How has cyber technology created opportunities for workplace deviance?

Deviance in the workplace is defined as the intent to disrupt the organization of the workplace by committing any acts that can be deemed malicious. This can include things such as bullying, sexual harassment, or hostility towards the workplace in general. Cyber technology has been instrumental in creating more opportunities for deviance inside the workplace. When you mix workplace deviance with cyber technology there are a lot of things that can go with this. You can experience things like cybercrimes, cyberbullying, or cyberloafing. Cyberloafing is defined as employees using the internet in the workplace for personal reasons but still pretending to be working. We often see behavior like this when employees are terminated or otherwise unhappy with their workplace. Unhappiness with the workplace can easily cause something like cyberloafing. Employees often find themselves “bored” at work and then spend their time using social media sites or doing things like shopping. This can be harmful to the workplace because websites like that can leave a company much more susceptible to malicious acts through things like links and attachments. Employees who are unhappy with the workplace or their coworkers/management can also begin to do things like cyberbullying. This means someone is attempting to threaten or bully someone electronically. This can be especially harmful to employee morale. One of the biggest problems with workplace deviance, especially when it comes to employees who are terminated or have negative feelings towards the workplace, is cybercrimes. Examples of this could include someone choosing to sell their login information to hackers which would make it so that data and sensitive information is compromised. It could also cause issues for companies because it could give rival companies the advantage. All of these behaviors are things that are amplified by the fact that cyber technology is so big now in many workplaces of different kinds. While things like workplace deviance is something that can occur with or without technological advancements, cyber technology has made these acts easier to both do and get away with.
 
 
Schroeder, A. N., & Whitaker, J. H. (2018). An examination of workplace cyberdeviance. In J. H. Dulebohn & D. L. Stone, Research in human resource management. The brave new world of eHRM 2.0 (p. 279–312). IAP Information Age Publishing.