“The more, the merrier?” – A Systematic Review of the Effects of Technology-Induced Employee Transparency on Frontline Service Employees

Abstract

Technology infusion in the service encounter is profoundly altering the workplace of frontline service employees. As digitalization increasingly enables data-driven transparency of employee conduct, this paper argues for a more employee-centric approach to organizational transparency, consequently introducing technology-induced employee transparency as a refined transparency conceptualization. Further, service literature has largely neglected studying the implications of frontline technology use on frontline workers. In an effort to fill this void in organizational frontline research, this paper provides an interdisciplinary systematic literature review on technology-induced transparency and its effects on employees and their work outcomes in related fields like management, psychology, social sciences, and computer science. Reflecting on the findings, directions for future research in the service management domain are proposed.