The DAILY OBSERVER Tuesday, April 20, 2021 Page 20

Lesson 27
with
Treisa Cornwall

TECHNOLOGY AND THE

GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT CONT’D

Ways Technology can influence businesses and Ethical BENEFITS OF TECHNOLOGY

implications of ICT
TO BUSINESS
There are FOUR ways Information Communication
Technology (ICT) can improve business, these are outlined The following are ways that
in the table below: technology benefits businesses:
i. It reaches more potential
WAYS ICT CAN IMPROVE customers, thus fostering
EXPLANATION
BUSINESS a business relationship
with potential customers.
Executing a task can be completed faster, for
example, making payments online instead ii. Business operations can
of standing in a long line to complete a be streamlined, therefore
Speed and time reducing costs, improve
transaction. In most instances, the payment
is credited to the transaction account efficiency, maximise
immediately. profits, and minimise
waste. In addition, it
A vast amount of information can be stored makes it more possible
Easier storage on a computer or a server, it can be easily to devote talent (human
updated and retrieved. resource) to core
business activities instead
Information is easily shared through the of overhead costs.
Local Area Network (LAN) and the internet.
Improved sharing of
This can be done privately or through a firm iii. Better service is provided
information
allowing internet access through their website to customers in a more
that facilitates open access. customer-driven manner.

This is where more machinery than manpower iv. Businesses can establish
is utilised in the production process thus better relationships with
reducing or eliminating human errors. key partners (lending
Automation facilitates batch production institutions, government,
Automation and suppliers).
hence adjustment to colour and or size can
be easily made. For example, a robot being
used to attach buttons to a garment instead JOL PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS
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v. T
 he input from customers helps to guide the business. With the advent of ICT, businesses can
establish their website, this allows customers to give instant feedback on product and services
offered by the business.

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE USE OF ICT IN BUSINESS

Ethics refers to what is right or wrong in business activities. ICT gave rise to several ethical issues;
these are outlined below.

ETHICAL ISSUES
EXPLANATION
WITH ICT

Information stored by a company via its database is always subject to breaches.

This may take the form of hacking and leaks of information. To minimise the
Security likelihood of this happening, companies will need to secure their database. One
way to do this is to ensure that authorisation and passwords are limited to ONLY
key individuals in the organisation and encrypt the information in the database.

A business normally stores customer information in its database in an electronic

format. For example, customer name, address, and telephone number. It is
unethical to share customer’s personal information without their consent. In
Privacy most countries, there is what is known as the data protection act, this prevents
companies from revealing customer personal data. To prevent leakage of
customer personal details, only authorised persons should have access to
customer’s records.

Any information that is stored on a company’s website should be copyrighted

Intellectual
to them. This will prevent unauthorised use of content. As a result, businesses
property
ought to register their content with the relevant authorities to safeguard their
infringement
content.

ICT may lead to fraudulent activities. People may try to impersonate someone
Impact on
online and steal their information and money. It is the responsibility of companies
humans
to ensure that they do all they can to prevent fraud and impersonation.

ICT may lend itself to time-wasting by individuals within the organisation as

they may browse the internet while on the job for non-work-related activities.
Distraction
Companies can mitigate against this by enforcing rules governing internet usage
and banning access to certain websites during work hours.

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https://youtu.be/4DKrcpa8Z_E
- Inside A Warehouse Where Thousands
of Robots Pack Groceries
Inside A Warehouse Wher…
Wher…
https://youtu.be/IMPbKVb8y8s
- Inside Amazon’s Smart Warehouse
Inside Amazon's Smart W…
W…
The next lesson will be on Standard of Living,
quality of life and international trade.
ANSWERS FOR QUESTIONS
1. Describe how the maintenance of EACH of
the following responsibilities of government
may affect the development and growth of
businesses.
a. i. Law and order
Ans. Ensure that laws are made with the citizens
in mind and the court system is properly
maintained. Improvements should be
constantly maintained so that people will
feel safe to conduct their business-related
activities.
ii. A safe environment for investors
Ans. Investors will need the assurance from
the government that once they set up a
business the interest rate will be kept as low
as possible, corruption will be minimised and
grants and or incentives will be applicable
as may be deemed necessary. (2 marks)
iii. Job security and other benefits for
workers
Ans. People in the labour force will need to be
assured that employment will be readily
available that meets their competencies
and skills. In addition, employees want to
be protected against race, discrimination,
nationality, age, sexual orientation, and
receive working conditions and health care.
Individuals will also want to know that they
are likely to keep their jobs thus reducing
the likelihood of becoming unemployed.
(2 marks)
b. Outline TWO actions that
businesses could take to protect the
environment. (4 marks)
i. Proper garbage disposal measures
– business should ensure that
wastes are disposed of properly at
a landfill or an area that is designed
for waste material. This will reduce
pollution/harm to the environment.
ii. Use of recycled material – many
businesses are now mandated
by law to use environmentally
friendly material for packaging
their goods. This helps to keep
pollution down as instead of
dumping these containers, they
can be reused or if disposed of,
they will not cause any harm to
the environment.
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c. S
 uggest TWO ways in which the government
can encourage the private sector to invest
in the education of its employees.
(4 marks)
i. D
 evelopment of human capital
– the best form of investment a
country/business can make is in its
human resource. Since the wealth of a
nation is in its people, their skills and
knowledge will allow them to make
better decisions thus allowing the
organisation/country to grow and
achieve its optimal goals/objectives.
ii. O
 n the job training – there may be
people in the organisation who are
competent at what they do but do not
have the required certification. The
private sector can form partnerships
with colleges/universities/skills training
centres to conduct training activities with
staff members to have them certified.
 iscuss TWO benefits that could result from
d. D
BOTH government and private businesses
investing in education. (6 marks)
i. W
 orker retention - once employees
feel that their interests are important to
their employer and they are willing to
invest in them, this will lead to a sense
of belonging for workers and they will
remain with and continue to help build
the organisation.
ii. d
evelopment of skills – instead of
importing human resource from other
countries to complete highly technical
tasks, both the government and the
private sector can work together in
partnership and have people become
certified and competent thus reducing
the need to recruit individuals from
overseas. This will help to promote
economic growth and development.
2. A
 government senator reported that, even
though his country was experiencing
financial difficulties, it was too early to say
whether the government would be forced to
increase taxes or subsidies.
a. i. Define the term ‘taxes’. (2 marks)
Ans. T
 axes are compulsory payment made by
individuals or a company to the government.
It is taken directly from the individual or
businesses or indirectly from money spent
on goods or services
ii. Define the term ‘subsidies’.
(2 marks)
Ans. T
 his is a cash grant that government
gives to businesses to encourage them to
produce certain goods/services.
e. S
 tate TWO services that a government
in the Caribbean would normally
subsidise. (2 marks)
Ans. Health care, education, transportation
b. D
 ifferentiate between ‘progressive’
and ‘regressive taxes’. (2 marks)
Ans. A
 progressive tax is one in which an
individual pays more taxes as their income
rise, in other words, it takes more from
the rich than from the poor. For example,
25% tax on 3 million dollars and 30% tax
on income over 3.5 million dollars. On the
other hand, a regressive tax takes a higher
percentage of tax from the low-income
earners than from the high-income earners.
ii. List THREE examples of direct taxes.
(3 marks)
Ans. Income tax, corporation tax, capital gains
tax and capital transfer tax
 ist THREE examples of indirect
iii. L
taxes. (3 marks)
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Ans. C
 ustoms duties, excise duties, purchase
tax, General Consumption Tax (GCT)
Poultry farmers in your country have
complained about the increase in the
number of chicken parts being imported.
 iscuss TWO steps that your
c. D
government could take to protect the
interest of the local poultry farmers.
(6 marks)
Ans. i. I mpose custom duty on the chicken parts
coming into the country. This will serve
as a deterrent to those importing chicken
parts as they will be paying taxes on the
same, hence they will try to support the
local farmers more thus reducing imports.
This will encourage local farmers
to produce more as there will be a
guaranteed market for their produce.
ii. L
imit the number of chicken parts
imported. Once the government places
a limit on the number of chicken parts
allowed into the country, that number
cannot be exceeded. Suppliers will
therefore have no other choice but to
turn to local farmers to fill the gap that
will be left from the fallout of the number
of imports.
Treisa Cornwall is on the staff of
St Andrew Technical High School.
 E-mail: treisacornwall@gmail.com

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