Thesis on tech’s empowerment / enslavement paradox wins acclaim

Anabelle Alis on the campus of George Mason University in the Washington DC area (with a seven-foot-plus statue of George Mason, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States).

The power of the work laptop and smartphone to intrude on home life has proved both personally pesky and research-rich for Anabelle Alis.

It was the focus of her Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) thesis - 'Nine to five or 24/7? The paradoxical effect of employer-provided technology on employee wellbeing' - a study that recently won an approving nod from the Academic Committee of Human Resources New Zealand in its inaugural Research Sparks Competition.

Anabelle was one of five awardees commended for outstanding empirical postgraduate research that connects academic theory with real-world HR practice.

The genesis of her thesis topic harks back to the seven years she spent working in central government from the 2010s-20s as Principal Advisor at both the Ministry for the Environment and the Treasury in Wellington.

"They gave me a laptop on my first day and I was pleased but also unsure. A laptop! Great! A laptop! Does this mean they expect me to be working nights and weekends? Unfortunately, no one was able to answer questions around use expectations. Being someone who tends to enjoy whatever role I'm in and put more into things than I should, my organisation providing a laptop, and later a smartphone, was a very mixed experience for me. I tended to take the approach that if expectations aren't clear, then just exceed whatever you imagine they might be. Retrospectively, that wasn't super-smart."

She wasn't alone in this feeling. In the wake of the digital transformation of the public service in the 2020s, Anabelle clocked the struggles of her fellow public servants to navigate the porous boundary between work and home life.

"Technology is paradoxical - while it gives you mobility and flexibility to work anytime, anywhere and increases social and cognitive cohesion, without workplace interventions such as guidance for use, it also leads to blurred boundaries between work and home and fatigue. It's the empowerment/enslavement paradox."

She decided to put a lens on that paradox via the academic HR sphere. With a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Business Administration (from Massey University) already under her belt, Anabelle looked south to further her business studies.

"I chose the Otago Business School because of its international standing and accreditation. A further and important reason was that the curriculum had a focus on corporate social responsibility and sustainable business. Also, the campus is gorgeous, and I found the people to be genuine and very welcoming. I was very happy with the academic rigor and the broader experience of peers, quality lecturers, and excellent supervisors."

"From the very first day, I knew I'd made the right decision. The Director of the DBA, Dr Sarah Carr, was explaining that a doctorate is like finding the edge of knowledge and then pushing a little bit further. I loved that idea of exhausting everything known about a subject and pushing into a new space. That really motivated me."

Though she had a hunch that the work habits of central government employees would yield rich data, Anabelle was still surprised by the extent of the health-disabling effects of tech enablement.

"The most sobering finding was that without workplace interventions, such as guidance, the issue has very real and potentially damaging consequences on employees' physical and psychological wellbeing."

"I felt uncomfortable that people were working all hours, literally, and there was silence at an organisational level around expectations. In Wellington, it was expected that everyone takes their laptop home every night and weekend in case there was an event (such as Covid) that would prevent workers from getting to the office the next day. It seemed a shame that so many people in the public service were motivated altruistically and were not being guided towards good practice habits."

Anabelle's thesis also proposed a framework of principles-based guidance (to be used in tandem with other interventions like education and training) that can be adapted across sectors and industries. "With technology so prevalent, we need to understand what good leadership around its use looks like."

The Research Sparks Competition's judging panel thought so too, saying Anabelle's thesis "illustrates how HR can lead innovation while supporting employee wellbeing in tech-enabled workplaces".

Having finished her DBA last year, Anabelle is now working in a transformation role in the Office of the Provost at George Mason University in the Washington DC area. She loves it.

"This role allows me to (hopefully) make a positive impact on the way colleagues experience work. I can't think of a better role."

Asked if she's any better at guarding her leisure time, she says, "Mostly! I don't always get it right, but the personal impact of my research findings keeps me aware of my boundaries. Plus, I get teased quite severely when I'm not 'walking the walk'. I responded to work emails at 7.15am this morning and was quickly reminded of my research topic!"

~ Kōrero by Claire Finlayson, Communications Adviser (Otago Business School)