Executives and smartphones: an ambiguous relationship

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate whether the technological paradoxes identified and prevalent in a series of technologies are also identified in the relationship between executives and smartphones, as well as which of these paradoxes is most strongly detected in this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: It was adopted the simple case study method, in which the individual is the unit of analysis. Therefore, a medium-sized company that operates in the Brazilian pharmaceutical market was chosen since the majority of its senior executives use the smartphone as a tool in their day-to-day work. Findings: Two paradoxes generated strong ambiguity regarding the use of smartphones by the executives, namely continuity vs asynchronicity and autonomy vs addiction. Furthermore, three other paradoxes were moderately associated with the use of smartphones by the executives, namely freedom vs enslavement, dependence vs independence, and planning vs improvisation. Research limitations/implications: By using only one organisation in the case study, the generalisation of results might be prejudiced. Practical implications: The identification of technological paradoxes provides input for the development of strategies aimed at minimising these ambiguities on the part of executives. Originality/value: This paper not only identified some smartphone-enabled paradoxes among Brazilian executives, but also established an approach to measure the intensity of these paradoxes.