...Internet Abuse in the Workplace Internet abuse in the workplace is an issue that impacts employers in various ways including time, money, and productivity. Monitoring websites have found “that more than 50% of employees use the Internet for personal reasons during an average work day” (Young, 2010, p. 34). Research shows that employees are spending about 3.24 hours on non-work related websites in an average day (Young, 2011). Internet abuse issues are so prevalent that employers are faced with how to enforce internet policies and finding ways to restrict and manage this problem. This essay will address how Internet abuse impacts productivity, customer service skills, draining on network resources and legal liabilities. Productivity and customer services suffer when personal internet use is abused during work hours. Internet abuse distracts employees and may reduce productivity and customer service. In result, this can lead to a company’s reputation being damaged or even destroyed (Young, 2010). Employees that surf the internet can slow down response time in assisting customers or fail to meet deadlines and may fail to complete a task effectively (Young, 2010). If these problems are not addressed, they can cause an employee to produce unsatisfactory products or expectations which overtime can hurt or destroy the employer’s creditability. To help prevent an employer from losing their creditability employers are becoming proactive and implementing policies that help employees...
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...The Impact of Technology in the Workplace The impact of computer technology in the workplace has been enormous within the past decade, both positive and negative. Distant communication through the use of computers and mobile devices have overhauled the office setting completely. Email, social networking sites and the world of the Internet have opened a whole new avenue of communication. Technology has changed the entire workplace environment, the relationships, and how things get done. Office workers and businesses are not limited to phone calls, meetings or mail to communicate with each other anymore. Electronic email can be used and not interrupt the recipient. The recipients can respond immediately or at a later time.Virtual calls and meetings allow for distant participation in meetings without everyone actually being physically present. Clients, business partners and employees can telecommunicate from their location of choice. The use of mobile of technology has eliminated the importance of an actual physical office space. Work can be done while traveling, across continents, or even from home. Even employees in the same office can chat, share projects, SKYPE to share screens and make group decisions without even being in the same room. Customer Service Departments use technology to serve customers in a timely manner as well. Automated phone systems and email expedite customer service questions and issues...
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... From: Michael Jansen CC: Date: 1/30/2013 Re: Research Proposal Assignment Authorization and Background My project idea focuses on how recent advancements in technology have changed communication in the workplace. The changes in technology have had a monumental impact on the workplace over the last 15 years. Communication is certainly essential to the success of a business. In today’s modern world, technology is a staple within every workplace. Identify the Audience Since I am a part of group B, you will be the primary reader. Define the Problem How has the improvement of technology changed communication within the workplace? Clarify the Purpose The purpose of my project is to describe the progression of technology in the workplace and the impact it has had on communication. Scope Communication in the Workplace in the 1990’s The Impact of the Internet on Communication in the Workplace The Changes within Technology that Altered Communication in the Workplace • Computers • Cell Phones • Tablets/iPads Communication in the Workplace in Today’s Society Limitations and Delimitations A limitation might be the amount of information that I am able to find on this subject. A delimitation for this project would be making sure that I stay on task and manage my time properly...
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...Research Question: Evaluate the impact of technology tools such as internet in work performance. Does the ability to engage in leisure activities such as Facebook, Twitter and other social networking tools during work improve productivity, or does it act as a distraction? The significant increase of technology and connectivity in the workplace in recent years has lead to an unexpected, potentially negative, by-product of behaviours demonstrated by many employees, which is now commonly referred to as cyberloafing, cyberdeviancy or cyberslacking. While on the surface the initial response by most business owners and managers is that cyberloafing is a wasteful activity costing the company money through loss of productivity as a result of employees spending company time on personal endeavours, there has been another, more positive spin off, to the personal use of technology. These aspects have been investigated and expanded upon during numerous investigations into these behaviours. It has also been found that there are several factors within the workplace, such as technology use policies, that can contribute to employee behaviours in relation to use of company provided technologies that will be explored within this essay. 1 While many business owners and managers would like to see the occurrence of cyberloafing in the workplace eradicated completely there is plenty of evidence available from multiple independent studies that not...
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...Name: Course: UNV 104 Date: Instructor: The Transitioning Workplace Today the internet is always virtually at a person’s fingertips and constantly advancing shifting society socially, culturally, and economically. Internet in the workplace has become the next step in a trend of naturalized technology advancement much like the car, television, and cell phones (International Journal of Management & Marketing Research, 2013). Adjustments to how business is conducted are largely contributed to how much and how the internet is utilized in the workplace. With the internet becoming more commonplace in the workforce it has brought about several advantages, disadvantages, and policy measurements. The advantages are documented and clear to how the internet adds to the memory capabilities, communication, and size and speed of the workplace. Internet helps commercial activities move more effectively. Information becomes more accessible for the decision making process and produces results in a timelier manner using virtual networks, databases, and web pages. Emphasized is the flexibility and convenience of wider coverage using internet. Advances contributed to the internet are communications capabilities such as email, file sharing, creating websites, and e-commerce (Obiri-Yeboah, Owusu-Ansah, & Odei-Lartey, 2013). Emails, Video Conferences, and Chat rooms let a large number of personnel receive the same data in different locations and have a recorded stream of communication...
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...INTRODUCTION Controversy surrounding workplace monitoring and surveillance has intensified with the rapid digitization of the workplace. The ways in which we work, communicate and share information have forever changed. Employers are playing constant “catch up” with new technologies that are utilized on a broad scale long before policies are created to manage their impacts. Privacy issues often arise in connection with employer efforts to locate, hire and evaluate the most qualified and reliable employees. Improvements in technology, such as the rapid rise of the use of electronic mail and the increasing use of surveillance cameras, often force otherwise reluctant employers to readdress the balance between employees' privacy concerns and perceived business needs. In fact, nearly 67% of all companies currently use some type of surveillance in the workplace. According to a recent poll, “. . . over 66% percent of those surveyed had used the Internet from work in the past 24 hours.” (M.Lee Smith Publishers, Hospitality Workforce Trends, January 2000) In addition, when issues in his or her personal life impact an employee’s work, the employer must make judgments as to the appropriate level of involvement. Lastly, as traffic on the “information superhighway” continues to explode a number of substantive questions about the use and abuse of these information networks arises. What are the ramifications for employees’ right to privacy in the workplace? Does an employer have the right...
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...Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing – Help or Hindrance? Does workplace Internet leisure browsing help or hinder workplace productivity? This was a question posed by, researcher and lecturer of Marketing at the University of Melbourne, Brent Coker in his study titled “Freedom to Surf: the positive effects of workplace Internet leisure browsing.” The organization of this study looked at the relationship between the behavior, frequency and duration of workplace Internet leisure browsing (WILB) on workplace productivity. Key research indicates that “blocking or controlling Internet access in the workplace is viewed by many employees as a restraint impinging on their sense of control”1, thus, compelling those being restricted to perceive lower levels of autonomy. Procedure Coker conducted an online survey of two thousand and seven hundred randomly selected office workers from a data base of market research panelists. Of the 2,700 surveys sent two hundred and sixty eight were completed. Through a preliminary analysis, made by Coker, data was collected and recorded into a data base from a web survey to determine the types of WILB activities being conducted in the workplace. Participants were asked questions relating to the frequency, duration and incidence of each activity and their responses determined the questions that followed (“question piping”2). With an aggregate analysis of the data Coker was able to identify seventeen types of WILB activities, as well as, calculate...
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...Monitoring and survellaince of employees Pro One of the key benefits of monitoring employee computer activity is maximising workplace productivity. In today’s society, most workers spend the majority of their time on their computers and on the Internet. This issue has great prevalence in modern society, as a recent survey found that one out of every eight American workers spend two or more hours per day writing and reading personal e-mails and using their work-based Internet connection for non-work related activities (Towns & Johnson, 2003, p. 10). Another survey (1999) found that more than 90% of American workers acknowledged that they used the Internet for personal purposes during work hours and 84% said that they used their employer-provided e-mail accounts to send and receive personal e-mails (Towns & Johnson, 2003, p. 10). From the employer perspective, it is incredibly easy for workers to engage in their social lives through the Internet and to get distracted. So by the use of monitoring employee computer activity, managers are able to see and further reduce the unproductive activity at work. What employers do with this information dictates whether its ethical or not to monitor employees. Employers must use this information to further align workers goals with the organisation and to decrease the amount of time spent on non-work related websites. Although a balance between work and social lives should be met, allowing employees to feel apart of the organisation...
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...Internet in the Workplace Industries are noticing that production levels have dropped since the introduction of personal technology in the workplace. While most people do not see it as a significant problem, it has proven to be detrimental to business. Society has been negatively impacted due to widespread accessibility to the internet. There are studies that show millions of dollars lost due to people surfing the internet instead of being productive on the job. Because of its detractive nature, the internet should not be allowed without being monitored. It starts at a young age, and it’s not just in the work place: this is an issue affecting society as a whole. Students do not realize the impact; not getting homework done and staying up late to surf the internet. Teachers are requiring students at younger ages to get on the computer to do homework. There was a study done in 2006 that noted that “while computers clearly have a place in education, the evidence is mounting that our obsessive use of information technology is dumbing us down, adults as well as kids. While they can be engaging and resourceful tools for learning -- if used in moderation -- computers and the Internet can also distract kids from homework, encourage superficial and uncritical thinking, replace face-to-face interaction between students and teachers, and lead to compulsive behavior.” (Ferguson, 2005) Adults should knowing better than to stay up all night on the internet, as the result is fatigue on the...
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...information resources such as the Internet has prompted many employers to engage in electronic surveillance of their employees. Employers are monitoring—and even recording—employees’ personal phone calls, e-mails, and workplace conversations. Video cameras are trained on employee parking lots, break areas, and other parts of the workplace. Today’s employers have the legal right to conduct search and seizure of employees’ personal property; monitor the employee’s telephone calls, workplace computer, Internet, fax use, and e-mail; perform employee drug testing; and conduct investigation and surveillance of employees. Electronic Surveillance The ethics of employee surveillance are problematic, because both the company and the employee have rights, and these rights can conflict. The employee owes the company a solid day’s work and protection of proprietary property and knowledge, but the employee can claim rights such as privacy, compensation for injury, freedom from harassment, and a living wage. Employees are often not aware of the fact that their e-mails are being read by their employers. Moreover, most employees are unaware of the extent to which their employers can and actually do monitor what they do. Studies indicated that worldwide, approximately 27 million employees workforce, are under continuous Internet or e-mail use surveillance at work, more than onefourth of the global online workforce consisting of employees that regularly use Internet and/or e-mail access at work. A...
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...electronics and communication. During a very short span of time it has acquired an important place in almost all aspects of human life and is found everywhere these days. For most of us, it is hard to image daily life without the influence of technological devices, be it handheld video games, personal digital assistants, cell phones or any number of computers. Through this paper the study on “IMPACT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY” on students and at work place and also the satisfaction level of using IT by these two groups of people have been shown, the advantages and disadvantages of IT. This paper also reflects the problems faced by the students and the employees working in the organization. The objectives of this paper are: • To study the impact of information technology on Students, at work place and on general public. • To study the satisfaction level of using information technology. • To study the problems faced by them. In the research methodology I have taken both primary data as well as secondary data. In the primary data I have made a questionnaire to find out the impact of information technology. In the secondary data I have collected the information from different age groups respondents, from various reports and journals published by different authors and from reports of various study group or working groups appointed by Government from time to time. After analysis I came to following findings INTRODUCTION Information technology is...
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...and beliefs. Sources of change include the media, environmental pressures, dramatic events and technological innovations. Technology, on the other hand, is an object, a method, or an invention that alters the social environment of people and extends their natural abilities (Rosa, Yee, Sweeney, & Dator, 2013). Technology and social change are inseparable. As mentioned above, technology is one of the major factors that create changes in the society. Technology improves on some aspects of human qualities. Hence, a significant tool for social change. For example, the wheel enables human beings to go to places where their feet would never reach. Positive impact of technology on society Technology has resulted in many positive impacts on the society. Computers, for example, have brought enormous changes in medicine, the workplace, education and social mobility (Associated Press, 1995). To start with, technology has transformed medicine, which has transformed lives. With the help of technology, doctors can diagnose and treat life-threatening diseases, prolonging the lives of people. For example, recent technological inventions have enabled physicians to operate on unborn babies inside the uterus. Second, the value...
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...Exploring Negative effects of social media in work places Muriithi, Mary Watetu A research term paper in econometrics submitted to Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the PHD degree in Business Administration Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture &Technology 2014 DECLARATION This report is my original work and has not been submitted or presented for examination in any other university, either in part or as a whole. Supervisor – …………………………………. Signature………………………….. Date……………………………………… Name: MURIITHI, MARY WATETU Signature………………………. Date: ……………………………… Table of contents I. Title……………………………………………………………………. 1 II. Declaration ……………………………………………………………. 2 III. Table of Contents……………………………………………………… 3 IV. List of Tables…………………………………………………………… 4 V. Symbols and Abbreviations…………………………………………… 5 IV Abstract…………..…………………………………………………. 6 1. Introduction…………………………………………………………….. 8 1. Background…………………………………………………….. 8 2. Statement Of The Problem……………………………………… 8 3. Purpose of the study………………………………………...…… 8 4. Specific Objectives……………………………………………… 8 5. Research Questions……………………………………………… 8 6. Justification Of The Study……………………………………… 8 7. Limitations of the study………………………………………… 11 2. Literature review…………………………………………………… ….. 12 1. Conceptual framework……………………………………….. 14 3. Methodology…………………………………………………………….. 15 ...
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...the internet are increased disadvantage in their access to information. In most western nations government policies are being established which attempt to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to access and effectively use the internet, in order to enable them to participate fully in the educational, social and economic activities. While it can be argued that several factors contribute to the digital divide, economics appears to be the biggest contributing factors for access to the Digital Opportunity Index. The Introduction to Digital Literacy, explains the digital divide as related to threat that results from groups of underprivileged people not having access to computers and the internet. According to Bowles, 2013, the fact that some people have easy access to the benefits computers provide; while many others are cut off from them, is considered an ethical issue. The information rich are on one side, and those who are poor, living in underdeveloped countries, or who live in a rural area with no internet access on the other side. The number of homes in the United States with personal computers has risen significantly, in 1990 it was 22%, this increased in 2004, and nearly 75% of all Americans had internet access in their homes, (Bowles,2013, Section 1.3). While this number is high and expected to grow, there are still a significant number of people without computers and internet access; and they are getting left behind in school and in the workplace. ...
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...Electronic surveillance in the workplace Electronic Surveillance in the Workplace: Concerns for Employees and Challenges for Privacy Advocates Anna Johnston and Myra Cheng Paper delivered 28 November 2002 International Conference on Personal Data Protection Hosted by Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee, Korea Information Security Agency Seoul, Korea Ms Anna Johnston is the NSW Deputy Privacy Commissioner. Ms Myra Cheng is a Research & Policy Officer with Privacy NSW, the Office of the NSW Privacy Commissioner. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr Ben Searle, Macquarie University, in providing an overview of the relevant literature from the field of organisational psychology. Introduction This paper takes up the challenge of talking about privacy in the workplace - a site of potential conflict in which there may be co-existing radically different views on whether workers can or should have any expectations of privacy. As long as there has been employment, employees have been monitored. Nebeker D M & B C Tatum, "The effects of computer monitoring, standards and rewards on work performance, job satisfaction and stress" (1993) 23(7) Journal of Applied Social Psychology 508 at 508. However, in recent years, with an environment of affordable technology, the availability of less easily observable or detectable monitoring devices, and a lack of adequate regulation, there has been an explosion in the use of electronic monitoring...
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