Workplace management and employee misuse: Does punishment matter?

With the ubiquitous deployment of Internet, workplace Internet misuse has raised increasing concern for organizations. Research has demonstrated employee reactions to monitoring systems and how they are implemented. However, little is known about the impact of punishment-related policies on employee intention to misuse Internet. To extend this line of research beyond prior studies, this paper proposes an integrated research model applying Theory of Planned Behavior, Deterrence Theory, and Theory of Ethics to examine the impact of punishment-related policy on employees' Internet misuse intentions. The results indicate that perceived importance, perceived behavioral control and subjective norms have significant influence on employee intention to avoid Internet misuse. Contrary to expectations, there is no support for the influence of punishment severity and punishment certainty.