4.3.4 Working with ICT

Question 1

what is meant by teleworking?

list the hardware used

Answer 1

performing job related tasks by using telecommunications to send and receive data to and from a central office without having to be physically present.

hardware:
-computer
-screen internet connection
microphone
-webcam

Question 2

what are the advantages and disadvantages of teleworking to the employee?

Answer 2

ADV

• Teleworking makes it easier for people to live and work where they choose, as it is possible for some staff to work from home (less stressful).
• It reduces traffic congestion and carbon dioxide emissions and is therefore ‘greener’ / this has an environmental benefit since there is no commuting to work.
• Not having to travel to work saves time/money.
• Flexibility of working hours allows you to fit around family commitments / No need to take time off to see workmen.
• Ideal for disabled.

DIS

• Home costs such as heating, lighting increase.
• Employee may feel isolated.
• Some employers may pay teleworkers less as there is more competition for jobs.
• No workmates to go out with /socialise.
• Boundary between home and work is lost.
• Loss of status for some staff – no plush offices, etc.
• May not be a quiet place in the house to work/ can get distracted
• Passed over for promotion.

Question 3

what are the advantages and disadvantages of teleworking to the employer?

Answer 3

ADV:
-Smaller offices are needed.
-Reduced office overheads e.g electricity, gas, furniture etc
-Fewer backup staff
need to be employed (e.g. cleaners, caretakers)
-Staff less likely to spend time off sick.
-Staff may be more amenable to working flexible hours.
-Retaining skilled workers / maternity.
-Employ workers from a wider pool of talent.
-Comfortable environment can lead to greater productivity.

DIS:

• Change to organisational structure may be needed.
• Hard to determine how hard staff are working (monitor progress)
• Harder for managers to manage the work.
• Increased number of sites for ICT equipment may cause more security risks.
• Employers usually pay for the employees’ ICT equipment.
• More difficult to hold meetings face to face.
• Health and Safety checks needed on employee home.

Question 4

what type person is suited to teleworking?

Answer 4

• someone who must be trusted: if personal or sensitive data needs to be sent, the employee must keep this data safe and private
• the employee must be self motivated; there are plenty of distractions at home
• the employee must have a place to work; they will need room in the their house for the equipment nreeded

Question 5

what are benefits does teleworking and videoconferencing contribute to society?

Answer 5

• reduced traffic congestion
• fewer greenhouse gas emissions
• less air pollution
• sustains rural communities
• prosperity spread throughout the UK
• improved family relationships

Question 6

what are the uses of videoconferencing?

Answer 6

• Education: schools use vc for teaching A-levels where there are too few students to justify having a specialist teacher. One teacher can therefore be used to teach students in lots of different schools
• Medicine: busy doctors can use videoconferencing to hold meetings about patients, x-rays, ultrasound images and lab anylsis can be passed to the participants digitally
• Business: used extensively in bussiness for conducting meetings at a distance

Question 7

what are the hardware and software used in videoconferencing?

Answer 7

Hardware:

• high spec multimedia PC
• video cams or webcams
• microphones
• screen
• loudspeakers

Software:
-codec to decode the signals

*Also needs connection to a high speed digital network

Question 8

What are the advantages and disadvantages of videoconferencing to the organisation and its employees?

Answer 8

ADV:

• Much cheaper as they do not have to pay for transport costs/accommodation for employees
• Experts not wasting time travelling
• Meetings can be called at short notice without too much planning
• Allows people to work from home (teleworking) and still ‘meet up’/ have meetings
• Allows staff to attend meeting while out of the country /on holiday
• Can give you a better visual image of the product
• General facial expressions/ body language can be seen better than over the telephone

DIS:

• COST: The cost of specialist/dedicated videoconferencing equipment is expensive to buy, install and maintain
• QUALITY: Although documents and diagrams in digital form can be passed around, an actual component cannot; e.g. cannot feel the quality of materials. Physical nuances/body language can be missed. SIGNAL: Poor image and sound quality due to restricted bandwidth/failure of connection/buffering/lag. You would need a good/strong/fast internet connection for it to work

Question 9

how is videoconferencing used in hospitals?

Answer 9

• providing a link between a patient, doctor and interpreter for those who cannot speak english
• training medical staff; staff can learn from experts quickly without spending time attending courses in remote locations
• expert consultation with specialist who may live a log way from the patient and the doctors; some patients have illnesses which are complex and doctors who dont have enough experience in dealing with them may need outside help
• for regional meetings where staff would normally have to travel

Question 10

what is a code of conduct?

Answer 10

a code of conduct is a set of tules that and concequences drawn up by the manangers and their employees that set out what an employee is/is not allowed to do in the course of their employment.

Question 11

what are the distinct ways that an employee can misuse ICT facilities?

Answer 11

• Introduction of viruses
• Using an organisation’s hardware/printers for personal work
• Using company time for personal email / social networking
• Distribution of material that is racially or sexually offensive / cyber bullying
• Misuse of data for their own business
• Blackmail, computer fraud or selling to other organisations
• Violating terms of copyright or software agreements / by downloading illegal software onto the system

Question 12

what should the code of conduct contain and illustrate each of these with a suitable different proble they are designed to overcome

Answer 12

• Responsibilities of the employee to abide by the company rule: e.g By logging off workstation OR don’t use company email/printers/phones for personal use in company time
• Respecting the rights of others: e.g No cyber-bulling or abusive emails

Abiding by current legislation: e.g Copyright Act etc. - don’t sell confidential information about customers on to rival

Authorisation and permissions on data access: what the employee can and can’t do to data

Security: e.g don’t disclose passwords

Protecting hardware and software from malicious damage: not downloading viruses

Complying with licensing agreements: don’t copy software onto home computers

Question 13

Explain how management can enforce the code of conduct? (penalities)

Answer 13

• by enforcing the penalties and reminding all staff of their responsibilities of breaking the code and the consequences
• informal warnings
• written warnings
• dismissal
• prosecution

Question 14

describe examples which ilustrate the difference between legal and moral issues with respect to the code of conduct

Answer 14

Issues:

• Disinformation
  e. g Moral: not fully informing potential customers or clients of all available facts concerning products or services e.g. imminent introduction of new models.
  e. g Legal: Estate Agent putting false information in adverts and not advising customers of all facts
• Privacy
  e. g Moral: buying lists of information. monitoring company emails
  e. g Legal: Selling personal data which breaks the data protection act
• Employemt patterns
  e. g Moral: personal emporwerment, employees feel spied on
  e. g Legal: health and saftey act (if you dont allow your workers to have breaks or safe working environments)

-Equity
In countries the population can be divided into information poor (lack ict knowledge and access) and information rich (fast broadband access with good ict knowledge)
info rich can take advantage of cheap loans, holidays etc but info poor dont have access to this

-Intellectual property rights
e.g Moral: It is not right that orginal work ( develop new software, hardware, communication method etc) is copied by others
many organisations will state in COC that any work produced during working hours belongs to them.