The dark side of computer‐mediated control

Abstract

Abstract 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.