An examination of the effects of electronic monitoring of employee Internet usage

Internet access for knowledge workers has become much more commonplace since 1994, the point at which business use of the Internet first began in earnest. Along with the benefits of Internet access come potential problems, including improper usage which could result in productivity loss. As a result, many companies today are selling software solutions to monitor knowledge worker usage of the Internet, enabling managers to govern the Internet usage of employees on a constant basis. Unfortunately, little is known about the short or long-term effects of that type of electronic monitoring.;The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of electronic monitoring of employee Internet usage. To this end, we will build upon the efforts of Chalykoff and Kochan (1989) in their explanation of the effects of electronic monitoring on job satisfaction and propensity to turnover. The major limit in their model is its inability to account for different types of electronic monitoring. Though they state that electronic monitoring is done for both feedback and control, their experiment only looked at feedback. This study examines when monitoring is used for feedback and for control. Also missing from prior research in this area are the effects of certainty and severity of punishment, which will also be studied here. It is proposed that individuals will report less job satisfaction, higher turnover intent, and less satisfaction with monitoring when electronic monitoring is used for control as opposed to providing feedback to employees.;This research project uses a laboratory study to measure the differences in satisfaction and productivity with electronic monitoring when the certainty and severity of punishment and intended use of the monitoring (feedback/control) are altered. Data were collected through post experimental self-report questionnaires and measures of productivity through electronic recording of web usage.;Overall, the results suggest that subject motivation may play a large significant role in productivity, performance, and satisfaction with monitoring in general. There is indeed a significant difference in satisfaction with monitoring when it is used to provide subjects with feedback about their work as opposed to controlling them. Measures of intent to turnover also greatly increased with the introduction of monitoring for any purpose.;The results of this study have important theoretical and practical implications. The study helps in extending and integrating information systems (IS) and organizational behavior (OB) theories regarding electronic surveillance. From a practical perspective, managers now have a study with academic rigor to consider when making monitoring decisions, rather than anecdotal data as reported in the popular press.