Description

Privacy poses a challenge to companies, which strive to strike a balance between economic interests and moral obligations. Employees claim their right to privacy, but economic reasoning seems to warrant restrictions of employee privacy, since less privacy means more control. However, is there really a conflict between privacy and profit? In his study Andreas Ostermaier investigates effects of employee privacy that are in line with company interests and thus might resolve the conflict between privacy and profit. Specifically, the author investigates how intrinsic motivation, creativity, and job satisfaction are related to privacy. It turns out that employees who can achieve as much privacy as they desire are more motivated and more satisfied with their job. The study contributes to the ongoing debate about privacy in organizations as well as society at large. It introduces a measure to quantify the manifold aspects of privacy and finds support for positive effects of privacy, but also shows that these effects are not obvious. The study is therefore a first step toward making the business case for employee privacy.