Response to discussion post minimum 200 words

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You just basically responding to the student of what you felt compelling and enlightening. If you need a guide to respond to the student here is write at least a 200–300 word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found to be compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

  • What did you learn from your classmate’s posting?
  • What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
  • What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
  • How would this topic be of value to you in your life or career?

Student paper down below:

Do you feel a policy restricting employee Internet use is ethically sound?

Yes, I believe that restricting employees to certain internet use is ethically sound. Though I also believe that it is up to the discretion of the employer on what they constitute as appropriate and inappropriate. For example, I know the majority of military grade computers have software that prohibit access to particular websites. My husband is currently deployed and isn’t allowed to access Facebook messenger to communicate. Due to that reason, we have to use Google hangouts for all of our correspondence. With my current company, I know that if necessary, my boss has a program set up on my computer that will monitor my access and send alerts to her when enabled on what my activity has been. She has said that she doesn’t use that feature with me because of the trust we have, but previously, she has had to do that with other workers.

Do you feel that the monitoring of employee activity on the computer is ethically sound?

Yes, I also agree that monitoring employee activity is ethically sound. Again, I believe it is up to the employer on whether this is practiced on a daily basis or not. In my opinion, if an employee is utilizing company property to complete company work, then it should remain that way to an degree. Don’t get me wrong, I have ordered lunch and done some personal shopping on my work computer from time to time, but it has never overshadowed my work. I think the core of whether an employer feels it necessary to monitor employee activity is when productive lags which causes an element of mistrust in the relationship. As an employee, you never want to abuse the right to use computer property. Previously when speaking to my boss about that, she has mentioned that a former employee of hers was fired for utilizing Facebook the majority of the day and texting her boyfriend inappropriate photos and words to him. I agree with her action for releasing that individual and believe she had the right to terminate for that reason.

What are the business implications for employees’ personal use of company assets?

There are several business implications for the misuse of company assets. The first that comes to mind is a reduction in productivity. When employees are distracted by those elements then the amount of work will surely decrease. Another situation that could occur is the potential for insider trading. Employees might be using company property and information to gain financially in their personal life. This was referenced in the case study, “A former employee of Cadence Systems was charged with stealing proprietary information and intending to bring it to the rival software maker Avant! According to prosecutors, before leaving Cadence, he e-mailed a file containing 5 million bytes to a personal e-mail account. Such large messages suggested that he might be sending source code for the company’s products and prompted Cadence to contact the police” (Schulman, 2000). One final example would be the potential harm to sensitive information which would not only affect the company, but its customers or stakeholders. This would occur with the introduction of a virus usually sent via emails. One wrong click of a link and all personal information is no longer secure.

What approach will you take to address this issue with the jewelry company?

The first step that I would take to address this with the jewelry company is to establish a technology policy highlighting internet use on what the company’s management team and HR department deem as acceptable. Once the policy has been defined, then the communication to all employees will be required. This would be discussed in an internal meeting and all employees including management personnel would be required to sign off on the new policy. Open communication and transparency are crucial factors in maintaining the relationship between high level management and employees. If anyone would breach the system, then the employer would have the cause for rightful termination.