How Behavioral Visibility Leads to Disempowerment and\nEmpowerment in Organizations: Evidence from Manufacturing

The use of digital technologies creates behavioral visibility: All sorts of behavioral activities generate digital traces that can be visualized and analyzed. Current research emphasizes the negative implications of behavioral visibility, such as when it leads to the surveillance of individual workers. I will present a case study of a European manufacturing company that established behavioral visibility through machine-based sensors to increase work performance and output quality. The findings suggest how the resulting behavioral visibility led to a paradoxical effect. Initially, workers felt disempowered because their performance was closely surveilled and controlled. However, over time, they also identified positive aspects and found means for empowerment. For example, workers found ways to use the obtained insights to their advantage. These findings extend and contribute to the emerging interest in behavioral visibility in organizations in various ways.