1 Information Technology For Management 4 th Edition Turban, McLean, Wetherbe Lecture Slides by A. Lekacos, Stony Brook University John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Impacts of IT On Organizations, Individuals, and Society

2 IT Positive Effects Only?  Will society have any control over the deployment of technology?  Where will technology critics be able to make their voices heard?  Who will investigate the costs and risks of technologies?  What about health and safety issues?  What impact will IT have on employment levels?  What impact will IT have on the quality of life? We assume that organizations will reap the fruits of new technology and that computers have no major negative impact. But is this really true?

3 Impacts On Organizations  The manager’s job  Organizational structure, authority and power  Job content (Value and Supply Chain)  Employee career paths  Supervision The use of computers and information technology has brought many changes to organizations.

4 The Manager’s Job  Automation of routine decisions  Less expertise required for many decisions.  More rapid identification of problems and opportunities  Less reliance on experts to provide support to top executives.  Empowerment of lower and middle levels of management.  Decision making undertaken by non-managerial employees.  Power redistribution among managers  Thinner organizations.  Organizational intelligence that is more timely, comprehensive, accurate, and available The most important task of managers is making decisions. IT changes the manner in which many decisions are made.

5 The IT revolution has resulted in many changes in structure, authority, power and job content. Authority, Power, Job Content

6 Impact On Personnel Issues Many personnel-related questions arise as a result of using IT.

7 Impact On Individuals  Dehumanization and other psychological impacts  Information anxiety  Job stress  Video display  Radiation exposure  Repetitive strain (stress) injuries  Lack of proper Ergonomics  Other Impacts … Information systems affect individuals in various ways. What is a benefit to one individual may be a constraint to another.

8 Other Impact On Individuals Interactions between individuals and computers are numerous.

9 Impact Society  Opportunities for people with disabilities  Quality of Life improvements  Improvements in health care  Crime fighting IT has already had many direct beneficial effects on society, being used for complicated human and social problems such as medical diagnosis, computer assisted instruction, government- program planning, environmental quality control, and law enforcement. Benefits

10 Impact Society  Scanning crowds for criminals  Cookies and individual privacy  Digital millennium copyright act  Providing Social services  Possible massive unemployment resulting from the increased use of IT  The “digital divide” or gap between those who have technology and those who do not.  Impact of globalization on culture Use of IT has raised the issues of invasion of privacy. Issues

11 Virtual Communities A virtual (Internet) community is one in which the interaction among group members that share a common interest takes place via the Internet rather than face-to-face. Interaction and collaboration methods

12 Virtual Communities Virtual communities can be classified in several ways. Types of Communities

13 Virtual Communities Virtual communities have commercial as well as social aspects. Financial Viability of Communities

14 MANAGERIAL ISSUES  Supporting people with disabilities. Lawsuits against employers for repetitive strain injuries are on the increase under the U.S. Federal Disabilities Act. Because this law is relatively new, court cases may be very costly.  Culture is important. Multinational corporations face different cultures in the different countries in which they are doing business. What might be ethical in country A may be unethical in country B—even if it is technically legal in both. Therefore, it is essential to develop a country-specific ethics code in addition to a corporate-wide one. Also, managers should realize that in some countries there is no legislation specifically concerned with computers and data.  The impact of the Web. The impacts of e-commerce and the Internet can be so strong that the entire manner in which companies do business will be changed. Impacts on procedures, people, organizational structure, management, and business processes may be significant.  IT can cause layoffs. The spread of IT may result in massive layoffs in some companies. Management should be aware of this possibility and have a contingency plan regarding appropriate reaction.

15 MANAGERIAL ISSUES Continued  Making money from electronic communities. Electronic communities are not just a social phenomena. Many of these communities provide an opportunity for a business to generate sales and profits.  Information anxiety may create problems. Make sure that your employees do not suffer from information anxiety. Companies provide considerable onsite recreational facilities to ease stress and anxiety.