Citation

Abidin, Nadia and Gopinathan, Sharmini and Nathan, Robert Jeyakumar (2022) The Role of Wearable Technology & Health Applications in Work Life Balance Among Malaysian Employees. In: Postgraduate Social Science Colloquium 2022, 1 - 2 June 2022, Online.

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Abstract

Background - Technology has been a major contributor to achieving a suitable work-life balance (WLB) which include flexible working arrangements (Glucksmann & Nolan 2007). According to Warhust (2008), this inspiration eventually blurs the demarcation between the work and non-work domains resulting in progressive boundary porosity (McCloskey, 2016). Therefore, technology had a significant impact on business and has been practiced by millions of employees worldwide (Duxbury, Smart, & Rob, 2011) having a great impact on WLB. According to prior work (Tay, 2019), most Malaysian workers are involved in long working hours and almost half of them are considered overweight or obese. Consequently, this could also trigger stress among employees, and cause them to suffer from psychological distress that eventually has an impact on overall individual and organization performance. Purpose - We aim to examine the role of wearable technology such as smartwatches and several health applications that have been offered for achieving a WLB among Malaysian employees. Despite all the studies carried out on technology usage on WLB(Adisa, Gbadamosi, & Osabutey, 2017) (Fujimoto, Ferdaos, Sekiguchi, & Sugianto, 2016) (S.Brown & Palvia, 2015), the role of wearable technology and its health applications in achieving WLB has not received adequate attention, especially in monitoring employee’s mental and physical health. Employee health has become an important factor since it can bring negative consequences such as reduce work engagement, increase medical leaves influence absenteeism and presentism (Chan, et al., 2020). Research Methodology - In this study, snowball sampling was implemented to collect the data and a correlational study was carried out between the role of technology and human behaviour towards adopting new technologies that influence personal health in achieving WLB among Malaysian workers. A set of questionnaires was created using Google Forms, and will be distributed using social media platforms. In addition, positivism philosophy will be implemented using a deductive approach (quantitative data) and a relevant sample size will be derived using G Power. We will develop hypotheses by using existing theories such as the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use Technology 2 (UTAUT2) and the Herzberg Two Factor Motivational Theory. This study will also take place in a non-contrived setting, as it will be conducted in a natural environment without any interference by the researcher. The data will then be analysed using SPSS and AMOS. Research Contribution - This study could potentially contribute to society by educating Malaysian workers in achieving a healthy balance between work and life, as well as to change the mindset of how important employee welfare is to a company’s performance. It can also decrease employee’s’ retention, which could cause losing valuable knowledge. Besides, this research could offer a solution to retention distress and keep Malaysian employees closely aligned with their targeted productivity and motivation. Additionally, this study can provide a new perspective for future scholars in merging two independent well-known theories. Research Limitations - An individual’s financial status is a major limitation in the adoption of new technology, and could potentially hinder the intention of this research. Furthermore, the size and battery of technology limitations are prevailed, as it takes discipline in maintaining battery life. Finally, this study will not cover the entire Malaysian worker population. Originality - Combining the UTAUT2 and Herzberg Two Factor Motivational Theory in explaining work life balance, especially in Malaysia which has never been conducted before.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	overweight or obesity, Wearable technology, work life balance, personal health, long working hours
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine
Divisions:	Faculty of Management (FOM)
Depositing User:	Ms Rosnani Abd Wahab
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2022 06:10
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2022 06:10
URII:	http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/id/eprint/10404

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