Chapter 7
Social Networking,
Engagement, and
Social Metrics
Prepared by Dr. Derek Sedlack, South University
Learning Objectives
Social
Networking
Services and
Communities
Web 2.0—
The Social
Web
Engaging
Consumers
with Blogs
and
Microblogs
Knowledge
Sharing in
the Social
Workplace
Mashups,
Social
Metrics, and
Monitoring
Tools
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• The Constantly Changing Web
– Web 2.0 (the social web): a term used to describe a
phase of World Wide Web evolution characterized by
dynamic webpages, social media, mashup
applications, broadband connectivity and usergenerated content.
– Social media: a collection of Web applications,
based on Web 2.0 technology and culture that
allows people to connect and collaborate with
others by creating and sharing digital content.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• The Constantly Changing Web
– World Wide Web (the Internet): a network of
documents on the Internet, called webpages,
constructed with HTML markup language that
supports links to other documents and media (e.g.
graphics, video, audio, etc.).
– Broadband: refers to wide bandwidth technologies
that create fast, high volume connections to the
Internet and World Wide Web.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Setting the Stage for Web 2.0
1. Broad bandwidth (broadband)
2. Sustainable business models
3. New Web programming technologies
4. Application programming interface (API)
5. Plug-Ins
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Setting the Stage for Web 2.0
AJAX technologies, or asynchronous JavaScript and
XML, is a term referring to a group of technologies and
programming languages that make it possible for
webpages to respond to users’ actions without
requiring the entire page to reload.
1. JavaScript
2. Extendable Markup Language (XML)
3. Document Object Model (DOM)
4. HyperText Markup Language (HTML)
5. XMLHttpRequest
6. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Social Media Applications and Services
– Social Networking Service (SNS): an online platform
or website that allows subscribers to interact and
form communities or networks based on real-life
relationships, shared interests, activities and so on.
Both YouTube and Facebook started as SNSs, but now
span multiple application categories.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• More than Facebook, YouTube, & Twitter
– Collaboration
– Communication and Engagement with Customers
(Marketing)
– Image and Reputation Management (Public Relations)
– Communication and Engagement with Employees and
Partners (Management)
– Talent Acquisition and Recruiting (Human Resources)
– Research and Knowledge Management
– Productivity and Information Utilities
– Fund Raising
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Elements of Social Media: What Makes it Different?
– User-generated content (UGC).
– Content control.
– Conversation.
– Community (common values, culture).
– Categorization by users (tagging).
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Elements of Social Media: What Makes it Different?
– Real people (profiles, usernames, and the human
voice vs. the corporate “we”).
– Connections (followers, friends, members, etc.).
– Constant updating (real-time, dynamic).
– Content separated from form.
– Equipment independence.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Cluetrain Manifesto
– Understanding not only how people behave, but also
the way they think about things.
– Transforms Markets to conversations where
successful companies will learn to engage
customers instead of traditional unidirectional or
broadcast communications.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
• Leverage the Groundswell
1. Listening
2. Talking
3. Energizing
4. Supporting
5. Embracing
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Web 2.0—The Social Web
1. How has Web 2.0 changed the behavior of Internet
users?
2. What are the basic tools or applications that
characterize Web 2.0?
3. Why is Web 2.0 referred to as the social Web?
4. What are some of the benefits or advantages that Web
developers gain from using AJAX technologies?
5. What are some of the most important messages for
business organizations in the Cluetrain Manifesto?
6. What is feature convergence? Give some examples of
this trend with regard to social media apps.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
Social
Networking
Services and
Communities
Web 2.0—
The Social
Web
Engaging
Consumers
with Blogs
and
Microblogs
Knowledge
Sharing in
the Social
Workplace
Mashups,
Social
Metrics, and
Monitoring
Tools
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Old Web versus New Web
– Online or virtual communities parallel physical
communities, but were primarily user-to-user interactions.
– Usenet and Newsgroups provided a static means of
communicating messages.
– Online communities have transformed to include:
• Selling goods and services
• Promoting products to prospective customers; for
example, advertising
• Prospecting for customers
• Building relationships with customers and prospective
customers
• Identifying customer perceptions by “listening” to
conversations
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
Selling goods
and services
Newsgroups
Old
Web
Usenet
Customer
Prospecting
Advertising
Semantic
Web
Building
Customer
Relationships
Encourage
Customers
Soliciting
ideas
“listening” to
Customers
Interactive
Support
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Social network analysis (SNA)
– The mapping and measuring of relationships and flows
between people, groups, organizations, computers, or
other information or knowledge-processing entities.
– Social graph: to the global social network reflecting how
we are all connected to one another through
relationships.
– Giant global graph: illustrates the connections between
people and/or documents and pages online.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Leveraging the Power of the Crowd
– Crowdsourcing: a model of problem solving and idea
generation that marshals the collective talents of a
large group of people.
– Crowdfunding: turning to a crowdsourcing model to
raise money for business start-ups or projects such
as Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Indiegogo.
• Donations
• Rewards
• Credit
• Equity
• Royalties
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Facebook Dominates Social Networking
– Users can develop their own apps.
– Created Newsfeed: constant stream of status
updates.
– Timeline: shows progression chronologically.
– Wants to curate all user content, causing a rise in
privacy concerns.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
Personal
News
Facebook
Open Graph
History
Business
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
Facebook
Google+
(G+)
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Virtual Reality
– Second Life is a social network that uses avatars to
represent their residents (users). Users can develop
their own apps.
– Avatars are an icon, figure, or visual representation
of a person in a digital environment.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
• Private Social Networking Services
– Social communities with restricted membership
used by many colleges and universities.
– Easier to monitor activities and track conversations.
– Requires considerably more time, attention, and
resources than using general SNS.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Social Networking Services and
Communities
1. What are the major differences between social
networking services and older online communities?
2. What is the basic difference between the social graph
and Berners-Lee’s concept of the Giant Global Graph?
3. Explain Facebook’s Open Graph initiative and how it
plans to expand its influence across the World Wide
Web.
4. What are some potential ways that business
organizations can take advantage of Second Life’s
unique virtual world interface?
5. Why would a business want to create a private SNS?
What are some of the challenges associated with
doing this?
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
Social
Networking
Services and
Communities
Web 2.0—
The Social
Web
Engaging
Consumers
with Blogs
and
Microblogs
Knowledge
Sharing in
the Social
Workplace
Mashups,
Social
Metrics, and
Monitoring
Tools
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Blogs
– Websites were people regularly post a variety of
content in various digital formats.
– Blogs can establish reputations and promote
business interests and/or share viewpoints.
– Blogospheres are connected blogs.
– Microblogs are frequent, but brief posts such as
Twitter.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Blogs
– Blogging Platforms are software used to create and
edit content with features that make blogging
relatively easy.
– Wordpress (51%) and Blogger (21%) are the most
popular blogging platforms.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Twitter
– A valuable tool for activists engaged in organizing
protests, debating political viewpoints, and
broadcasting real-time information through Tweets.
– Uses content tags called Hashtags (#) to allow users
to follow conversations and/or trends.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Growing Use of Twitter
– Twitterspheres are third-party apps to enhance
functionality and experience.
– TweetDeck, Twitpie, Twitterfeed, and Twitterholic are
essential Twitter tools.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Growing Use of Twitter
– Celebrities, companies, products, and services.
– Coupons and specials.
– News and political platforms.
– Friendly status updates.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
• Tumblr
– Another update services providing microblogging
with emphasis on photographs and video.
– Allows just as much text as a regular blog, but
Tumblr is mostly used for fashion, entertainment,
and the arts.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Engaging Consumers with Blogs and
Microblogs
1. What is the difference between a blog and a
microblog?
2. What is a blogging platform?
3. Why do marketers use blogs and microblogs?
4. What makes Twitter a more attractive communication
channel than traditional media for many individuals
and organizations?
5. How is Tumblr different from other types of blogging
platforms?
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
Social
Networking
Services and
Communities
Web 2.0—
The Social
Web
Engaging
Consumers
with Blogs
and
Microblogs
Knowledge
Sharing in
the Social
Workplace
Mashups,
Social
Metrics, and
Monitoring
Tools
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
• Mashup
– Web applications that combine information from two
or more sources.
– Present information in a way that creates some new
benefit or service.
– http://www.programmableweb.com/mashups/direc
tory
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
• Mashup
– Popular APIs are from social media sites (usergenerated social information).
– Provide the power to separate content from form –
Web developers have greater control over
information display and use.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
• RSS (really simple syndication)
– Allows real-time consumption and personalized
organization and display of news information.
– Mostly free service (Feedly.com, Digg.com)
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
• RSS (really simple syndication)
– Allows real-time consumption and personalized
organization and display of news information.
– Mostly free service (Feedly.com, Digg.com)
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
• Monitoring Service
– Conversation tracking on social media sites
• Paid services: Radian 6, Alterian SM2, Hubspot.
• Free services: Twitter Search, Social Mention
– Provides organizations a better understanding of
brand, product, and even executive perception from
consumers.
– Brand advocates positively portray a brand or
company online.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Mashups, Social Metrics, and
Monitoring Tools
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why are mashups considered part of social media?
Describe a typical consumer mashup.
What is an RSS reader?
Describe the ways in which businesses can benefit
from using social media monitoring tools?
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Learning Objectives
Social
Networking
Services and
Communities
Web 2.0—
The Social
Web
Engaging
Consumers
with Blogs
and
Microblogs
Knowledge
Sharing in
the Social
Workplace
Mashups,
Social
Metrics, and
Monitoring
Tools
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Knowledge Sharing in the Social
Workplace
• Synchronous Communication
– Dialogue or conversation taking place in real-time
(Skype, ooVoo).
– VenueGen allows meetings in virtual worlds with
avatars.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Knowledge Sharing in the Social
Workplace
• Research and Knowledge Sharing Tools
– Search Engines: identify and share information
relevant to a project topic (Yahoo, Bing, Google).
– Discussion Groups: provide a forum for asking
questions to groups of people (AMA, LinkedIn).
– Blogs, tweets, and page status can provide valuable
information.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Knowledge Sharing in the Social
Workplace
• Social Bookmarks
– Diigo and Delicious
– Diigo provides approval buttons and highlight
features for member collaboration.
– Delicious uses folksonomy to provide content search
results based on human tags or interests.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Knowledge Sharing in the Social
Workplace
• Content Creation and Sharing
– Cloud storage services: uses the Internet for storage
and retrieval of information.
– Dropbox allows the storage and sharing of files and
folders with others.
– Box.net places greater emphasis on social tools and
features for collaboration.
– Wikis provide encyclopedia-like webpages, driven by
collaborative open-edit content.
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Chapter 7
Knowledge Sharing in the Social
Workplace
1. How can working teams use social media as an
alternative to face-to-face meetings?
2. Why are social bookmarking services superior to the
traditional method of saving “favorites” or
“bookmarks” in a browser?
3. What are some ways you can use social media to
solicit knowledge, information, and advice from
experts on the Web?
4. What advantages do sites like Dropbox and box.net
have over e-mail as a way of sharing and collaborating
on creating documents?
Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 1 of 7
Introduction
This lesson will first focus on the Information Age and how it relates to society as a whole.
Discussion will then move to the relevance of security in the Information Age and the
distinctions between ethical and legal perspectives. This lesson will then offer some possible
solutions to resolve ethical and legal dilemmas and address how the role of management has
changed in order to accommodate eSecurity.
The Information Age
Construction of the first airplane and installation of the first telephone both required that
accurate information be managed and stored. One can assume the same was true with the
construction of the Egyptian pyramids and invention of the Model T. Thus, why is today referred
to as the Information Age? What has changed? Why the most exotic telecommunications
systems and need for increased speed in information transfer?
The main bridge that separates yesterday’s informational
needs from today’s is competition. It is not that
protection of information was not important in the early
days of businesses; it just functioned as more of an
informative tool rather than a competitive advantage. For
example, in 1876, very few people, if anyone, were
competing with Alexander Graham Bell to develop the
phone system. No one was pushing him to get the
product out early or manufacture 20,000 telephones a
day. Rather, at this point in history, the market was filled
largely with single producers of specific products; each entrepreneur enjoyed his/her own highly
specialized market. Such a system allowed producers the space and time necessary to work
slowly but surely on a product, without pressure from a competitive market.
Today, competitors race to get products into the market as early as possible and to perfect their
services as soon as possible. If they cannot do this successfully, then they will lose their place
in the market for this product. As such, information has become the main tool for competitive
advantage. Companies rely on information about their products, competitors’ products, the
market, and the consumers interested in their products and services. Such reliance results in
continued perfection of the information process, making it faster, more reliable, and increasingly
cost effective.
The Information Age forces computer professionals to act creatively and deliver Management
Information Systems that will facilitate the needs of today’s marketplace. Such systems must
result in a high ROI (Return on Investment) for the organization, which means that design and
security protection of the systems must yield outcomes beyond the systems costs and be
profitable to use. Without security, MIS is of little use to an organization, hence, the focus on
protection in the Information Age.
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 2 of 7
Security in the Information Age
Since the goal of pursuing quality information is that of competitive advantage, systems must be
secure so that they are not vulnerable to competitors. The following are five (5) of the main
reasons for strong security in the Information Age:
Protects a company’s competitive edge
o A company will invest in Management Information Systems if they can produce
the type of information it needs for competitive advantage. If such information
becomes available to the company’s competitors, the entire purpose of the MIS
is defeated. Without security, a company’s place in the market becomes
jeopardized, because of the loss of valuable company and product information
and the loss of the investment in the MIS they were using. These systems are
very costly and, as such, they must yield a favorable ROI to the company.
Protects employees
o Employee information is almost sacred. A company’s
most important asset is its human capital. As such, it
has the responsibility of ensuring the safety of
employee information. Incidents have occurred where
ex-spouses of employees were able to obtain personal
employee information from the company and use it for
destructive purposes. Whether it is an incident such as
this, or an attack from an outside source, it can be
devastating to the lives of the employees and to the
company. Employees can enjoy trust and peace of
mind when they are assured that their personal
information is safe with their company.
Protects customers
o Customers are a company’s bloodline. Especially during the era of eCommerce,
customer’s information must be protected at all times. Without security of the
MIS, customer information is vulnerable, as is the customer’s trust in the
company and the company’s success. Unfortunately, one also hears of
companies selling their customer information to other companies, such as
marketing companies. Such actions will be addressed in the ethical and legal
section of this lesson.
Protects suppliers
o Suppliers give consideration to certain customers based on a range of criteria.
This consideration helps the profit margin of companies. As a result, it is to the
advantage of both company and supplier to protect relevant information. Breach
of this security can cause poor business relationships that hurt everyone involved
and decrease the profits of the company.
Avoids lawsuits
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 3 of 7
o
In all of the above examples, lawsuits are often filed for violation of privacy and
the sharing of confidential information. These legal battles can be life threatening
to a company, as legal costs can deplete a company’s resources and time, as
well as affecting their business reputation. Companies can work to safeguard
themselves against such threats by investing in information security that protects
all of their constituents.
The Ethical and Legal Perspectives
How does one differentiate between ethical and legal perspectives? Ethics is a personal
decision and desire to do what is right, whereas a legal decision is a mandatory order to do
what is right. Both may carry weight in a particular society, although oftentimes the legal
repercussions of laws make them more influential.
Ethical issues cost a company less, as they do not carry the fees
involved in monitoring a process legally. As such, companies are
finding it cost-effective on a long-term basis to educate their staff about
ethics and/or to invest in improved hiring processes. Through better
hiring strategies, companies can find employees who will contribute to
the integrity of the company instead of lowering its ethical standards by
unethical actions.
The dilemma today as companies go worldwide is deciding upon a
global meaning of ethics and law. What may be ethical or legal in one
country may be unacceptable in another country. As such, companies
need to fully educate themselves on the cultures of the locations into
which they are expanding. Such expansion also complicates security
issues in relation to Management Information Systems, as the level of security demanded in one
place may not apply to another.
Because the legal systems in countries vastly differ, having international attorneys on board in
multinational companies is a wise move. However, investing in high security measures may not
be necessary in certain countries where protection of employees’ personal information is not an
issue. Either way, this is an issue to be taken very seriously by a company before expanding
and doing business in an area that may not follow the same standards as the company’s
original operation.
Consider the following scenarios:
As mentioned, especially during the era of eCommerce, the customer’s information must
be protected at all times. Unfortunately, one hears of companies selling their customer
information. Is this legally and or ethically wrong? The answer depends on the country in
question. Consider the following.
John is Mary’s supervisor. It is obvious that he has been sharing her information with
others by revealing her systems passwords.
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 4 of 7
o
Is this legally and or ethically wrong? Though such actions are clearly ethically
wrong, unfortunately, if John and Mary were living in a highly patriarchal
society that did not consider women equal to men, this situation may not have
legal ramifications and may simply be dismissed.
Anna really hurts her fellow employee, Bill, by
constantly telling him how insignificant he is.
o Is this legally and or ethically wrong?
Such actions are ethically wrong, and
could be considered a legal matter if
they qualify as harassment under the
company’s policy.
These scenarios illustrate that ethical and legal issues
are contextually and geographically based. Security, then, also becomes an issue whose
parameters are determined by the meaning of confidentiality and of violation in given locations
and contexts.
Richards and Solove (2007) offer a definition of confidentiality in their article, “Privacy’s Other
Path: Recovering the Law of Confidentiality”:
Confidentiality focuses on relationships; it involves trusting others to refrain from
revealing personal information to unauthorized individuals. Rather than protecting the
information we hide away in secrecy, confidentiality protects the information we share
with others based upon our expectations of trust and reliance in relationships
(Richards & Solove, 2007).
The underlined words do not appeal to legal adherence but to personal ethics, and as a result,
confidentiality’s parameters similarly depend upon geography and context.
Possible Solutions to Resolve Ethical and Legal
Dilemmas
How can one resolve ethical and legal dilemmas? The following are a few solutions:
Maximize information security
o Companies need to invest in security. It is the responsibility of the
company to protect its constituents from possible breaches of security.
While security increases costs, these
short-term costs can result in many
long-term benefits, such as loyalty
from employees, customers, suppliers,
and so forth.
Educate employees on the benefits of ethics.
o Design internal training that will
address ethics in a manner that is
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 5 of 7
culturally sensitive. Employees need to understand that adopting strong
ethics is not a choice; rather, doing so is one’s responsibility to another
human. This also includes emphasizing the values and integrity of the
company.
Educate employees on the costs of legal actions.
o Employees innocently do not realize the many hidden costs associated
with legal actions. Make clear the effects of these costs. If managers
understand that their bottom-line dollar will be affected by legal fees, they
will care. If employees clearly understand their annual pay increases will
not occur if the legal fees continue to increase, they may think differently
about illegal actions. Effectively and unfortunately, unless people are
personally affected by certain actions, they are not always motivated
enough to do what is right. Therefore emphasize how these issues directly
impact the employee.
Increase the workplace penalty associated with unethical and illegal actions.
o At a time when companies are experiencing a level of competitiveness
that they have not experienced before, they cannot afford to allow
unethical and illegal actions to just slip by. Employees must be held
responsible for their actions at all levels of the organization. The key here
is for a company to consistently deal with these violations and have a
system in place for doing so.
Walk the talk.
o Finally, yet importantly, leaders and managers must walk the talk. The
best way to lead is still by example. The leaders are the ones who create
and maintain the culture of an organization; thus, they must set the
example and uphold to it accordingly. If the leaders are people of strong
integrity who uphold the values of the organization, the employees will be
more likely to follow.
The Role of Management and eSecurity
Top leadership cannot implement all these strategies and monitor them in relation to security,
ethical, and legal issues alone. As a result, leaders often hire competent managers who can
oversee the security processes in efficient and effective manners.
It is not unusual to find the following being included in the role of today’s manager:
Trainers of ethics and legal seminars
Acting policemen and policewomen
Systems testers to ensure that the system is secured
Technology competence – able to at least detect when a system is incompetent
Protectors of information – decide who will have access to certain levels of
information
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 6 of 7
Companies must seek to develop a certain level of ownership in each manager so that he/she
will be willing to safeguard his/her department. One way this can be done is to get managers to
understand that secured information means more money to their teams’ bottom-lines. Again, the
key is to personalize the benefits.
This management of information has certainly changed business during the past twenty years. It
is not that protection of information was not important in the early days of businesses; it was just
not as needed. Information was more informative than competitive.
In summary, the age of information and management systems are still somewhat cutting-edge
to some small- and medium-sized companies. However, it is true that for these companies to
grow and become giants in their industry, they must inevitably accept that to safeguard
themselves against poor eSecurity, they will need to clearly understand ethics and legal
perspectives of information and find a way of communicating this to their entire organization.
Copyright © 2007 by Learning House, Inc The Information Age and Security
Page 7 of 7
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