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Security compliance and work-issued mobile devices: Out of sight, out of mind?

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Abstract

For security, economic, and efficiency reasons, many businesses supply mobile devices to employees to use both in the workplace and remotely, accompanied by policies governing their appropriate use. Extant research has shown that work-issued mobile devices can disrupt employees’ perceptions of work-life balance (WLB) and, indeed, WLB can impact employees’ job satisfaction and performance. The global COVID-19 pandemic meant that more employees than usual performed their work remotely, but this situation may have not fit the preferred WLB for some. Did this encroachment mean that appropriate use policies were forgotten? We conducted two rounds of surveys, one pre-pandemic and the other mid-pandemic, to determine whether those workplace changes led some employees astray. In other words, which type of WLB perceptions are more likely to lead to policy violations and how does the WLB mismatch cause deviant behaviors before and during the pandemic? The results from cluster analysis and the comparison between the pre and mid-pandemic suggest that policy violators were present in both time periods, but before the pandemic violators were in more compartmentalized work settings and mid-pandemic violators dominated all work settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS, USA

    Kent Marett & Sumin Kim

  2. Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, USA

    Shan Xiao

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  1. Kent Marett
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Correspondence to Kent Marett.

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Appendix: Survey Items

Appendix: Survey Items

(responses range from 1: strongly disagree to 5: strongly agree)

Instructions: In this survey, we would like to know about your use of a mobile device that goes to work with you and comes home with you. A mobile device could include cell phones, tablets, or laptops. You may use more than one mobile device, in which case we would like you to think about your primary/main mobile device (the one you use most).

My company has a policy discouraging watching streaming video on this mobile device

My company has a policy that discourages me from accessing social media on this mobile device

My company has a policy that discourages me from shopping online for personal reasons on this mobile device

My company has a policy that discourages me from playing video games on this mobile device

My company has a policy that discourages me from browsing websites for personal reasons on this mobile device

My company has a policy that prevents my family members from using this mobile device

Please answer whether you perform the following activities with your primary work-issued mobile device.

I watch streaming video (YouTube, Netflix, etc.) on this mobile device

I access my social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) on this mobile device

I shop online for personal reasons (not business) with this mobile device

I play video games on this mobile device

I browse websites for personal reasons (not business) on this mobile device

My family members use this mobile device

Please rate the importance you place on each of the following.

Compensation that fairly rewards the amount of work spillover into my personal life

Internal satisfaction that I can accomplish both my work requirements and my personal life requirements

The ability to move seamlessly between my work and personal lives

Protection from supervisors/managers who may wish to impose their desired work-life balance on others who feel differently

How did your employer adjust your work-life balance during the COVID-19 outbreak last spring and summer?

(more time working from home / more time in the workplace / no change).

How often is security training provided?

(never / once a year / twice a year / several times a year / other).

figure a

Which of the graphics above best represents your current balance between your personal life and your work life?

Open-Ended Questions

Please describe your after-hours work at home, including checking email, completing reports, etc.

What is your job title?

How long have you worked with your current company (please answer with number of years)?

Table 3 Descriptive statistics for the importance of managerial strategy by WLB class, pre-pandemic sample
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Table 4 Descriptive statistics for the importance of managerial strategy by WLB class, mid-pandemic sample
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Table 5 Group means for the perceived policy strength and behavior by WLB class, pre-pandemic sample
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Table 6 Group Means for the perceived policy strength and behavior by WLB class, mid-pandemic sample
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Table 7 Cluster representation by WLB category, pre-pandemic sample
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Table 8 Cluster representation by WLB category, mid-pandemic sample
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Marett, K., Xiao, S. & Kim, S. Security compliance and work-issued mobile devices: Out of sight, out of mind?. Inf Syst E-Bus Manage 21, 913–945 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-023-00654-y

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