Innovation and Technology

Personal Ethics and Technology

As the value of information stored in your computer increases the risk involved also increases. This calls for formulation of information technology policies and rules which should be adhered to at personal and organizational level. One is required to consult his or her superior whenever he or she is required to disclose confidential materials. Such material may fall in hands of competitors and could be harmful to the company. Although an organization may have a document management system to control the access to the documents it is still the responsibility of the employees to assume personal ethics whenever such systems fail. Indeed, one should also consider putting protection to the documents which are confidential. This could be in the way of sharing, putting passwords and encrypting the documents. In addition, Organizations are meant to have internet user policies. However, whenever employees use such resource improperly, it could jeopardize the running of the enterprise or attract litigation. For any copyrighted work an individual should apply for permission even though the availability of such information on public domain may pose temptation and requires high level of discipline and diligence.

Disgruntled, untrained and employees who are leaving, pose a threat to the security of company when they are in possession of confidential information and data belonging to the company. The structures and the rules may not be efficient in protecting such information and ‘neighborhood watch’ offers a good complement in protection of such information. Whenever one feels that the activities of an employee may be harmful to the organization, a friendly approach may be necessary where the employee is reprimanded. If such measures seem unfruitful it then calls for an individual to inform the management of such issues which may jeopardize information security and attract litigations. In addition, one should restrict the confidential information which could be accessed by the family members.

2. Forward Thinking and Analysis

While it is encouraged for organizations to randomly generate ideas the innovations should be tailored towards the needs of the consumers and the organizations. The ideas may be big but they should also generate enough value. One is meant to have clear understanding of how the idea or the innovation fits in a value network. The needs-based innovation may be misleading and Tony (2010) jokingly comments that if Henry Ford had been asked what the consumers needed he would have quickly replied they wanted faster horses. But he came up with a different idea and this leads to the question; how can the employees have such skills to identify whether an idea or innovation will be valuable in the future?

Coming up with an innovation requires consultation and employs knowledge gathered from different fields. To analyze the viability of such ideas an employee is meant to have in-depth knowledge of other areas as well. For instance, for a person working in the research and development department, possessing marketing skills would also be beneficial. Such skills may be obtained from training and from other employees in the organization. Having diverse knowledge helps an individual to come up with the ideas that will recognize the network of needs and is thus able to evaluate the impact it will have to the consumers and the value network. The analytical skills can also result from personal commitment where the employee identifies with the company. This also means there is shared understanding of the enterprise by all the employees. The individual doesn’t have to be an innovator in the knowledge creating company where the knowledge is shared across the organization. As such, it is the responsibility of every employee to participate in the innovation.

3. Innovation and You

One way of bringing innovation on a persona level is by being receptive to the skills and the training offered by the organizations. Such trainings are offered to encourage the workers to innovate on a sustainable basis. While participating in such training an individual should look at the benefits of possessing such knowledge which far overrides the benefit the employer gets. This is one way that helps one to be updated and such knowledge could be applied in other spheres of life.

In order to improve the innovative perspective an individual should develop the habit of taking risks. However, such actions are dependent on the working environment. In particular an individual should be ready to experiment with ideas, ask questions and be flexible in discovering new interests. Working in an environment where there is performance pay arrangements and rewarding schemes is likely to kill innovation instead of promoting it. In addition, such incentives may benefit an organization on a short term period while sacrificing the long term strategies. As such working in such an environment requires the right balance where innovative ideas are cultivated but at the same time adhering to the long term strategies of the company.

Formality and the structures in an organization are important for a streamlined performance but an individual should go an extra mile by keeping the interest of the organization at heart. Sharing of information opens a new dimension where one learns new ideas by helping out where necessary. It also worth noting that, if one is working in an organization where group work is encouraged one should not limit his or her contribution although an individual’s effort may not be recognized. By observing such unwritten rules one is also bound to influence the workmates positively and enhance the collective behavior as well.

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