ICT-Based Boundary Management by Individuals: A Longitudinal Investigation

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Gisela Gerlach
• Subject Area: Operations Management and Computer Science for Business Administration ; Management and Marketing
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 561325013

Managing the boundaries between work and non-work life (short: boundary management) is of central importance for individuals, organizations and society. Today, individuals manage these boundaries to a large extent with the help of information and communication technologies (ICT). However, prior research on individual ICT-based boundary management has fundamental limitations and therefore does not provide an adequate answer to the question of how individuals use ICT to shape the boundaries between work and non-work life. The aim of this project is to develop a comprehensive and empirically based understanding of how individuals use ICT to manage their boundaries between work and non-work life. In particular, the project aims to shed light on how individuals use the multitude of available ICT to realize their preferred boundary design and what interactions exist between these ICT with regard to various individual outcomes (e.g., work life balance). The project will also explore how individual ICT-based boundary management develops over time, especially against the backdrop of fundamentally changing life circumstances (e.g., birth of a child, taking on a management position). This dynamic perspective also seeks to shed light on the role that ICT and its characteristics can play in adapting established behavioral patterns of ICT-based boundary management with respect to changing life circumstances and the associated changes in preferences or demands for boundary setting. To achieve these goals, we will conduct inductive construct development and theory building based on qualitative data. To this end, 60 to 70 study participants will be interviewed at four points in time over a period of up to two years. These recurring, consecutive interviews allow for following the participants over a longer period of time, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the behaviors related to individual ICT-based boundary management, their effects, and how they dynamically change over time. The findings of this project can make an important contribution to developing a holistic approach for a beneficial ICT-based management of the boundaries between work and non-work life that takes into account the interdependencies and interactions between different ICTs. Furthermore, the findings can help individuals to better adapt their ICT-based boundary management to changing life circumstances over time and break ingrained behavioral patterns in the process.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants