Chapter Summary

Technological change and increasingly aggressive use of information systems by businesses have several consequences. Technology affects individuals, their jobs, educational systems, governments, and society as a whole. Businesses have to be careful to protect the privacy of consumers and workers. Security provisions, disclosure policies, and audits are used to ensure that data is only used for authorized purposes. To ensure accuracy, it is crucial to allow customers (and workers) to examine relevant data and make changes.

Technology is generally believed to increase the total number of jobs available. However, the workers displaced by the introduction of technology are rarely qualified for the new jobs. Businesses and governments need to provide retraining and relocation to help those workers who lose their jobs. Sometimes technology allows physically disabled people to work in jobs they might not otherwise be able to perform.

Improved communication networks, huge databases, and multimedia tools provide possibilities for education and training in the public and business sectors. However, because of high development costs, technology tends to be used for specialized training.

Governments have long been involved in data collection, and technology enables them to work more efficiently. Of course, many political observers would argue that perhaps governments should not be too efficient. For example, it would be difficult for businesses to operate in an environment where the laws were changed every day. Technology also has the potential to improve communication between citizens and their representatives.

There are other interactions between technology and society. One feature is that lower prices, improved capabilities, and ease-of-use have made improved communication available to virtually any size group—providing a wider audience for small extremist groups. The new technologies also offer the ability to alter pictures, sound, and video; making it difficult to determine the difference between fact and fiction. Another important social issue is providing access to technology for everyone. It would be easy to create a world or nation consisting of haves and have-nots in terms of access to information. Those with information would be able to grow and earn more money, while those lacking the data continually lose ground.

Increasing dependence on technology brings with it new threats to the security of the firm. Managers need to recognize and evaluate these threats and understand some of the techniques used to minimize them. The most common threats come from inside the company, in terms of workers, consultants, and business partnerships. These threats are difficult to control, because firms have to trust these individuals to do their jobs. Training, oversight, audits, and separation of duties are common means to minimize threats. Depending on the communication systems used, there are threats from outsiders and viruses that can access computers with modems, over networks, or by intercepting communications. Dial-back modems, access controls, encryption, and antivirus software are common techniques to combat these threats.

Working in today’s business environment means more than just doing your job. Each individual and firm has ethical obligations to consumers, workers, other companies, and society. In addition to obeying the laws, it is important for workers and companies to remember that the data in information systems refers to real people. The lives of people can be adversely affected by inaccurate data, poorly designed information systems, or abuse of the information.