Business Ethics - Report and Presentation

Marko Maric

09/12/2010

The Case of Omnicient organisation-Report by Marko Maric Dominion-Swann is a company who from beginning tending to have good relationship with employees, with mutual respect, expecting that they improve company performance. In the beginning of 1990’s they faced with uncertainty to keeping pace with overseas competition, also with low productivity, high health costs, large number of accidents, thefts and drugs use, caused that they need to turn to SciexPlan Inc specialist company in employee relations in order to restructure DS work environment, with higher control measures. Main characteristics of this new program are entry-level screening, with strictly evaluation of employee’s medical records, psychological test, and most important information about private life. Data about private life suppose to not concern a company, especially information about candidate’s friends and family. Other characteristic is monthly health screenings, with tests for smoking, pregnancy and drug use, with zero smoking tolerance. Another characteristic is introduced to increase productivity such as use of subliminal messaging on computer, music and aromatherapy. Fourth characteristic is monitoring employees 24 hours, even in periods where they are having free time they need to be reachable.

I will analyse two experts on technology and human resource management who discussed Dominion-Swann’s work support technology. firstly I will I will analyse Joseph Moderow who says that is nothing wrong with DS goals, except that those goals are in wrong order of priority. The main company asset, people, is placed second, and is under control of technology. Technology today is seeing as a tool make certain tasks as precise as possible, more than human is able to do, because technology today is able to informating not just to automating task. Companies who

Marko Maric

09/12/2010

tend to maximize profit, started to introduce all kind of software's that can monitor, control people and processes down to the tiniest detail. By Moderow this may leads to decrease of morale. Constant monitoring and keeping eye on employees can cause dissatisfaction and putting too much pressure on them. Monitoring employees 24 hours a day means that they should dedicate their life to company. That may cause lower work standards. By him entry-screening has negative impact on workforce diversity. Technologies significantly improved in last two decades buy machines are still incapable to build relationship with employees evaluate them, and to decide who will be fired and who won’t. Karen Nussbaum second expert which I will analyse states that Dominion-Swann us discriminating, mainly because employees are divided by categories. Transparency may dissatisfy employees by diminish their privacy, and increase stress emphasizing surveillance over employees. So, they are motivated by fear and fact that what ever they do will be recorded, what will lead to workforce diversification.

Myth of Amoral Computers and Information Technology says that use of computer technology is new moral intuition of people and society has no time to develop jet, and we still have less strict moral values over IT. For example an online fraud is not taken seriously as a theft of someone’s wallet. This can be explained due to the lack of face-to-face encounter when dealing with IT. In reality computers and Information Technology by everyday became more and more important for society and moral values and norms must be established. This myth is applied to Dominion-Swan by building a software who will look, control, collect data, evaluate, and decide about employee’s future, who will stay in company and who will be fired. What happen if something with software goes wrong? It will affect every aspect of company human

Marko Maric

09/12/2010

resource. It is obvious that computers should not be replaced with human in cases as this, where is crucial to have relationship between peoples.

DeGeorge questions the morality by constant monitoring their employees, with more freedom and privacy than in case of DS. By his opinion surveillance should be made known to employees. Also they suppose to have norms of e-mail privacy, and data in their personal computers. Dominion-Swan ethical limits are fulfilled, but not precisely determined. In case of theft and corruption company can goes beyond ethical limits and they are able to have full access of their data. Also DS have no established ethical limits about employee’s private life information, such as medical records, personal information etc.

Practical and moral concerns of Dominion-Swann are differing. For example in Dominion-Swan policy is to respect employee’s privacy and reclaim discrimination, but by pre entry screening this occurs. Constant surveillance, checking e-mails, medical tests, information about family, friends and credit cards, tending to be more terror of privacy rather than fighting against discrimination. Working in condition like that seems to be uncomfortable and counterproductive. Company tend to have Big Brother syndrome. As we said before information technology improved but not on that level that computers can calculate fairness, and make decision by experience and future prediction what is by my opinion the most important task to determine who will work and who will not. There is also no standardised formula for motivation, what company trying to introduce by posting messaging on computer workstation. Dominion-Swan want to build natural atmosphere but by constant evaluating of

Marko Maric

09/12/2010

employees performance, atmosphere in company will rather be full of pressure and threat.

By my opinion Dominion-Swan policies will have negative effect in long term, primarily because constant surveillance, transparency, and giving right to computer to decide about their future, what will cause distrust to company, and negative reputation in public. It is obvious that computers are still not capable to evaluate, control, and decide about company most important asset and that is people, until moral and norms and values are established with mutual benefit, to company and to employees.

Bibliography “The Ethics: of Information, Technology and Business.”, Richard T. DeGeorge, Blackwell publishing 2003 .”The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics”, Norman E. Bowie, 2002 Lecture slides Case study, “The Case of the Omniscient Organization” Word Count: 962