Virtual Absenteeism

This chapter will discuss problems arising from employee use of the Internet for personal pursuits during paid working hours. Since there are both financial and non-financial consequences of such behavior (Friedman, 2000), it is worthwhile to evaluate existing attempts to deal with this problem and suggest some new ones. Nevertheless, virtual absenteeism is not a totally negative phenomenon; hence, one needs to give a fair hearing to the claims of the employees engaged in this activity. It is not necessarily an economic loss to the employer when employees take care of private matters or even play on the Internet, if it is within reason and results in a refreshed approach to the job at hand. Still, if the employee is excessively occupied with non-business Internet activity, there is no doubt a corresponding decrease in the amount of conscious attention given to the processing of organizational concerns. Moreover, ethical issues emerge concerning the misuse of time, avoidance of responsibility and violation of employee-employer contracts, implicit or explicit. Since the employer is defraying the cost of both the hardware and software involved, Internet misuse results in expenses far exceeding losses from such minor trespasses as personal telephone calls and company stationery misappropriated for personal reasons. Further, diversionary materials such as magazines and games brought to the workplace by employees which were paid out of their own pockets, while clearly resulting in lost time for the employer, at least did not require highly sophisticated and expensive technology to support the diversions. Finally, it is necessary to show that the sheer scale of modern slacking requires very special measures that consider not only financial, but legal, social, moral and psychological ramifications as well.

International User Interfaces

The developing global information infrastructure (GII), together with strongly supported initiatives promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), is making it possible for electronic commerce to become a truly international activity. Quite clearly, in order to realize the potential of the Internet as a conduit for the development of an international marketplace, there will need to be changes to the current business and economic paradigms that underpin the working of successful offline businesses. In almost every country worldwide, new models of commercial interaction are being developed to support businesses and consumers so that they can fully participate in, and benefit from, the expanded marketplace. However, to make a success of such an activity requires more than enthusiasm by the international trading community, or an appreciation of new online business and economic paradigms, or access to modern computer-based communications technology; it also requires customers to be able to navigate and use the interface with success and understanding. This means that the developer and owner of the system, in addition to having a knowledge of online business, must have a keen understanding of the cultural and language attributes of their customers. In this chapter, the focus will be concerned partly with issues relating to the cultural interaction of the customer with the system, partly with the development of an international user interface, and partly with examining some of the technical problems relating to the design and implementation of multilingual interfaces.

E-Health and Online Medical Transactions

Electronic medical consultation as a means of health delivery is available worldwide. While only in its infancy in New Zealand, it is likely to gain momentum and acceptance, and will impact on both the health deliverer and consumer. Adoption of electronic consultation has the capacity to radically change the environment of healthcare. Emergence of new business models and social impacts are just two of the areas where there could be significant change. As technology is embraced by commercial, health and other interests, we see law and governance left struggling to keep up with the changes. Will the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” widen or close? Has a beast been unleashed, or are we embarking into a brave new world where anyone can access the health information they need, regardless of socio-economic status, race or geographic situation? We discuss these questions with an emphasis on the New Zealand scene. In researching this chapter it seems that the positions about the future impact and appropriateness of telemedicine is polarized. At one pole are the “tele-evangilists” who think telemedicine will lead to a more patient-focused model. At the other pole are the “tele-luddites” who think that telemedicine introduces technology that complicates an already complex healthcare environment and will always come second to face-to-face interactions.

Fables of the Reconstruction

The ’60s and ’70s of the last century were effervescent with visions of a radical break between the past and the future. In their manifestos, Marshall McLuhan and the Situationist International (among others) foresaw a Global Village, a Society of Spectacle, post-literacy and nonlinear modes of consciousness evolving from mass media (e.g., Debord, 1977; McLuhan, 1964). More recently much of this rhetoric has been recycled, with similar claims made that contemporary communications and broadcast media (e-mail and the WWW) will lead to new paradigms, new business models, new economies. It remains to be seen whether current information technology will live up to these promises, or stay in a niche role, like shortwave radio or the Parisian pneumatic post. Examples of truly dead media are hard to find (Sterling, n.d.); even CB radio may retain a few adherents somewhere.

A Model for Culturally Informed Web Interfaces

This chapter will challenge the accepted notions of cultural vanilla applications for e-Commerce and e-Business on the Web. The approach taken suggests that national culture exists at all levels from the visual to the implicit behaviors that frame interpretation of business process when undertaking e-Commerce. Studies done show quite clearly that culture distorts the relationships in any trading and business situation in ways that are not always obvious. We will explore the in-depth nature of the trading relationships and demonstrate the impact of cultural practice on the trading interface both on the Web and in the negotiations for business.

The Internet, Sustainable Development and Ecosystems Management

Sustainable development promotes the idea that development should be capable of meeting the needs of today without sacrificing the resources needed by future generations. This notion has evolved from recognition of the current problems faced when development occurs without regard for its impact on the surrounding ecosystem. The problems that occur are legion and the solutions complex. They involve many stakeholders with often significantly different perspectives and vastly different goals. New approaches to defining problems, approaches that incorporate multiple perspectives and support communication among multiple stakeholders, are needed to structure the complexity of modern decision-making situations and achieve sustainable development.

Systems Thinking and the Internet

In the past decade two movements have had a profound influence on the way we think and communicate–Systems Thinking and the Internet. Both are grounded in sciences and technology and complement each other in principle and practice. But the similarities almost end here. While one has become a household name, the other still remains a mystery. The Internet was born in the elite military and academic quarters, but has rapidly moved to public neighborhoods and has already become a mass movement. Systems Thinking also originated from scientific circles and is only now beginning to make a public appearance. Despite their benign appearances, both Systems Thinking and the Internet challenge mankind’s age-old ways to think and disseminate information. At a fundamental level, they challenge the hierarchy and authority, and power and leadership. Through technology, the Internet has, in essence, brought down the boundaries that define business, trade and even nationhood. Through equally powerful scientific principles, Systems Thinking has broken the superficial dichotomies of the whole vs. the part, the individual vs. the community, integration and autonomy, and business and society.

Human Factors and e-Commerce

This chapter addresses the lack of attention paid to what is commonly referred to as an organization’s greatest asset, its people, in an increasingly Internet-connected business environment. The literature suggests that Internet usage is growing exponentially and is likely to have a huge impact on the way businesses are run and how they interact with their customers, their suppliers and their business partners. While there has been a range of research done on the profile of online users, types of sites, number of hits and income generated from Internet sales, there is a distinct lack of research about the impact of the Internet on the functioning of organizations and the impact on their systems and processes. Lack of in-depth information about the effect an integrated Internet presence has on an organization has a number of important implications. We are not yet fully aware of the best processes and practices to implement to ensure effective and efficient online organizations. This chapter has relevance for business operators and academics who wish to understand how business principles transfer into an online environment, and what new strategies and techniques are required to realize the potential opportunities and benefits of this medium. Special emphasis is placed on the human factors and communication issues involved.

Internet Data Mining

Data mining has emerged as one of the hottest topics in recent years. It is an extraordinarily broad area and is growing in several directions. With the advancement of the Internet and cheap availability of powerful computers, data is flooding the market at a tremendous pace. However, the technology for navigating, exploring, visualizing and summarizing large databases are still in their infancy. The quantity and diversity of data available to make decisions has increased dramatically during the past decade. Large databases are being built to hold and deliver these data. Data mining is defined as the process of seeking interesting or valuable information within large data sets. Some examples of data mining applications in the area of management science are analysis of direct-mailing strategies, sales data analysis for customer segmentation, credit card fraud detection, mass customization, etc. With the advancement of the Internet and World Wide Web, both management scientists and interested end-users can get large data sets for their research from this source. The Web not only contains a vast amount of useful information, but also provides a powerful infrastructure for communication and information sharing. For example, Ma, Liu and Wong (2000) have developed a system called DS-Web that uses the Web to help data mining. A recent survey on Web mining research can be seen in the paper by Kosala and Blockeel (2000).

The Internet

Problem formulation, data collection, modeling, testing running, analyzing and results–these are the pre-Internet staged approaches to decision aiding, when the modeling time allowed to the analyst was to some extent determined by the fact there were few alternative approaches that were either better and/or faster. It is possible that the Internet now facilitates “cut-and-paste” modeling, the development of an acceptable approximate model, suitable for the immediate decision, constructed from bits of programs from anywhere on the Web. It is this possibility that is examined in this chapter. First we look at classical decision modeling, then at a hypothesized Internet alternative approach and lastly mention some dangers of the Internet approach, which is, what might happen to the benefits of mental activity?