THE IMPACT OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES

The Impact of New Communication Technologies

Abstract

Extant literature suggests that when information and communication technologies (ICTs) are adopted by employers, they may have a variety of impacts on work and workers. Most of the documented and suspected impacts on the quality of work life (QWL) are negative: Work becomes more intense, workers are displaced, surveillance increases, workers' bargaining power declines, and workers' skills (in many cases) become obsolete, devalued, or constrained by ICT-imposed structures. However, ICTs may also have positive effects on QWL, at least for some, by creating more interesting, high skill, complex, and higher paying jobs or when they are used to create high involvement work practices that increase meaningful participation for workers. Given this mix of potential effects, our research asked a deceptively simple question: On the whole, do workers perceive that the quality of work life as improving or deteriorating as a result of ICT adoption by their employers and by their work-related use of ICTs? Based on an analysis of 377 surveys from a wide range of people in New Zealand, we found that respondents who were most affected by ICTs (i.e., their employers adopted significant ICTs and they personally used ICTs for work-related purposes) were more satisfied with their work roles and pay than those less affected. Yet, they also perceived that their work had become more pressured than those less affected by ICTs.

Perceived Effects of Information and Communication Technology

Introduction

Are workers better off when their employers invest substantially in new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and are workers better off when they personally spend significant time working on computers? These questions are the focus of this research. Investment in ICT potentially has positive transformative effects on organizations (Mahmood & Mann, 1993) and societies (Carlaw, Lipsey, & Webb, 2007; Lipsey, Carlaw, & Bekar, 2005). Yet, there is widespread acknowledgement among researchers of a “dark side” to ICT adoption and implementation, particularly its effects on an organization's employees (e.g., Tarafdar, Tu, Ragu-Nathan, & Ragu-Nathan, 2007). ICT implementation is often a political and emotional process (Zorn, 2002) that may displace jobs (Hector, 2003), change the structure of work (Rice & Gattiker, 2001), and threaten workers' well-being (e.g., Head, 2003).

Scholars and other commentators remain divided on whether the changes created by ICTs are ultimately good for workers (Head, 2003; Levy & Murnane, 2004; Kraut, Dumais, & Koch, 1989). Surprisingly, however, little research has been done directly investigating the impact of ICT on workers' well-being and the quality of work life (QWL; Salanova, Cifre, & Martin, 2004). This is especially so in the communication literature. Communication scholars have long had an interest in the effects of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on organizations (for a review, see Rice & Gattiker, 2001) and worker well-being and QWL (Cheney, Zorn, Planalp, & Lair, In press). However, there is a gap in our literature focusing on the effects of ICT adoption and implementation on QWL.

The focus of this study is the perceived impacts of major information ...