Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 1 Human and Ethical Issues

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 2 Technology and People

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 3 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 machine’s work, and people are expected to adjust

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 4 User Friendliness Nature of what the user must learn and remember Intuitive and simple to use, same interface shared by multiple applications, etc. Nature of the applications Reusability and flexibility Nature of the interface Flexible, well-structured menus, easy to understand, etc.

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 5 Positive and Negative Impacts on People at Work

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 6 Health and Safety Information overload Using video display terminals at work New ergonomical issues Repetitive strain injuries Are electromagnetic emissions from the screen causing a problem?

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 7 Autonomy and Power Autonomy Autonomy -the degree of discretion individuals or groups have in controlling their own work Power Power – the ability to tell other people to do things

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 8 Use of Valued 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 IT may require that workers learn new skills

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 9 Meaningfulness of Work Variety and scope of work Task variety – the range of different types of things people do at work Task scope – the size of the task relative to the overall purpose of the organization The nature of computer mediated work Abstractness of work

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 10 Dependence on People for Information System Success Skills and judgment Involvement and commitment Resistance to change Unanticipated innovations

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 11 Systems and Ethics

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 12 Ethical vs. Legal Issues

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 13 Privacy Physical privacy Protected by state and federal laws Can be helped by IT, e.g., caller ID Information privacy IT makes it a much broader issue Information collected for one purpose can be used for another purpose Code of fair information practices (1973)

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 14 Accuracy Databases containing personal data may cause harm if the data are incorrect Increased risk of identity theft

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 15 Property Difficult legal and ethical issues related to property rights for information, e.g., Copying and modification of creative work Posting of decryption software on the Web Cybersquatting Registering a domain in order to sell it later Unauthorized “framing” of material Hiring of employees to obtain trade secrets

Alter – Information Systems 4th ed. © 2002 Prentice Hall 16 Access Intellectual skills Access to information technology Access to information The “digital divide”