Tech Ready Yet Emotionally Drained: Unraveling the Multilevel Dynamics of Top Management Team Boundary Control and Formalization in Organizations

Technological readiness (TR) is crucial in the contemporary digital work environment, although its relationship with employees’ well-being remains ambiguous. While TR is often assumed to benefit health by fostering both adaptability and competence, we question whether, and if so, under what conditions, it alleviates or exacerbates strain. Drawing on job demands–resources theory and upper echelons theory, we conceptualize TR as a personal resource and then develop and test a multilevel model in which its relationship with emotional exhaustion depends on unit-level formalization and organizational-level top management team boundary control (TMTBC). The findings of a large-scale, multi-source study of 2,267 employees nested in 1,547 units across 80 German small and medium-sized enterprises largely support our hypotheses, indicating that although TR is conceptualized as a personal resource, its association with emotional exhaustion depends on the interplay of unit-level structures and organizational-level norms. More specifically, TR is associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion if it is not supported by formalization and TMTBC. From a practical perspective, we provide guidance for organizations on how to effectively leverage TR while remaining mindful that it may be associated with higher levels of emotional exhaustion among employees.