Supervising employee misuse of information systems in the workplace: an organizational behavior study

Insider Information Systems (IS) misuse is increasingly forcing organizations to enhance security in the workplace. This study examines the moderating role of both the employees’ liking of their supervisor (ELS) and their satisfaction with their supervisor’s performance (ESP) in the relationship between supervisor’s interactional justice (IJ) and IS misuse. The model suggests that ELS and ESP stimulate the theoretically IJ’s weak ability to directly deter IS misuse. Data were collected from 270 (17.46%) of the 1,547 teachers of a Spanish university. Hierarchical Regression results supported that ELS and ESP act as moderators of the IJ–IS misuse link. The employees with high, as compared to low ESP, reciprocated to IJ with less IS misuse. Unexpectedly, employees with comparatively high ELS, before IJ, revealed more IS misuse. Predicted three-way interaction dissuaded IS misuse. The findings support employee’s supervisory perceptions as a tool helping IS security.

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