Chapter 8: Ethical Dilemma

• What are your views on this situation?

This is really quite surprising if I were Alice. Videoconferencing is widely used nowadays. This technology helps a lot of employees and employers since outsourcing is now on trend. Through this technology, flexibility and being able to work anywhere is possible. But in the situation stated, I as an applicant, would follow what would the employer instruct even after suggesting to them to use videoconferencing for the interview.

• Do you feel that this highlights (even in a small way) the opportunity to reduce environmental damage by using technologies to support communication and therefore avoid unnecessary travel?

It is true that the employer can save fare for flying Alice from New Zealand to UK but I don't think that the fuel to be burnt for flying her would be saved because a flight schedule is fixed so even if Alice would not board the plane,  the plane would still fly to UK. Though by using videoconferencing, stress and time could be saved.

• Do you believe that people should be willing to adapt to the use of such videoconferencing technologies - is this an ethical issue? Given a willingness to adapt, is it possible that the interview process can be carried out in such a way as to overcome the possible deficiencies of the technology-so that the candidate is not disadvantaged by not being physically present, and also provide the interview committee with the opportunity  to gain a clear impression on Alice?

People must at least consider the usage of these technologies.  High quality videoconferencing almost gives real-time or even a real-time events. Employers have different judgements when it comes to employing persons. Some are through gestures and facial expressions of the interviewee and some are on how the interviewee reacts and answers in the given questions. In videoconferencing, it is almost like you are talking in person with the person on the video however being not physically present in a interview gives a different feeling. Applicants may gain more confidence since they know that the employer is not really in front of him but it may also give the opposite.

• Do you feel that if members of a workforce are expected to adapt to the deployment of such technologies, then members of a management team should be willing to do likewise (in the above discussion, we have demonstrated an example of the unwillingness of a management team to employ even videoconferencing facilities)? 

• To what extent to you think senior management is generally willing to accept the introduction of computer-based technologies to monitor their own activities during working day?