Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley Chapter 9!Work and Wealth Ethics for the Information Age Third Edition by Michael J. Quinn1-2 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-2 Chapter Overview • Introduction • Automation and unemployment • Workplace changes • Globalization • The digital divide • The “winner-take-all society” • Access to public colleges1-3 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-3 Introduction • Information technology and automation affecting workplace – Increases in productivity – Globalization of job market – Organization of companies – Telework – Workplace monitoring • Impacts of information technology on society – Digital divide – Winner-take-all effects1-4 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-4 Automation and Job Destruction • Lost manufacturing jobs – 43 million jobs lost between 1979 and 1994 – Manufacturing workers: 35% (1947) → 12% (2002) • Lost white-collar jobs – Secretarial and clerical positions – Accountants and bookkeepers – Middle managers • Juliet Schor: Work week got longer between 1979 and 19901-5 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-5 Automation and Job Creation • Automation lowers prices • That increases demand for product • It also increases real incomes • Increasing demand for other products • Increased demand → more jobs • Number of manufacturing jobs worldwide is increasing • Martin Carnoy: Workers today work less than workers 100 years ago1-6 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-6 Effects of Increase in Productivity • Higher productivity → higher material standard of living • Hours worked per year high in United States – Fewer hours worked in France or Germany – Fewer hours worked by ancient Greeks, Romans – Fewer hours worked by “stone age” societies • Protestant work ethic • Time versus possessions1-7 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-7 Rise of the Robots? • Some experts suggest most jobs will be taken over by machines • Artificial intelligence: field of computer science focusing on intelligent behavior by machines • Rapid increases in microprocessor speeds have led to various successes in AI • What will happen as computers continue to increase in speed?1-8 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-8 Notable Achievements in AI since 1995 • Computer-controlled minivan “drove” on freeways across USA in 1995 • Deep Blue defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov in 1997 • Honda’s ASIMO android can climb and descend stairs and respond to human gestures and postures • Electrolux introduced robotic vacuum cleaner in 2001 • Five autonomous vehicles successfully completed 128-mile course in Nevada desert in 20051-9 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-9 Moral Question Related to Robotics • Is it wrong to create machines capable of making human labor obsolete? • Will intelligent robots demoralize humanity? • Is it wrong to work on an intelligent machine if it can’t be guaranteed the machine will be benevolent toward humans? • What if a malevolent human puts intelligent machines to an evil use? • How will creative computers change our ideas about intellectual property?1-10 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-10 Organizational Changes • Information technology integration into firms – Automating back office functions (e.g., payroll) – Improving manufacturing – Improving communication among business units • Results – Flattened organizational structures – Eliminating transactional middlemen (supply-chain automation)1-11 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-11 Telework • Employees work away from traditional place of work • Examples – Home office – Commuting to a telecenter – Salespersons with no office • About 20% of Americans do some telework1-12 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-12 Advantages of Telework • Increases productivity • Reduces absenteeism • Improves morale • Helps recruitment and retention of top employees • Saves overhead • Improves company resilience • Helps environment • Saves employees money1-13 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-13 Disadvantages of Telework • Threatens managers’ control and authority • Makes face-to-face meetings impossible • Sensitive information less secure • Team meetings more difficult • Teleworkers less visible • Teleworkers “out of the loop” • Isolation of teleworkers • Teleworkers work longer hours for same pay1-14 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-14 Temporary Work • Companies less committed to employees • Lay-offs not taboo as they once were • Companies hiring more temporary employees – Saves money on benefits – Makes it easier to downsize • Long-term employment for one firm less common1-15 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-15 Monitoring • 82% of companies monitor employees in some way – Purpose: Identify inappropriate use of company resources – Can also detect illegal activities • Other uses of monitoring – Gauge productivity (10% of firms) – Improve productivity – Improve security1-16 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-16 Multinational Teams • Software development teams in India since 1980s • Advantages of multinational teams – Company has people on duty more hours per day – Cost savings • Disadvantage of multinational teams – Poorer infrastructure in less developed countries1-17 Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Pearson Addison-Wesley 9-17 Globalization • Globalization: