Effects of feedback in manufacturing: A field experiment using smartwatch technology

Abstract

We investigate the impact of performance feedback delivered to front-line workers through new digital technologies in the manufacturing sector. Our study takes place in a globally operating manufacturing company that employs smartwatches for real-time control on the shop floor. In a large-scale and multi-site field experiment, we examine 29,669 machine status reports to assess the productivity effects of providing near real-time feedback to workers via smartwatches. We develop our hypotheses drawing on construal-level theory and its central idea of psychological distance. Initially, we observe production without feedback to establish comparability between treatment groups. Subsequently, we allocate various combinations of feedback to workers in four separate areas in two manufacturing plants. We manipulate whether the feedback is targeted at individuals with psychologically close feedback (“you did…”) or targeted at the team with relatively psychologically distant feedback (“your team did…”). Furthermore, we vary the message framing: positive framing emphasizes completed tasks, while negative framing emphasizes unfinished tasks. Our findings indicate that positively framed feedback, targeting individuals directly, enhances productivity more than other feedback combinations. Our study contributes new theoretical insights into the interplay between feedback framing and targets in fast-paced and highly automated batch production environments.