Case Study Interactive Session On Managemen

 

Interactive Session: Management VERTSOL

1. Should managers monitor employee e-mail and Internet usage? Why or Why not ?  Yes. Managers should monitor employee e-mail and internet usage if the employee is using the company’s resources to do so. According to the case study, 77% percent of workers with a Facebook account use them during work hours, and an average employee wastes 30% of the workday on non-work-related Web Browsing. Another key point, A whopping 90% of  employees receive or send personal emails at work. This is alarming because companies spend so much money on internet usage, and not putting it to good use is not beneficial to the company. Likewise, without the proper monitoring and supervision, employees can abuse it in the long term. Furthermore, many companies have been monitoring employee use of e-mail and internet usage and in the context of the US, it is legal for US companies to monitor employee internet and e-mail activity because the laws of the United States permit the employer to monitor  systems, they have ownership of, and even company devices used outside the workplace can be monitored as well (Suemo, 2020). He also stated that the employer has the right to ensure employees are using the internet for work-related purposes during paid hours. However, some argue that it is unethical. Monitoring Employees on Networks is a good business and not unethical. Websense Inc. stated that workplace internet misuse costs US Businesses Busin esses $63 Billion Billion in lost productivity productivity annually. annually. 30 to 40% of employee employee internet internet activity is non-work-related, according to IDC research. “Unethical behavior” in business definition means “going beyond what is legal and doing what is right. It also means that actions don’t conform to the acceptable business operations' ' . Monitoring Employees’ internet usage doesn’t fall into these criteria because it is legal (so far in the US context). The “unethical” is more applicable to situations like exploiting workers, underpaying employees, sexual harassment, not paying taxes, etc. If monitoring employees’ internet usage is unethical, then it is also fair to say that doing work-u wor k-unre nrelat lated ed activi activitie ties s during during work work hours hours is unethi unethical cal as well well becaus because e compan companies ies pay employees to do work-related activities, not personal activities. It is very important to note that when whe n employ employees ees use email email at the employ employer’ er’s s facili facilitie ties, s, anythi anything ng they they do, includ including ing ill illegal egal,, carries the company name. To emphasize, not monitoring the employee’s internet usage will not do any good for the company. It should not be a question of ethics because computers are considered company property and the internet fees are being paid by the company. Therefore, the firm has the right to know and control every activity that the employee does on the internet.  Additionally, it also opens more avenues to distract employees from working productively (Patrick, n.d.).

2.

Describe an effective e-mail and Web use policy for a company.

 According to the case study, many consultants believe that companies can write corporate policies on employee e-mail, social media, and web use. An effective email and web

 

use use poli policy cy shou should ld stat state e that that em empl ploy oyee ees s shou should ldn’ n’tt expe expect ct an anyt ythi hing ng th that at th they ey do on th thei eir  r  (company) computers to be private. It should also include clear guidelines on what action is allowed and what is not, and the company should include explicit ground rules that state under  what circumstances employees can use company facilities for email, web blogging, or surfing, and prohibit actions such as: ● ● ● ●

Racist Racist and and sexual sexually ly expli explicit cit cont content ent has has to be banne banned. d. Downloading Downloading pornograp pornographic, hic, sexual, sexual, or or questionable questionable content, content, or or send such such material material either  either  in e-mail or social media. Communicat Communicate e via email, email, or any networking networking sites sites the the company company secrets, secrets, confid confidential ential,, and privileged information to unauthorized personnel. Comm Commit itti ting ng pira piracy cy,, vi viol olat atin ing g copy copyri righ ghts ts la laws ws,, comm commit itti ting ng de defa fama mati tion on or comm commit itti ting ng unlawful actions using the internet.

 Any employee who violates the policy shall be denied access to any of the company computers and shall be given a warning about his/her behavior. If the action is repeated by the same employee, they will be subject to disciplinary action or dismissal. In addition, it is also possib pos sible le that that manage managers rs can make make the policy policy slight slightly ly fle flexib xible, le, as long long as non-wo non-workrk-rel relate ated d internet use is regulated. Companies could give employees a 2-hour monthly maximum in accessing non-work-related sites, during work hours and consider this as an employee privilege. However, the speed load shall be limited due to the fact that if they occupied too much speed load, the regular online traffic will be blocked which could damage both hardware and software of the compan company’s y’s server server.. The compan company y is respon responsib sible le for mainta maintaini ining ng the hardwa hardware re and software that blocks spam. This can result in employees reading non-work-related information from their email inbox and finding a legitimate email among hundreds of spam.

3.

Should managers inform employees that their web behavior is being monitored ? Or should managers monitor secretly ? Why or why not ? 

  Yes, acco Yes, accord rdin ing g to the the case case stud study, y, it is re reco comm mmen ende ded d th that at po polilici cies es shou should ld in info form rm employees whether their activities are monitored and why. Managers shall inform that their web activities are monitored. However, monitoring staff can be a delicate matter because emotional boundaries shall be considered and managers must practice utmost compassion and sensitivity (BrickHouse Security, n.d.). Moreover, it is important for managers to evaluate the company culture and the managers’ relationship with employees to have an idea of how employees would react to certain information. Employers must find a balance between monitoring advantages and the costs of invading employee privacy (Jackson, Schuler, & Werner, 2009). Wong, and Paynter  (2006) found that a significant number of subjects related to employee and employer rights should be taken into consideration such as significant issues concerned with building trust between employers and employees in the workplace.  According to Moussa (2015), Employers often argue that they are able to protect their  organizations from any harm by monitoring employee activities. In this sense, monitoring is seen as a tool to maintain organizational security. Improvement in modern technology has offered

 

organizations other than monitoring employees’ behavior, but also provides new techniques and features in implementing employee monitoring. These new improvements make monitoring more vulnerable to violating privacy. Employers should realize that employees could fight back against the organization if they perceived the monitoring practices as unfair. Therefore, it is nece necess ssary ary to ta take ke in into to acco accoun untt many many conc concer erns ns when when a comp compan any y de deci cide des s to ap appl ply y ne new w technology in monitoring employee behavior  (ie.,  (ie., privacy, needs, and aspirations). Similarly, employers shall educate employees about the reasons behind monitoring their  performance, and firms shall develop a wide range of policies and procedures that can help employees further understand their boundaries. Likewise, communicating effectively will be vital to the successful implementation of a monitoring system. When employers fail to recognize employee rights, it can cause extensive loss, such as expensive lawsuits, damage to the organization’s reputation, and impairment of employee values. Thus, employers should balance the need need for produc productiv tivity ity with with regard regard to employ employee ee rig rights hts to pri privac vacy, y, sa safet fety, y, and securi security. ty.  Additionally, focusing on accomplishments rather than time spent in the workplace should be the main concern for any employer. A culture of disloyalty and distrust within the organization may emerge and can negatively affect the company.

REFERENCES

Choo Ch oosin sing g the Right Right Way to In Infor form m Yo Your ur Emplo Employe yees es Abou Aboutt Monito Monitorin ring  g . (n.d.). (n.d.). Brickhouse Brickhouse

Security. Retrieved monitoring/informing

from

https://www.brickhousesecurity.com/employee-

DeLo De Loe, e, R. L. (2021 (2021). ). Crea Creating ting a Company Company Email and Internet Internet Usage Usage Policy  Policy . LegalZoom. LegalZoom. Retrieved from https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/creating-a-company-email-andinternet-usage-policy.. internet-usage-policy Everett, A. M., Wong, Y. Y., & Paynter, J. (2006). Balancing employee and employer rights: An intern internation al comparison comparison of e-mail e-mail privacy privacy in the workplace. workplace. Individual Individual Employ Employment ment Rightsational Fenn Fe nner er,, S (n.d (n.d). ).Un Uneth ethica icall Beha Behavio viorr in Busin Business ess:: Defini Definitio tion n & Examp Examples les. Retr Retrie ieve ved d fr from om https://study.com/academy/lesson/unethical-behavior-in-business-definitionexamples.html#:~:text=Unethical%20behavior%20in%20business%20refers,acceptable %20standards%20of%20business%20practices.. %20standards%20of%20business%20practices Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Werner, S. (2009). Managing human resources (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western. Moussa, M. (2015). Monitoring Employee Employee Behavior Through the Use of Technology Technology and Issues SAGE Open, 5(2). DOI of Employee Privacy in America . https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244015580168

 

Patrick, Patri ck, E. (2018). Employee Internet Management: Now an HR Issue . SHRM. Retrieved from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/cms_006514.aspx Suemo, Sue mo, J (2020). (2020). 12 most asked questions on U.S. employee monitoring laws . WorkTime. (2021). https://www.worktime.com/12-most-asked-questions-on-us-employeemonitoring-laws