1 Introduction

In a network society dominated by the Internet, there is nowadays hardly any area in which Internet-based social networks play no role at all [1]. In the course of the dynamic technological progress and the associated integration of digital channels, the importance of digital exchange via social media, especially in companies, continues to increase [2, 3]. Through the use of social networking sites, microblogging services or the intranet, both micro-enterprises and the Fortune 500 benefit from process optimization, collaborative project management and exchange with business partners, customers and suppliers [4]. At the same time, the internal use of social media in the workplace not only accelerates communication and strengthens interaction, but also brings new challenges for employees and companies [5, 6].

Particularly with regard to organizational requirements and ethical principles of companies, the use of social media has a considerable influence [6, 7].

One ethical area that has been the focus of research and public attention in recent decades is sexual harassment in companies [8, 9]. As a well-known, widespread ethical problem with far-reaching consequences for organizations, companies and employees, a lot of attention has already been paid to sexual harassment in the workplace. Although many companies have already recognized the relevance of sexual harassment in the workplace [10], the prevention of sexually harassing behavior with regard to compliant use in social media is not represented in all companies [11].

In relevant literature, the effects of sexual harassment on workers and businesses have frequently been discussed [8, 12]. In addition, the research already offers some studies on the different forms, characteristics of sexual harassment and the occurrence sexually harassing behavior in various environments [13, 14].

The influence on the occurrence of sexual harassment in the workplace with regard to the use of social media on the other hand has neither been researched nor empirically investigated in many areas.

According to the present problem and existing literature the aim of this article is to broaden scientific knowledge about the situational factors that influence sexual harassment at work in the context of social media use. Based on existing research results from sociology, psychology and economic ethics, an interdisciplinary perspective is to be adopted in order to investigate a multitude of influencing of sexual harassment. With the help of proposals, solutions approaches for the in-house prevention of sexual harassment via social media at the workplace are to be created.

2 Theoretical Background

2.1 Sexual Harassment

Harassment of a sexual nature can be perceived and evaluated differently by those involved and neutral persons on the basis of typically subjective and objective components [15]. On the basis of subjective assessment, it is difficult to define the concept of sexual harassment in a uniform way. Fitzgerald, Swan & Magley provide a comprehensive definition of sexual harassment as an unwanted, sexually suggestive behavior that aims at gender-specific devaluation and violation of the dignity of a target or leads directly to gender-specific devaluation [8].

Sexual harassment can be divided into three distinct categories [16]. The first form of harassment based on gender, which contains unwelcome comments and comments that insult people because of their gender and gender-specific degrading comments. The second form of unwanted sexual attention, which is defined by undesirable behaviors, such as the communication of sexual desires, as well as by behavior and commentary, which desires sexual acts. The third form of sexual coercion which, in addition to the psychological pressure exerted, primarily describes undesirable physical harassment, such as physical contact [16, 17]. All forms of sexual harassment can occur both offline and online [17]. One variant of sexual harassment via online channels, which has increased considerably in recent years, is so-called textual harassment. Textual harassment refers to the writing and sending of inappropriate and unsolicited messages [18, 19].

In the psychological models that examine different variables to explain the occurrence of sexual harassment, a theoretical model emerged from a socio-psychological point of view, which is used to explain the occurrence of sexual harassment [20]. Pryor et al. provide an explanation of the emergence of sexual harassment in their model on the likelihood of the occurrence of sexual harassment. In the model was described that multiple factors influence the occurrence of sexually harassing behavior [21,22,23] and links the occurrence of sexual harassment with multiple factors from personal and situational components [24]. The model has been widely used over the past twenty years to explain the factors influencing sexual harassment [17, 22, 23, 25] and is also used in this article as a basis for identifying contextual factors influencing sexual harassment.

Due to the fact that the subject matter of this article is related to the workplace, special attention is paid to the sphere of influence of the organization in this article.

In the organizational context, sexual harassment at the workplace is defined by the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as follows: “Unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature […], where such conduct expressly or implicitly impairs a person’s employment or performance inappropriately or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working atmosphere.” [26]. In contrast to the general definition of sexual harassment, eeoc integrates the influence of sexual harassment on work performance and working atmosphere into the definition of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment in the workplace can be defined as unethical behavior, since sexual harassment is a violation of laws and social norms [27]. Violations of an organization’s ethical values in the form of sexual harassment may occur among peers or quid pro quo, e.g. by superiors [28].

2.2 Social Media

Social media is the umbrella term for “Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content” [29, p. 61]. Social media platforms provide a mechanism for users that enables them to network, communicate and interact digitally with the aid of various features [30]. The platforms are offered in many different forms, such as blogs and microblogs, platforms for media exchange, social networks and forums [31].

The use of social media platforms in the workplace is widespread [11] thereby, the majority of employees of those companies that use social media consider social media to be useful for their work [32]. Basically, the social media platforms used in companies can be divided into two types of use. The first type is for internal communication, such as the intranet and the second type for communication with the focus on external parties, such as Facebook or Twitter [33]. The internal use of social media enables the networking of employees and cross-company interaction [34]. The added value of in-house use of social media can be quantified through enterprise-wide collaboration, cross-functional knowledge exchange, interdisciplinary innovation management, preadaptive agility enhancement and activating change management [5]. External social media platforms as Facebook or Twitter allow the use of several social media applications to communicate with customers, suppliers or the public [33], whereby the external platforms are often also used for communication within the workplace [11].

Communication via digital channels and, in particular, the use of social media at the workplace has led to a change in the workplace. The traditional workplace, which is characterized by typical physical characteristics such as classic office space, has changed over the past few decades due to the integration and increasing use of digital channels. The new concept of workplaces, which is characterized by digitization, is not only limited to physical components, but is also being extended in that the new concept of workplaces is increasingly being decoupled from the fixed physical definition of the location [35]. Integration and the increasing use of digital channels [36] will increase the flexibility of workers to work from almost anywhere and at any time [35]. Home working models, work in coworking spaces, crowdworking and cloudworking can be realized in this way and contribute to a location-independent and time-flexible way of working.

3 Propositions

The following proposals are intended to provide a framework for an overview of the specific situational factors that influence the behavior of sexual harassment in the workplace through social media.

According to a PEW Research Study 2016, many employees have already used external social media platforms, such as Facebook, for work-related topics [11]. The dilemma with the use of external social platforms such as Facebook in the workplace is above all that the user presents his or her profile as a business card. While in reality it is possible to switch between private and business personality, there is a hybrid through the Facebook profile [37, 38]. Social media accordingly supports the dissolution of the borders between work and leisure [39]. By blurring these areas, professional and private contacts are increasingly merging. Consequently, the ambivalent use of social media strengthens the blurring of the boundaries between private and professional life [40].

Proposition 1:

The use of external social media platforms leads to a blurring of private and professional life.

The fusion of private and professional life through the use of social media presents companies with a multitude of new challenges. Since people have different roles depending on the location and recipient of the interaction, they behave differently in the work environment than in their private surroundings. This schizophrenic social behavior is limited by the transparency and speed of the flow of information via social media platforms and blurs these roles [38]. In addition, codes of conduct and values of social media that violate the Code of Conduct can be transferred to employees’ behavior [41]. The blurring of boundaries resulting from the use of social media platforms can therefore have a negative impact on the ethical behavior of employees through the disappearance of social roles.

Proposition 2:

The blurring of the boundaries between the private and professional lifes can lead to unethical behavior in the workplace.

Social media is the most commonly used online communication channel for online harassment [11]. Basically, the use of digital channels for sexual harassment is interesting for several reasons. Social media appear to offer potential victims less protection through blurred legal boundaries, lack of supervisory bodies and sanctions [17].

Another factor that leads to unethical behavior in the use of social media is restrictive legal aspects and regulations in the social media platforms. Unclear legislation and competences create a seemingly lawless area in which the perpetrators apparently have no legal restrictions to fear [42]. In addition, Kaptein assumes that the risk of unethical behavior is even higher, the greater the discretion of the employees and less the organizational frame of reference of an organization [43].

Proposition 3:

The use of social media at the workplace can lead to unethical behavior due to unclear regulations.

Social media platforms create opportunities for communication and interaction. Communication via social media basically comprises the exchange and transmission of information, which, in contrast to offline communication, takes place with the help of a medium. Offline communication is typically characterized by simultaneousness, i.e. synchronicity of exchange and aspects of non-verbal conversation such as body language, eye contact, tone of voice and posture [44]. The use of social media, implies a number of peculiarities compared to offline communication due to media integration and the typical features of digital channels. Due to the media usage and the lack of physical contact between communication and interaction participants, typical non-verbal conversation characteristics are decoupled from communication. Accordingly, communication via social media has a higher potential to cause misunderstandings and different intentions between the interlocutors [45]. In addition, the lack of non-verbal conversation features in communication can lead to misinterpretation between two communication partners, this misinterpretation was integrated into the research on sexual harassment behavior by Stockdale in 1993. Misinterpretations in communication in combination with other factors, such as the aggressive sexual value system in the person, can lead to sexual harassment [21]. Accordingly, communication via some social media in combination with personal disposition can lead to unethical behavior.

Proposition 4:

Communication via social media at the workplace has negative effects on the ethical behavior of employees.

The perceived organizational tolerance is an important internal factor for the occurrence of sexual harassment at work [20]. If a company’s tolerance of sexual harassment by employees is considered relatively high, this increases the likelihood of sexual harassment [20]. Organizational tolerance can be defined more precisely by internal corporate values and ethical cultures of the organization or company.

Proposition 5:

High organizational tolerance has a negative impact on the ethical behavior of employees.

In the ethical organizational context, the ethical culture and the ethical climate have a particular impact on the ethical behavior of the employees [43].

The ethical organizational approach perceived by employees can be subdivided into the constructs of ethical culture and ethical climate in business ethics literature. Ethical culture primarily defines the aspects of ethical behavior [43]. Previous research has focused primarily on the significance of an organization’s ethical culture [46]. A company’s ethical culture has a significant influence on the reporting of employee misconduct [47].

Ethical-cultural guidelines of an organization or a company create the basis for the behavior, actions and interactions of the employees among themselves and beyond that the basis for actions of the management. The ethical climate of an organization summarizes those aspects that influence the ethical behavior of an organization [48]. It describes the fundamental view of an organization as to which behavior is considered ethically correct and what consequences result from ethical problems [49]. In cases where unethical behavior, such as sexual harassment, appears to be tolerated by management and superiors, the likelihood of individuals with personal disposition being more likely to have sexual harassment tendencies is higher [20].

Proposition 6:

Ethical culture and the ethical climate of an organization have an influence on the ethical behavior of the people involved.

At the individual level, behavioral patterns of ethical or unethical conformity can be described by the moral identity of a person. Moral Identity refers to the self-regulatory mechanism of a person who is regulated by environmental influences and motivates moral actions [50]. If a person’s moral identity is high, this person can strengthen his or her ethical behavior and suppress unethical behavior [51]. Factors influencing moral identity are primarily social references. In the corporate context, superiors in particular influence a person’s moral identity [52]. Typically, employees develop their moral identity based on the ethical or unethical behavior of their supervisor. Accordingly, unethical behavior of superiors can lead to a reduction in the self-regulation of employees in the course of the moral identity of employees [51].

Proposition 7:

The handling of sexual harassment and social media by superiors influences the ethical behavior of employees

4 Prevention

The prevention of sexual harassment at work can be divided into three main dimensions: Changes in organizational-social culture in companies, education and training of employees and legislation and law [9, 53].

Within the company, the implementation of clear guidelines for the use of social media, the identification of clear consequences in case of violations and the communication of ethical guidelines by managers are important factors for the ethical, value-oriented use of social media in the company. The communication of ethical corporate cultures and the creation of an appropriate ethical working climate are intended to provide employees with orientation and a clear zero tolerance of the company towards sexual harassment. The hybrid use of social media in private and professional life implies the need to establish clear guidelines for the use of digital channels in order to comply with corporate ethics. Since liberal rules and standards in companies promote unethical behavior such as sexual harassment [54], it is necessary to define rules in a code of conduct and concrete sanctions for violations. The use of company-internal social media platforms supports the concrete assignment to work-relevant topics and the avoidance of hybrid use, which is restricted by the blurring of boundaries. At the same time, the use of social media with company-compliant guidelines implies that the standards of an external social media platform are not transferred to the behavior of employees. The official greeting of the report on non-compliance with company guidelines and the support of employees who report violations is intended to promote communication about non-compliance with corporate ethical principles and thus give the responsible authorities in the company the opportunity to intervene at an early stage in the event of unethical behavior [43].

In addition, supervisors who exert a tremendous influence on the moral identity of employees [52] should serve as role models for ethical conduct in the workplace. Accordingly, it is important to focus on training superiors for responsible, committed leadership that advocates a firm policy against unethical behavior. Workshops and seminars make it possible to sharpen the awareness of employees and especially their superiors in their function as role models for the fulfilment of internal company regulations [55].

Due to the subjective perception of sexual harassment, it is often difficult to apply the law [17]. However, it is still necessary to introduce legal restrictions as a preventive measure, since clear legislation and legal restrictions on sexually harassing behavior via social media counteract this. By pointing out boundaries and sanctions, it is possible to give guidance to employees and to show which interpersonal behavior with regard to morals and values should be lived in companies [17].

5 Conclusion

The aim of this article was to examine the negative effects on sexual harassment caused by the integration of social media in the workplace. To this end, the global areas of workplace and social media platforms were examined for some of the situational factors that influence sexual harassment. Due to the complexity of the areas of influence and factors influencing sexual harassment, only a small part of the topic was examined and a framework has been created to provide an incentive for further research.

In summary, sexual harassment in the workplace via social media platforms results from a multitude of factors resulting from personal disposition as well as from the typical characteristics of social media platforms and the company.

Even if companies consistently take action against unethical behavior, it would be utopian to claim that misconduct in the workplace, such as sexual harassment, can be completely eliminated. Even with the best preventive measures, it will most likely not be possible to completely eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace [56]. However, it is possible to take holistic preventive measures in all areas of influence to counteract sexual harassment in the best possible way. The holistic approach and the comprehensive prevention of unethical behavior enables companies and employees to use the added value of social media in the workplace efficiently instead of having to counteract negative effects.