Chapter 16

Impacts of IT on
Organizations, Individuals
& Society

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 îearning Objectives
J anderstand the major impacts of information technology on
organizations, individuals, and society.

J Consider the potential dehumanization of people by computers

and other potential negative impacts of information technology.

J Identify the major impacts of information technology on

organizational structure, power, jobs, supervision, and decision
making.

J Identify some of the major societal impacts of the Web.

J anderstand the role and impact of virtual communities.

×
 Case: Wearable Computers
J or years, many mobile employees were unable to enjoy the new
technologies designed to make employees work or feel better.

J The use of wireless devices that can communicate with each other
and with remote IS is increasing very rapidly (m-commerce).

Such systems could easily include GPS (global positioning

systems).

J So far only a few companies make and sell wearables for mobile
workers, but this is expected to change in the future.

Ô
 moes IT have only Positive Effects?
J While our society generally embraces IT, there are many
people who believe that humankind is threatened by the
evolution of technology.
J We must be aware of IT¶s effect on us as individuals and as
members of organizations and society.Questions arise, such
as;
Will society have any control over the decisions to deploy
technology?
Where will technology critics be able to make their voices heard?
Who will investigate the costs and risks of technologies, and who is
going to pay for that investigation?
]
 ©tructure, Authority & Job Content

ô latter Organizational Hierarchies

An increased span of control.

ô Blue-to-white Collar Staff Ratio

The number of professionals and specialists could decline.

ô Special anits
Technology center, e-commerce center, etc.


©tructure, Authority & Job Content (cont.)

ô Centralization of Authority
Greater empowerment and decentralization.
ô Power and Status
Online knowledge bases may reduce the power of certain
professional groups.
ô Job Content
If job content changes, people may need training, re-
skilling.

m
 Personnel Issues
ô mployee Career Ladders
The use of IT may short-cut a portion of the learning curve.

ô Changes in Supervision
lectronic supervision.

ô Other Considerations
Job qualifications, training, worker satisfaction.

è
 The Manager·s Job
IT changes the way Managers make decisions in the following ways;

ô Automation of routine decisions (e.g,. frontline employee).

ô Less expertise required for many decisions.
ô Less reliance on experts to provide support to top
executives.
ô mpowerment of lower and medium levels of management.
ô Decision making undertaken by non-managerial
employees.
ô Power redistribution among managers, and power shifts
down the organization.


 Organizational Changes
The use of computer-assisted communication technologies leads
to the following organizational changes (Huber,1990);
A large number and variety of More rapid and accurate
people participating in decision identification of problems and
making. opportunities, so better decisions
are made.
A decrease in the number and
variety of people participating in Organizational intelligence that is
traditional face-to-face more accurate, comprehensive,
communication. timely, and available.

ewer organizational levels involved Shorter time required to authorize

in authorizing actions. actions and make decisions.

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Impacts of Individuals at Work

J Job Satisfaction
Dissatisfied Managers

J Dehumanization &
Psychological Impacts
Isolation and the Internet

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 Impacts of Individuals at Work
J Information Anxiety
rustration with the quality of the information
available on the Web.
Too many sources online.
rustration with the guilt associated with not being
better informed.

J Impacts on Health & Safety

Job Stress
Repetitive Strain Injuries
rgonomics

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I© & the Individual

c×
 ©ocial Impacts
J Opportunities for People with Disabilities
J Quality of Life Improvements
Potential positive uses of Robots
‡ .g., Case: Laying iber Optic Cables.
‡ .g., Case: Cleaning Train Stations in Japan

J Improvements in Health Care

J Crime ighting and Other Benefits

cÔ
 Technology & Crime
One of the major debates surrounding IT involves situations in
which police are using technology to reduce crime.
Scanning Crowds for Criminals.

Casinos use face recognition systems to identify

´undesirables´.

The a.K. police have, since 1998, been using a similar system
in ast London borough with 300 cameras.
Many banks, gas stations, convenience stores, and even
elevators use the system.

c]
 Cultural îag
Ogburn¶s Cultural Lag Thesis:
J An inherent conflict exists between the rapid speed of
modern technological advances and the slower speed at
which ethical guidelines for utilization of new technologies
are developed.

J A failure to develop broad social consensus on appropriate

applications of modern technology may lead to;
breakdowns in social solidarity
the rise of social conflict.

c
 IT & ©ociety
Hearst (1999) presents three different views on how IT and
society are changing one another:
View #1: Becoming socialized means learning what kinds of behavior
are appropriate in a given social situation.

View #2: Newly internetworked IT allows people acting in their own

self- interest to indirectly affect the experiences of other people.

View #3 There is a move away from a hierarchical society into a

society in which boundaries are more permeable.
³glocalization´- simultaneously being intensely global &
intensely local

cm
 Airtual ©ociety

J The term virtual society

refers to all components
that are part of a
society¶s culture based
on the functional rather
than the physical
structure.

cè
 IT & Employment îevels

J A major attribute associated with automation is the

replacement of people by machines.
J There is no doubt that many people have been displaced by
automation, but many more have gained employment due to
automation.

Computers encourage competition, which leads to a decline in
prices.

Lower prices mean higher demand, which, in turn, creates more
jobs.

The computer industry itself has created millions of new jobs.

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 Is Mass Unemployment Coming?
Massive anemployment Will Come
Benefit/ cost advantage of computers
increases with time.
Less skilful employees are needed.
Shifting displaced employees to
services is getting difficult.
Many employees lost their jobs in the
1990s.
Hidden unemployment exists in many
organizations.
-commerce will cause millions of
intermediaries/ agents to lose their
jobs.
No Massive anemployment
New occupations and jobs have always
been created by automation.
There is much less unemployment in
countries that use more automation.
Work can be expanded to
accommodate everyone.
Conversion to automation is slow, and
the economy can adjust.
Many tasks cannot be fully automated.
There will always be some areas where
people are better than machines.
cV
 migital mivide
J Digital Divide ± the gap between those that have information
technology and those that do not.
Within countries and among countries.

In 2001, only 5 % of the world¶s population used the Web, and

the vast majority of this 5 % was located in the developed
world.

Yet the Web has the potential to turn poor countries such as
India into economic powerhouses & dissolve rigid social
barriers.

Cyber cafes - One instrument for closing the digital divide.

×
 ulobalization & Free ©peech

J International Implications J Challenge to ree Speech

Many countries, willingly or The problem of Internet
unwillingly, knowingly or pornography is very serious
unknowingly, are being
Some countries take an
westernized as a result of
entirely different line with
information about western
respect to freedom of
ways of life and values
speech
flowing freely across
borders.

×c
 ©ocial Responsibility

J Social Responsibility.
Organizations need to be motivated to utilize IT to improve the
quality of life in the workplace.

J Social Services and Privacy.

Conflicting public pressures may rise to suppress the use of IT
because of concerns about privacy and ³Big Brother´
government.
‡ .g. Hong Kong ID Cards

××
 Airtual Community

J A virtual community is one in which the interaction is done

by using the Internet.

Also known as an Internet community or an electronic

community.

An Internet community may have millions of members and as

a result could have significant effects on e-markets.
‡ GeoCities (geocities.com) has grown to many million members
in less than two years.

×Ô
 Elements of the Airtual ©ociety
Category lement
Communication Bulletin boards, Chat rooms\threaded discussions
(string Q&A), -mail and instant messaging, Private
mailboxes, Newsletters, Web postings, Voting

Information Directories and yellow pages, Search engine,

Member-generated content, Links to information
sources, xpert advice

-Commerce -catalogs, e-shopping carts, Advertisements,

lement Auctions of all types, Classified ads, Bartering online,
Classified advertisement mail and instant messaging

×]
 Types of Airtual Communities
J Communities of Transactions - facilitate buying and selling.
J Communities of Interest or Purpose - people have the
chance to interact with each other on a specific topic.
Rugby365.com gets rugby fans, and music lovers go to
mp3.com.

J Communities of Relations or Practice - are organized around

certain life experiences, situation, or vacations.

J Communities of antasy - participants create imaginary

environments.

×
 ºusiness Aspects of E-communities
J Value creation arises in virtual communities because the
community brings together consumers of specific demographics
and interests.

J This presents opportunities for transacting business, and for

communicating messages about products and services.

J -communities can attract advertising revenues from advertisers

eager to communicate their messages to a specific target
audience.

J Opportunities also arise for collecting valuable marketing

information.
demographics and psychographics of members ×m
Aalue Creation in Airtual Communities

×è
The IRM Model

×
 îessons îearned
J The major concern of most organizations today is how to
transform themselves to a ³new organization´ adaptable to the
new economy.

J The key to survival is the ability to properly and quickly adapt to

changes in the environment.

J Change in the business environment is demonstrated not only in

the increased competition and globalization, but also in industry
structures, distribution channels, production systems, and more.

J IT can also save organizations, helping them to adjust and

survive.

J IT is the major driver of the new economy. ×V

 rmigital ²Economy Readyµ
Actions organizations can take to become ³digital-economy
ready´;
J Build strategic information systems and use innovations such as
electronic auctions and exchanges.

J Create effective and efficient communication and collaboration

networks.

J xamine possible new models and initiatives of e-commerce

J xamine supply chains.

J Make a continuous effort to increase productivity, quality, security,

and effectiveness in every facet of the organization¶s operations.

Ô
 rmigital ²Economy Readyµ (cont.)
J In moving to a ³digital-economy-ready status,´ carefully plan IT
systems in coordination with the business plans they intend to
support.

J Increase recognition of knowledge, its creation, preservation, storage,

and dissemination.

J Support managerial decisions with IT and especially the Web.

J Have the ability to process a large amount of data.

J acilitate innovation and creativity in digital economy applications by

using intelligent systems.

Ôc
 rmigital ²Economy Readyµ (cont.)
J Carefully address the economies of IT in general and e-commerce in
particular, including outsourcing, when moving to the new economy.

J Properly build and deploy information systems that will provide for
internal efficiency and connect to the many business partners.

J Manage the increasing information resources in both business units

and a centralized IS department.

J Address organizational, personal, and socioeconomic issues

associated with the increase use of IT.

Ô×
 Managerial Issues

J Supporting the disabled.

J Culture is important.

J The impact of the Web.

J Information anxiety may
create problems.
J Making money from
electronic communities. J IT can cause layoffs.

ÔÔ