How do technology-driven stressors influence workarounds? Moderating roles of support structures and trait resilience

Abstract

Despite recognizing the prominent effects of enterprise system (ES) use on organizations and individuals, employees frequently resort to workarounds that run counter to the intention of ES implementation. Building upon the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we expand the challenge-hindrance stressor framework to encompass technology-driven stressors (TDS) as distinct job demands influencing employees’ workarounds. Additionally, we regard support structures as job resources and trait resilience as personal resources and then examine how the interplay between resources and demands affects workarounds. Our research is underpinned by a comprehensive two-study design. Specifically, Study 1 entailed a longitudinal survey with data gathered from 326 users within a Chinese company. The results show that technology-driven challenge stressors decrease workarounds, whereas technology-driven hindrance stressors increase it. Moreover, job and personal resources play different roles in mitigating the impact of specific TDS on workarounds. In addition, Study 2 utilized qualitative interviews to validate and supplement the findings from the Study 1. This research contributes to both theoretical and practical implications in ES research by extending the JD-R model to explore the influence of various job demands and resources on workarounds.