1. Module 6: Computer-Augmented Environment: The Workplace
Introduction
Changing Workplace
Changing Management Styles
Workplace Surveillance
Computer-Related Risks in the Workplaces
Employee Health and Productivity
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

2. Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza
Introduction
We spend more time in the workplace
Domesticated technology to improve workplace
Since the industrial age, the workplace has been in the forefront of technological innovation
The fears that technology will replace workers, which have been the main force behind the resistance to workplace modernization have not materialized
Every new technology brings new workers in the workspace
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

3. The Changing Workplace
The workplace can be anywhere where one performs tasks:
A place away from home
In a car/plane/train
Home
Virtual office
In the home office:
Categories of workers have been changing
Company benefits are mixed
Not everyone benefits from home-based work
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

4. The Changing Workplace…
There are company fears arising from home-based work:
Trade secrets
Supervision
Productivity
Liability
Unstudied social and Ethical effects:
Psychological
Social
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

5. Workplace Privacy and Surveillance
The purpose of workspace monitoring
Types of monitoring:
Electronic
Video
Benefits of monitoring:
Good management, performance evaluation, management control, accurate assessment, immediate feedback and, flexible work assignments.
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

6. Workplace Privacy and Surveillance…
Effects of electronic monitoring:
Reduced task variety
Lack of individual initiatives
Reduced or no peer social support
Lack of self-esteem
Lack of interest in the job
Lack of trust among workers, between workers and supervisors, and between supervisors and management
Alienation
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

7. Computer-related Risks
Employee safety
Reliability
System safety and security
Individual privacy.
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

8. Employee Health and Productivity
Ergonomics- an applied science concerned with the human-machine interactions that offer and maintain the safety, comfort, health, and habitable environment.
Ergonomic injuries result when demand on an employee to perform far exceeds that person’s working capacity
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza

9. Employee Health and Productivity…
Ergonomic-related musculosketal disorder such as:
Back pain
Neck and shoulder pains
Repetitive strain injuries (RSI)
Stress
Productivity of workers depends on their health
Companies are getting the message and are forming health clubs, day-care centers on company premises, and offering extended maternity leaves
Ethical and Social...J.M.Kizza