Electronic performance monitoring and organizational citizenship behavior: A procedural justice perspective

Research has supported the notion that the way in which electronic performance monitoring (EPM) is used can have implications for perceptions of fairness (e.g., Ambrose & Alder, 1996). Moreover, separate research literature has shown that perceptions of fairness can predict subsequent organizational citizenship behavior (e.g., Skarlicki & Latham, 1996). The purpose of the current study was to examine how the way in which EPM was used influences perceptions of fairness and how, in turn, these perceptions predicted subsequent organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Additionally, the current study also looked at how an individual's ability level interacts with the invasiveness of monitoring to influence task performance. Results revealed significant group differences in perceptions of ethicality, overall fairness, consistency, bias suppression, and privacy. Also, significant group differences were found in terms of a more generalized, subsequent measure of OCB. The implication of these findings for both the EPM, and justice literatures are discussed.