The Effects of Technology in the Workplace

Organizational culture can be defined as the underlying values, beliefs, and principles that serve as a foundation for an organization's management system as well as the set of management practices and behaviors that both exemplify and reinforce those basic principles. To create this foundation, an organization must promote an overall positive culture. Technology plays an important role in the creation, stability, and longevity of a successful environment in and around any organization. Foster (2002) suggests a few examples for promoting positive culture in the workplace, which helps to deter the misuse of technology such as, the internet:

1. Reward Productivity

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Organisational chart in ARIS Express 3

All employees want to feel as if their work truly matters in the big picture. They want a sense of purpose for their job and to know that they are making a difference to the company's bottom line. When employees do not feel this kind of job satisfaction, they quickly become disgruntled and resort to non-productive work habits, such as misusing the Internet.

In order to combat this challenge, reward your employees for their productivity while instilling a sense of teamwork in the office. One way to accomplish this is by measuring each department's production and posting the results in charts and graphs. Update the chart either daily or weekly so employees can track their progress. When you do this, be sure to create one chart or graph per department, not employee. The idea is to foster a team environment, not one-to-one competition. As each individual department's productivity increases, they will feel proud to see their productivity "written on the wall" in your charts.

Though many times this is not necessary, you may also choose to reward the employees with salary bonuses, paid time off, department luncheons, or any other way to show your appreciation. Ask them what they...