Unintended Consequences of an Organization-Imposed Digital Divide: Mobile Device Use Policies at Work

• In Event: Supporting Mobile Work: Technology, Policy, and Flexible Arrangements

Abstract

Not everyone around the globe has access to a mobile device, especially at work. This study examines a US company with an organizational policy restricting mobile device access for non-managerial workers; producing a localized digital divide. Our focus group data collection and subsequent constant comparative analysis, allowed us to uncover a multi-layered explanation of the organizational implications and unintended consequences of this mobile device policy. Both the managers and non-managerial workers agree the policy is problematic and strategically ambiguous. Furthermore, the varied policy interpretations resulted in a productivity paradox, supervisors burdened by Sisyphean tasks, decreased professional mobility, and ultimately, fleeting organizational identification. This study expands digital inequality research to an intra-organizational context, develops a theoretical model grounded in the data, and provides directions for future research.

Authors

• Keri Keilberg Stephens, U of Texas - Austin

• Jessica Lynn Ford, University of Texas at Austin