Your consulting services have been requested by the CEO of a Fortune 500 company

Question

Your consulting services have been requested by the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The CEO is concerned about the use of the internet at work and employs your consulting services to discuss her concerns. Primarily, she is concerned that employees might be abusing the internet and is wondering what repercussions the company might face in a variety of legal areas, specifically with respect to the legal environment of business, ethics, and human resources issues. She is also concerned with preventing abuse of the internet at all levels, from low-level employees to the Board of Directors. She requests a memo from you regarding: Possible torts that could be committed by employees who use the internet at work Possible crimes that could be committed by employees who use the internet at work (and indicate whether the crimes are white collar or blue collar) Liability of the corporation versus liability of the individual employee through commission of torts or crimes using the internet at work Whether violations of the duty of care or duty of loyalty could exist through use of social media sites at work Employee privacy rights or concerns that exist regarding use of the internet at work Employment laws that protect the employee or the employer with respect to use of the internet at work. Identify two policies that this CEO could put in place to curb the potential for abuse of the internet at work, with one policy that addresses low-level employees and one policy that is targeted for the board of directors. Keep in mind the business judgment rule with respect to the latter policy and discuss whether it might ever be invoked to enforce or ignore such a policy. Articulate your ideas on how to remedy the issue of corporate malfeasance that occurs through abuse of the internet at work. Proffer some clear recommendations to the CEO about how to improve overall corporate governance by reducing the potential for abuse of the internet at work. You must also clearly address ethical issues that arise regarding your policies; note that ethical issues might exist on behalf of the employee if your policies are not utilized, but ethical issues might exist on behalf of the employer if the polices are implemented. The CEO intends to pass along this memo to other employees in the company who might not have a strong understanding of these concepts. Thus, you are also requested to clearly explain and define the legal concepts you raise. She also is concerned about offending employees with policy suggestions and requests you keep this in mind with your suggested policies. This issue exists in many companies and corporations, so you are encouraged to research outside sources for data supporting policies to reduce abuse of the internet at work. Demonstrate critical thinking by analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting appropriate policies to provide an original perspective to enhance corporate legal and ethical environs as they relate to use of the internet at work. You are expected to convey complex ideas in a clear, concise and organized fashion, using the required and recommended readings from the course for analytical support

Explanation / Answer

Some of the crimes that could be committed by employees using internet at work includes threats sent using a company computer which is a blue color crime, illegal hacking which is a white color crime, indulging into illegal trade which is a blue color crime and other fraudulent activities which is a white color crime. Blue color crimes are more violent in nature. White color crimes are not physical in nature. When an employee indulges in such type of conduct it produces liability on the employer to inform about the damages, torts and crime as it is assumed that employer is fully aware of all the activities by the employees who are indulging in crime. Employees who are found guilty could be fired from the work or could face other legal issues. When it comes to using social media sites at work only marketing team should be allowed to have access to social media in order to effectively complete their job duties.

There should be a zero tolerance policy for employee internet abuse. Educate the employees on company’s policies in increase compliance. There should be cohesion between human resource and information technology departments. Electronic monitoring system has been developed by much organization to monitor such actions. The ethical issues arises when deciding on should employers be able to monitor their employers? If so, what should they be restricted to monitoring, and do the employees have the right to know that employers are monitoring them. There need to be a balance between protecting the company’s information assets to the point where employees feel alienated as employees desire more freedom and less monitoring

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse Y
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.