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Digitalization, innovative work behavior and extended availability

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Abstract

Digitalization has tremendous positive, but also negative potential for the organization and individual employees. The basic question therefore is how to design a digitalized environment that fosters idea generation and development and ensures good working practices of employees. In order to understand the requirements for the latter, the current implications of digitalization on employees have to be understood. This is of specific importance for expert organizations as these are dependent on product and service innovation as competitive advantage. In this paper, we focus on the antecedents of a very specific outcome of digitalization related to employee behavior with postulated influence on innovative capacity: extended availability and subsequent insufficient detachment with its potential consequences. Since the drivers and the extent of extended availability for work have not been sufficiently researched so far, the basis for developing solutions is incomplete. In this paper, we therefore investigate the working habits and reasons related to extended work related availability. Based on a quantitative investigation in three steps and using structural equation modelling, we show the interaction between the drivers of extended availability and the resulting additional time spent for working in expert organizations. By doing so, our research contributes to the discussion of optimizing the degree of digitalization employed or promoted in organization and establishes the link between the digitalized work setting, observed behavior, and its reasons.

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Notes

  1. These are results of a representative study on buying intentions, user attitudes and behavior regarding electronic products which was conducted in May 2015 by Value_A Marketing Intelligence (by order of gfu Consumer & Home Electronics GmbH) including 6000 households: 1000 in Germany and an additional 5000 in France, Great Britain, Italy, Austria, Spain and Switzerland (gfu 2015).

  2. The source (Unfallversicherung 2012) is in German but includes an abstract in English.

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Acknowledgements

The Authors wish to thank Dr. Werner Hackl for his contributions to parts of the research project. This research was funded by Tiroler Wissenschaftsfonds (UNI-0404/1704).

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  1. Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and HTA, UMIT - Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria

    Elisabeth Nöhammer

  2. Institute for Management and Economics in Healthcare, Department for Public Health, Health Services Research and HTA, UMIT - Private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, 6060, Hall in Tirol, Austria

    Stefan Stichlberger

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Correspondence to Elisabeth Nöhammer.

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Nöhammer, E., Stichlberger, S. Digitalization, innovative work behavior and extended availability. J Bus Econ 89, 1191–1214 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-019-00953-2

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