Chapter 16
Impacts of IT On Organizations,
Individuals, and Society
Information Technology For Management 4th Edition
Turban, McLean, Wetherbe
Lecture Slides by A. Lekacos,
Stony Brook University
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Chapter Objectives
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Understand the major impacts of information technology on
organizations, individuals, and
society.
Consider some negative impacts of people by computers, and
other potential negative impacts
of information technology.
Identify the major impacts of information technology on the
manager’s job and on organizational structure, power, jobs,
supervision, and decision making.
Discuss the impacts of IT and individuals at work.
Identify some of the major societal impacts of the Web
including the digital divide and
computer crime.
Describe the impacts of IT on social issues as a result of 9/11.
Understand the role and impact of virtual communities.
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IT Positive Effects Only?
We assume that organizations will reap the fruits of new
technology and that computers have no major negative impact.
But is this really true?
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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?
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Impacts On Organizations
The use of computers and information technology has brought
many changes to organizations.
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The manager’s job
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Organizational structure, authority and power
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Job content (Value and Supply Chain)
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Employee career paths
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Supervision
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The Manager’s Job
The most important task of managers is making decisions. IT
changes the manner in which many decisions are made.
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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
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Authority, Power, Job Content
The IT revolution has resulted in many changes in structure,
authority, power and job content.
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Impact On Personnel Issues
Many personnel-related questions arise as a
result of using IT.
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Impact On Individuals
Information systems affect individuals in various ways. What is a
benefit to one individual may be a constraint to another.
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Dehumanization and other psychological impacts
Information anxiety
Job stress
Video display
Radiation exposure
Repetitive strain (stress) injuries
Lack of proper Ergonomics
Other Impacts …
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Other Impact On Individuals
Interactions between individuals and computers are numerous.
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Impact Society
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, governmentprogram planning, environmental quality control, and law
enforcement.
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Opportunities for people with disabilities
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Quality of Life improvements
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Improvements in health care
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Crime fighting
Benefits
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Impact Society
Use of IT has raised the issues of invasion of privacy.
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Scanning crowds for criminals
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Cookies and individual privacy
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Digital millennium copyright act
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Providing Social services
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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
Issues
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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
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Virtual Communities
Virtual communities can be classified in several ways.
Types of Communities
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Virtual Communities
Virtual communities have commercial as well as social aspects.
Financial Viability of Communities
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MANAGERIAL ISSUES
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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MANAGERIAL ISSUES Continued
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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.
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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.
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