Tài liệu Personal Web Usage in the Workplace: A Guide to Effective Human Resources Management Part 2 doc

Many organizational roles today demand high levels of creativity and mental flexibility, and constructive uses of online recreation can help individuals gain fresh perspectives.. This ch

Chapter III

When Work Morphs into Play: Using Constructive Recreation to Support the

Flexible Workplace

Jo Ann OravecUniversity of Wisconsin - Whitewater, USA

specific workplace contexts Many organizational roles today demand high levels of creativity and mental flexibility, and constructive uses of online recreation can help individuals gain fresh perspectives This chapter proposes that these complex issues be resolved through participatory approaches, involving workgroups and HR professionals in discussions as to what constitutes “constructive recreation,” as well as in development and dissemination of effective and fair organizational policies.

INTRODUCTION

Issues concerning the boundaries between work and play have providedcontinuing struggles for managers and employees as well as headaches forhuman resource (HR) professionals Sociologist Donald Roy (1959-1960)used the “banana time” notion to capture how employees have made work-places more tolerable by participating in off-task camaraderie Banana timewas the collectively determined break time of factory workers, the start ofwhich was signaled with a lunchbox banana Industrial economist RobertSchrank (1978) wrote of how “schmoozing” supported the informal organiza-tion of workplaces, providing not just recreation but increased levels ofworkplace cohesion In the “information age,” such playful, exploratory, andspontaneous interaction can also facilitate the exchange of ideas and insights fortackling workplace problems HR professionals within organizations shouldhave some sense of how online play relates to work (especially knowledgework) so as to increase the productivity and support the well-being oforganizational participants

The Internet has supplied new dimensions to workplace recreation issues

It infuses a bevy of opportunities for diversion into everyday work contexts —although the individuals with whom one “schmoozes” or enjoys “banana time”can be many miles distant Online games can be seen on workstations in nearlyevery organization, and growing numbers of employees regularly access onlinesports scores Workplaces have become more “porous” and permeable —integrating more influences from the outside world — as individuals engage insuch online diversions as trading stocks or viewing images of their children indaycare Availability of these activities has brought the potential for abuse (asrelated elsewhere in this book), but also new opportunities This chapterpresents the case that constructive uses of online recreation and play canenhance many workplaces and perhaps ultimately make them more productive

Everyday workplace life is becoming more diverse and chaotic Itscomplex and varying aspects (such as convoluted schedules and malleabletimeframes) are often attempts to accommodate massive industrial, technologi-cal, and economic shifts (Epstein & Kalleberg, 2001; Gilbert & Bower, 2002;Ofori-Dankwa & Julian, 2001) Although many organizational roles todaydemand high levels of creativity and mental flexibility, they can also fail toprovide the means through which individuals can gain fresh perspectives.Managers who expect employees not to use the Internet for some amount ofoff-task activity severely misjudge the nature of workplace life — which issolidly infused in online interaction Depriving employees of opportunities forInternet recreation in some cases excludes the possibility of nearly any form ofdiversion from assigned responsibilities This chapter proposes that thesecomplex issues be resolved through participatory approaches, involvingworkgroups in discussions as to what constitutes “constructive recreation” aswell as in development and dissemination of effective and fair policies Thisdiscourse can also ultimately increase levels of trust among team members andbetween employees and management Enabling the constructive use of onlinerecreation is certainly not a panacea for workplace ills However, it can be part

of overall strategies to manage people through mutually agreed-upon setting and assessment of outcomes — rather than by what they simply appear

goal-to be doing

SOME BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUES

Workplace use of the Internet for activities that are not directly authorized

by management is often considered as the “theft” of human and computer time

— comparable to absconding with other forms of organizational resources.Even though many managers consider the personal use of the Internet as anethical lapse (Greengard, 2000), the “moral high ground” concerning theseissues is not entirely clear Much of the rhetoric and advertising copy associatedwith workplace computing incorporates recreational imageries and motifs,which can send misleading signals to employees A number of individuals havealready had significant experience combining work with online recreation;convincing them that hard work cannot be combined with online play is thus atough sell Telecommuters returning to organizational settings are often notentrusted with the autonomy to engage in online breaks at appropriate times —latitude they take for granted when doing the same tasks in their home offices.Many young people became comfortable with computing through video games

and online interpersonal interaction, and took online breaks during theirdemanding college studies (Colkin & George, 2002) Individuals must findways to cope psychologically with increased pressures on the job, andmanagement should explore creative but feasible ways to assist them in theseefforts.

Wireless Internet applications add more complexities to these issues,further increasing the porousness of organizations and making employees’access to recreation less dependent on systems controlled by their managers.Daniels (2000) reports how wireless technologies (such as PDAs with Internetaccess) are used even within meetings to amuse and distract participants, oftenresulting in productivity losses A number of single- and multiplayer games can

be played on cell phones (Schifrin, 2002) Since wireless technologies are still

in the early stages of adoption in many organizational contexts, placing severerestrictions on their use (and penalties for misuse) could be counter-productive.Personal computers became familiar workplace additions in the 1980s in partbecause of their use for gaming, an activity that encouraged employees of avariety of ages and backgrounds to explore the various dimensions of thedevices and to become more comfortable with them (Festervand & Meinert,1994)

If engaged in constructively, online recreation can aid in awakeningcreativity and increasing well-being, just as appropriate and timely face-to-facediversions have restored employees’ energies over the past decades How-ever, some individuals may not be able to deal with online recreation construc-tively They indeed will use it in ways that affect their organizations andthemselves negatively, just as some individuals cannot perform adequately onthe job for other reasons Forms of “positive discipline” can be utilized ifemployees choose to exceed reasonable, agreed-upon limits; implementingsuch discipline “requires that the supervisor and employee work together tocorrect the problem behavior” (Guffey & Helms, 2001) Managers andemployees should strive together to harness online recreation toward positiveends, rather than condemning or seeking to stifle it completely

WHAT IS “CONSTRUCTIVE RECREATION”?

Online recreation has already served many supportive purposes in nizations; games can be used to help decrease computer anxiety and encourage

orga-experimentation (Agarwal & Karahanna, 2000; Oravec, 1999) What would

make online recreation optimally beneficial to individuals, project teams, and

the organization as a whole? To start the discussion: recreation is “constructive”when it is in synch with pending work responsibilities, allowing individuals to usetime not consumed by workplace demands in ways that equip them to facefuture tasks with greater energy and expanded perspectives Constructiverecreation is also in keeping with technological constraints, as exemplified bythe organizations that allow online recreation but place limits during certainhours to avoid system overload (Gibbs, 1998; Verton, 2000) Policies estab-lished are crafted in participatory ways, and are disseminated broadly (such assome of the policies described in Verespej, 2000).

The major impetus behind constructive recreation is in facilitating the rapidadaptation of individuals to changing circumstances Online recreation and playcan provide needed breaks among disparate activities, as well as hone skillsthat would otherwise be dormant Constructive recreation affords individualsthe means to maintain their flexibility in workplace environments that placeincreasing demands on their capacities to withstand change Giddens (1991),Sennett (1997), and others have provided perspectives on how both work-place and home life are being affected by series of rapid changes, often withprofound influences on the very structure of individuals’ personalities Individu-als without the psychological and social reserves to adapt can suffer damage asthey lose a sense of continuity and meaningfulness Kanter (2002) comparesmodern organizations with improvisational theatres, requiring chameleon-likeadjustments by their participants to sporadic and unpredictable economicalterations Improvisation is a difficult art even for trained actors and comedi-ans, testing their ability to adapt to unexpected stimuli (Horwitz, 1996).Change and flexibility are important, but so are some basic cultural values.Workplace recreation is also “constructive” to the extent in which it isresponsive to the overall culture of the organization, and sensitive to the needsand values of other organizational participants (including freedom from harass-ment) Requirements of project team members in terms of scheduling areespecially critical to recognize since the synchronization and sustained involve-ment of everyone are required during critical periods Along with its otheraspects, recreation is constructive if it provides intellectual and psychologicalstimulation or support, the sustenance often needed to take on tough chal-lenges “Reclaimed moments” that individuals spend in such activity can allowthem to reestablish senses of control in otherwise stressful and constrainingcontexts Ability to access such recreation and thus momentarily escape canprovide a safety valve for those who face unyielding situations or put in longwork hours, thus putting the porousness of today’s Internet-supported work-places to good use

Many employees work long hours (often voluntarily) and are reluctant toleave their workstations or other network connections for vacations or even forweekends, given increasing levels of competition and economic uncertainty(Deetz, 1995) Knowledge workers often need to accomplish tasks for whichstrict timeframes are counterproductive (Alvesson, 2000), for example be-cause of time-zone differences among collaborators An Ipsos-Reid pollrelates that approximately 43% of employees claim that they are formally “oncall” for extended hours or bring assigned work duties home (Samuelson,2001) Home life is increasingly hectic as well, and the interaction betweenwork and home life can intensify personal and household stress (Jacobs &Gerson, 2001; Schor, 1991) Workplace absences (especially when they areunscheduled) have a devastating “ripple” effect in organizations (Robinson,2002), thus affording employees some leeway on-the-job can thus often result

in considerable savings of resources

The value of recreation and play in adult realms is not well-understood.Credible evidence that individuals who engage in online play are more produc-tive or happier than those who do not will probably never be forthcoming —just as research about related workplace issues often tends to be non-conclusive Play has been given an assortment of definitions in the academic andresearch literatures (with examinations in the fields of social psychology,philosophy, and anthropology); it is often considered in both its adult and childmodes as a “cognitive and symbolic act that is fundamental to the humanrepresentational process” (Myers, 1999) Across species as well as cultures,play has been shown to help individuals prepare for the unexpected bypresenting varying streams of novel or challenging situations (Spinka, 2001).Play is generally considered as a support for children’s intellectual and socialdevelopment, but its role in adult lives is less clear Corbell (1999) projects thatthere are considerable similarities in the kinds of learning that adults andchildren can gain from gaming, although adults can put these new insights andcognitive patterns to immediate, practical use For instance, he describesNorwegian decision makers who use simulation gaming for organizationalproblem solving Orbanes (2000) describes how the game Monopoly canimpart serious business lessons Research initiatives on what kinds of recre-ation and play are most efficacious in different workplace environments — aswell as on individual and group “play styles” — could enlighten constructiverecreation efforts (although they cannot be expected to provide definitiveresults)

Simulation is indeed an aspect of play that has some direct implications foremployee readiness in the workplace, and it has received some research

treatment (Myers, 1999) Michael Schrage’s (1999) Serious Play examines

how simulations expand the intellectual capacities of knowledge workers;forms of online play may equip individuals to utilize an organization’s “serious”computer simulations more effectively, thus reinforcing skills applicable in manyworkplace contexts Many powerful simulation games with societal or politicalthemes are widely available to the public and have considerable audiences; theSims series and other popular single- and multiplayer games have been used toentertain and educate in a variety of contexts (Moltenbrey, 2002; Pillay,Brownlee, & Wilss, 1999)

FOSTERING SOCIAL CAPITAL THROUGH

ONLINE RECREATION

Managers have often used organizationally sanctioned recreation as aperquisite, a bonus for acceptable conduct It has served as an extension of theworkplace, providing new settings for social interaction One can be cynicalabout the softball and bowling leagues sponsored by organizations — but theycan help provide a form of “social capital,” part of the “glue” that holds the at-work community together (Putnam, 2000) Through the past century, manyorganizations have sponsored picnics and celebrations with the strategy ofincreasing workplace cohesion

As employees (including many white collar as well as knowledge workers)telecommute or put in long and irregular hours, the adhesive that bindsorganizations has been increasingly conveyed through electronic channels.However, it is unclear what kinds of online activity can foster social capital(Uslaner, 2000) Just as human resource experts struggled early in the 20th

century to integrate face-to-face recreation into workplace contexts, tions should attempt similar feats in online realms, thus making online recreation

organiza-a shorganiza-ared organiza-and open resource rorganiza-ather thorganiza-an organiza-a secretive endeorganiza-avor (Ororganiza-avec, 1996).Unlike many early human relations experiments, the recreational activitiesinvolved should be developed in a participatory (rather than patriarchal)fashion Whether organization-approved fantasy football, discussion groupand collaborative filtering forums, joke-of-the-day contests, or other recre-ations are ultimately successful will depend on how they fit into everydayworking experiences

Constructive use of online recreation can also help to dispel a number ofunfortunate and demeaning workplace practices that ultimately serve to erode

trust In many organizational contexts where face-to-face interaction is volved, employees must go through the effort of looking busy when managersare present; they must create an acceptable “work face” that supposedlyreflects productive effort Often, both managers and employees feel that theyhave to put in extended hours or make other visible sacrifices for the organi-zation, even when these efforts are apparently not needed for organizationalproductivity (Alvesson, 2000) Arlie Hochschild (1983) provides examples ofsuch forms of “emotional labor.” For instance, flight attendants must appear to

in-be welcoming, whatever their current state of emotion; professionals andservice personnel in other fields must similarly take on certain sets of facial andbehavioral expressions as they present a face to the world (Goffman, 1959).These expressions are considered relevant to job evaluations in many contexts,often in ways not demonstrably related to productivity Such emotional laborhas online correlates: managers who stop workers from playing online games

in idle moments and order them to do inessential tasks signal that what is valued

is not work itself, but the appearance that people are productively occupied.Constructing ways of assigning tasks and evaluating employees so thatsignificant and meaningful measures of productivity are involved can lessen thisemphasis on the “surface” behavior of employees The fostering of understand-ings concerning online recreation can empower individuals to use time con-structively (either in productive effort or in recreation) and avoid such demor-alizing emotional labor games

IMPLICATIONS FOR

HR PROFESSIONALS: EFFORTS TO

CREATE A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD

Human resource professionals often must deal with competing demands torecognize managerial demands for productivity while they consider the per-sonal needs of organizational participants The “hype” involving computernetworking often obscures the complex social issues involved Even thoughthere are downturns in the high-tech economy, changes in the Internet applica-tions available to employees are still fast paced By the time research results areavailable to inform the decision making of HR departments, many of the issuesinvolved will change in character HR professionals should thus themselves beconversant with Internet applications and be aware of industry trends so as to

be ready when new concerns emerge (such as increasingly sophisticatedwireless Internet games).

As workplaces have evolved, so have the issues that have dividedemployers and managers Some organizations have taken positive steps to helpemployees deal with workplace and home pressures (Munck, 2001) and haverecognized the importance of loyalty (Alvesson, 2000) However, conflict hasensued for decades on an assortment of matters relating to the quality of worklife, often leading to dysfunctional confrontations (Edwards, 1978) Today,employees who guess wrong about online recreation standards — or choose

to violate them — often pay large penalties, even being demoted or fired Somemanagers have devised negative sanctions for these infringements far moresevere than those applied to comparable face-to-face interaction Officeworkers paging through paper catalogs in idle minutes rarely face the harshpenalties that those caught shopping online often encounter, even though fewcomputer systems can be construed as “overtaxed” by online shopping Forexample, Westlake Chemical in West Charles, Louisiana, simply eliminatedaccess to the Internet to hundreds of employees when managers discoveredhow much unauthorized Internet activity was going on (Sloan & Yablon, 2000).Companies have encountered considerable penalties as well: Microsoft agreed

to a $2.2 million settlement in a sexual-harassment suit involving pornographicmessages distributed in an organizational e-mail (Verespej, 2000)

Hard-line positions against forms of online recreation may be required insome instances and directly related to important organizational goals Forinstance, air traffic controllers should be expected to keep focused on landingreal airplanes rather than escape into fantasy games during assigned hours.However, some hard-line restrictions can reflect fear or lack of understanding

of online realms Management may assume that online recreation will foster orencourage Internet addiction or related concerns “Internet addiction” hasbecome a widely identified syndrome, although its medical underpinnings arestill in question (Beard, 2002; Oravec, 2000) The kinds of non-work activitiesthat are allowed in organizations often mirror managerial culture and values,from softball teams to holiday celebrations Hard-line restrictions against onlinerecreation and the monitoring of workstations to implement them are ofsymbolic importance, signaling to organizational participants the “proper” way

to view the online workplace and themselves as human beings Overlyrestricting online recreation may prevent employees from exploring the fullpotential of the Internet for productive intellectual and social endeavors.However, a laissez-faire approach may also serve to demoralize workplaces

by allowing some individuals to exploit the diligence of team members andpossibly even disturb the sensibilities of unfortunate onlookers.

Ambiguities concerning online work and play in virtual realms are ingly adding complexities to these issues (Broadfoot, 2001) It is often difficult

increas-to tell which websites are related increas-to business needs and which are recreational;many have dual purposes, combining amusement with news and other seriouspursuits Slashdot.org has humorous material as well as valuable technicalcommentary, and abcnews.com has stories on upcoming movies as well ascurrent economic results Helpful intelligent agents (some with cartoon-likemanifestations) can add levity to everyday tasks Surfing the Internet for ananswer to a question or fiddling with various programs can interfere withproductive effort, as individuals dwell on technological nuances Perfecting anorganizational newsletter’s format can be so involving that individuals lose asense of proportion as to its business relevance Managers and employees need

to deal not only with recreational concerns but also with broader issues of how

to integrate computing into workplaces in ways that are engaging yet tive

produc-Workplace realities have changed in a tightening economy, and few expectthat stability and continuity will replace flux For many employees the social andrecreational activities that are needed for them to function optimally have to beobtained during breaks and unoccupied moments in the workplace rather thanafter-work initiatives Many employees (especially in high-tech fields) are oncall for long periods, with their know-how required for troubleshootingnetworks or debugging software programs Online recreation is part of someindividuals’ efforts to make these lengthy and demanding working hours moretolerable A number of online recreational activities can be conducted whileproductive activity is going on, in a kind of human multitasking Such multitaskingcan provide problems if individuals overreach their capacities, in ways compa-rable to the problem of drivers who engage in cell phone conversations on the

road (Consumer Reports, 2002) Individuals can check online sports scores

while on hold for a telephone call, which can relieve frustration However,online recreation should not be exploited as a means to keep individuals glued

to workstations for indefinite periods in lieu of reasonable work schedules andfunctional work-life balances

Solutions as to how to couple online work and play are emerging inorganizations that are tailored to specific workplace contexts Managers andemployees are gaining important experience in resolving these issues asindividuals perform activities away from direct supervision via mobile comput-

ing or virtual office configurations Managers are learning how to perform theirfunctions without direct employee surveillance Employees are learning higherlevels of self-discipline and the skills of balancing online work and play — just

as they have learned to balance face-to-face schmoozing with task orientation

in the physical world Thus setting severe restrictions on online recreation canserve to slow down the process of understanding how to migrate the organiza-tion into virtual realms and establish trust Responsibility and respect for others

in these realms can be difficult to acquire, and many employees will indeed needdirection Those who stray from “netiquette” standards in online discussions aregenerally given guidance as to how they have deviated Similar kinds ofcommunity and peer support will help individuals use recreation constructively

in online contexts

CONCLUSION: MANAGING CONTRADICTION AND PARADOX

be found in organizational contexts, including that of facilitating managerialcontrol as well as employee participation (Stohl & Cheney, 2001) Unfortu-nately, consensus about the role of play in workplaces is still rare, and humanresource professionals must be vigilant for emerging problems and controver-sies As evidenced by the accounts in this book, Internet recreation provides

a contested space in many organizational settings This space is quicklyexpanding as wireless Internet access becomes ubiquitous and as computingequipment becomes pervasive in workplaces

Allowing for reasonable and humane amounts of online recreation canindeed have considerable advantages, both for the individuals involved and theorganization as a whole It can serve to open blocked creative channels andpossibly relieve stress as well Online recreation can also extend the limits of

individuals’ working days by providing extra dimensions to workplace activity.Rather than going through the emotional labor of looking busy, employees canutilize spare moments on the job in recharging their mental batteries Construc-tive use of recreation will require a number of changes, such as increases inmanagerial flexibility and employee empowerment (as described as the “newemployment relationship” outlined in Boswell, Moynihan, Roehling, &Cavanaugh, 2001) Organizational participants must learn how to handle thedistractions and opportunities of increasingly porous workplaces, with theirmany external influences Education and training provided by HR professionalscan be useful in these initiatives: novice employees can be aided to couple workand recreation in ways that increase overall effectiveness Constructive recre-ation strategies can bring these complex matters into the open, rather than allowthem to be objects of rumor and fear Rumor in organizations can have the effect

of distorting the issues involved (Scheibel, 2000), making knowledge andpower imbalances the primary items of contention rather than the issues at hand.Forms of online diversion are already becoming integral elements ofeveryday workplace life, often serving to humanize and enhance organizations.Negotiation and discourse on constructive recreation issues can increasemutual trust and respect concerning online as well as face-to-face activity Witheffort on everyone’s part (and the coordination strategies of human resourceprofessionals), the constructive use of online recreation can help the entireorganization work harder and play harder

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Chapter IV

A Multidimensional Scaling Approach to Personal Web Usage in the Workplace

Murugan AnandarajanDrexel University, USA

Patrick DevineDrexel University, USA

Claire A SimmersSaint Joseph’s University, USA

ABSTRACT

In this study, a typology of workplace personal Web usage (PWU) behaviors was developed using multidimensional scaling techniques Results suggest that personal Web usage behaviors vary along two dimensions: opportunities versus threats and organizational versus interpersonal On the foundation of these two dimensions, PWU behaviors appear to fall into four distinct categories: disruptive, recreational, personal learning, and ambiguous PWU This typology should prove useful for developing conceptual and empirical research agendas of PWU behavior in the workplace.