The effects of employer SNS motioning on employee perceived privacy violation, procedural justice, and leave intention
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-10-2017-0453 |
| Published date | 09 July 2018 |
| Pages | 1153-1169 |
| Date | 09 July 2018 |
| Author | Hung-Yue Suen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
The effects of employer SNS
motioning on employee perceived
privacy violation, procedural
justice, and leave intention
Hung-Yue Suen
Department of Technology Application and Human Resource Development,
National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei City, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to propose a model to understand how and when employees’
perceived privacy violations and procedural injustice interact to predict intent to leave in the context of the
use of social networking sites (SNSs) monitoring.
Design/methodology/approach –This study was conducted in a field setting of Facebook to frame the
hypotheses in a structural equation model with partial least squares-structural equation modeling. Variables
were measured empirically by administering questionnaires to full-time employed Facebook users who had
experienced SNS monitoring.
Findings –The results showed that when an employee believed that he/she had more ability to control
his/her SNS information, he/she was less likely to perceive that his/her privacy had been invaded; and when
an employee believed that the transparency of the SNS data collection process was higher, he or she was more
likely to perceive procedural justice in SNS monitoring.
Research limitations/implications –This research draws attention to the importance of intent to leave in
the absence of perceived procedural justice under SNS monitoring, and the partial mediationof the perception
of justice or injustice by perceived privacy violations.
Practical implications –For employers, the author recommends that employers come to know how to
conduct SNS monitoring and data collection with limited risk of employee loss.
Social implications –For employees, the author suggests that SNS users learn how to control their SNS
information and make sure to check their privacy settings on the SNS that they use frequently.
Originality/value –This study provided an initial examination and bridged the gap between employer use
of SNS monitoring and employee reactions by opening a mediating and moderating black box that has rarely
been assessed.
Keywords Electronic monitoring, Intention to leave, Procedural justice, Social networking sites (SNS),
Facebook, Privacy violation
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Social networking sites (SNSs) are broadly defined as web-based services that allow
members to construct a profile detailing their personal information, create and view a list of
users they have connections with, and navigate their and others’connections (Boyd and
Ellison, 2007). SNSs take the form of either personal networks (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) or
professional networks that connect applicants with potential employers (e.g. LinkedIn)
(Smith and Kidder, 2010; Hanna et al., 2011).
Employers are increasingly using SNSs to attract and select job candidates and make hiring
decisions using information gathered from SNSs (Berkelaar et al., 2016). In addition, many
employers are seeking to leverage the SNSs of their current employees for their own marketing
purposes, as well as to inspect personal SNSs in workplace investigations (Thomas et al., 2015).
Employers monitor their employees’behaviors on SNSs for many reasons. They want to
sustain a positive corporate image, maintain property rights and minimize liability (Mitran,
2010); ensure the safety of all employees (Peluchette and Karl, 2009); and identify employees
who may be harming the company’s mission and reputation (Davison et al., 2011).
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 118 No. 6, 2018
pp. 1153-1169
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-10-2017-0453
Received 3 October 2017
Revised 27 November 2017
4 January 2018
9 January 2018
Accepted 9 January 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
1153
Employer SNS
motioning
Before SNSs became a potential source for collecting employee information, many
employers were monitoring their employees by tracking computer keystrokes, screening
visited websites, using swipe cards to monitor locations, logging telephone calls and
installing video cameras and webcams in the workplace (McNall and Roch, 2007).
Employer use of electronic monitoring has been a common and normally legal practice
within management control (Roberts and Roach, 2009), but the involvement of SNSs as a
source for monitoring employees adds another facet to the privacy and justice debate
(Black et al., 2015).
Employer use of SNSs to monitor employees is generally perceived negatively by
employees (Hurrell et al., 2017). Many employees use their SNSs as a way to relax, vent and
cope with what is going on in their lives, and they do not believe that employers have the
right to monitor their activities outside of work (Thomas et al., 2015). Gathering personal
data from SNSs may invade personal privacy because the information posted on SNSs is not
perceived as job-related or on-duty behaviors (Black et al., 2015). When employers
collect employees’non-work-related information from SNSs, employees may perceive that
the monitoring procedures violate their privacy (Alge and Hansen, 2013) and expected
justice (e.g. Ryan and Wessel, 2015), which in turn causes an increase in intention to leave
the employer (e.g. Nakra, 2014).
Thereby, some employers may seek to limit risk and the potential for liability out of
respect for how employees view privacy (Mcnall and Roch, 2007) and perc eive
organizational justice (Chory et al., 2016) and based on concern about how important
consequences such as organizational commitment and leave intention may be impacted by
negative employee perceptions of employer control and monitoring (Stanton, 2000;
Nakra, 2014). In response, firms may opt to establish acceptable policies or procedures.
Since employer use of SNSs as a monitoring tool raises concerns about privacy and
fairness (Thomas et al., 2015), many studies addressing the potential harm that
SNSs may cause to employees still focus on issues of employer policy (e.g. Bishop, 2015;
Broughton et al., 2011; Yokoyama, 2016). This study explored the understanding of
employee perceived privacy violation and justice in relation to employer monitoring of
SNSs, as suggested by Hurrell et al. (2017). Additionally, this study was conducted
to determine which theoretical model can be used to understand employee reaction
(e.g. leave intention) to the monitoring of specific SNS tools (e.g. Facebook) as suggested
by Ngai et al. (2015).
Facebook, founded in 2004, is an SNS that enables its users to create a public profile,
share content and interact with other people or peer groups (Sibona et al., 2017). Since
Facebook allowed public searching in 2006, it has become the leading and most popular SNS
worldwide (Błachnio et al., 2013). The Wall Street Journal reported that some employers use
Facebook not only to screen applicants but also to monitor current employees’speech and
activities (Flynn and Maltby, 2014). There have been many employers who have requested
or even required applicants for employment or employees to provide their username
and password for the SNSs to which they belong. Some employers have asked employees to
log into their Facebook account to allow the employer to search through that account.
Some employers have refused to hire an applicant or disciplined or discharged employees
based on a refusal to supply this information (Delaney, 2013).
Accordingly, this empirical study involved a survey of over 299 employed Facebook
users. Through examining the experiences and perceptions of these participants, this study
adds to the organizational behavior literature on the role of technology in monitoring
employees, especially by investigating how employees react to this type of technical control
beyond the boundary of the workplace and in their private lives.
We begin with a review of the reasons employers monitor employee activities on SNSs.
We follow with the employee perspective, including critiques of SNS monitoring. We then
1154
IMDS
118,6
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