Ethics And Technology in ICT - Essay Example

Ethics and technology Name Course Institution Instructor Date Ethics and technology Companies outsource for various reasons. Outsourcing over the recent years it has been one of the common trends. Most companies prefer to outsource to make use of other resources that cannot be found within the company. Outsourcing is whereby a company contracts a business function to be done by an independent commission in exchange of a fee. This mostly happens when the process has been previously done by that company or when a new need emerges in the company. The company can decide to outsource payroll functions, administration of payment plan also health benefits management in most cases, these are the common functions that are always outsourced by companies . Outsourcing came into place because of both internal and external pressures of companies to be cost effective, to reduce its staff, to bring about quality services, and to ensure that the available resources are efficiently maximized throughout the entire organization. Also through outsourcing the company is able to focus in the main goals of the company, and the company will also be able to utilize resources that are available externally that cannot be found internally. When the company outsources, it is able to expand geographically, because they are able to have access to new market areas. This is because in various occasions the production or the services that are coming from the company are brought closer to the consumer. At the same time all the functions that may seem time consuming or prove difficult to manage internally are handled while the company is working towards making high returns. Outsourcing will also make use of the global knowledge base which is versatile hence this enables the company to have diverse and high capabilities . There are different types of outsourcing, they include: Technology services outsourcing This refers to outsourcing business functions related to technology this is essential because of the rapid changing technology and evolving business models that all companies in order to remain competitive have to integrate then in their systems. The company may not have internally high expertise to deal with the IT changes hence the need to contract the services. Some of the recent technologies include online banking, developing company websites, electronic business, ecommerce. There might be staff internally to perform the IT functions needed but in most cases the firm does not specialize in IT hence the need to contract the services to specialists and also save on costs . Business process outsourcing These are mostly related to business support functions or functions of operations like human resource management, accounting the firms financials, security, proper filling and documentation, manufacturing. These functions are not mainly the core activities of the company hence might be outside the core competence of the firm hence the need to outsource . Knowledge process outsourcing Providers of these services should be independent. The outsourcing involves research that is advanced, providing both analytical and technical skills on issues. When this outsourcing is done, responsibilities shift and the people contracted to provide the services are given autonomy and managerial control. The projects given are not long term in nature. The advantages of outsourcing Outsourcing contracts are given to independent organizations that are specialized in that particular area. The contacted parties usually have the essential facilities expertise and all equipment and skills to get the work done. In most cases the vendors are better equipped than the company contracting their services. Moreover when the companies are contracted the work is done faster hence saving time and also the work is done effectively leading to high quality results. When you outsource you find that the company is left with enough time to concentrate on their core competencies hence the core activities of the businesses are given much focus on. The operational functions when outsourced it lives staff much time on dedicating their efforts on productivity of the firm . When certain functions of the businesses are outsourced the risks shifts from the outsourcing company to the contracted company, this is because certain responsibilities and control are transferred to the hands of the vendor. Risk mitigating factors are likely to be put in place by the vendors because they are specialized in that field. Running functions that are not directly related to the business brings about a lot of incurred overhead costs. When difficulties are encountered the costs and functions become uncontrollable. It is usually advisable that the company outsources the functions . Through outsourcing productivity increases hence increasing profitability of the company. When this happens the company is able to prepare itself to counter challenges and formulate other strategies. When a company outsources it does not have to incur the costs of investing in technology and even infrastructure hence the capital expenditure is not necessary. When outsourcing is done, hiring of in house employees are avoided hence costs like training and development, recruitment costs are minimized. Cutting down of costs is the main advantage of outsourcing. The disadvantages of outsourcing Certain functions are crucial to the business even though they are not the core functions of the business hence when these functions at times are given o the vendors it runs a risk of leaking confidential information to the public. There might be a problem that may arise when the contracted company is not vetted properly .Problems like delay in delivery time, low quality output, poor categorization all this might lead to incurred losses which will lower the margins of the business. Also regulating to avoid such occurrences is difficult when the services are outsourced . As much as outsourcing is claimed to be cost effective it brings about hidden costs and also it can damage the firm’s image because a lot of job cuts will be witnessed. Hidden costs can be costs that are incurred through the legal procedure of signing contracts. These hidden costs might be a big threat to the company’s profitability. Chances that the vendor might not dedicate himself fully to the company are high because in most cases considering that the vendors are specialists, probably they have also been contracted by other companies at the same time hence they have multiple jobs to do hence might lack focus. Controlling operations that have been outsourced might be difficult this is mainly because the control and responsibility shifted to the vendor. In some cases the vendors might be inexperienced or might lack appropriate facilities to carry out processes efficiently and this will lead to quality problems arising and might decrease the firm’s productivity . There might be communication barriers because of not understanding the vendor’s culture and where the vendor resides from. Poor communication can lead to misunderstanding and in turn lead to decrease in productivity. Outsourcing might lead to dependency of the firm to the outsourcing because some of the important functions are being outsources hence this can lead to occurrence of bankruptcy and losses that cannot probably be controlled. Ethical issues The ethical issues arising from the articles include; potential loss of jobs. This is a disadvantage in outsourcing because when skills or human labor is outsourced people are made redundant thereby leading to increase in unemployment levels, which in turn lead to people not being able to meet their basic needs hence bringing about poverty. In the article they term this as no problem reason being that, if you were previously employed by the Australian business community chances are that you will be able to get a job again. The article argues that it is likely that a person who is affected by the move because of the experience gained during the period of employment the person will get a job . Westpack is to outsource development functions and thus bringing about an issue on staff cuts. The issue is not well communicated to the staffs and this affects their job morale because they become nervous. Thereafter the staff is forced to go on compulsory leave. It turns out that many people were affected by the outsourcing strategy leaving them with nothing to do. The article argues that they need to tap high skilled labor that can’t be found internally. The negativity in this is that, people are being laid off even though the company is putting strategies in order to increase their productivity and make high returns. What was negative about the situation was the fact that West pack decided to make the job cuts after making billions of profits . They decided to outsource the IT functions to outside companies. Another ethical issue addressed by the article was the transformation of work and the fact that West pack was keeping some Australian jobs to make sure that the Indians were reliable. In some occasions, Westpack brought about transformation of work in the work place. They could at one time change roles to outsource and this affected the skills of the employees and also brought about lack of job security in the workplace. The banks business requirements had change and this in turn had an impact on the Australian workforce. The bank had also been integrating its technology workforce into its technology division which this can be a positive strategy to the company . However poor employment practices are an ethical issue being brought up. The article claims that the company does not protect its intellectual property this can in turn lead to reduction of skill set in the workplace. Though there has been no enough evidence to claim this is what happens. The article gives a reason that it is almost impossible to get the high skilled labor they want internally at a reasonable price level hence, the need to offshore. The positive is that as much there people being laid off as a result of outsourcing and thus there is hopes left that good IT skills are in short supply and that the people who have lost their jobs would probably get back on their feet sooner or later. The company claims that there is nothing wrong that has been done .What they have done is to conduct a legitimate business strategy. After the company made its decision to outsource it did not communicate as expected to the staff thus making the staff offended. Westpack claims that their best sourcing is bringing in the company that is not redundant, but they are bringing discipline and cost efficiency. All they want to do is to bring flexibility in the functions of the company. According to Westpack outsourcing has enabled them increase their productivity and effectiveness. However it is argued that best sourcing should not be used as a means of reviewing people’s jobs. The company should not use the excuse of needing efficient workforce as a way of rendering people unemployed and in turn affecting their careers. The company also claims that due to changes in market condition they were needed to increase their capability hence the need for the step change. The company over looks ethical issue it tends to put its own interest before the common good. The company is striving at maximizing shareholders wealth at the expense of the common good. The company should see that the common good should take precedence. The company through outsourcing and making job cuts clearly shows that they do not value their employees. Also by the fact that communication is not properly done to the staff this shows that the company does not recognize and respect their employees. Respect should be given to employees to show that their inputs are being appreciated . The company overlooks the fact that it is an institution in a social setting hence there is need to put the needs of the society at per with the interests of the company. The workers make up the society and they need to work hence them losing their jobs does not help them achieve self-fulfillment this is because work enables one attain self-realization it’s a means of one achieving their ultimate purpose. Working enables one be able to have a status in society it enables one be able to make choices by using their purchasing power through their income. Having a job reduces level of poverty hence increasing economic development in the Nation. When a person is working, he/she is able to provide for the family. Honesty is crucial factor that needs to be addressed. The managers of west pack ought to be honest when implementing their IT strategy they knew the impact of the strategy on the job market and their staff. A right and fair business strategic approach ought to be followed. The staff should be treated as major essential resources to the organization because the staff makes up the company . Conclusion In conclusion we can say that the positive impact of outsourcing of the company is the fact that they are able to increase their productivity by tapping resources from professional firms hence this has guaranteed that their output will be of quality .Also by increasing company profits the government is able to get more taxes and improve in public expenditure. The company through outsourcing is able to save time and focus on the core business activities of the company and it has time to improve on its processes and bring efficiency. Costs are reduced and at times responsibilities are shifted to the outsourced company. Outsourcing brings about problems in getting jobs this will in turn affect fresh graduates because chances of them getting jobs is reduced by the mere fact that companies ought to outsource from professional companies at cheaper prices than take in fresh graduates and train them to develop their skills. If this continues the future economy of Australia is more likely to decline this is because of the high levels of job entry which the fresh graduates won’t be able to meet and the many unemployed people affected by the job cuts. There is likely to be high turnover of middle It skilled people. . References Read More