This section starts by looking at the influence of information and communications technology (ICT) on how it affects the ways in which people work. It then considers the different ways in which organisations may use ICT. In particular we focus on the various stages through which a company may pass, from simply using it to collect information, to a strategy where linked ICT systems control the whole process from initial customer enquiry through to manufacture and delivery.
We then go on to look at the question of security. Use of the internet and Web has significantly increased the risks of theft or loss of information that may be of benefit to criminals or the organisation’s competitors. How can individual managers act to reduce those threats?
The next topic is the rights of people whose personal information is collected and stored by organisations. You’ll see how governments around the world have introduced data protection legislation to protect people’s rights.
Finally, we’ll look at the ways in which governments and other regulators require organisations to report financial and other information. This may be, for example, to ensure that the organisation pays an appropriate level of tax, or to ensure that potential investors have accurate information about the company.
Influences of ICT on Work
Mullins identifies four major influences of information and communications technology on people at work: * It influences the specific design of each person’s work.Think of a standard template being introduced to help people write reports. This can be seen as reducing the individual’s input since the writer simply has to insert words into standard sentences. From the reader’s viewpoint, however, it can be useful, since it can give greater consistency between different reports * It affects the nature of social interactions. Think of the comments people make about office workers sending each other e-mails rather than talking face to face. There may actually be benefits in sending an e-mail to the person sitting at the adjacent desk (for example it will avoid interrupting his work, enabling him to deal with the problem when he has time). On the other hand it does reduce the number of social contacts we make each day and so may reduce people’s motivation * It can affect role, position and the nature of rewards. Modern information systems make it easy to record and reward people’s performance. For example, you can easily measure how many calls a person in a call centre takes, or how many components a machine operator creates. Unfortunately, the true situation is more complex. The customer-facing staff in call centres may be rewarded for dealing with queries quickly; but that may not be the only relevant factor. For example, it ignores the question of whether the member of staff gave out the correct information * It can impose time dimensions on workers. Above we mentioned the need to work quickly in a call centre; people may also experience stress if their work involves contacting others using the Internet and their response times are slow. All of them work at varying speeds at different times of the day, yet automatic monitoring of our work rate cannot make allowances for those variations.

Think about each of the four influences in turn.
a) Many supermarkets automatically re-order goods on the basis of records of sales at the check-outs. How may the four influences affect the work of a store manager in a supermarket?
b) Which of the influences relate to your own work, the work of people in your team, and the work of people in the wider organisation?
Feedback
We thought of the following possible examples of influences on the store manager: Influence | Example in a supermarket chain | It influences the specific design of each person’s work. | The individual store manager spends much less time on re-ordering stocks, and can spend more time on other tasks. | It affects the nature of social interactions. | For the above reason, the manager may have less contact with staff at the delivery depot. Staff at the supermarket may have less need to speak to the manager. | It can affect role, position and the nature of rewards. | Managers may feel that they have less impact on store performance. It may make it harder for them to earn bonus payments. | It can impose time dimensions on workers. | The need to maintain stock levels on a very wide range of items means that deliveries are often made during the night, thus affecting people’s hours of work. |
It is likely that you can find similar influences on your own work. If you have trouble identifyng these, try discussing the issues with your colleagues.
Adding Value Using ICT
Having seen that ICT can affect work, now consider a theory relating to how the way in which the use of ICT changes as companies gradually understand how it may create competitive advantage.
Figure 4.1 summarises the stages defined by Boddy. They are each described below.

Figure 4.1 Stages of adopting ICT
The five stages through which an organisation may pass after first adopting ICT are: * Information: Using a website to supply information about the organisation and its products; and studying other organisation’s website to collect information * Interaction: Customers ask questions about products and services; the company responds with information; the customer reserves a product or books a service * Transaction: Once the company can accept payment online, it is able to carry out complete transactions from selecting a product to final payment * Integration: The organisation’s internal systems are linked to the on-line purchases. So, for example, a purchase made online automatically triggers delivery of the object to the purchaser. A prime example here is Amazon.com: www.amazon.com. * Transformation: Customers become engaged in designing the specific product that they require. The organisation is actively involved with online communities of customers and users. To see how this approach can work in practice go to the Dell website: www.dell.com and start the process of designing your own computer.
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For a discussion on a number of current trends in ICT, and their likely effect on businesses, see: * Rapid technology innovation creates a smart, mobile world: http://www.globalchange.com/technology-innovation-future-trends.htm
Then use this article, and your understanding of the five stage process, to consider the questions in the followingInvolve me activity.

Think of a few highly contrasting organisations that you know something about.
a) Identify which stage of using ICT each organisation is at.
b) Assess whether it could benefit by moving on to a later stage.
Feedback
The model seems to apply most easily to companies that retail direct to the consumer. Many high street chains try to combine operating an online operation at the transaction stage in parallel with their high-street stores. You might also have applied that stage of the model to supermarkets who offer delivery services online.
It’s quite likely that you identified a small local shop that is at the information stage, only using ICT to research the market and keep in contact with its suppliers.
You might also think of examples of industries where linked ICT systems automatically manage levels of production right along the supply chain. In some car manufacturing, for example, a customer’s order for a particular model will automatically trigger production orders in each of the stages of the production process, including the production of components by the manufacturer’s suppliers.
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Privacy and Technology
ICT, and particularly the existence of the Internet, make it very easy to collect and transmit personal information about people. This has many benefits, for example: * It is possible to access vast stores of information on the Web and search quickly using tools such as Google or Yahoo * Questions about technical or financial processes can be posted so that experts from around the world can contribute their thoughts * We can send e-mails and their attachments knowing that they can reach people around the globe within seconds * We can buy and pay for a product or service from our work or home computers * Data about processes, quality, delivery times and so on, can easily be shared by people throughout an organisation * Data about individuals or companies can be transmitted speedily to selected recipients
As you studied the items on that list, you may have realised that all of them involve some level of risk. For example, as you send payment, there is a risk that someone will collect information about your bank account or credit card. Information about your company’s delivery times of processes might be valuable to your competitors.
Preventing Loss of Information
People can collect information from you, or your organisation, without your knowing, in many ways. Some of the simplest are: * By reading your newsgroup postings * Making your browser record information about you * Reading your e-mail
Organisations can greatly increase their security if people do not save cookies: information that your computer saves to make it easier for you to re-visit a website. If intruders can study your cookies, they will have detailed information about the websites that you have studied.
All employees should also be aware that e-mails and newsgroup posting may be read by people for whom the message was not intended.
To prevent the illegal flow of information in to, or out of, an organisation, firewalls can isolate a private network from a public one. The firewall checks all messages entering or leaving the organisation. It can be used to prevent a virus from entering the system, and for preventing certain information from leaving.

Analyse your use of different ICT technologies in your work.
What risk is there if a competitor or criminal was able to access the information you are working with?
Feedback
We gave a few examples of risk in the preceding screens. It’s important to remember that there is some degree of risks associated with all ICT communication.
Protecting your company’s information will typically involve using software that scans for viruses and spyware, ensuring that you use strong passwords and change them regularly, and taking care that no-one else can access your computer.
Risks Associated with ICT
Of course, the loss of information over the internet is not the only risk associated with ICT. The following article highlights a number of more immediate, practical issues, such as theft, saving data to protect against equipment failure, health and safety in relation to computer use, and software licensing. See: * Managing ICT risks: http://www.business.gov.au/advice-and-support/other-industry-support/Documents/TKC%20Quick%20Guide%20-%20Managing%20ICT%20Risk.pdf
Data Protection Act
The preceding pages looked at the security of your own organisation’s information. You also need to think from the viewpoint of the people who you hold information about.
The collection, storage and use of personal data are all controlled by Data Protection Acts. Though these vary from country to country, they aim mainly to set limits on: * What the data can be used for * Whether information can be passed onto other organisations
In general, the organisation that saves information about a person must tell that person what the data may be used for, and must not pass the data onto anyone else without their permission.
In the UK, the Data Protection Act (1998) is concerned with personal data, that is, any data relating to an individual who can be identified.
The Act sets out eight data protection principles. Personal data must be: 1. Processed fairly and lawfully. 2. Processed only for specified lawful purpose(s). 3. Adequate, relevant and not excessive in regard to the specified purpose(s). 4. Accurate and up-to-date. 5. Maintained no longer than necessary with regard to the specified purpose(s). 6. Processed in a way that meets the rights of the individual (i.e. the person to whom the data refers). 7. Protected by appropriate controls within the organisation. 8. Not transferred outside the EU unless reciprocal legislation and practices exist in the recipient country.
The person whose information is being held has a right to inspect personal information upon application and payment of up to £10. They also have the right to have their details removed from mailing lists.
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Search the web for information about Data Protection legislation that exists in your own country.
You can find more detailed information about the UK law on the following websites: * The Data Protection Act: Explained!: http://www.dataprotectionact.org/ * Data Protection Act: http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection.aspx
Use your study of one of those websites to complete the following Involve me activity.