Surveillance of teleworkers: a grounded theory approach

In March of 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The pandemic mandated teleworking across the world as many organizations tried to social distance. Two years into the pandemic, we have seen quite the increase in telework. Thus, with the benefits being realized, it is reasonable to expect a continuance in telework after the pandemic is over. When forced to work from home, many variables with the work process must be changed, including how managers surveil their employees. My work is an early, exploratory effort to understand how teleworkers are surveilled and how they feel about being surveilled at home. I conducted seven in-depth interviews with individuals who are working from home. The results are two-fold. First, I provided a description of the two types of surveillance – behavior- and outcome-based surveillance. Next, I create a visual model that demonstrates how surveillance can interact with other constructs to affect well-being. The model suggests perceived surveillance will restrict autonomy, which will in turn reduce one’s well-being. Though the relationship between autonomy and well-being is well-established in the literature, my model suggests this relationship can be moderated by perceived justice. When one feels the surveillance is just, the relationship between autonomy and well-being is weakened. Justice perceptions are influenced by the congruence of surveillance expectations (CoSE). CoSE, as I define it, is the fit between how one perceives they are being surveilled and one’s expectations of how they should be surveilled. My findings pose several implications for teleworker managers, outlined in Chapter 5. The qualitative data supporting the induced relationships are disclosed in the appendix

A Visual’s Worth a Thousand Codes: Illustrative Techniques for Grounded Theory Methodology

Academic research should show a transparent methodology. Transparency is important for replicability, trust in the results, and adapting to new contexts. Due to its subjective nature, transparency is especially important for qualitative work, such as grounded theory methodology (GTM). In this paper, we report aspects of a GTM study that highlights several visuals aimed at increasing transparency. This paper aims to contribute novel, transparency enhancing GTM illustrations that others can adapt for their purposes. The illustrations are analyzed and discussed with suggestions for implementation

On-Demand Learning: Podcasting in an Introduction to Information Systems Course

We live in an on-demand world where digital content can be consumed when and where we want. In this paper, we report on a project that used on-demand content consumption (i.e., podcasts) as supplemental material for higher education students. Each 5-10-minute podcast provides an overview of the assigned chapter readings. Our work makes several contributions. First, we discuss some implications of the current on-demand society on higher education. Second, we provide information regarding podcasting as a method for aligning learning with students’ desires for on-demand media consumption. As part of this discussion, we demonstrate through a survey and download statistics how our low-cost initiative yielded sufficiently positive results to merit continuation. Finally, we detail the process of creating podcasts for our readers to replicate and adapt our initiative, including providing tips and discussing ways to adapt our process to other higher education courses

Concern for Information Privacy and Online Consumer Purchasing in China

Individuals’ concern for information privacy (CFIP) impacts beliefs, intentions, and behaviors in a variety of contexts, including consumer electronic commerce. Most empirical studies on the impact of CFIP on electronic commerce have been conducted using consumers in the United States. Despite China’s growing economy and increasing importance in the global economy, to date, there has been no empirical study of CFIP’s impact on Chinese consumers’ willingness to engage in transactions online. The purpose of this study is to test a widely-referenced model of CFIP’s role in consumer e-commerce in the context of China. We conducted surveys of Chinese consumers’ willingness to engage in transactions with two online merchants, a familiar merchant (Taobao) and a less-familiar merchant (Amazon). For both merchants, CFIP had only mediated impacts on consumers’ willingness to transact with online merchants. While there were similarities between our results and those reported in the original study, there were also differences. Our findings provide a number of contributions for research and practice

DISTRESS, EUSTRESS, AND INTENTIONS TO CONTINUE DISTANCE LEARNING IN THE CONTEXT OF RAPID SHIFTS TO ONLINE COURSES

COVID-19 brought significant, rapid changed to education, including information systems education. One of the most significant of these changes was the abrupt transition from face-to-face instruction to distance learning. As is often the case with abrupt transitions, this shift was stress inducing for many affected, including students. In this extended abstract we describe an empirical study of two types of distance learning stress, distress [stress that is detrimental to well-being] and eustress [stress that enhances well-being] in the context of distance learning. Using data from a survey of higher education students in the United States, we demonstrate that the perceived abruptness of the transition to distance learning had a positive impact on distress, and a negative impact on eustress. Further, distress and eustress impacted intentions to continue with distance learning, but these impacts were fully mediated by distance learning satisfaction

ONLINE CLASSES – WHO WILL WANT THEM

The objective of this study is to understand the factors that might encourage students to continue their studies online once such classes are no longer a requirement after the current pandemic. Based on our results, we aim to provide guidance to faculty and administrators so that they can create the best strategies moving forward

The After Times: College Students’ Desire to Continue with Distance Learning Post Pandemic

Distance learning, already a topic of interest among higher education administrators and faculty, took on new significance during the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic when face-to-face classes worldwide abruptly shifted online. Many students who had never taken classes online had to either engage in distance learning or withdraw from their classes. An interesting question arises from this situation: will these students continue to take classes online when circumstances no longer require them to do so? In this paper, we investigate factors that may influence college students’ intentions to continue with distance learning once they no longer have to do so. We developed a model based on social cognitive theory and social cognitive career theory and tested it using data from surveying 525 college students who took distance learning classes. Results indicate that personal and environmental factors drive intentions to continue with distance learning through their impact on distance learning perceived performance and satisfaction. We discuss our findings’ implications for practice and future research

COVID-DRIVEN FRUSTRATIONS AND FULFILLMENTS WITH ONLINE LEARNING: DO MALES AND FEMALES DIFFER?

This paper reports the results of a study to determine whether the emotional impact of online education during the pandemic affected male and female students differently. We see these results as an important contribution to the redesign of courses either for online classes generally or for more urgent applications should a similar event occur. In general, we found that females were more likely to be prone to detrimental emotions than males – stress, negative feelings about the online learning experience, and the need to vent their frustrations. Males on the other hand were more positive about the online learning experience and less likely to vent

Rational ignorance: A privacy pre-calculus

The role of rationality in information privacy intention and behavior is a topic of long and enduring interest. Some popular privacy models and concepts, such as privacy calculus and the privacy paradox, among others, use rationality as their basis. However, in this paper, we present the concept of rational ignorance, which may help advance conversations about the role of rationality in privacy decision-making and behavior. Rational ignorance, in essence, states that when individuals believe that the costs of seeking and acquiring information exceed the benefits of that information, they will not acquire the information and will choose to remain ignorant. We describe rational ignorance and its genesis in political economics and discuss how rational ignorance may serve as a privacy pre-calculus. We also outline several avenues for future research

Priority questions for biodiversity conservation in the Mediterranean biome: Heterogeneous perspectives across continents and stakeholders

International audienceThe identification of research questions with high relevance for biodiversity conservation is an important step towards designing more effective policies and management actions, and to better allocate funding among alternative conservation options. However, the identification of priority questions may be influenced by regional differences in biodiversity threats and social contexts, and to variations in the perceptions and interests of different stakeholders. Here we describe the results of a prioritization exercise involving six types of stakeholders from the Mediterranean biome, which includes several biodiversity hotspots spread across five regions of the planet (Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Australia). We found great heterogeneity across regions and stakeholder types in the priority topics identified and disagreement among the priorities of research scientists and other stakeholders. However, governance, climate change, and public participation issues were key topics in most regions. We conclude that the identification of research priorities should be targeted in a way that integrates the spectrum of stakeholder interests, potential funding sources and regional needs, and that further development of interdisciplinary studies is required. The key questions identified here provide a basis to identify priorities for research funding aligned with biodiversity conservation needs in this biome