The moderating role of competition and paradoxical leadership on perceptions of fairness towards IoT monitoring

Abstract

Recent advances in monitoring systems used in the workspace are stirring a great deal of controversy. Several devices connected to the internet, coined as the Internet of Things (IoT), are now used to capture and analyze huge amounts of information on employee behavior to improve overall performance. Given the implications of the technology on privacy and predictive behavior, there is a dearth of studies that investigate employee perceptions to the unique challenges of "always on" monitoring and the power of analytics. To address this gap, the objective of the paper is answering the research question of how IoT-enabled monitoring influences employee perceptions of fairness. Based on the literature review, the pervasive and continuous nature of IoT-enabled monitoring suggests that, if not effectively managed, the technology will intensify employee perceptions of unfairness and lead to lack of commitment to the organization. We conducted semi-structured interviews with employees at two organizations in Qatar. The research in progress challenges current propositions on electronic monitoring and highlight the emerging role of competition, and paradoxical leadership in moderating the relationship between IoT-enabled monitoring and perceptions of fairness. 2017 AIS/ICIS Administrative Office. All Rights Reserved.