Ethics & Technology - Essay Example

Ethics & Technology Electronic monitoring at workplace: Position of employer The of ethics in workplace is one of the major implementations bythe employer for starting a venture. An ethical culture is one such characteristic trait that helps an organization to prosper in the long run. The adherence to ethical culture in the workplace is developed with the help of strict enforcement policies of the employer which is circulated among the employees. The employer views the employees as heterogeneous set of individuals who have the quality to meet organizational goals.

The employer also demands discipline and workplace ethics from its employees. The workplace ethics that employer sets in the code of conduct for the workers are discipline, moral values, sense of responsibility and accountability, etc. Due to the heterogeneous manpower resources, there is obvious scope of deviation from the ethical practices recommended in workplace. The monitoring activities at workplace by the employer are thus very essential for enforcing the policies to the expectations of the employer.

The electronic monitoring at workplace is one such technique in order to keep a close watch on the events and happenings at the workplace (Tavani, 2011). The employer is able to identify possible deviation in actions of the employees as well as the clients and suppliers in workplace. The employer would be able to notice if any malicious activities that are carried out by the internal and external stakeholders at workplace. Electronic monitoring at workplace helps the employer to understand whether daily timing of entry and exit to the office is being maintained.

The behavior among the employees themselves and the conduct with the suppliers and customers could be tracked by the employer. The employer would be able to provide feedbacks to the stakeholders for deviation from recommended course of action by the employees. Warning, suggestion as well as penalties and punishments could be imposed by the employer as acts of enforcement through electronic monitoring. The electronic monitoring could be done with the help of electronic devices, closed circuit cameras, etc.

Electronic monitoring reduced the long term cost of monitoring as wages of manual monitoring is reduced. The electronic monitoring activities help the employer to detect malicious activities intended to cause harm to the workplace (Weckert, 2005). The electronic monitoring activities are conducted without the knowledge of the miscreants and thus identification of unwanted events becomes easy for the employer. Electronic monitoring at workplace: Position of employee The position of the employees in case of electronic monitoring at workplace has been explained as follows.

The employees also carry the responsibility of following the code of conduct and ethics at workplace as recommended by the employer. By doing this, the employees also align themselves with the mission and vision of the employers. The employees are also aware of the consequences in case of deviation from the code of ethics. The aspect of electronic monitoring at workplace makes the employees aware of the fact that there is someone behind them who is tracking their action. The employees do not get reminded for the required actionable on a daily basis as it hamper the flow of work at the workplace.

However, awareness to the fact that their actions are being electronically monitored which is not visible to the apparent eye goes a long way to ensure restraint in behaviors and streamlines their daily routine. A constant watch without any voice through the electronic monitoring process brings out the disciplinary activities among the employees. The employees make sure that they enter the workplace and go out from the office in time. The employees are bound to behave in an official etiquette and reduce undesired personal and friendly expressions at the workplace.

The employees behave with more responsibility and accountability. The customer service is improved which is due to the enforcement as a result of electronic monitoring at the workplace. The employees are more transparent as a result of electronic monitoring as their actions are being tracked and there is no scope of deviation. The tendency to commit frauds by the employees reduces as a result of electronic monitoring. The employees are aware of the fact that any deviation from their duties and responsibilities would be tracked and actions would be taken against them in case of undesired events (Keulartz, 2002).

The employees may face penalties, demotions, legal proceedings based on the degree of offence committed by the employees. However, employees who are responsible and moral could carry put their jobs with full concentration and produce maximum output by adhering to the ethical code of conduct circulated by the employer. References Tavani, H. (2011). Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical Computing. USA: John Wiley & Sons. Weckert, J. (2005). Electronic Monitoring In The Workplace: Controversies And Solutions.

UK: Idea Group Inc. Keulartz, J. (2002). Pragmatist Ethics for a Technological Culture. USA: Springer.