Marko Maric 09/12/2010

The Case of Omnicient organisation-Report by Marko Maric

Dominion-Swann is a company who from beginning tending to have good

relationship with employees, with mutual respect, expecting that they improve

company performance. In the beginning of 1990’s they faced with uncertainty to

keeping pace with overseas competition, also with low productivity, high health costs,

large number of accidents, thefts and drugs use, caused that they need to turn to

SciexPlan Inc specialist company in employee relations in order to restructure DS

work environment, with higher control measures. Main characteristics of this new

program are entry-level screening, with strictly evaluation of employee’s medical

records, psychological test, and most important information about private life. Data

about private life suppose to not concern a company, especially information about

candidate’s friends and family. Other characteristic is monthly health screenings, with

tests for smoking, pregnancy and drug use, with zero smoking tolerance. Another

characteristic is introduced to increase productivity such as use of subliminal

messaging on computer, music and aromatherapy. Fourth characteristic is monitoring

employees 24 hours, even in periods where they are having free time they need to be

reachable.

I will analyse two experts on technology and human resource management who

discussed Dominion-Swann’s work support technology. firstly I will I will analyse

Joseph Moderow who says that is nothing wrong with DS goals, except that those

goals are in wrong order of priority. The main company asset, people, is placed

second, and is under control of technology. Technology today is seeing as a tool make

certain tasks as precise as possible, more than human is able to do, because

technology today is able to informating not just to automating task. Companies who
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tend to maximize profit, started to introduce all kind of software's that can monitor,

control people and processes down to the tiniest detail. By Moderow this may leads to

decrease of morale. Constant monitoring and keeping eye on employees can cause

dissatisfaction and putting too much pressure on them. Monitoring employees 24

hours a day means that they should dedicate their life to company. That may cause

lower work standards. By him entry-screening has negative impact on workforce

diversity. Technologies significantly improved in last two decades buy machines are

still incapable to build relationship with employees evaluate them, and to decide who

will be fired and who won’t. Karen Nussbaum second expert which I will analyse

states that Dominion-Swann us discriminating, mainly because employees are divided

by categories. Transparency may dissatisfy employees by diminish their privacy, and

increase stress emphasizing surveillance over employees. So, they are motivated by

fear and fact that what ever they do will be recorded, what will lead to workforce

diversification.

Myth of Amoral Computers and Information Technology says that use of computer

technology is new moral intuition of people and society has no time to develop jet,

and we still have less strict moral values over IT. For example an online fraud is not

taken seriously as a theft of someone’s wallet. This can be explained due to the lack

of face-to-face encounter when dealing with IT. In reality computers and Information

Technology by everyday became more and more important for society and moral

values and norms must be established. This myth is applied to Dominion-Swan by

building a software who will look, control, collect data, evaluate, and decide about

employee’s future, who will stay in company and who will be fired. What happen if

something with software goes wrong? It will affect every aspect of company human
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resource. It is obvious that computers should not be replaced with human in cases as

this, where is crucial to have relationship between peoples.

DeGeorge questions the morality by constant monitoring their employees, with more

freedom and privacy than in case of DS. By his opinion surveillance should be made

known to employees. Also they suppose to have norms of e-mail privacy, and data in

their personal computers. Dominion-Swan ethical limits are fulfilled, but not precisely

determined. In case of theft and corruption company can goes beyond ethical limits

and they are able to have full access of their data. Also DS have no established ethical

limits about employee’s private life information, such as medical records, personal

information etc.

Practical and moral concerns of Dominion-Swann are differing. For example in

Dominion-Swan policy is to respect employee’s privacy and reclaim discrimination,

but by pre entry screening this occurs. Constant surveillance, checking e-mails,

medical tests, information about family, friends and credit cards, tending to be more

terror of privacy rather than fighting against discrimination. Working in condition like

that seems to be uncomfortable and counterproductive. Company tend to have Big

Brother syndrome. As we said before information technology improved but not on

that level that computers can calculate fairness, and make decision by experience and

future prediction what is by my opinion the most important task to determine who

will work and who will not. There is also no standardised formula for motivation,

what company trying to introduce by posting messaging on computer workstation.

Dominion-Swan want to build natural atmosphere but by constant evaluating of

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employees performance, atmosphere in company will rather be full of pressure and

threat.

By my opinion Dominion-Swan policies will have negative effect in long term,

primarily because constant surveillance, transparency, and giving right to computer to

decide about their future, what will cause distrust to company, and negative reputation

in public. It is obvious that computers are still not capable to evaluate, control, and

decide about company most important asset and that is people, until moral and norms

and values are established with mutual benefit, to company and to employees.

Bibliography

“The Ethics: of Information, Technology and Business.”, Richard T. DeGeorge,

Blackwell publishing 2003

.”The Blackwell Guide to Business Ethics”, Norman E. Bowie, 2002

Lecture slides

Case study, “The Case of the Omniscient Organization”

Word Count: 962