Abstract

The use of communication technologies (CTs) are blurring the traditional boundaries between work and private life. Practice suggests that employees experience both beneficial and detrimental outcomes associated with ICT-enabled availability. Alarmed with the detrimental effects of ICT-enabled availability many labor representatives and politicians intended to address these issues with different technological approaches. However, evidence suggests that these methods do not necessarily meet the employees’ approval since they are too strict and do not provide a flexible solution for the different needs of employees. Aiming to broaden the current state of research on availability management, this study presents valuable insights into the management of employees’ availability and key requirements for a Smart Availability Assistant. Based on our quantitative approach, in which we study 821 individuals, we conclude that a Smart Availability Assistant is desirable in case of inadequate enterprise availability management. Further, we posit that such an Assistant should not only focus on regulating the extent of ICT-enabled availability but rather aim at reflecting the diversity and complexity of individuals’ availability preferences.

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CHALLENGES FOR A SMART AVAILABILITY ASSISTANT – AVAILABILITY PREFERENCES

The use of communication technologies (CTs) are blurring the traditional boundaries between work and private life. Practice suggests that employees experience both beneficial and detrimental outcomes associated with ICT-enabled availability. Alarmed with the detrimental effects of ICT-enabled availability many labor representatives and politicians intended to address these issues with different technological approaches. However, evidence suggests that these methods do not necessarily meet the employees’ approval since they are too strict and do not provide a flexible solution for the different needs of employees. Aiming to broaden the current state of research on availability management, this study presents valuable insights into the management of employees’ availability and key requirements for a Smart Availability Assistant. Based on our quantitative approach, in which we study 821 individuals, we conclude that a Smart Availability Assistant is desirable in case of inadequate enterprise availability management. Further, we posit that such an Assistant should not only focus on regulating the extent of ICT-enabled availability but rather aim at reflecting the diversity and complexity of individuals’ availability preferences.