Overview

My research focuses on two interrelated organizational trends that have become salient in the 21st century: workplace transparency (who gets to observe whom) and workplace connectivity (who gets to communicate with whom). Open offices and factories have made what was unobservable observed; advanced surveillance and tracking have made what was private public; ubiquitous communication technologies have made what was isolated connected; a surge in people-related data and analytics tools has made what was unknowable known. In particular, this evolution of the workplace has ushered in: (1) increased transparency—via greater physical or digital observability of employee activities, routines, behaviors, output, and/or performance—allowing managers to find new ways of ensuring that work gets done; and (2) increased connectivity—via intraorganizational network tools that structurally rewire and boost patterns of human interaction to facilitate collaboration and information exchange—giving rise to novel work structures and organizational forms. These two trends carry both benefits and hazards for organizations and their employees, with profound implications for scholars, educators, and managers.

Through my research, I investigate the impact of these two trends on employee behavior, organizational performance, and worker satisfaction. Specifically, I explore the dynamic interplay between the interests of the observers and the observed—often (but not always) managers and employees, respectively—to better understand how leaders can avoid unintended consequences of managerial practices that are intuitively appealing but result in too much or too little workplace transparency and connectivity. This is especially important as employees who once felt they had too little visibility and connection are now becoming more concerned about privacy and communication overload. My work also explores how organizations can unlock hidden benefits of seemingly counterintuitive practices around transparency and connectivity—counterintuitive because their outcomes are unexpectedly better than theory would predict. For example, my studies show that more-transparent workplaces can result in less-transparent employee behavior (the transparency paradox); that less privacy around employee transgressions can yield more rehabilitation; that moves to more-open workspaces can yield less face-to-face interaction; that less connected organizations can solve complex problems more ably and adaptably; and so on.