Human and Ethical Issues

1
Human and Ethical Issues

• Chapter 7
• Ivana Nemcova
• MIS 411

2
Doubleclick

• Uses Web technology to maintain a database of
  anonymous user profiles
• Created an uproar when they obtained the
  capability to link the profiles to information
  about specific customers
• www.doubleclick.com

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How it works?

• If GMU wanted to place a banner ad on a high
  school Web page (HS.com) than HS.com would
  provide a link that allows DoubleClick to display
  the GMU ad whenever a particular Web page is
  viewed.
• If user clicks on the ad, DoubleClick sends the
  users to the GMU Web site and deposits/updates a
  DoubleClick cookie on users computer.

4
Technology and People

• Social and psychological
• impacts on people are
• not caused by technology itself,
• but rather,
• by the way technology is used.

5

• Internet and Helpdesk
• During the early days of internet boom an elderly
  lady called the Bell Atlantic helpdesk for
  support.
• - Real story

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Support Thank you for calling Bell Atlantic
Helpdesk How can I help you?Lady Hi, I need
to get on the internetSupport Sure! Its easy.
Have you received our internet startup
kit?Lady What is that?Support Its a CD
that we sent you in mail Just put that CD into
your CD ROM and it will walk you through the
setup with the instructional screens.Lady
Whats a CD ROM?Support (A bit puzzled) Its a
drive on your computer that allows you play and
run CDs.Lady I dont know what you mean by
drive or CD ROM son I need to get on the
internet!!Support (Patiently) Maam its a
that little compartment that comes out when you
press the little button on the right hand side of
your desk top.
7

• Lady Oh, you are talking about the coffee cup
  holder !!!

8
Human-centered Design vs. Machine-centered Design

• Human-centered design
• The technology or business process is designed to
  make participants work as effective as possible
• Machine-centered design
• The technology or business process is designed to
  simplify the machines work, and people are
  expected to adjust

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Human vs. Machine /-
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User FriendlinessIf most users can use it
easily with minimum start-up time and training
plusit contains features that most users find
friendly.

• Nature of what the user must learn and remember
• Intuitive and simple to use, same interface
  shared by multiple applications, etc.
• User can figure out how computer works by playing
  with and modifying examples.
• Nature of the applications
• Easy way to access/reuse work done earlier by
  user
• Flexibility (do task in whatever way)
• Nature of the interface
• Flexible, well-structured menus, easy to
  understand, etc. (eg. user can name files)

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Technology as a Metaphor and Influence

• ANTHROPOMORPHIZE
• ascribe human attributes to an animal or
  object.
• MINIQUIZ
• Which sentences are using anthropomorphizing?
• 1 I know what to do.
• 2 Computer knows how to do it.
• 3 The program made a mistake.

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Positive and Negative Impacts on People at Work

• Ergonomics
• People and their
• work environment

13
Health and Safety

• Using video display terminals at work
• New ergonomical issues
• Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) such as carpal
  tunnel syndrome, backache, eyestrain, muscle
  tension
• Are electromagnetic emissions from the screen
  causing a problem? (pregnancy)
• Information overload
• - increases stress thanks to e-mail, v-mail,
  fax, PC.

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Autonomy and Power

• Autonomy - the degree of discretion individuals
  or groups have in controlling their own work
• (many IS should increase autonomy,
• but many IS are designed to decrease autonomy
  such as record keeping)
• Power the ability to tell other people to do
  things

15
Use of Valued SkillsIS can have either /-
effects on peoples skills.

• IT has enhanced the skills in a wide range of
  jobs
• IT has also led to de-skilling because of
  computer-enforced consistency and control
  (peripheralization a feeling that one is at the
  periphery of the action eg. automatic flight
  control system)
• IT may require that workers learn new skills
  (literacy training for employees, ESL classes..)

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Meaningfulness of Work

• Variety and scope of work
• Task variety the range of different types of
  things people do at work (dont get bored)
• Task scope the size of the task relative to the
  overall purpose of the organization
• The nature of computer mediated work
• The fact that some work is done through a
  computer may affect its meaningfulness to
  participants (vs. direct physical contact)
• computer mediated work (4 different
  types)
• Abstractness of work
• The situations in which working through a
  computer affects the
• way workers experience their work.

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4 different types of computer-mediated work

• Computer-mediated production work
• Computer-mediated office work or record keeping
• Computer-mediated intellectual work
• Computer-mediated control or supervision

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Dependence on People for IS Success-even the
most brilliant IS is a waste of time/effort
unless people in org. accept it and use it- many
IS never work successfully in org. even though
the SW operates correctly- there are several
areas in which system success depends on people

• Skills and judgment
• Involvement and commitment
• social inertia tendency of organizations
  to continue doing things the same way
  resistance to change
• user involvement there are 5 possible
  levels of user involvement
• Resistance to change
• Resistance of IS Caused by people, system,
  interactions.
• (Benign neglect, resource diversion,
  inappropriate staffing, problem expansion)
• Unanticipated innovations
• Impact of people on IS is unanticipated
  innovations which may be beneficial or create
  more problems

19
System and Ethics

• Ethics branch of philosophy dealing with
  principles of right and wrong behavior related to
  other people.
• Ethical dilemmas difficult choices related to
  ethical issues that may or may not be covered by
  laws.
• Example of ethical dilemma
• The supervisor of 5 telephone attendants has
  received numerous complaints lately and is
  considering secretly listening in on the
  attendants phone conversations to monitor their
  service.
• Is that right or wrong?

20
Systems and Ethics
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Privacy

• Physical privacy ability of an individual to
  avoid unwanted intrusions into personal time,
  space, and property.
• Protected by state and federal laws
• Can be helped by IT, e.g., caller ID
• Spamming sending electronic junk mail
• Information privacy ability of an individual to
  determine when, how, and what extent personal
  info is communicated to others.
• IT makes it a much broader issue
• Information collected for one purpose can be used
  for another purpose
• Code of fair information practices (1973)

22
Accuracy

• Databases containing personal data may cause harm
  if the data are incorrect
• Increased risk of identity theft

23
Property

• Difficult legal and ethical issues related to
  property rights for information etc.
• Copying and modification of creative work (file
  sharing)
• Posting of decryption software on the Web
• Cybersquatting
• Registering a domain in order to sell it later
• Unauthorized framing of material
• (One Web site can contain a link to a second
  Web site, but it shouldnt be able to frame
  info from the second Web site so that it appears
  to belong to the first site).
• Hiring of employees to obtain trade secrets

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Access

• Intellectual skills to deal with information
• Access to information technology
• Access to information

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Questions
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List 3 characteristics of a healthy job.

• -you can use and increase your skills
• -you understand and respect the importance of
  your work and understand how it fits into the
  org.s work
• -you can control your work
• -your job includes collaboration and
  communication with others
• -your job includes a mix of routine demands and
  new but reasonable demands. You have some control
  over what demands to accept.
• -you feel that you have appropriate personal
  rights at work and have reasonable ways to settle
  grievances
• -job doesnt interfere excessively with your
  ability to participate in family and community
  life.

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Carpal tunnel is an example of

• A RSI
• B ergonomics
• C - Autonomy
• D - none of the above

28
A link on a Web site to a second Web site that
displays information from the second Web site so
that it appears to belongs to the first site.

• A - Framing
• B Spamming
• C - Cybersquatting
• D - hyperlinking

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Sending electronic junk mail is..

• A spamming
• B blackmailing
• C junk shipping
• D - trashing

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Thank you for you attention

• The end
• This power point presentation could be forwarded
  to you .
• Contact inemcova_at_gmu.edu