The dark side of computer-mediated control
Research on the dark side of computer-mediated control has explained the consequences of computer-mediated control when work is tightly coupled with its electronic representation because information systems record work automatically. Our study complements prior research by addressing the dark side of computer-mediated control when work and its electronic representation are loosely coupled, because it is employees who report their work in IT systems. Data from a 15-month ethnographic study of the appropriation of a customer relationship management system in the sales department of a large organization reveal that loosely versus tightly coupled computer-mediated control produce key differences that re-specify the dark side of computer-mediated control.
dark side loose coupling information technology organizational control tight coupling representation of work