The Effect of Mobile Device Management on Work-from-home Productivity: Insights from U.S. Public Firms

Authors

Jaecheol Park
Myunghwan Lee (Chinese University Hong Kong)
Gene Moo Lee (University of British Columbia)

Abstract

The use of mobile IT, providing employees with accessibility, flexibility, and connectivity, has become increasingly vital for businesses, especially for work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, despite its prevalence and importance in the industry, the business value of mobile device management (MDM) and its role in establishing digital resilience remain underexplored in the literature. To address this research gap, our study examines the effect of MDM on a firm’s resilience to the pandemic. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), we utilize novel proprietary data from a global MDM solution provider for U.S. public firms. We find that firms with MDM have better financial performance during the pandemic, demonstrating greater resilience to the shock. Additionally, we explore the moderating role of external and internal factors, revealing that firms with high environmental munificence or those with low IT capabilities experience greater resilience effects from MDM. Furthermore, we observe heterogeneous effects across industries that firms in industry sectors demanding greater mobility have a greater resilience effect from MDM. This study contributes to the information systems literature by emphasizing the business value of MDM and its crucial role in building digital resilience.

Keywords

Mobile IT, business value of IT, mobile device management, productivity, digital resilience, COVID-19 pandemic

Presentations

• UBC Sauder MIS Seminar Series 2023
• Montreal Symposium on Information Systems Research (MSISR) 2023
• KrAIS Summer Workshop 2023
• Bright Internet Global Summit (BIGS) 2023
• Workshop on e-Business (WeB) 2023 [Best Paper Nominee]
• Academy of Management (AOM) CTO 2024