding of the justice of performance measurement on his satisfaction. There is a statistically significant positive impact of appreciation and rewards program on employee satisfaction
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Mixed Reality (MR) Games integrate digital elements with real world places. In doing so they change those places, with important ethical implications. We present a synthesis of 8 existing frameworks on MR Ethics to establish a set of ethical issues for MR Games, and a qualitative analysis of interviews with 17 MR Game Designers to define the strategic approaches they use to address them. We identify 26 ethical issues over 5 dimensions: Claim Rights, Duty of Care, Social Justice, Privacy, and Control; and 59 separate tactics forming 13 strategic approaches over three areas: Design, Participant Management, and Logistics. Mapping these to codes of ethics from the ACM and IEEE we show that the strategies can be seen as methods for behaving ethically within the context of MR Game development, although many strategies rest on the virtues of individual designers and their critical engagement with an ongoing ethical process.
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Digitalisation and COVID‐19 led to an expansion of remote work arrangements, raising the question of whether and how employers should monitor remote workplaces. However, before the implementation of monitoring methods, it is important to consider employees' acceptance of this approach. Therefore, we contribute to current research on electronic performance monitoring by empirically investigating employees' evaluations of performance monitoring at home. This paper presents an analysis of how certain monitoring technologies for work‐from‐home arrangements are perceived as undesirable and whether other job aspects can compensate for these unattractive monitoring components. Using an experimental factorial survey design, German employees evaluated remote work arrangements with randomly varying characteristics. We show that respondents accept a certain degree of monitoring at home but increasingly reject monitoring systems as they become more invasive. However, in some cases, the negative impact of monitoring at home can be mitigated by certain incentives, such as money or the purpose of monitoring.
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يهدف هذا البحث الى اكتشاف علاقات الارتباط والتأثير بين الارتياب التقني (متغيراً مستقلاً) عبر متغيراته الأساس ممثلة بـ (الدور الثنائي للتقنية، الاختراق المعلوماتي، الرقابة بلا سابق انذار، ضعف التنور التقني وتدني ثقة العاملين بالتقنية) وبين تكاليف القيادة بأنواعها (متغيراً معتمداً) (الرصد، الواجبات العامة، عمل غير مستقر، والضغط العاطفي والإخفاق في تحقيق الأهداف المنظمية) وقد انطلقت مشكلة الدراسة من تساؤل مفاده: ما طبيعة التكاليف التي تتحملها القيادات الإدارية على مستوى المنظمة المبحوثة من جراء حالات الارتياب التقني لدى العاملين؟ واعتمدت الدراسة الاستبانة كأداة اجمع البيانات اذ تم توزيعها على عينة عشوائية بلغت (80) فرداً من القيادات الإدارية في جامعة نينوى وقد تبنت الدراسة المنهج الوصفي التحليلي وقد توصلت الدراسة الى جملة استنتاجات ابرزها وجود علاقة ارتباط وتأثير بين الارتياب التقني عبر متغيراته الأساس وبين تكاليف القيادة واختتمت الدراسة مسعاها بجملة توصيات أهمها ضرورة تطوير المعرفة والمهارة لدى العاملين على مستوى المنظمة المبحوثة تجاوز حالات الارتياب السلبية ومعالجتها والتي تنبثق عنها تكاليف تتحملها القيادة من جراء الأدوار الموكلة اليها وبما يؤمن حالة من الاعتراف لدى العاملين بهذه التكاليف وبالتالي إمكانية حشد طاقاتهم لخفض هذه التكاليف عبر مجموعة من الاليات الداعمة للتعامل مع التقنية في اطار التدريب التقني للعاملين على التقنية الجديدة بما يعزز من الكفاءة ويحقق اهداف المنظمة.
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تمارس التقنية أدواراً سلبية تلحق ضرراً بالبشرية مما يترب عليه حالة عن الارتياب بشأنها علما ان هذه الحالة لا تعني غياب الأدوار الإيجابية مثلما لا تعني الانحاء والاستسلام امام مخاطرها بقدر ما يتطلب الامر إقرار صورة واضحة المعالم لدى صناعها ومستخدميها عبر الثقة ورفض حالات الارتداد السلبي بشأنها وهذا يلزم تأشير ماهيتها وتحديد المؤشرات المفسرة لها فضلا عن كشف مخاطرها وبيان الاليات اللازمة للتعامل مع هذه المخاطر وبرؤية نقدية وهذا ما اقرته الدراسة الحالية التي انطلقت مشكلتها من تساؤلات ابرزها ما هي المؤشرات المفسرة لحالات الارتياب التقني لدى العاملين في منظمات الاعمال وقد تبنت الدراسة فرضية مفادها (انتشار حالة الارتياب التقني نتوقف على مستوى تحقق المؤشرات الدالة عليه في منظمات الاعمال) وقد اعتمدت الدراسة المنهج التحليلي في اطار الإفادة من طروحات الكتاب في هذا الصدد وتوصلت الى جملة استنتاجات ابرزها وجود من الارتياب التقني لدى العاملين في منظمات الاعمال عبر المؤشرات الدالة عليه كما تقدمت الدراسة بعدة توصيات منها ضرورة نشر التربية والثقافة التقنية في منظمات الاعمال وضمن مستويات تتناسب مع الواقع الذي تتحرك ضمنه هذه المنظمات.
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As competition in the health sector increases, the burden on employees also increases. Patients, who are the customers of the healthcare industry, gain power with the development of marketing and make their own choices more easily in a competitive environment. It becomes inevitable to consider the link between the perceptions and motivations of hospital employees and outcomes for the patient. This chapter proposes a model on how performance monitoring affects patient-orientation. Along with the model, relational propositions are provided. Looking at the relationship between monitoring and orientation, the moderator effects of service climate and interdependence are also considered. This model shows that practices that employees may perceive as bullying can have a negative impact on the customer, and it can negatively affect business performance in line with the effect of patient-orientation on patient satisfaction. The model will contribute to both the literature and managerial practices in the direction of a long-term research suitable for hospitals being complex workplaces.
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The information revolution has ushered in a data-driven reorganization of the workplace. Big data and AI are used to surveil workers and shift risk. Workplace wellness programs appraise our health. Personality job tests calibrate our mental state. The monitoring of social media and surveillance of the workplace measure our social behavior. With rich historical sources and contemporary examples, The Quantified Worker explores how the workforce science of today goes far beyond increasing efficiency and threatens to erase individual personhood. With exhaustive detail, Ifeoma Ajunwa shows how different forms of worker quantification are enabled, facilitated, and driven by technological advances. Timely and eye-opening, The Quantified Worker advocates for changes in the law that will mitigate the ill effects of the modern workplace.
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This research examines how frontline retail employees respond to customers whom they think might write an online review about their experience. Across six experiments (one field and five online) we show that when employees identify potential online review authors, often by what the customer says or does, it catalyzes them to deliver better service. This ensues because they experience a rise in determination to do well, motivated by the prospect of being associated with a positive review, which they believe will impress the retailer. Thus, they go ‘above and beyond’. However, determination is tempered by two boundary conditions. When employees (i) do not consider that being associated with an online review is beneficial (i.e., not goal relevant) or (ii) feel poorly equipped to serve the customer (i.e., low in self-efficacy), then a better service delivery will not occur. We also show that retailers can enhance customer service through internal championing of the importance of online reviews, so long as this is framed as promotional rather than punitive.
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For researchers studying how people cope with job stress, a major empirical concern is the development of coping measures. This article presents construct validity evidence for three measures of coping behavior related to job stress: control, escape, and symptom management. The psychometric properties of the scales as well as preliminary evidence for construct validity support further use and evaluation of these coping scales. Measurement issues are identified, particularly the time-dependent nature of coping and the dilemma of multimethod assessment. Suggestions are offered for future coping scale development.
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To examine the association between work stress, according to the job strain model and the effort-reward imbalance model, and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Prospective cohort study. Baseline examination in 1973 determined cases of cardiovascular disease, behavioural and biological risks, and stressful characteristics of work. Biological risks were measured at 5 year and 10 year follow up. Staff of a company in the metal industry in Finland. 812 employees (545 men, 267 women) who were free from cardiovascular diseases at baseline. Cardiovascular mortality 1973-2001 from the national mortality register. Mean length of follow up was 25.6 years. After adjustment for age and sex, employees with high job strain, a combination of high demands at work and low job control, had a 2.2-fold (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 4.2) cardiovascular mortality risk compared with their colleagues with low job strain. The corresponding risk ratio for employees with effort-reward imbalance (low salary, lack of social approval, and few career opportunities relative to efforts required at work) was 2.4 (1.3 to 4.4). These ratios remained significant after additional adjustment for occupational group and biological and behavioural risks at baseline. High job strain was associated with increased serum total cholesterol at the 5 year follow up. Effort-reward imbalance predicted increased body mass index at the 10 year follow up. High job strain and effort-reward imbalance seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality. The evidence from industrial employees suggests that attention should be paid to the prevention of work stress.
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The design and implementation of computer-based work monitoring systems can result in changes in the organization, job and task. Electronic performance monitoring (EPM) systems are one type of change based on principles of work simplification and work rationalization. In this new work arrangement, control and coordination functions are allocated to the computer. The supervisor becomes a monitor of information and primarily provides negative performance feedback to the employee. The employee is constrained in his/her ability to use either job resources or social resources to meet the greater demands resulting from the system controlling the pace of work. It is proposed that these work arrangements provoke stress responses in employees that can result in short-term illness and potentially long-term changes in health status. Information enriched work environments are proposed as an alternative. These new work arrangements could improve job resources and social resources to manage job demands and reduce the potentially damaging stress responses. To provide a frame of reference we focus on the impact of EPM systems on the organizational and job elements involved in provoking individual stress responses. The impact of EPM systems on individual health is described using a psychosocial stress framework. Ergonomics interventions discussed include: participation in the design process; allocation of control and coordination functions between the computer and the employee; development of feedback systems; and work measurement and the development of performance appraisal systems.
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Despite the fact that several studies have investigated the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and performance appraisal ratings, the vast majority of these studies have been cross-sectional, correlational investigations conducted in organizational settings that do not allow researchers to establish the causal nature of this relationship. To address this lack of knowledge regarding causality, the authors conducted 2 studies designed to investigate the effects of task performance, helping behavior, voice, and organizational loyalty on performance appraisal evaluations. Findings demonstrated that each of these forms of behavior has significant effects on performance evaluation decisions and suggest that additional attention should be directed at both voice and organizational loyalty as important forms of citizenship behavior aimed at the organization.
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Digital technology is changing our politics. The World Wide Web is already a powerful influence on the public's access to government documents, the tactics and content of political campaigns, the behavior of voters, the efforts of activists to circulate their messages, and the ways in which topics enter the public discourse. The essays collected here capture the richness of current discourse about democracy and cyberspace. Some contributors offer front-line perspectives on the impact of emerging technologies on politics, journalism, and civic experience. What happens, for example, when we increase access to information or expand the arena of free speech? Other contributors place our shifting understanding of citizenship in historical context, suggesting that notions of cyber-democracy and online community must grow out of older models of civic life. Still others consider the global flow of information and test our American conceptions of cyber-democracy against developments in other parts of the world. How, for example, do new media operate in Castro's Cuba, in post-apartheid South Africa, and in the context of multicultural debates on the Pacific Rim? For some contributors, the new technologies endanger our political culture; for others, they promise civic renewal.
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Objective: To examine the association between work stress, according to the job strain model and the effort-reward imbalance model, and the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. Design: Prospective cohort study. Baseline examination in 1973 determined cases of cardiovascular disease, behavioural and biological risks, and stressful characteristics of work. Biological risks were measured at 5 year and 10 year follow up. Setting: Staff of a company in the metal industry in Finland. Participants: 812 employees (545 men, 267 women) who were free from cardiovascular diseases at baseline. Main outcome measure: Cardiovascular mortality 1973-2001 from the national mortality register. Results: Mean length of follow up was 25.6 years. After adjustment for age and sex, employees with high job strain, a combination of high demands at work and low job control, had a 2.2-fold (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 4.2) cardiovascular mortality risk compared with their colleagues with low job strain. The corresponding risk ratio for employees with effort-reward imbalance (low salary, lack of social approval, and few career opportunities relative to efforts required at work) was 2.4 (1.3 to 4.4). These ratios remained significant after additional adjustment for occupational group and biological and behavioural risks at baseline. High job strain was associated with increased serum total cholesterol at the 5 year follow up. Effort-reward imbalance predicted increased body mass index at the 10 year follow up. Conclusions: High job strain and effort-reward imbalance seem to increase the risk of cardiovascular mortality. The evidence from industrial employees suggests that attention should be paid to the prevention of work stress.
Article
According to software vendors and consultants, Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) transform the nature, structure and management of work regardless of organisational context. This paper contests this technologically deterministic view of organisational change by demonstrating the role that discourse plays in the social construction of ERPs.
Article
Workplace isolation has been recognized as a critical issue facing salespeople in field offices. Studies have recognized that field salespeople are physically and psychologically isolated, but there is little empirical research on the effects of perceived isolation on important job outcomes. One important issue that has yet to be considered is the effect of workplace isolation on trust in supervisors and coworkers. The current study uses a sample of pharmaceutical salespeople to replicate previous results pertaining to workplace isolation effects and to test an integrated model of workplace isolation, salesperson satisfaction, trust, organizational commitment, and overall job performance. The results reveal that perceptions of workplace isolation negatively affect trust in supervisors and coworkers and that the relationship between trust (in supervisors and coworkers) and organizational commitment is mediated by satisfaction with supervisors and coworkers. Further, the findings confirm previous research that indicates that organizational commitment is positively related to salesperson job performance.
Article
An approach to electronic performance monitoring is developed that examines job design and worker stress theories and consequently defines the critical job elements of stress response in an electronic monitoring context. A framework for the evaluation of electronic performance monitoring systems is presented. A conceptual model is proposed that states that electronic performance monitoring has direct and indirect effects on worker stress. The indirect effects result from job design. The potential effects of electronic performance monitoring on three job design characteristics (job demands, job control, and social support) are examined in more detail.
Article
A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the effects of electronic monitoring on the quality and quantity of clerical task performance. A social information processing framework was used to develop predictions about task performance and the perceived importance of quality and quantity performance. Results generally supported the hypotheses: aspects of a task that were monitored were perceived as more important and the quantity of work output was affected. Exploratory analysis of task satisfaction and motivation also showed that these variables were affected by the monitoring manipulations.
Article
This paper analyses a form of electronic surveillance in a call centre that was not automatically performed through or by information and communication technology but required the active involvement of peers to provide feedback on each other's work by using an online reporting tool. Increased surveillance led to a tightening of control over certain aspects of work as advisors modified their call‐handling practices. But surveillance was simultaneously undermined by technical and bureaucratic control linked to existing information systems, which affected the ability and availability of peers to perform monitoring. Electronic peer surveillance was also unable to provide objective information or unobtrusive control as performing and evaluating surveillance became a highly political and contested process. Various forms of resistance arose, which were not always directed at management, but were instead manifest through increased animosity between teams.
Article
Individual differences such as personality and demographic factors have effects on how people react to Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM), yet the literature on this aspect of electronic monitoring has been scattered. The present paper summarizes this body of empirical research and presents a framework for organizing current research findings based on two dimensions: the probability of successful work under the monitoring and the probability of accepting that the monitoring is of value. The framework also allows researchers to make predictions regarding additional individual difference variables. Managers may use this information to select employees who are likely to respond well to monitoring conditions and to structure monitoring procedures so that they are likely to be accepted by their employees with particular individual difference characteristics.
Article
We examine the contingent impact of implementing an enterprise‐wide information technology system (Enterprise Resource Planning) on perceptions of work complexity in clerical, technical and managerial service sector jobs. Using matched and control samples of employee survey data, we compare pre‐ and post‐intervention perceptions of work complexity and importance of analytical skills across three hierarchical job levels: clerical, technical and managerial. We find that employees in clerical jobs, at the lowest level in the hierarchy, experience a significant increase in work complexity and need for analytical skills, whereas those in technical and managerial service jobs do not. Implications for theory, management of technology and employment policy are discussed.
Article
An attitude scale to give an index of job satisfaction was constructed by a combination of Thurstone and Likert scaling methods. A corrected odd-even reliability coefficient of .87 was computed from scores obtained from a sample of 231 female office employees. Validity was investigated by comparing job satisfaction scores of two groups: (1) 40 students who had personnel jobs, and (2) 51 persons who did not. The mean for the personnel group was 76.9, and for the Non-Personnel group was 65.4. Correlation with the Hoppock Job Satisfaction Blank was r = .92. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
[review] research that examines the effects of EPM [electronic performance monitoring] on employees and their supervisors / explores the relationships that studies have found between EPM, stress, and productivity in the workplace / describe the many variants of EPM systems and discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with their use / focus on studies that have examined EPM and stress and explore potential mediators and moderators involved in the monitoring–stress connection / recommendations are offered to those who are considering introducing EPM in the workplace (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
review and integrate contemporary models of organizational withdrawal into basic developments in attitude-behavior theory and applied motivation theory / empirical data are reviewed to the extent that they contribute directly to the validity of these theoretical models / the empirical data reported in the many studies of absenteeism, tardiness, turnover, satisfaction, and related responses said to comprise the construct of organizational withdrawal will be reviewed briefly presents a brief review of selected conceptual models of attitude formation, including theoretical models of attitude-behavior consistencies as well as selected empirical findings specifically relevant to job affect and job withdrawal / develop the concept of job withdrawal as a multifaceted response family and discuss the psychological functions of job withdrawal responses within a general model of job affect and job adaptation / consider the influence of alternative job opportunities on job affect and job behaviors as well as the moderating effect (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Compared 273 full-time, 158 part-time regular and 256 part-time irregular employees (mean age 33.6 yrs) on several organizationally relevant reactions and behaviors to investigate potential employment status differences (e.g., N. Logan et al; see record 1973-24017-001). Ss were administered a measure of cognitive and attitudinal variables and measures of job satisfaction. Performance and turnover data were also obtained. After controlling for demographics, it was found that there were mean differences between groups; however, no evidence was found for differences in how the various groups process organizational experience. Findings suggest the need to examine formal management policies and practices toward part-time employees. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
evaluated mood disturbance and musculoskeletal discomfort effects of the use of EPM [electronic performance monitoring] to enforce compliance with performance standards for a numeric data-entry task / the study focused on workers who had difficulty maintaining data-entry performance standards of greater than 200 keystrokes per minute and less than 6 errors per minute; that is, workers who were most likely to experience work overload and negative performance feedback under EPM work-management conditions / [Ss were 47 19–38-yr-old] female data-entry operators (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Article
Substantial developments in new office technologies over the past two decades have dramatically transformed today's white-collar workplace. One of these developments, computer-based work monitoring, has enabled employers to continually or intermittently monitor employees in real time or on a delayed basis, with or without their knowledge or permission, at levels and in a manner previously unattainable. This introductory article to this special issue outlines the current status of computer monitoring in the U. S., delineates its major advantages and disadvantages, and provides examples of early research on the topic by the author and others. Factors likely to moderate the acceptance and effectiveness of computer monitoring systems are discussed and implications for work and social relationships in the workplace are considered. An overview of the four special issue articles reporting the results of experiments assessing the effects of computer monitoring on the performance of workers and supervisors is then provided.
Article
Increases in the sophistication of workplace computerization has provided modern-day managers with superior tools, such as electronic performance monitoring (EPM), with which to supervise their employees. Expanding on studies by Aiello (e. g., Aiello, 1993), the present study aimed to examine EPM in a social facilitation framework, exploring not only the relationship with task performance and stress, but also with an individual's subjective mood state. Thirty-three female and 15 male university students were required to solve a series of anagrams via a purpose-built computer program. Both the difficulty of the anagrams (easy or difficult) and the presence of monitoring (present or absent) were varied for each participant. Results indicated that the visual presence of EPM resulted in an easy task being performed with greater proficiency and a difficult task being performed with less proficiency. When participants were attempting to solve an easy task, the presence of EPM resulted in a participant's mood state becoming significantly more positive; whereas when solving a difficult task, EPM caused a more negative mood state. Similarly, it was found that a higher level of subjective stress was experienced when EPM was present, as opposed to absent. when individuals were performing a difficult task. The implications for the workplace applications produced by this study are discussed.
Article
The adaptation of lean techniques in public services is viewed as an innovative managerialist response to government demands for more efficient services amidst large reductions in public spending. This paper explores workers' experiences of the impact of lean on work organisation and control and provides new insights into developments within contemporary back office clerical work.
Article
The effects of automated computer monitoring under different conditions of performance standards and reward were examined in two studies conducted in a simulated organization. In the first study, 37 computer operators were divided into six groups who worked for a 2-week period under different levels of performance standards. Individual keystrokes per hour and productive time was monitored by the computers for all of the groups (one group was a control group which was monitored but was unaware of the monitoring). Four of the six groups were assigned work standards, and performance against standards was also monitored for these four groups. Feedback reports on the monitored performance were available on demand at the individual consoles for those groups which were informed of the monitoring. The results showed that computer monitoring and feedback led to increased key rate compared to the control group which was not aware of monitoring. There was little effect of monitoring on work quality, satisfaction, and stress. In the second study, 24 operators worked for a 9-week period under various performance standards and rewards. Individual keystrokes per hour, productive time, and performance against standards were monitored by the computers for all workers. Feedback reports on performance against standards and rewards earned were available on demand at the individual consoles. The results revealed that the feedback from different combinations of standards and rewards had varying effects on performance, satisfaction, and stress. These effects, and the results from the first study, are discussed in terms of goal setting and expectancy theory.