Question

Information system MIS

"Ethics Guide Big Brother Wearables The sound of muffled keystrokes and distant phones ringing throughout the office lulled Richie Sagan into a daze. His new position at a top-tier investment bank was something he had aspired to for years, but the stress and pressure of performing at such a high level every day were beginning to take their toll. His thoughts wandered off to last weekend's epic cycling adventure. He and some buddies had finished their first 100-mile ride. That was a serious accomplishment, especially for someone relatively new to the sport. Ironically, Richie had become interested in cycling because of work. His office recently launched a new program that gives employees monthly pay bonuses if they agree to wear a biological profiling/health tracking device. The company even gave him a really nice fitness tracker. The goal of the program is to reduce healthcare costs by making employees healthier. As long as Richie meets the company's “healthy” criteria and maintains a certain level of physical fitness, he will get a monthly bonus of $150. He will also get in shape. When the HR department announced the new fitness program, it mentioned there would be additional reasons for having employees wear these devices. But all Richie cared about was earning some extra money to help pay the exorbitant rent for his new apartment in the city. He missed the majority of what was discussed during the information session about the fitness program. But he didn't really care. He had sat through so many orientation and HR meetings recently that they had all become a blur. Richie's wandering attention was snapped back into focus by the arrival of an email. It was only Wednesday morning, and he still had several days of work ahead of him this week. He really wanted to get out on another serious ride this weekend. Right now, however, his inbox was growing by the minute. Richie hastily began responding to emails, quicker than usual, in order to get things under control. Incoming Several hours later, Richie saw his boss, Sal, heading in his direction with a stern look on his face. Much to Richie's chagrin, Sal came straight to his desk. “Come to my office, please,” Sal said. Sal asked Richie to take a seat in one of the ritzy leather chairs in front of the desk. “We need to talk about your performance,” Sal said. Source: Rasstock/Fotolia “You have generally been one of our most consistent workers, but your performance this week has been unacceptable, to say the least. According to our new fitness monitoring initiative, you are underperforming.” Richie was confused. Sal continued. “According to a report I received this morning, your biometric profile indicates you are showing physiological indicators we consider problematic. You are over-fatigued, and, as such, you are becoming a risk to the company. An analysis of your email habits also indicates that your emails are overly terse and not as thorough as usual; in other words, you have deviated from your usual baseline email activity. Your fatigue may prevent you from making sound decisions. In other words, in your current state, you are a liability to this firm.” Richie felt like he was sitting in the middle of some twisted science fiction movie. “Sir,” Richie stammered, “I'm not sure what you are talking about.” Sal pulled a document out of a file on his desk. He held it up and said, “This is the employee Security and Productivity Policy document that you signed when you joined the company. By signing it, you agreed to allow the company to monitor your biological profile and your computer activity. Didn't you read it before signing it?” Sal asked in an exasperated tone. It was awkwardly silent for several seconds until Sal's office phone rang. Sal answered it, said a few words, and then told Richie he had to take the call. As Richie left, Sal interrupted his call and said, “Get yourself together, Richie—I want to see improvement by the end of the week, or we'll need to have a more serious talk about your performance.”"

Question.

In the narrative presented its clear that Richie was fatigued from a weekend on physical exertion.This activity was probably having an effect on his work.How would you feel if your employer began monitoring your computer activity and pyschological state?Would this type of monitoring change your behavior both inside and outside work? would you could this invasion of privacy?

Answer 1

Answer

Richie's fatigue was due to the numerous meetings, and orientation, with huge emails requiring response. Thes activities made him so disturbed and tired that he couldn't perform well on his job. The employer needs to understand that employees are not machines, they have feelings and emotions. The employer must keep in mind that excess work and unnecessary meetings or orientation leads to tardiness and fatigue which results in underperformance and eventually decrease overall productivity of the firm.

I would feel very uncomfortable and it seems that the employer is unprofessional if he monitors my computer activities and psychological state. There should not be such atmosphere in any organisation where such monitoring is done on emoloyees, I would feel that my privacy is lost and I am not trusted by the firm which demotivates me and put me down, and eventually I may leave the firm and search for a better option.

This type of monitoring obviously change behaviour both inside and outside work, leaving employee to have negative image of the employer and the firm. He may not work as productively as he can.

It is never acceptable that the employer monitor personal data and keep an eye on monitors. It is invading the privacy, though the employee signed the policy contract, it is not ethical to conduct such controlling standard. There must be acceptable standards which don't invade privacy of any employee, instead of keeping such control, employees must be provided with limits to use internet connection, analyse if the emails are exchanged more than required and are of personal benefits not of official kind then take action.