Abstract
Management and organization research has traditionally focused on employees’ work role and the interface between their work and family roles. We suggest that persons assume a third role in modern society that is relevant to work and organizations, namely the Information and Communication Technology User (ICTU) role. Based on role theory and boundary theory, we develop propositions about the characteristics of this role, as well as how ICTU role characteristics are related to boundary spanning activity, inter-role spillover with the work role, and work role performance. To this end, we first conceptualize the ICTU role and its associations with work and family roles. We then apply identity theory and boundary management theory to advance our understanding of how the ICTU role is related to criteria that are important to individuals and to organizations, namely self-selection into certain types of work roles and positive and negative inter-role spillover. The implications of this role for theory, research, and practice in management and organizations are discussed.
Highlights
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones and laptop computers are a part of life in modern society
Individuals vary in the extent to which ICTs are important to them (Limayem et al, 2007), the extent to which they want to interact with ICTs (Compeau and Higgins, 1995), and their interest in engaging with ICTs in new and different ways (Agarwal and Prasad, 1998), all of which would suggest that individuals might attribute varying levels of importance and centrality to their Information and Communication Technology User (ICTU) role identity (e.g., Gefen and Ridings, 2003; Turel et al, 2011a)
We propose that individuals can experience both positive and negative spillover between the ICTU role and the work role depending on the level of consistency and inconsistency in these roles, respectively
Summary
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones and laptop computers are a part of life in modern society. The ICTU Role as a role in the management and organization literature This is an important gap to address as conceptualizing information and communication technology user (ICTU) role allows researchers and practitioners to rely on theories and evidence-based knowledge related to individuals’ roles, identities, role salience, and inter-role associations for better understanding how people decide on and interact with ICTs at work and in the personal life domain. We integrate these perspectives to develop testable propositions about the ICTU role and its implications for the work role and inter-role spillover We believe this is important given the paucity of research on how technologies impact boundary management (Golden et al, 2006; Golden and Geisler, 2007; Day et al, 2010; O’Driscoll et al, 2010). It would be beyond the scope of the current paper to develop propositions about inter-role spillover with the family role, we see this as an important area for future research
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