RESEARCH INSIGHT
Endless Zoom meetings, a relentless flood of emails, and the constant social media pings—both work and home life are increasingly consumed by technology. While some adapt seamlessly, others struggle with the unyielding demands of the digital age. How bad is it? A recent paper explores the impact of “technostressors”, showing how these digital intrusions not only impair employee performance but may even drive some to cyberdeviance—behaviours harmful to their employers and colleagues.
While technology offers immense benefits, it comes at a steep cost. Up to 40% of employees face mental exhaustion from workplace tech, while in Singapore, 70% suffer from data overload, leading to an estimated $5.1 billion in lost productivity. The effects of technostressors such as “techno-overload” (when employees are pushed to work harder and faster) and “techno-invasion” (which keeps employees reachable 24/7)—on productivity and morale are welldocumented. Yet, these stressors can also have a more pernicious effect. Blending a lack of social presence and control over technology with expectations of constant connectivity, these technostressors have led to 87% of employees spending seven hours a day on screens and significant increases in after-hours work. Overwhelmed, some may then engage in cyberdeviance, from minor (cyberloafing and computer misuse) to serious and even illegal such as insider attacks, data breaches, and personal attacks on colleagues.
Recogonising the dynamic and episodic nature of technostressors, researchers combined insights from the Transactional Model of Stress, a well-established theoretical foundation, explaining how individuals handle workplace stress, with a self-regulation perspective (individuals’ ability to control themselves) to assess how technostressors contribute to cyberdeviance. After surveying 188 Chinese knowledge workers in telecommunication, internet services, and graphic design at three points each day over two weeks, the study identified daily exhaustion as a key driver: as technostress saps energy and psychological resources,
employees’ ability to self-regulate weakens, leading to hopelessness and a higher likelihood of deviant behavior toward. Even worse, exhaustion from technostressors today may carry into the next day, as employees’ inability to disconnect also disrupts home life.
Finding a proper solution is far from simple. While an employee’s technology self-efficacy can alleviate the daily exhaustion induced by daily techno-overload, it fails to offset the lingering impact of the previous day’s tech intrusion and exhaustion. One possible reason is that workers still need to keep up with technological demands—especially in the Chinese context where employees are “always ready” to respond to any work emergency requiring their attention.
To combat cyberdeviance induced by technostress, companies should focus on creating a more relaxed work environment and design tools that reduce technostress, such as providing more frequent breaks and respecting employees’ time after work. Offering emotional management programmes and stress-coping strategies is also crucial. Additionally, hiring and training employees with strong tech skills is also critical, as this can serve as a buffer against technostress.
Time to go back to WeChat. Work is awaiting!
Prof. Christy M. K. CHEUNG Chair Professor Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems
The High Cost of
Wang, L. (2024). Partisan conflict and corporate credit spreads: The role of political connection. Journal of Corporate Finance, 84, 102526.
As the U.S.’s election looms, the escalating partisanship is a constant reminder of how political divisions can disrupt decisionmaking. Since the Obama era, polarised factions and gridlocked government have increasingly hampered the functioning of key American institutions. This political strife has spilled over into the private sector, particularly affecting companies and industries vulnerable to shifts in government policy. A new paper explores how partisan conflict affects the credit spreads of firms and industries whose prospects are closely tied to governmental fluctuations.
From fracking and immigration to free trade and defence, political conflicts are escalating across various sectors. As traditional consensus fades, the fortunes of many firms increasingly hinge on the ebb and flow of political dynamics. For instance, the oil industry often back candidates opposed to those preferred by renewable energy companies. Combining a partisan conflict index—derived from US news, political donations by executives and firms as well as government spending patterns—with data on corporate bonds and financial returns, volatility, economic expectations and various economic and political uncertainty metrics, the research uses corporate credit spreads (the difference in yield between corporate bonds and Treasury notes of similar maturity) to evaluate how political developments impact the cost of doing business for politically exposed firms.
It turns out that political involvement has real financial consequences. Analysis of high political donations during periods of heightened conflict—such as the threat of a government shutdown in 2013 and Trump’s 2016 victory—reveals that politically-connected firms in certain sectors had to pay nearly 1% more on their debt to compensate for the perceived risk of their political exposure with a bond premium excess—the component of credit spreads not driven by the risk of default—of up to 8%. These firms often experienced a short-term deterioration in credit ratings. This widening of credit spreads (more pronounced for
speculative-grade bonds) doesn’t necessarily signal a higher risk of bankruptcy but reflects the premium investors demand for holding politically risky debt. The good news is that this effect is short-lived, fading within three months as political tensions ease.
Still, it’s clear that political conflict does make investors more risk-averse, thereby reducing decision-making efficiency, destabilising business conditions and increasing economic uncertainty. In addition to widening credit spreads, this environment can lead to a contraction in credit supply, particularly for politically sensitive companies. Companies facing political conflict also tend to avoid debt financing, opting instead to issue equity—a move that can force them to delay investments as they struggle to secure capital.
As the November election nears, executives and firms are being courted by both Donald TRUMP and Kamala HARRIS. With investors closely tracking the political landscape, companies might want to think twice about the consequences of public endorsements. After all, as basketball icon Michael JORDAN famously remarked when justifying his apolitical stance: “Republicans buy sneakers, too.”
Dr. Liyao WANG Assistant Professor Department of Accountancy, Economics and
Students Win Bronze at 2024 JingNiuHui Cup
A team of students from the HKBU School of Business has garnered remarkable recognition by winning the Bronze Award at the 2024 JingNiuHui Cup Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition (JingNiuHui Cup). Held at the Maker Centre of the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (UIC) in Zhuhai on 28 September 2024, the final competition featured strong contenders, including six UIC teams and two additional HKBU teams from different faculties.
The EZone Project team, composed of three MSc in Entrepreneurship and Global Marketing (MScEGM) students, PANG Boling, CAI Wenxin, and BAI Haowen, distinguished itself by proposing an innovative digital platform designed to leverage social connections to enhance global study paths. This concept not only earned them the Bronze Award but also followed their earlier achievement as Second Runner-up at the School’s Dean’s Cup Business Innovation Gymnasium (BIG) 9.0, a competition focused on helping students to develop and showcase their business ideas. This earlier success led to their nomination for the JingNiuHui Cup.
Dr. Marta DOWEIKO, Assistant Dean (Global Engagement) and Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre (EIC), was invited to judge the competition and deliver a speech. She praised the innovative ideas presented and expressed enthusiasm for future collaborations between the UIC and HKBU to foster more achievements.
Additionally, two other HKBU teams from different faculties received accolades, including the Silver Award and the Consolation Prize, for their creative projects.
Since its inception in 2018, the JingNiuHui Cup has been a key event in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This year’s competition highlighted the innovative abilities and entrepreneurial spirit of students from both institutions, offering participants broader development opportunities and enhanced resource support.
Prof. Christy CHEUNG Awarded Hong Kong Scholars Program 2024
The HKBU School of Business is proud to announce that Prof. Christy CHEUNG, Chair Professor of the Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems, has been awarded funding through the Hong Kong Scholars Program 2024. A postdoctoral fellow from the Mainland, known as the "Hong Kong Scholar", will join Prof. CHEUNG's research team and work on an RGC/NSFC funded project titled “Understanding Users’ Deep Engagement and Deviant Behaviors in Metaverse through the Sociotechnical Perspective: A Mixed-Methods Research Approach”.
The “Hong Kong Scholars Program”, jointly established by the Society of Hong Kong Scholars and the China National Postdoctoral Council under the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, aims to harness the combined talents and research resources of Hong Kong and the Mainland to train exceptional postdoctoral fellows. These postdoctoral fellows, known as “Hong Kong Scholars”, will come to Hong Kong to begin their postdoctoral research under the guidance of professors at various universities in the city. This Program aims to attract top-tier PhD graduates from leading Mainland universities, thereby fostering academic and scientific exchanges and collaboration between Hong Kong and the Mainland.
This recognition highlights the School of Business’s dedication to advancing high-level research and promoting academic excellence. Prof. CHEUNG’s achievement reflects the School’s commitment to fostering innovation and encouraging collaborative scholarship.
Dr. Sibo LIU
Associate Professor Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance
Participation and Upgrading Along Global Value Chains: The Role of Audit Oversight
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00719-1
Christy M. K. CHEUNG
Chair Professor Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems
Ethical Issues and Unintended Consequences of Digitalization and Platformization
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02683962241282515
Prof.
Upcoming EVENTS
Date Speaker Topic Department
5 Dec 2024
14:00-15:30 WLB917
Dr. Dan SU
Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business
Global Change in Corporate Production Function
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The Research Espresso, a bimonthly e-publication covering everything you need to know about the latest research developments at the HKBU School of Business, focuses on four key areas: Research Insights (the main research topic of the month), Research Excellence (recognition of faculty members’ research achievements), News (research-related updates), and Seminars (sharing research skills and knowledge).
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