Special issue on 'Dark side of information technology use':an introduction and a framework for research

We introduce the Special Issue on “Dark Side of Information Technology Use”. We first provide a brief summary of the literature and suggest a framework as guidance for future research on dark side phenomenon. We then comment on and characterize the papers presented in this Special Issue using this framework

Email stress and its management in public sector organisations

Email stress: what are its causes? how is it measured? can it be solved? The literature review revealed that, despite the term being well used and recognised, discussions surrounding the root cause of email stress had reached little consensus and the concept was not well understood. By its very nature, email stress theory had fallen victim to the academic debate between psychological vs. physiological interpretations of stress which, as a result of either choice, limited more progressive research. Likewise an array of email management strategies had been identified however, whilst some generated quick successes, they appeared to suffer longevity issues and were not maintained a few months after implementation in the workplace. The purpose of this research was to determine whether email communication causes employees psychological and physiological stress and investigate the impact of email management strategies in the workplace. A pragmatic philosophy placed the research problem as central and valued the differences between paradigms to promote a mixed-method approach to research. The decision to pair both case studies and action research methods ensured a framework for presenting results and an actionable solution was achieved. In direct response to the research aims an original email stress measuring methodology was devised that combined various data collection tools to measure and investigate email stress. This research design was applied and evaluated ‘email free time’ and email filing at the '''''''''''' '''''''''''''''''''''''''. Results of the study showed an increased stress response to occur during email use, i.e. caused employees’ increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and perceived stress, and a number of adverse effects such as managing staff via email, social detachment, blame and cover-yourback culture were identified. Findings revealed ‘email free time’ was not a desirable strategy to manage email stress and related stressors, whereas email filing was found more beneficial to workers well-being. Consolidation of the data gathered from the literature review and research findings were used to develop an initial conceptualisation of email stress in the form of two models, i.e. explanatory and action. A focus group was conducted to validate the proposed models and a further investigation at the '''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' was carried out to critique the use of an email training intervention. The results showed some improvements to employees’ behaviour after the training, e.g. improved writing style, email checked on fewer occasions each day and fewer sufferers of email addiction. The initial models devised, alongside the latter findings, were synthesised to create a single integrative multidimensional model of email stress and management strategies. The model made an original contribution to knowledge in terms of theory, i.e. to conceptualise email stress, and practice, i.e. to offer practical solutions to the email worker

Intentions behind the use of social network sites and its association with peronality, job performance and psychological well-being of employees in China and Pakistan : qualitative and quantitative approaches

Social networking sites (SNSs) are becoming our focus of attention to fulfill our basic need to associate and communicate with other beings. During the last few years, there has been a drastic increase in SNSs users and statistics represent a huge number of people and even workers who log in to SNSs at least once during their office hours. Many studies have explored the SNSs use in students, but limited literature is available that studied employees’ use of SNSs during their working hours. The present study is divided into three phases: scale development, survey, and a quasi-experiment. The first phase was scale development, in which we focused on developing a scale to measure employees’ attitude towards use of social network sites specifically intention behind the use of SNSs. Focus groups were conducted to gather the information related to employee intention to use social network sites during office hours. Based on the focus group findings, themes were generated. A scale to measure the attitudes of employees’ toward use of SNSs, specifically intentions behind the use of SNSs, was developed from two countries: China and Pakistan. Psychometric properties of the scale were established by explanatory factor analysis. In the second phase, we conducted a survey study in China and Pakistan respectively. In the surveys, we investigate the relationship among personality traits, use of social network sites and how it affects the psychological well-being and employee’s job performance. The data was collected from employees in China (n=380) and Pakistan (n=450). SEM was used to analyze the data and the results revealed positive relations between employees’ use of social network sites and performance and also showed some differences between the two country samples. In the third phase, an experimental study was conducted, in which the main focus was to decrease self-interruptions caused by SNSs among employees during office hours. To conduct the experiment, a quasi-experimental design was used to mitigate the effect of interruptions by using a mindfulness intervention. In the experiment, control and experimental groups were recruited. The results showed significant decreases in interruption and increases in mindfulness level in the experimental group. Findings from the present research would add to existing literature and bridge the gap of knowledge by highlighting employees’ attitudes towards SNSs use, specifically intentions behind the use of SNSs, during office hours. This thesis has also provided recommendations to help employers enhance their employees’ job performance through policies and training that support overall well-being while managing SNS use at work

Checking Email in the Bathroom: Monitoring Email Responsiveness Behavior in the Workplace

The proliferation of email as a standard method of business communication necessitates research to understand effects on managers and their employees. This research investigates the phenomena of “email responsiveness,” defined as the extent to which individuals in the workplace perceive that they must prioritize how quickly they act in response to receiving an email, and “importance of connectedness,” defined as the priority individuals place on being connected to the organization. We present testable propositions that the social exchange mechanisms of leader-member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) are moderated by connectedness and thereby influence job attitudinal outcomes

Can I Have Your Attention? Implications of the Research on Distractions and Multitasking for Reference Librarians

The media have identified the last decade as “the age of distraction.” People today find it harder to work on long, sustained tasks because distractions are eroding their attention span, fostering a culture of discontinuity. Fields as diverse as psychology, business, education, human-computer interaction, and communication studies have produced a wealth of studies on interruptions, distractions, and multitasking–research that has important implications for reference librarians. The nature of our jobs invites interruptions by the public, requires familiarity with the latest technology, stimulates curiosity about a broad range of subjects, and demands adeptness at multitasking–all factors which can atomize attention

The Negative Aspects of Email and Productivity: Towards Quantification

Email has evolved as the most widely used information system in organisations. Many organisations are now dependent on the use of email to manage internal communication as well as other communication and business processes. With this emergence of the universal use of email have emerged some negative aspects of email usage which have a negative impact on personal and organisational productivity. It is now necessary to recognise these negative impacts of email so that structures may be put in place to minimise and control them and related impacts on productivity. In an approach to quantify the negative impact of email this paper identifies negative aspects of email usage and proposes a model which may be used to quantify each aspect and, in turn, quantify the impact of these aspects on productivity. This approach would allow the confirmation of negative issues of email usage and allow formulation of approaches for their management

Connectivity as a Two-Edged Sword: Mirroring the Multifaceted Field of Constant Connectivity

Constant connectivity is a phenomenon brought about by our interconnected world. However, it is not just a multidisciplinary field investigated by researchers from the IS field, organization studies, management studies and psy-chology, but also an actual challenge which knowledge workers face every day. This literature review provides a thematic but also methodological overview of this still young research field on three levels: (1) the paradigm funnel, (2) units of analysis (individual, organizational, societal) and (3) four different thematic streams in the literature. On the basis of the lacks discovered in the paradigm funnel, omitting society as unit of analysis, and thematic gaps in the existing literature, an avenue for future research is developed. Furthermore, as constant connectivity and, virtual communication, respectively became a success factor for companies, I reveal important managerial implications for practitioners derived from my thematic analysis

The Influence of Self-Esteem and Locus of Control on Perceived Email Overload

As email use becomes more ubiquitous in organisations, negative effects that stem from its use are becoming more prevalent. This study considers Email Overload as a negative product of email use. It explores the link between the personality traits of Self-esteem and Locus of Control and Email Overload. Furthermore it proposes a link between the level of perceived Email Overload and individual productivity in the work place. A sample of 239 respondents from an engineering organisation was collected for this study. Using Partial Least Squares (PLS) results suggest a strong negative relationship between Email Overload and productivity, indicating that as perceived Email Overload increases, a person’s productivity decreases. Weaker links were formed with Self-esteem and Locus of Control to Email Overload

Meta-perceptions while working remotely: effect on performance and mediation through addiction to technology

The aim of this study was to evaluate how meta-perceptions while working from home affect performance. Furthermore, we aimed at understanding whether addiction to technology would mediate this relationship and also be associated with workers’ health. 118 participants were part of the sample, which responded to three questionnaires in a period of three weeks. Results demonstrated that meta-perceptions associated with worse performance two weeks later and higher addiction to technology one week later. Addiction to technology played a mediator role in this relationship. Finally, addiction to technology was associated with increased psychosomatic symptoms (worse health) one week later. Implications for practice are discussed

Use of personal social media at work: Policies, cultural differences and impact

Objectives The main objectives of this study were to collect different ways of restricting or encouraging the use of personal social media at work, study what kind of impacts different policies and the increased use of social media have on employees, the employer and the workplace, and find out whether there are cultural differences in the perceptions of social media at work. Summary This research concentrated on the use of social media at work and how it has been restricted and encouraged and the impacts of it. The research was conducted through a qualitative study of 40 different internet articles. The results were analyzed through categorization. The study found four different types of policies that approach social media at work. These are beneficial policies, monitoring, Bring Your Own Devices and banning. The impacts of personal social media at work to the employer are more visibility online, better communication channels and happier employees. To the employees increased use of social media at work means closer work community and increased job satisfaction, but also technostress, difficulties in concentration and in separating personal and professional lives. Cultural differences were not found from the data collected, but hypothetical conclusions were drawn based on literature, data and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. Conclusions Social media continues to grow and is nearly impossible to keep out of the workplace. Therefore, companies should initiate social media policies that could benefit both the employer and the employee. However, employees can suffer from multiple negative consequences of the increased use of social media at work, including burnouts and constant interruptions, so the policies should strongly take employees’ wellbeing into account