Consumer IT at Work: Development and Test of an IT Empowerment Model

The consumerization of IT is gaining momentum. Employees bring their smartphones, notebooks and tablets into the workplace—and with these devices, a growing toolbox of applications. Google Apps, Skype, Dropbox and many others emerge, often pushing aside technologies provided by the IT department. In bypassing the IT department employees seize the power to decide which IT tool best fits their job need. In this study, we define and explicate the concept of IT empowerment, i.e., the level of authority an employee assumes in utilizing IT in order to control or improve aspects of his job, and test the resultant model in the context of IT consumerization. Surveying 529 employees, we find support for a multi-faceted construct, consisting of IT meaning, IT competency, IT self-determination and IT impact. We also find evidence that IT empowerment is a strong precursor for explaining the level of consumer IT usage within the organization.