Impact of Smartphone Usage on Employee Productivity in the Workplace

This research paper analyzes the impact of smartphone usage on employee productivity in the workplace. It includes data collection and analysis methods, ethical considerations, and findings from a survey of employees in various industries.

BUSINESS DECSION MAKING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Methodology..............................................................................................................................4
Data Collection Method Chosen and Justification.................................................................4
Data Analysis Method Chosen and Justification:..................................................................5
Ethical Issues:.........................................................................................................................5
Data and Analysis......................................................................................................................6
Correlation Analysis amongst responses of various questions of the survey:.....................19
Conclusion................................................................................................................................22
References................................................................................................................................23

Executive Summary
Along with the advancement of technology, the usage of smartphone has increased manifold.
The smartphone technology that has been introduced merely a decade ago has taken a
significant place in the people’s lives. It has been noticed that the usage of smartphone has
influenced the organizational culture both in positive and negative way. It has been noticed
that the usage of smartphones and modern technologies have helped the employees to
perform their tasks as well as to communicate from remote workplaces. Along with the
positive influences, usage of smartphones has generated significant problems within the
organizations. It has been noticed that that overexposure to the smartphones during the work
hours has significantly affected their productivity. Excessive usage of smartphones, both
during and after the working hours can lead to severe addiction. This in turn is hampering
their productivity. In addition to this, multiple researches have shown that the employees who
are over exposed to the smartphones are wasting significant time in their workplaces. The
research hence aims at analyzing the fact that usage of mobile phones are providing multiple
advantages to the employees. Hence, they are becoming more addicted to the smart gadgets.
However, the excessive usage of the smartphones during the work hours are threatening the
productivity and safety concerns of the organization.

Introduction
In the present times the over usage of smartphones in the workplaces has resulted into
severe unproductivity. Multiple factors can be identified that are affecting the concentration
of the employees. Often it has been noticed that the excessive attachment to the smartphones
affect the self-control of the employees to a great extent. The employees are seen as unable to
ignore even the unimportant notifications (Baker et al. 2014). This is causing severe problem
in maintaining quality of production of the organization. Hence, the usage of smartphones,
now a days are regarded as the counterproductive to the performance of the employees.
Moreover, it has been monitored that the employees find using smart phones provides them
the opportunities of smart work and this is in turn making them more efficient (Jamaluddin,
Ahmad, Alias and Simun 2015). The aim of the research is to identify the influences of
smartphone on the productivity of the employees. Moreover, the study also aims at analyzing
the benefits of smartphones while used in the workplaces.
Methodology
Data Collection Method Chosen and Justification
The research includes both primary and secondary data collection methods. However,
more importance is given on the primary data collection method. The secondary collection
will be done taking helps of governmental websites, and scholarly publications only (Choy,
2014). Whereas, primary data will be collected surveys of the employees of various
organizations.
In order to reach to the research findings, help of surveys will be taken. Survey will
also provide scopes of detailed understanding of the topic. To perform the survey, a sample

size of 210 people has to be considered. The participants are selected from the
telecommunication, banking and hospitality industries. Amongst the participants, there are
100 male and 110 female employees. In order to analyze the qualitative data collected from
the survey, the thematic approach will be adopted (Flick, 2015). The information that will be
gathered from the surveys will be analyzed in consideration with various themes, which can
be directly linked to the research topic.
Data Analysis Method Chosen and Justification:
The qualitative data analysis technique includes a range of processes where the
researchers analyzes and interprets the responses of the participants. The method of data
analysis that has been selected for the research is thematic approach. Taking up surveys will
be helpful in providing detailed insight of the issues (Panneerselvam, 2014). Moreover, the
themes will be directly related to the research topic.
Ethical Issues:
All the ethical guidelines will be adhered to throughout the entire process. During the
process of collecting primary data, no participants will be forced to provide answers of each
and every question. They are free to opt out of the survey sessions whenever they feel
uncomfortable. Each participant of the survey has given their consent willingly before asking
questions (Smith, 2015). Moreover, no symbol or logo, of any company or organization has
been used in the dissertation. The fact that this research is to be done only for academic
purpose is also emphasized. Prior to the survey, all necessary permissions and authorization
letters have been taken from the university. In addition to this, in order to do secondary
research, proper citations and credits will be given. Hence, there is no chance of the paper
being plagiarized. All the rules and regulations of performing the research have been adhered
to.

Data and Analysis
It is analyzed from the above graph that out of 100 respondents 38 respondents make 2-5
personal calls on an average in a day. Apart from this, it is also believed by 44 respondents
that they make less than 2 personal calls on an average in a day. Besides this, 10 respondents
have a view that they make 6-10 personal calls in a day on an average. There are 8
respondents that make more than 10 personal calls in a day on an average. This indicates that
majority of the respondents prefer to make less than two personal calls in a day on an average
which in turn results in improvement in their performance and productivity at the workplace.

The above graph indicates that approximately 41 respondents spent 5 minutes on personal
calls in a day on an average. Along with this, there are 28 respondents that believe that they
spent more than 16 minutes on personal calls on an average in a day at the workplace.
Besides this, 20 respondents spent on an average 6-10 minutes on personal phone calls in a
day. Apart from this, 11 respondents believe that they spent 11-15 minutes on personal phone
calls in a day on an average.
It is identified that employees make the use of smart phones at the workplace for multiple

purposes. The above graph indicates that 45% of the total respondents make the use of smart
phones for the purpose of the checking of the personal e-mails. Apart from this, 4
respondents believe that the smart phone is being used for attaining and conducting online
training on an average. It is also found out that 32 respondents out of 100 make the use of
smart phone for the purpose of searching information related to the work. Only 19
respondents believe that they make a use of smart phone for the purpose of making the phone
calls to contact the clients at the workplace
It is identified from the above graph that 21 respondents who make the use of smart phone at
the workplace are pursuing the role of non-customer facing. Apart from this majority of the
respondents i.e. 67 respondents out of 100 respondents use smart phones in excessive manner
at the workplace that pursues the role that requires facing the customers. In addition to this,
12 respondents include the people related to different job roles such as graphic designers,
chef, chef manager, teaching, registered nurse, electrician, managing director, social media
coordinator and the people who do not want to share the information.

It is found out that excessive usage of the mobile phones by the people due to the
advancement in the technology has resulted in providing the facility to use the smart phones
by the employees at the workplace during breaks such as lunch and dinner breaks as it affects
their overall productivity and performance in a significant manner. It has been analyzed from
the above graph that 92 employees believe that the employer has provided the permission to
them to use smart phones during breaks to make personal phone calls. It is also found out that
there are 8 employees who believes that they are not being allowed to make personal phone
calls during lunch and dinner breaks.

It is found out that there are several benefits of using internet on the smart phone as it helps in
improving the productivity and performance of individuals and helps in saving time and cost
to be incurred to carry out the tasks. The above graph indicates that 35 respondents believe
that the usage of internet on smart phone helps in offering improved customer service. Along
with this, 57 respondents have a view that the internet has been used by them on the smart
phone results in increased mobility. 39 respondents out of 100 respondents believes that the
major benefit of using the internet on smart phone is increase in their productivity. Half of the
respondents believe that the usage of the internet on the smart phone is that it results in
increasing their ability to work remotely. Besides this, very little percentage is provided to
other benefits gained from the use of internet on smart phone which includes listening to
songs, getting in touch with friends and family, fun, efficiency of scheduling and look up for
recipes.

It is identified that the employers should not ban the usage of the smart phone in a strict
manner at the workplace. The main reason behind it is that there is a heavy dependence on
the smart phone for carrying out different tasks. It is identified from the above graph that 32
respondents are disagreed with the statement that employer should strictly ban the usage of
smart phones at the workplace. Along with this, 20 employees agreed that employer should
strictly ban the usage of the smart phone at the workplace. Only 7 respondents out of 100
respondents are strongly agreed that the employer should strictly banned the usage of the
smart phone at the workplace. 32 respondents has a neutral behavior towards the ban on the
usage of the smart phone at the workplace in a strict manner. Only 9 respondents out of 100
respondents show strong disagreement towards the ban on the usage of the smartphone in the
workplace in a strict manner.

It is found out that there is an increased use of smart phones by the people to carry out
different tasks by the use of it. This has taken the form of addiction of the people towards the
smart phone. This is the reason that it is identified that usage of smart phone at the workplace
excessively would hamper the productivity and performance of the individuals and
employees at the workplace. The above graph indicates that 38 respondents out of 100
respondents have a neutral attitude towards the fact that the usage of the smart phone disturbs
the employees while working. In addition to this, 31 respondents agreed that the usage of the
smart phone create disturbance while working in the workplace. Apart from this, 4
respondents show strong disagreement towards the fact that the usage of smart phone creates
disturbances at the workplace while working. 19 respondents are disagreed that the presence
of smart phone at the workplace creates disturbances in the work carried out at the workplace.
8 out of 100 respondents strongly agreed that usage of smart phones creates disturbance and
hampers the productivity at the workplace while working.

It is also found out that there is a need for the individuals and employees to make a use of
smart phones in a productive manner which in turn considering it as beneficial for the
organizations. The above graph indicates that 41 respondents out of 100 respondents are
agreed towards the fact that usage of the smart phone in a productive manner is beneficial for
the organizations. It is also found out that 12 respondents show strong agreement towards the
usage of smart phones in a productive manner are considered beneficial for the organization.
3 respondents does not believe in a strong manner that a productive use of a personal smart
phone is beneficial for the organizations. It is also found out that 9 respondents are disagreed
that productive use of personal smart phone is beneficial for the organization. 35 respondents
out of 100 respondents are neutral towards the productive use of personal smart phone is
beneficial for the organization.

It is identified that the productivity of the employees is significantly affected by the usage of
the personal smart phone for the purpose of making calls, and text messages with friends and
family. It is found out from the above graph that 41% of the total respondents agreed that the
usage of the personal smart phone affects the productivity of the individual in a significant
manner. Apart from this, 36 respondents are neutral to the view that the use of personal smart
phone affects their productivity. 13 respondents disagreed that the usage of the personal smart
phone affects their productivity at the workplace. Only 2 respondents show strong
disagreement towards the usage of the personal smart phone affects their productivity at the
workplace. It is also identified that 8 respondents have a strong agreement towards the usage
of personal smart phone has a significant impact on their productivity at the workplace.

The advancement in the technology has resulted in the use of smart phones for the purpose of
storing information related to meeting minutes and e-mails during the conduction of the team
meetings. This helps in the storage of the required information for long time which can be
referred and use in the future period. The above graph indicates that 37 respondents agreed
that the use of personal smart phones should be allowed to be used in team meetings for the
purpose of e-mails and meeting minutes. Apart from this, 13 respondents are strongly agreed
that the organization should allow the use of personal smart phones during meetings for the
purpose of recording meeting minutes and e-mails. 5 respondents show a strong disagreement
towards the allowing the use of personal smart phone during meetings for the purpose of
meeting minutes and e-mails. 17 respondents are disagreed towards the usage of the smart
phones for meeting minutes and e-mails during team meetings. 28 respondents are neutral
towards the fact that the allowance of the usage of the personal smart phone for the purpose
of meeting minutes and e-mails during team meetings.

It is identified that the use of smart phone will result in improving the efficiency of the
employees in the organization. The above pie chart indicates that majority of the respondents
i.e. 38 respondents believe that the usage of the smart phone would result in improving their
efficiency at the workplace. It is also found out that 31 respondents are neutral towards the
use of smart phone would improve their efficiency in the organization. 15 respondents out of
100 show their disagreement towards the usage of the smart phone improves their efficiency
at the work place. Only 2 respondents show their strong disagreement towards the usage of
the smart phone would improve their work efficiency. 14 respondents are strongly agreed that
the use of smart phone has helped in improving their work efficiency.

It is identified that majority of the respondents i.e. 35 respondents belong to the age group of
18-24 years. Along with this, 27 respondents belong to the age group of 25-29 years. 16
respondents belong to the age group of 30-34 years. 10 respondents belong to the age group
of 35-39 years. 7 respondents are in the range of the age group of 40-44 years. 5 respondents
belong to age group of more than 45 years.
It is identified from the above graph that 49 respondents are male and 49 respondents are
females and 2 respondents do not have provided the information related to their gender. This

indicates that there is a presence of equal number of males and females in the total sample of
the research study.
The above graph indicates that 42.4% of the respondents are associated with the
accommodation and food service sector. In addition to this, 19.2% of the respondents are
associated with the retail industry. Along with this, 14.1% of the respondents are associated
with the health care and social assistance. Remaining of the respondents are associated with
varied type of industries such as hospitality, finance, education, customer service,
professional services, aged care, media, not for profit, graphic designer, construction, higher
education, public sector, pharmacy, tourism, marketing and so on.

Correlation Analysis amongst responses of various questions of the survey:
X1
*X2
X3 *
X4
X7 *
X5
X8 *
X9
X12
*
X15
X11
* X6
X11
*
X10
X11
*
X13
X11
*
X14
X11
*
X15
X11
*
X16
Correlation
Coefficient
.527 .502 .423 .588 .301 .736 .489 .494 .312 .363 .713
Significance .000 .437 .349 .000 .274 .908 .012 .009 .991 .059 .215
To do the correlation analysis, some random pairs out of questions X1 to X16 have been
made and using SPSS, value of correlation and significance of correlation is calculated. This
data for 11 such pair analysis has been presented in the above table. Value of correlation
coefficient varies from 0.3 to 0.7 while most of these value are around 0.5. Similarly,
significance amongst question variables is not reasonably significant except in certain cases
like X11*X16 and X11*X14.

Recommendations
For Policymakers
It is recommended that it is essential for the policy makers to identify the different problems
that have occurred due to the use of smart phones by the employees for the personal
purposes. This can be done by engaging different members of the organization in the form of
the attainment of the feedback from them by considering their views and opinions in an
effective manner (Derks, van Duin, Tims and Bakker, 2015). This in turn helps in the
formation of the policy regarding the usage of the smart phone for the personal purposes that
can be easily and effectively implemented in the organization. It is recommended that the
policymakers should develop a policy for the back office operations employees to use their
smart phones during break time in the office. Along with this on the other hand for sales
person, there is no need for limiting the usage of the smart phones as their role is to contact
with the customers in order to generate sales and profits of the company. It is also required by
the policy makers to motivate the front desk employees and sales people to make greater use
of their smart phones as it facilitates in improving their work efficiency (Derks, Bakker,
Peters and van Wingerden, 2016).
Organization Decision Makers
It is recommended to the decision makers in the organization that they should communicate
the rules, regulations and policies to the employees framed by the policy makers in a
simplified manner in order to provide them clarity regarding it which in turn helps in
improving their productivity and performance in an effective manner. It is also essential for

the decision makers such as superiors and senior managers to monitor the activities carried
out by the employees in order to find the reasons behind the excessive use of the smart
phones and impose penalty on them if they are found out to use smart phone for personal
purposes other than during breaks (Lee, Chang, Lin and Cheng, 2014).
Individuals
It is also suggested that the managers should provide flexibility to the employees and allow
them to use their smart phones during working hours. This in turn helps them to make a
balance between their work and life. Along with this, it can also be suggested that the
provision of flexibility and engagement of the employees in the decision making process
helps in the occurrence of the self motivation among them regarding improvement in their
performance and productivity. The provision of the flexibility to the employees results in the
decline in the usage of the smart phones by them as they are intrinsically motivated to not to
use or reduce the usage of the smart phones during the work timings (Haug, Castro, Kwon,
Filler, Kowatsch and Schaub, 2015).
It is also recommended that the management of the organization should also create a separate
place where the employees can place their smart phones in a safe manner so that their
productivity cannot be hampered and the company can utilize its core competencies in an
effective manner. However, it is also suggested that the company should prohibit or restrict
the access to the sites which has been observed as the platforms mainly use by the employees
for their personal purposes in order to improve the concentration power of the employees in
an effective manner (Anshari and Alas, 2015).
Limitations

This research study is limited to the usage of the smart phone by the individuals at the
workplace and does not include the impact of the excessive usage of the smart phone in other
places on their lifestyle and health. Apart from this, there is a use of survey through
questionnaire method which is considered as time consuming and may face a limitation of the
reluctance of the respondents to provide their views and opinions related to the different
aspects of the research topic due to the fear of sharing of the personal information with other
people.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the usage of smartphones, now a days are regarded as the
counterproductive to the performance of the employees. Moreover, it has been monitored that
the employees find using smart phones provides them the opportunities of smart work and
this is in turn making them more efficient. The usage of smart phones might better for
personal needs but not for the growth of firms as a whole. It can be summarized that
excessive use of the smart phones by the employees in the organization for personal purposes
hampers their productivity which is mainly influenced by the type of job and industry they
associated with.

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