Journal Press India®

Employee Opinion about Ethical Dimensions of E-monitoring in MNCs in Dubai

Vol 12 , Issue 2 , July - December 2011 | Pages: 83-93 | Research Paper  

https://doi.org/10.51768/dbr.v12i2.122201121


Author Details ( * ) denotes Corresponding author

1. * Sangetha Vinod,
2. Fayaz Ahamed,

The internet, e-mail and  instant  messaging have  become  essential tools that staff uses  to communi-cate, collaborate and  carry  out research. Wikis, weblogs, forums, social-networking websites, and  instant messaging are  no  longer  strictly leisure time technologies – they have become vital business resources  used  in  marketing,  research, and  communication. But they are  resources which can also be misused or abused.
How   much time does   your   employee spend surfing the internet (“cyber slacking”)?  Lost productivity is not the only computer-related risk that organizations face. The  improper use of e-mail and  instant messages can lead  to extremely expensive lawsuits, and  the proliferation of mobile  devices   has   made  it  considerably easier   for   errant  employees  to  steal  sensitive information.
The  purpose of this study is to understand about the ethical dimensions of electronic surveillance/monitoring  (E-monitoring)  of  30  employees  from   3  Multinational Companies (MNCs)  in  Dubai, United  Arab   Emirates.  The   findings of  the study  highlighted that  73 percent of the employees strongly agreed  that it is ethical for a superior to record,  with notice; an  employee’s business related telephone calls,  at the same  time around 67  percent of them considered it highly unethical to the secret/with notice monitoring of emails. 77 per cent of the employees strongly agreed that electronic monitoring of an employee’s work related activities should be done occasionally rather than on a continuous basis.  80 per cent of them considered secret  monitoring   by   the  employer  as   an   unethical  act  that  reduced  their  trust  and commitment towards the management.

Keywords

Employee monitoring (E-monitoring), Electronic surveillance, Cyber slacking, AUP - Acceptable Use Policy, ePolicy.

  1. Bylinsky, G. (1991), “How Companies Spy on Employees”, Fortune, Nov. 14, pp.131-141.
  2. Douglas, P.C. and Wier, B. (2005), “Cultural and Ethical Effects in Budgeting Systems: A Comparison of U.S. and Chinese Managers”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 60 (summer), pp.159-174.
  3. Electronic Monitoring, http://legal- dictionary.thefreedictionary.com.
  4. Flynn, Nancy (2005),“Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance Survey”,http://www.epolicyinstitute.com/survey2005Summary.pdf. Accessed 30 August, 2010.
  5. Flynn, Nancy (2007), ePolicy Handbook, ePolicy Institute, http://www.epolicyinstitute.com/survey2007Summary.pdf. Accessed 30 August, 2010.
  6. Forsyth, D.R. (1980), “Taxonomy of Ethical Ideologies”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp.175-184.
  7. Goessl, L. (2010), “How employers monitor employees at work”, www.helium.com, 2nd September 2010. 
  8. HSBC Bangalore suffers £233,000 security breach, http://news.zdnet.co.uk.
  9. Kallman,  E.  (1993),  “Electronic  Monitoring  of  Employees:  Issues  and  Guidelines”,  Journal  of  Systems Management, (June), pp.17-21.
  10. Kelly, Eileen P. (2001), “Electronic Monitoring of Employees in the Workplace”, National Forum, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp.4-6.
  11. Kidwell, R.E. and Bennett, N. (1994), “Electronic Surveillance as  Employee Control: A Procedural Justice Interpretation”, The Journal of High Technology Management Research, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp.39-57. Laabs, J.J. (1992), “Surveillance: Tool or Trap?” Personnel Journal, (June), pp.96-104.
  12. Redfern, K. and Crawford, J. (2004), “An Empirical Investigation of the Ethics Position Questionnaire in the People’s Republic of China”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 50, pp.199-210.
  13. Roxas, M.L. and  Stoneback, J.Y. (2004), “The Importance of Gender across Cultures in  Ethical Decision- Making”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 50, pp.149-165.
  14. Snell, R.S. and Herndon, N.C. Jr. (2004), “Hong Kong’s Code of Ethics Initiative: Some Differences between Theory and Practice”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 51, pp.75-89.
  15. Turner, R., “Employee Monitoring: An essential component of your risk management strategy”, www.effortz.com. Accessed 5 September, 2010.
  16. Vaught, B.C., Taylor, R.E., and Vaught, S.F. (2000), “The Attitudes of Managers Regarding the Electronic Monitoring of Employee Behavior: Procedural and Ethical Considerations”, American Business Review, Vol. XVIII, No. 1 (January), pp.107-114.
  17. Workplace     Privacy     and     Employee     Monitoring,     Empowering     Consumers,     Protecting     Privacy, http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/Privacy-IssuesList.htm, 2nd September, 2010.
  18. Wu, Chen-Fong (2004), “Research on a Typology of Business Ethics Operation across the Taiwan Strait”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 52, pp.229-242
Abstract Views: 3
PDF Views: 431

Advanced Search

News/Events

Institute of Managem...

Deccan Education Society Institute of Management Development and Re...

S.B. Patil Institute...

Pimpri Chinchwad Education Trust's S.B. Patil Institute of Mana...

D. Y. Patil IMCAM, A...

D. Y. Patil Institute of Master of Computer Applications & Managem...

Vignana Jyothi Insti...

Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management International Conference on ...

Department of Commer...

Department of Commerce, Faculty of Commerce & Business, University...

Birla Institute of M...

Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) 3rd Pritam Singh M...

OP Jindal University...

OP Jindal University, India 4th International Conference on  ...

Department of MBA, N...

Department of MBA, Narayana Engineering College Nellore International...

Vignana Jyothi Insti...

Vignana Jyothi Institute of Management Conference Proceedings,...

Online Proceedings R...

Conference Proceedings, March 2023 ISBN: 978-81-956810-6-8 ...

By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.