BYOD Policies as a Negotiable Control Lever . . . or Not

Enterprise consumerization describes how technologies purchased by “enterprises” (i.e., organizations or companies) became consumer products. Mobile devices fall into this category because, as they became more affordable, individuals purchased them and brought them to work. As this trend proliferated, organizations had to protect their proprietary data, but their employees were clamoring for access to Wi-Fi. Their response: create bring-your-own-device-to-work (BYOD) policies. This chapter discusses human resources and global challenges surrounding BYOD policies. There are labor-law concerns at play, as well as national declarations that restrict mobile-device use outside of work hours. Furthermore, there’s still ongoing debate concerning who should be “allowed” to participate in BYOD. Readers are invited to consider that these policies have introduced a form of free control: individuals have flexibility in choosing their devices, but that freedom is also how people voluntarily participate in being controlled by organizations.