The Power of Integration Towards Sustainable Performance: A Model to Minimize Technostress Among Frontline Restaurant Employees by Combining Job and Employee Resources

Abstract

To develop a model that integrates restaurant and employee resources to overcome technostress and achieve sustainable performance. This qualitative study is based on twenty-two semi-structured interviews with restaurant managers and frontline employees (FLEs) to comprehensively understand how restaurant resources and personnel can be employed to combat technostress and achieve sustainable performance. Restaurant FLEs experience technostress from multiple sources, including unclear work-life boundaries, complex new systems, job insecurity, and the frequent use of new technologies. In addition, restaurant managers and FLEs concur that integrating restaurant and FLE resources is an effective model for reducing technostress and achieving FLEs' sustainable performance. The study expands the JD-R model to address the challenges faced by FLEs in managing technology-induced job demands, offering a comprehensive solution that benefits restaurants and employees. This approach considers the role of both employers and employees in managing technostress, leading to a supportive work environment and improved sustainable performance.

Post-Pandemic Digital Transformation: Mitigating Technostress and Increasing Well-Being in the Hospitality Industry via the Person-Technology Fit Model

“…Technostress refers to the adverse physiological reactions' individuals experience from using technology at the workplace (Hassanin et al, 2023). According to Christ-Brendemühl and Schaarschmidt (2020), technostress is a common negative in today's digital world.…”

“…Additionally, malfunctioning technology can cause frustration or anxiety, mainly if it negatively affects the customer's experience (Shi et al, 2024). Also, lack of support or training for using new technologies in the workplace can contribute to technostress (Hassanin et al, 2023).…”

“…Tourism and hospitality research on technostress has identified several types of technostress (e.g., information overload, constant connectivity, techno-invasion, techno-complexity, and techno-uncertainty) (Christ-Brendemühl, 2022;Hassanin et al, 2023;Shi et al, 2024). First, information overload occurs when individuals are exposed to too much information, making it difficult to process and prioritize what is essential (Wu et al, 2022).…”

“…The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the pace of technology adoption in the restaurant industry, driving the implementation of digital solutions for contactless ordering, payment, and delivery to meet evolving customer preferences and safety concerns (Helal, 2023). Digital transformation has become essential for operational efficiency (Baiyere et al, 2020), enhancing the customer experience (Cichosz et al, 2020), and increasing competitiveness within modern hospitality businesses (Hassanin et al, 2023). Digital transformation is a complete process involving integrating digital technology, data, and automation into different elements of a hospitality business's operations, strategies, and business models to improve performance, efficiency, and competitiveness (Helal, 2023;Kumar et al, 2023).…”

“…Nevertheless, combined with the benefits digital transformation provides, the increasing reliance on technology within the hospitality industry has also presented a significant obstacle (Helal and Saleh, 2024), for example, technostress among employees (Shi et al, 2024). Technostress is a phenomenon that encompasses the experience of anxiety, dissatisfaction, and overwhelm arising from using technology in the workplace (Hassanin et al, 2023;Khedhaouria et al, 2024).…”