Contact Us
Employee Characteristics That Cost Companies Billions
March, 2009Computers are the life-blood of business-affecting everything from parts to payroll, sales to shipping. Information technology (IT) professionals create and control these essential processes, but they also engage in illegal or inappropriate activities that cost their employers billions of dollars each year. In a recent study, researcher Paul Cronan found that six individual and situational characteristics of ethical behavior account for more than half of all IT misuse.
"Misuse of IT causes serious losses to business and society," said Cronan, professor of information systems. "Using conservative estimates, businesses lose more than $265 billion each year from inappropriate or illegal use of IT."
In this study, which included 1,995 observations, the researchers found four psychological factors-attitude toward ethical situation, feeling of moral obligation, strength of convictions and the individual's stage of moral development-were prominent in predicting ethical behavior intention. Other significant factors were the respondent's gender and the ethical situation itself.
"Gender was found to be a significant indicator of one's intention to behave ethically or unethically," Cronan said. "Women had a greater intention to behave ethically than men in this study."
IT misuse can include illegal copying of computer software, accessing and using personal data or unauthorized use of a company computer for personal gain. Some IT misuses, such as identity theft, have a direct impact on individuals as well as businesses.
"If we can understand which components influence the behavior, we can develop effective responses," explained Cronan. "Controllable components, such as awareness of company policies, can be addressed through training. Other components may require more IT controls, including implementing deterrents such as informing individuals that they are being monitored as well as other safeguards.