Workplace computerization and the quality of working life : the case of the finance industry in Hong Kong

Abstract

Past studies of computerization and quality of working life (QWL) are criticized for sole reliance on the positivist paradigm. To extend the understanding, this research has adopted the bottom-up and user-centered approaches to explore the actual meanings of good quality of work life and the perceived computer impacts among computer users in the finance industry. The notion of work-life balance is introduced, seeking to contribute to the work life research development. The eighteen-interviewee sample contains both sexes, spreads across front-line and back office jobs as well as managerial and general positions, and includes both young and middle-aged employees. Through using qualitative interview method, two unique work life and computing orientations are discovered. The inherent diversity of workforce is reflected in the conservative- developmental divide in work life values and the passive-active dispositional difference in computer adoption between middle-aged and young workers, which result in two different views on QWL and computer impact. Computerization is perceived as both facilitating and obstructing the realization of different dimensions of QWL. The results directly feed back on recent interests in the digital divide and the cultural experience of computing within the social sciences community.