Organizational Policy – Computer Monitoring
Cynthia Gallo IFSM 304 James Jones October 9, 2011 ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY – COMPUTER MONITORING Introduction An organizational policy as defined by Tutorialspoint. com is a principled adopted by a company or an organization set in place to determine and influence decisions established by senior management (2011). According to Murugan Anandarajan’s book, The Internet and Workplace Transformation: Advances in Management Information Systems, it states “As guidelines, organizational policies may discipline computer use and Internet access, helping employees understand what behaviors are acceptable or not” (2006).
Misuse of company resources have led to companies reevaluating the guidelines and policies currently in place. Developing a new organizational policy to address the issue of computer and internet usage and addressing the ethical dilemma of employee computer monitoring is essential for the well-being and productivity of the company. Organizational Policy When accessing the company’s network (on-site or remotely), employees must limit personal computer and internet usage only during their allocated break and lunch times. During these times, internet and computer usage must be appropriate.
In the case there is reasonable suspicion that an employee is in violation of this policy, the company holds the right to monitor computer activity. The company holds the right to terminate an employee based on information found after monitoring their workstation. If the offense does not deem a termination, computer training will be conducted for the employee to reestablish comprehension of proper use of company resources. How will this help the Company The policy in place will help the company by assuring all employees are not misusing company resources and productivity is maintained. Employees who access inappropriate sites pose serious legal liabilities for the organization” (Young, 2010), which means applying the policy can reduce these risks significantly. Network resources such as bandwidth would not be wasted on personal internet surfing, allowing the bandwidth to be used for business related tasks. Due to the advances of technology, software is readily available to install on workstations that are in question without being invasive. This will help the company with keeping the monitoring centralized in one location.
Alerts will notify senior management and the IT department of any violations occurring, helping the company make the appropriate decision (Friend, 2011). Positive and Negative Effects Positive effects of implementing the policy would be increased productivity, equal workload distribution amongst the employees, and significant improvement on bandwidth quality. Negative effects can include employees feeling as though their privacy is being violated by having their computer monitored. These feelings can also lead to a decrease in employee morale.
This can also negatively impact the company by a decrease in productivity, resulting in a financial impact. Conflicts between Personal and Organizational Ethical Beliefs A conflict that can commonly occur when implementing a computer monitoring policy would be that of violating an employee’s privacy. Employees can support a strong ethical belief in which a person’s privacy should be respected and not invaded under any circumstances. A company has to remember when applying this policy to assure the monitoring is done in an ethical manner.
If no reasonable cause if found for an employee to have his or her computer monitored, this can quickly fall as an unethical situation, which can lead up to potential lawsuits. Commitment to Ethical Professional Conduct In our policy, it states that monitoring will only be conducted under reasonable suspicion of computer misuse. The IT staff involved in the monitoring, as well as senior management requesting for computer monitoring to be in place, all have to abide by an ethical code of conduct. Computer monitoring is not allowed under any circumstance without the proper authorization of senior management.
Senior management must also act accordingly, assuring that their request for monitoring does fall under reasonable suspicion. Thought Process when developing the Matrix When I developed my matrix for the computer monitoring ethical dilemma, I placed myself in the position of all my stakeholders. In doing so, it helped me better analyze how I would be affected when applying the normative ethics. The analysis proved to be a little easier in my case since now I am currently in the IT department that implements the policies and regulations.
Not only that, but I am also responsible as an employee to abide by the same policies all end-users are required to follow. That is where I was able to better understand the normative ethics of Justice. Being an employee of the IT department does not pardon me from computer misconduct. I am held to the same standards as everyone else in the company. Several meetings are held throughout the year to assure the policies are up to date, and are updated to reflect any new instances of misconduct.
With that being said, I was able to understand the perspective of the company as a stakeholder and how the normative ethics can greatly impact the organization. My personal experience was key component to my thought process for developing my matrix. References Anandarajan, M. (2006). The Internet and Workplace Transformation: Advances in Management Information Systems. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Friend, L. (2010). “Benefits and Effects of Computer Monitoring in the Workplace. ” Chron Small Business. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from http://smallbusiness. chron. om/benefits-effects-computer-monitoring-workplace- 897. html CMMI Glossary (2011). “Organizational Policy”. Tutorialspoint. com. Retrieved October 8, 2011 from http://www. tutorialspoint. com/cmmi/cmmi-glossary. htm#O Reynolds, G. W. (2010). Ethics in Information Technology (3rd Ed. ). Boston, MA: Course Technology. Young, K. (2011, February) “Management Wise: Killer Surf Issues: Crafting an Organizational Model to Combat Employee Internet Abuse. ” Information Management. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://content. arma. org/imm/IMMJanuary- February2010/IMM0110managementwisekillersurfissues. aspx
