Running head: ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN THE WORKPLCE
Ethical Problems in the Workplace
Kimberly Hudson
Florida Institute of Technology
Author’s Note
This paper was prepared for EMG 3328, taught by Professor Jennifer Young.
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Introduction
Technology is the way of the world today. Look around and you likely see everyone with some form of device in front of them, be it a smartphone, tablet, computer, or other device.
Given the access to such devices, there’s no surprise that social media has become popular with many people. When thinking of ethical problems in the workplace and how social media and privacy research impacts them, many factors come to mind. Technology is steadily adapting to our everyday needs and there are so many neat new features that can benefit an organization in both a positive and negative way. In my paper, I will discuss how social media and privacy research can impact organizations and what ethical problems commonly come up from time to time.
Connection
Social media has been able to keep people in contact with one another all around the world. It has become so popular that there are more people on Facebook alone than there are people in China. (Unknown, n.d.) There’s no doubt that social media plays a huge part in not only personal life, but also in business too. When utilizing social media in the business world, you’re able to build a better and more personal rapport with your clients. Social media is growing fast and it provides organizations with a wonderful cost-efficient way to communicate with their stakeholders, get messages out to their audience, and increase overall business.
A great example of how a business can utilize social media Sony PlayStation’s use of social media. PlayStation is focused on engaging with their fan base more on social media. They claim by doing so, they can easily prevent any crisis from arising by monitoring the content for anything negative. (Chrzanowska, 2017).
ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN THE WORKPLACE
Ethical Dilemmas
While social media use in the workplace has many great benefits, there are also just as many ethical dilemmas that arise. The misuse of social media can bring conflicts of interest and many risks to organizations. It’s important that these workplaces have protocols in place and proactively manager their employee’s usage so that they can avoid conflicts and safeguard their own reputations.
Because social media is so easily accessible, and many people have smartphones, it’s becoming more difficult for organizations to monitor social media use in the workplace. My workplace actually has all social media sites banned from being accessed by the company computers because of the risk that come along with it, and the company is unable to monitor each individual’s usage on the sites.
Ethical Decision Making
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Privacy
A lot of organizations have certain privacy protocols in place to protect their customer’s as well as themselves. The biggest example I can think of is cell phone policies. I work for a major company called Government Employee Insurance Company, better known as GEICO. We have strict cell phone policies in place for security purposes. There are a select few areas where they allow us to access our phones, but while on the work floor, the use is strictly prohibited.
This strict protocol is in place so that the company can protect it’s stakeholders confidentiality, as well as prevent the misuse of resources, and also to prevent conflicts of interest.
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References
Chrzanowska, N. (2017, February 6). What You Can Learn From Sony PlayStation Social Media
Monitoring. Retrieved from https://brand24.com/blog/what-you-can-learn-from-sonyplaystation-social-media-monitoring/
Lunday, J. (2019, March 5). Managing the Workplace Ethics of Social Media. Retrieved from https://www.corporatecomplianceinsights.com/managing-the-workplace-ethics-of-socialmedia/
Unknown . (n.d.). 5 Reasons Why Social Networking Can Help Your Business. Retrieved from https://brand24.com/blog/5-reasons-why-social-networking-can-help-your-business/
