Big Data or Big Brother ? - Big Data HR Control Practices and Employee Trust
Type
applied research project
Start Date
2017
End Date
2020
Acronym
Big Data
Status
ongoing
Keywords
Big Data
trust
human resources management
HRM
HR analytics
workplace analytics
HR control practices
business ethics
labor law
Description
The aim of this project is to understand the impact of big data-driven workforce analytics on employees’ trust in their employer. Drawing from literature on HR control practices (Weibel et al., 2015), we expect that three main contingencies will shape employees’ perception of the use of predictive analytics and their trust in the employer: (1) the bundle of metrics and predictive analytics actually used by HR; (2) the implementation of legal requirements by the employer (particularly data and privacy protection laws); and (3) ethical guidelines on what is being measured for what reason, and how individuals’ data are being dealt with. We will study these influences using four modules including the following steps: (1) Interviews with experts on big data from both academia and practice who will serve as a ‘trust in big data’ sounding board for the entire duration of the project; (2) a survey of 1,200 Swiss companies on their big data practices; (3) in-depth case studies of leading companies in the field; and (4) a factorial survey that will allow us to test causal hypotheses derived from modules 1-3.
Leader contributor(s)
Funder(s)
Topic(s)
Big Data
trust
human resources management
HRM
HR analytics
workplace analytics
HR control practices
business ethics
labor law
Notes
Big Data, trust, human resources management, HRM, HR analytics, workplace analytics, HR control practices, business ethics, labor law
Range
HSG + other universities
Range (De)
HSG + andere
Division(s)
Eprints ID
247238

Filters

Reset filters

Settings
Now showing 1 - 10 of 14
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

No stone left standing? Understanding the impact of technology on established modes of organizational control.

2018 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Weibel, Antoinette , Ebert, Isabel Laura , Kasper, Gabriel , Schank, Christoph , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich

The goal of this paper is to develop an empirically grounded framework to analyze how new technologies alter or expand traditional organizational control configurations. New technologies for data gathering, analysis, interpretation and learning are increasingly applied in the workplace. Technology suppliers are developing and aggressively marketing solutions for employee management and control with growing interest. Yet detailed insight about the effects of these technologies on traditional control is lacking. To convey a better understanding about new technologies in employee management and control, this paper proposes a “New Technology Control Framework” on the basis of an iterative research design. The framework is anchored in the configurational control theory, drawing on empirical insights of research on electronic performance monitoring and enhanced 26 topic-guided interviews with experts, who either produce new technological control solutions or apply these. The prototype of a morphology of new technology control configurations (NTCCs) is refined through expert workshops and undergoes plausibility checks with users. The final framework is composed of eleven distinct, yet interrelated conceptual building blocks. The framework offers a first point of orientation to systematically analyze key implications for theory and practice for turning NTCC into a productive force for organizational control. It indicates which elements a configurational theory of organizational control should address in the digital age, to assist decision makers to strategically implement, customize off-the-shelf products and manage digitalization at the workplace. The results offer a conducive starting point for a range of scientific discourses in multiple fields by contributing to understanding how technological progress and digital transformation influence organizations.

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Unleashing Employee-Employer Trust: The Uncharted Influence of Responsible Leadership in Technology-Permeated Workplaces

2024-01-03 , Alice Rickert , Simon Schafheitle , Antoinette Weibel

Despite significant interest in employee-employer trust and because of its exposed role for the successful use of technology, our current understanding of this phenomenon remains limited. Therefore, this study examines variations in the quality of employee-employer trust within technology-permeated workplaces from the employee perspective. We conducted semi-structured interviews with employees (n=15) from two salient trust cases (calculative vs. identity-based) in technology-permeated workplaces and identified leadership responsibility, employer communication, and organizational culture as critical factors shaping the trust relationships. Our findings reveal that leaders in the identity-based trust case communicate employers' values and purpose during technology deployment more effectively compared to the calculative trust case. Additionally, the responsibility orientation of leaders emerged as a pivotal factor influencing the quality of employee trust. Our data suggests that a stakeholder-oriented approach to responsibility strengthens trust in technology-permeated workplaces, while prioritizing an instrumental responsibility orientation undermines it. We contribute to trust and responsible leadership theory by providing valuable guidance for cultivating employee trust in technology-permeated workplaces.

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Workplace Surveillance and Big Data: Contextualizing Digital Threats to Employees Moral Agency and Integrity

2018 , Busch, Thorsten , Schank, Christoph , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich , Weibel, Antoinette , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Kasper, Gabriel , Wildhaber, Isabelle

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Big Data or Big Brother in Swiss Companies? Datafication & Automation of Leadership through AI: SNSF Research Research Project, Enduring Questions and Avenues for Action

, Schafheitle, Simon Daniel

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Big Data or Big Brother - HR Analytics and Employee Attitudes inside Swiss Companies

2017-09-27 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Weibel, Antoinette

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

«Bis auf die Unterhose überwacht»: Wie Unternehmen im Home-Office Daten über ihre Mitarbeiter sammeln

2020-05-26 , Weibel, Antoinette , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Rhyn, Larissa

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

No stone left standing? Understanding the impact of technology on established modes of organizational control.

2018 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Weibel, Antoinette , Ebert, Isabel Laura , Kasper, Gabriel , Schank, Christoph , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich

The goal of this paper is to develop an empirically grounded framework to analyze how new technologies alter or expand traditional organizational control configurations. New technologies for data gathering, analysis, interpretation and learning are increasingly applied in the workplace. Technology suppliers are developing and aggressively marketing solutions for employee management and control with growing interest. Yet detailed insight about the effects of these technologies on traditional control is lacking. To convey a better understanding about new technologies in employee management and control, this paper proposes a “New Technology Control Framework” on the basis of an iterative research design. The framework is anchored in the configurational control theory, drawing on empirical insights of research on electronic performance monitoring and enhanced 26 topic-guided interviews with experts, who either produce new technological control solutions or apply these. The prototype of a morphology of new technology control configurations (NTCCs) is refined through expert workshops and undergoes plausibility checks with users. The final framework is composed of eleven distinct, yet interrelated conceptual building blocks. The framework offers a first point of orientation to systematically analyze key implications for theory and practice for turning NTCC into a productive force for organizational control. It indicates which elements a configurational theory of organizational control should address in the digital age, to assist decision makers to strategically implement, customize off-the-shelf products and manage digitalization at the workplace. The results offer a conducive starting point for a range of scientific discourses in multiple fields by contributing to understanding how technological progress and digital transformation influence organizations.

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

No stone left standing? Understanding the impact of technology on established modes of organizational control.

2018 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Weibel, Antoinette , Ebert, Isabel Laura , Kasper, Gabriel , Schank, Christoph , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich

The goal of this paper is to develop an empirically grounded framework to analyze how new technologies alter or expand traditional organizational control configurations. New technologies for data gathering, analysis, interpretation and learning are increasingly applied in the workplace. Technology suppliers are developing and aggressively marketing solutions for employee management and control with growing interest. Yet detailed insight about the effects of these technologies on traditional control is lacking. To convey a better understanding about new technologies in employee management and control, this paper proposes a “New Technology Control Framework” on the basis of an iterative research design. The framework is anchored in the configurational control theory, drawing on empirical insights of research on electronic performance monitoring and enhanced 26 topic-guided interviews with experts, who either produce new technological control solutions or apply these. The prototype of a morphology of new technology control configurations (NTCCs) is refined through expert workshops and undergoes plausibility checks with users. The final framework is composed of eleven distinct, yet interrelated conceptual building blocks. The framework offers a first point of orientation to systematically analyze key implications for theory and practice for turning NTCC into a productive force for organizational control. It indicates which elements a configurational theory of organizational control should address in the digital age, to assist decision makers to strategically implement, customize off-the-shelf products and manage digitalization at the workplace. The results offer a conducive starting point for a range of scientific discourses in multiple fields by contributing to understanding how technological progress and digital transformation influence organizations.

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

How do Organizational Members Perceive Datafication Permeated Workplaces? Insights from an Explorative Single-Case Study

2019-09 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel

View
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

No stone left unturned? Towards a framework on the impact of datafication technologies on organizational control

2019-12-06 , Schafheitle, Simon Daniel , Weibel, Antoinette , Ebert, Isabel Laura , Kasper, Gabriel , Schank, Christoph , Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich

View