Abstract:
Work - related smartphones can have a significant impact on Digital Natives' perception of their Work - Life Balance. The current thesis attempts to explore the psychological contract and emotional relationship Digital Natives have with their work - related smartphones, and how this impacts their expectations and experiences of Work - Life Balance. The study took an interpretive stance, conducting semi - structured interviews with Digital Native employees in two different South Korean marketing organisations. The key findings portrayed how this cohort has a different relationship with their smartphones, and how that relationship creates different expectations to their work - related use of smartphones. The results indicated how these expectations were mismatching with their current organisation, and possible reasons for the mismatch. The key theoretical implication discussed in this thesis compares its findings to past studies, and highlights that psychological contracts in association with work - related use of smartphones, influences perceptions of Work-Life Balance through pre - existing social pressures shaping the use of technology rather than the technology's force itself shaping an entirely new societal norm. The practical implication drawn from the study is that Digital Natives' sense of an absence of autonomy in their use of work – related smartphones, caused by the social pressure, has created perceptions of work-life imbalance, greater stress and some bitterness with relation to work – life infiltration.