A stitch in time saves nine: the role of moral judgement in reducing internet policy violations

Matthew Campbell, Jordan Shropshire and Antonis Stylianou

International Journal of Business Information Systems, 2017, vol. 24, issue 3, 369-386

Abstract: Internet access has become ubiquitous in many organisations. While employees need this access to perform their duties, many studies report a large percentage of employees use their work internet access in violation of organisational policies. These activities can result in reduced efficiency, increased vulnerability to cyber-attack, and legal liability. Although firms vary according to their acceptable personal internet use policies, they tend to provide generic usage guidelines which do not provide a clear basis for decision making. We argue that the decision to use company internet resources for personal use is largely a moral decision, a fact which has been previously overlooked in research and in practice. In this study, we create and test a predictive model which is framed using moral judgement. The model is confirmed using a survey of 787 knowledge workers. Our results suggest that organisations should incorporate moral guidelines in their acceptable internet use policies.

Keywords: internet policy; policy violations; perceived moral intensity; technology abuse; personal internet use; personal use; work internet; moral judgement; organisational behaviour; organisational policy; moral guidelines; acceptable internet use; acceptable use; internet at work. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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