Job demands and resources when using technologies at work – development of a digital work typology
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-11-2021-0468 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Pages | 190-208 |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour,Industrial/labour relations,Employment law |
| Author | Caroline Ruiner,Christina Elisabeth Debbing,Vera Hagemann,Martina Schaper,Matthias Klumpp,Marc Hesenius |
Job demands and resources when
using technologies at work –
development of a digital
work typology
Caroline Ruiner
Chair for Sociology, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
Christina Elisabeth Debbing
University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
Vera Hagemann and Martina Schaper
University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Matthias Klumpp
FOM University of Applied Sciences, D€
usseldorf, Germany and
Faculty of Business and Economics, University of G€
ottingen,
Gottingen, Germany, and
Marc Hesenius
University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
Abstract
Purpose –Digital technologies comprehensively change work processes and working conditions. However,
the use of digital technologies and the modes of collaboration between technologies and human workers differ
in terms of specific work organization and automatization. Referring to the job demands-resources model (JD-
R), this paper investigates job demands and resources from the workers’perspectives and develops a digital
work typology according to dimensions of digitalization and forms of human–computer interaction (HCI).
Design/methodology/approach –The authors conducted a qualitative-empirical study with 49 interviews
in four German production and logistics organizations, emphasizing different job demands and job resources
for five digital work types identified.
Findings –The results indicate that job demands and resources are to be differentiated in relation to specific work
contexts. In this sense, this paper presents an analysis of dimensions of technology use and the impact of technolo gy
use on working conditions through empirically analyzing job demands and resources in digital work settings.
Originality/value –The contribution of this paper is to empirically analyze job demands and resources in
digital work settings from the workers’perspectives and to develop a digital work typology based on the
dimensions of digitalization and form of HCI. This typology can set the basis for further research insights as
well as management practice measures in human resources management (HRM).
Keywords Employee relations, Digitalization, Human–computer interaction, Job demands-resources model,
Qualitative methods
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In the context of digital transformation, the use of digital technologies leadsto reorganized value-
creation processes as well as changed requirements towards human work (Dalenogare et al., 2018;
Gunasekaran and Ngai, 2014;Hammer and Karmakar, 2021). For example, production workers
experience a shift from manual work to supervisory work, and logistics workers perceive process
ER
45,1
190
This work was funded by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in Germany (funding code
EXP.00.00124.19).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0142-5455.htm
Received 2 November 2021
Revised 2 June 2022
3 August 2022
Accepted 3 August 2022
Employee Relations: The
International Journal
Vol. 45 No. 1, 2023
pp. 190-208
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/ER-11-2021-0468
changes and interruptions due to digitally integrated customer decisions in delivery processes
(Kloutsiniotis et al., 2021;Lima et al., 2021). Such developments have the potential to increase
workers’mental stress and strain in several ways: Work organizations are modified and workers
must adapt to new routines as well as constant changes in work processes. Digitalization implies
that individuals use digitaltechnologies in work processes embedded in social and socio-technical
contexts (Tilson et al., 2010;Wilkesmann and Wilkesmann, 2018). Digitalization thus alters job
demands and especially workers’competence requirements since human abstraction and
problem-solving skills are required as cognitive resources in dealing with complexity and
professional interaction with digital technologies (Loufrani-Fedida and Aldebert, 2021). However,
workers’perspectives on job demands and their consequences in digital work contexts have not
been investigated thoroughly yet.
Balancing altered job demands such as required competencies is crucial to workers’
motivation as well as cognitive stress and strain and thus critical to organizational work
outcomes (Bakker and Demerouti, 2007). Smith (2001), for example, argues that perceived
stress at work results from the exposure to certain working conditions, e.g. working long
hours, high skill requirements, high workload, frequent interruptions, and lack of support.
Especially jobs with low decision-making latitude and few learning possibilities, high work
demands generate high psychological strain (Karasek and Theorell, 1990).
This paper analyzes job demands and resources from the workers’perspectives and
develops a digital work typology based on the dimensions of digitalization and the form of
human–computer interaction (HCI). HCI is a broad field that covers any interaction between
humansand machines (Grudin, 2012). We will use the term to defineusers operating computers,
be it personalcomputers, mobile devices,or others. The form of HCI is important becauseit has
implications forhow workers experience the use of digital technologies in their workplaces.
We report results of a qualitative-empirical study of 49 workers in production and
logistics from four German organizations. We use the example of production and logistics
since this field is characterized by an increasing use of digital technologies (Hirsch-Kreinsen,
2018;Loske and Klumpp, 2021). To investigate job demands and resources in-depth, the
sample consists of different workers within each of these organizations. Our contribution is to
empirically analyze job demands and resources in digital work settings and to develop a
digital work typology based on the dimensions of digitalization and form of HCI.
The article proceeds as follows: first, we outline the theoretical framework, starting with a
literature review on digitalization of work contexts and a classification of HCI. We then
introduce the JD-R model and related research and discuss the concept of mental stress and
strain and changing job demands in digital contexts. Following that, we describe the research
methods applied, present the empirical findings, and discuss conceptual contributions.
Finally, we provide conclusions and directions for further research.
Conceptual framework
Digitalization and HCI
Implementing digital technologies such as computers, tablets and hand-held scanners with
their dedicated software applications change work contexts profoundly. In previous research,
a specific focus on using and collaborating with digital technologies can be found (Halawa
et al., 2020). Human collaboration with digital technologies starts from the assumption that
humans define tasks, goals, and limitations and subsequently control digital technologies.
However, digital technologies are increasingly taking over functions such as information
processing as well as decision-making and action selection, that were expected to be
unsuitable for automated processing and thus compete with responsibilities of the human
workforce. Parasuraman et al. (2000) develop a model to describe the degree and type of
automation and discuss a framework for designing automation including evaluative criteria
Job demands
and resources
at digital work
191
To continue reading
Request your trial