An Analysis of the Factors Contributing to Internet Abuse in the Work Place

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Purpose – This study aims to examine the factors that influence the most popular topic in the society as internet abuse and addiction at the work place.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The survey results of 40 responses were analyzed to test the proposed hypothesis based on factors affecting to internet abuse and addiction at work places. Data were collected from individuals working in Colombo in Sri Lanka.

Findings – It was found that personality factors such as self-esteem significantly influence employees’ internet addictions and internet addiction significantly impacts employees’ internet abuse and thereby reduction in productivity of organisations.

Practical implications - Employers should pay special attention to employees’ personalities because they play important roles in internet addiction and internet abuse. Also a good internet policy will be useful to a working environment, which is becoming popular.

Originality/value – This study provides a comprehensive theoretical foundation to better understand the two controversial issues in industry. The study validates the important relationships of self-esteem, use and gratification and availability of an internet policy for the improvement of organisational performances. Also this study notes that the existence of the computer usage policies does not ensure that all employees are familiar with the content of those policies and penalties imposed on their violation.

Internet addiction and its abuse have the potential of devastating an individual’s personal life and also destroying an organization’s goodwill. Some organizations are even proactively formulating internet use policy and adopting electronic monitoring systems to prevent the occurrences of internet abuse from happening. Many studies have supported that, such as internet use policy and electronic monitoring systems, can effectively mitigate, prevent or deter internet addiction problems. By examining the responses of the study, the researcher can identify that disordered behaviors of using the e-mail in the workplace are the result of unclear internet use policy or lack of communication about the existence of electronic monitoring systems. Further this results in staying online for an unnecessary period of time at work place. Humans are the weakest link in the control of internet use. Employees with a higher degree of awareness of the existence of internet use policy are least likely to have internet abuse problems. As an effective preventive measure it is to create a security-aware culture by educating staff about risks and symptoms of internet abuse. An effective training program to improve the awareness of internet use in the workplace can evaluate adverse consequences of internet abuse problems.

Self-esteem is a personality trait that is a strong predictor for the internet addiction tendency of an employee in the workplace. As a result, employees are more likely to get addicted to the internet in the workplace and there by gratification of internet usage can be evaluated. Employees with low self-esteem often resort to the internet for their psychological needs. As a result, these employees are more likely to spend more time on the internet than those employees with high self-esteem. Companies aiming to lower internet addiction behavior should not only address policies and technical aspects of the work environment. Also should see if it is possible to hire employees with the personality traits of high self-esteem. These preventive measures are often more effective than reactive measures after internet addiction behaviors are spotted in the workplace. Without proper control, employees with internet addiction problems can display disturbed patterns of internet use. These problems can carry over to the workplace and result in a lowered productivity of employees in the workplace. In the worst case scenarios, some internet abuse problems can create corporate liability with illegal activities and potential lawsuits.

New Research Proposal of electronic and electrical waste management

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An analysis of the electronic and electrical waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Electronic and electrical waste management has become a major problem in the world and a major threat to the environment and has caused several health problems to the people. This research analyzes the different types of e-waste in selected companies and the harmful effects it causes. This study is done to reduce the pollution caused.

A significant literature review is considered and evaluated from other research papers prepared by several other researchers related to various independent factors such as environmental impacts, health impacts, waste minimization, imports and exports and legal framework.

The population in this research is the companies that provide supplementary activities and out of these a sample of organizations are chosen randomly for the purpose of this study according to the simple random sampling method. This research will provide the future researchers an idea to implement e-waste management in the future.

Chapter 01 – Introduction

1.1    Introduction of the study

Electronic and electrical waste (E-waste) is very dangerous and also contains valuable materials in it. There has been an increase in e-waste such as computers, laptops, mobile phones, entertainment electronics and other electrical items in the recent years which have led to many problems and has caused health problems. In 1994, it was estimated that approximately 20 million PCs (about 7 million tons) became outdated and this figure increased to 500 million PCs by the end of 2003 (Puckett and Smith, 2002 cited in Widmer et al, 2005). This is because the life period of electronic products are very less due to rapid advancements in technology. Manufacturing companies and hospitals need to continuously upgrade their electrical equipments in order to be efficient.

E-waste can cause harm to humans and the environment due to incorrect handling and treatment. E-waste management is a complex study and most developing countries lack in e-waste management systems due to limited infrastructure and technologies present in those countries.    Recycling the waste can avoid environmental pollution and helps to recover valuable metals and other reusable materials. E-waste represents one to three percent of global municipal waste production of 1636 million ton per year (OECD, 2008 cited in Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012). Countries should try to minimize e-waste by implementing efficient waste management systems as e-waste is becoming a threat in many countries.

1.2    Problem Statement

What are the issues arising from electronic and electrical waste and how to minimize the issues?

1.3 Problem Justification

Electronic and electrical waste can cause many issues and problems. E-waste is a very complex study and it is very difficult to understand. It can cause many environmental and health impacts. When e-waste is dumped into the environment, it becomes degraded and the harmful chemicals in it start to pollute the environment. These chemicals can damage the soil and even affect the water if e-waste is dumped into rivers or lakes. It can also affect the health of the humans. The chemicals that are released from e-waste can cause several diseases to humans such as headaches, heart and kidney problems, hair loss and many more.

The major problem is that most of the people are unaware of the harmful effects that e-waste can cause. First of all awareness should be created to the people about e-waste. Then an effective e-waste management system should be implemented in Sri Lanka in order to reduce it and reuse the valuable resources found in it. The companies can set certain rules and regulations regarding e-waste to try to minimize it. However, it’s very difficult to implement an e-waste management system in Sri Lanka as there are not many facilities and due to several other challenges.

1.3    Objectives of the study

·   To find out the existing types of electronic and electrical waste in selected companies

·   To find out the major issues arising from electrical and electronic waste

·   To find out the relationship between waste management strategies and health of the organizational employees

1.5 Significance of the study

1.5.1 Environment authorities

The findings of this report can help the environmental authorities to understand how harmful e-waste can be and will give them a clear understanding to start an e-waste management system in Sri Lanka.

1.5.2 New investors          

The findings of the report will help the new investors and companies with high e-waste to realize the potential threats of e-waste. It will help them to understand the importance of e-waste management system in order to invest and implement it.

1.5.2 Employees

Findings of this report will help the employees to understand the effects of e-waste and the safety precautions they should follow in order to refrain from e-waste harmful effects that will affect their health.

1.5.3 Government

The findings of this report is very important for the government as it can implement an effective e-waste management system which will help them to set safety standards in order to reduce many likely problems arising from waste.

1.5.4 Companies

The companies can also benefit from this report. Most of the companies are the major reason for e-waste. This report will help the companies to understand the problems caused by e-waste so that next time they will try to avoid e-waste by recycling.

1.5.5 Society

The society does not have much knowledge about the harmful effects of e-waste. This report will provide the society knowledge about e-waste and also will help the society to avoid wastages. It will also help the society to stay away from e-waste.

1.6 Scope of the study

·   The study will consider selected companies in Sri Lanka that deals with high electrical appliances

·   This study will discuss the types of e-waste

·   The proposed study will analyze the harmful effects of e-waste regarding health issues and pollution to the environment.

·   The study will also explain the ways to minimize e-waste.

·   The sample will be limited to a number of selected companies in Sri Lanka such as commercial banks, finance companies and telecommunication companies

Chapter 02 – Literature Review

2.1 Introduction

This chapter gives a clear view of the literature that has been collected on Electronic and Electrical waste management for selected companies through different research papers in order to create a good understanding. Many researchers such as Widmer et al, (2005),  Mallawarachchi and Karunasena (2012) and Sthiannopkao and Wong (2012) found that e-waste is a very harmful type of waste and many countries do not have efficient e-waste management systems.

Electronic and electrical appliances have a short product life cycle. This is due to the fact that technology is more advanced and these electronic products are upgraded with different features. Consumers tend to be updated with new technology and they buy new electronic products whereas the old one becomes a waste. The different types of e-waste are nonfunctioning or outdated TVs, computers, printers, photocopiers, cell phones, fax machines, home appliances, lighting equipment, games and such, when no longer wanted, become e-waste (Sthiannopkao and Wong, 2012).

E-waste produces valuable substances such as iron, steel, copper, aluminum, gold, silver, platinum and plastics and it also produces hazardous substances such as lead, mercury, cadmium and many other harmful chemicals that affects the environment (Wang et al, 2011). Effective e-waste management systems can help to reuse the valuable substances and get rid of the harmful ones. Implementing e-waste management systems are not easy as countries and organizations face many challenges and there are very less facilities in developing nations.

2.2 Literature Review and Hypothesis

The following study will examine the research that was carried out by several researchers on e-waste management in selected companies. The analysis shows that several researchers were frequently analyzing on environmental impacts, health impacts, waste minimization, imports and exports and legal framework. The following hypotheses produce an analysis on e-waste management.

2.2.1 Environmental Impacts

E-waste has several harmful substances that affect the environment in many ways. A discarded personal computer with a CRT monitor typically weighs 25 kg and consists of metal (43.7%), plastics (23.3%), electronic components (17.3%) and glass (15%) (Berkhout and Hertin, 2004). These waste materials become very harmful when exposed to the environment. E-waste contains more than 1000 different substances, many of which are toxic, such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, hexavalent chromium, and flame retardants that create  harmful emissions to the environment when burned (Widmer et al, 2005).

E-waste is a major contributor of Carbon that is emitted into the environment annually (Bertram et al., 2002). These substances cause air, water and land pollution. Air pollution is very dangerous as it carries serious diseases with it than can affect humans when they breathe. Water and Land pollution affects many animals and sea life creatures. Land pollution causes soil contamination that affects plantations which can enter food chains (Yang et al, 2008). This could be very harmful as it can affect the human health. E-waste spreads into the air through dust and affects humans through ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption (Mielke and Reagan, 1998).

It could be concluded that e-waste has many hazardous affects to the environment that leads to problems which also affects the humans. Therefore, many researchers state that high attention should be paid in order to manage e-waste (Khetriwal et al., 2006; Nnorom and Osibanjo, 2007; Lee et al., 2007; Chancerel and Rotter, 2009).

2.2.2 Health Impacts

Electronic and electrical waste in countries can have a major impact on the health of the people. Nowadays most of the people have a lot of electrical appliances at home which they do not use. They have less knowledge about the harmful effect that these electrical waste components can cause. Most of the computer monitors and cathode ray tubes contain a highly toxic hazardous component that can damage central and peripheral nervous systems, cardiovascular systems and kidneys and cadmium, which causes cancers, kidney and bone diseases and neural damage (Ramachandra and Varghese, 2004 cited in Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012). This statement proves that e-waste can cause major diseases to humans.

Harmful substances such as Lead and Mercury which contains in mobile phones, TVs, LCD panels, electrical keyboards and switches may even cause brain damage to the people (Sthiannopkao and Wong, 2012). It is also stated by Qiu et al. (2004) that high levels of e-waste can cause high incidences of skin damage, headache, and gastro-intestinal disorders. Some of the companies in Sri Lanka have a lot of e-waste which is a problem because it will affect their employees’ health and as a result the company will also be affected due to this.

According to a survey done in India, only 16% of the respondents were highly aware of the problems caused by e-waste and the rest 83% were only limitedly aware of the harmful effects of e-waste (Dwivedy and Mittal, 2012). This is a major issue because the people lack the knowledge to understand the serious health problems e-waste can cause to them.

2.2.3 Waste Minimization

As discussed above, e-waste causes many serious problems to the nature as well as humans. It is a growing trend in the world and many people are unaware of the dangerous problems it causes. Also, necessary steps should be taken in order to minimize this waste. Most of the organizations have already come up with many ways to reduce e-waste. The 3R system introduced by Japan which is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle approach has been adopted by many organizations in order to minimize waste and improve product designs (Sthiannopkao and Wong, 2012;  Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012). Another initiative introduced by the United Nations was the StEP system (Solving the E-waste Problem) to enhance and coordinate various efforts around the world (UNEP, 2007). The Head of Lighting Manufacturing agency said that “we use solid mercury for new CFL products without using mercury vapor, reducing mercury released to environment.”

When minimizing waste, companies face many challenges. These challenges include higher relevance of informal sector, uncontrolled customer behavior and lesser facilities to recycle and reuse (Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012). Uncontrolled customer behavior cannot be handled by the companies as they have to cater products according to the customer needs and wants. Also, many developing countries like Sri Lanka that does not have the required facilities to minimize waste.

2.2.4 Imports and Exports

Imports and exports play a major role in e-waste management. Many developing countries tend to import a lot of electrical items and most of the developed countries tend to export these electrical appliances. Some developed countries dump their second-hand electronic items in to developing nations. As stated by Wang et al (2011) During the last decade, large amounts of e-waste have been rapidly piling up in emerging economies both from growing domestic consumption as well as imports. There are also products that have been brought in as private imports, and it is thus difficult to identify which product was imported by whom (Wang et al, 2011).

Another major problem is that business sectors are practicing illegal imports from developed countries where it is expensive to recycle the discarded electronics (Dwivedy and Mittal, 2012). When practices like this occur it becomes difficult to manage the waste. Imports and exports of e-waste are increasing steadily and there are no specific guidelines, specifications or procedures to evaluate the quality of electronic products in the existing e-waste management policy (Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012).

It is also stated by Mallawarachchi and Karunasena (2012) “Sri Lanka is a tropical country electronic items become e-waste at a high rate due to humidity, dust and temperature. Although imported e-items are of high quality they cannot be durable if they are not tropicalised,” shows importance of such.

2.2.5 Legal Framework

The legal framework involves the standards, rules and regulations that the organizations have to follow to manage e-waste. Many studies found that organizations do not comply with laws and regulations of electronic waste management and there are no internal rules and regulations on electronic waste management that exist within these organizations (Mallawarachchi and Karunasena, 2012).

Many organizations do not follow the rules and regulations of e-waste management due to lack of knowledge about the hazardous effects e-waste. According to Mallawarachchi and Karunasena (2012) Though present electronic waste policy contains several provisions to ensure effective legal enforcement and due compliance within country, findings depict that organizations and people do not comply duly, mainly due to unawareness and less compliance with laws and regulations and unawareness of such laws are issues prevalent within existing legal framework of electronic waste management.

Chapter 03 – Research Methodology

3.1 Conceptual Framework

 3.2 Hypotheses

H1	Ho1 – There is no relationship between environmental impacts and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
	Ha1 – There is a relationship between environmental impacts and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
H2	Ho2 – There is no relationship between health impacts and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
	Ha2 – There is a relationship between health impacts and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
H3	Ho3 – There is no relationship between waste minimization and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
	Ha3 – There is a relationship between waste minimization and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
H4	Ho4 – There is no relationship between imports and exports and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
	Ha4 – There is a relationship between imports and exports and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
H5	Ho5 – There is no relationship between legal framework and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka
	Ha5 – There is a relationship between legal framework and e-waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka

Table 1 - Hypotheses

Source: Compiled by Author, 2013

 

3.3 Population

The population in this research will be the total number of commercial banks, registered finance companies and telecommunication companies in Sri Lanka. There are many commercial banks, finance and telecommunication companies operating in Sri Lanka.

3.4 Sample

3.4.1 Sampling Method

The simple random sampling method will be used as a method of sampling in this research. This method of sampling considers every item in the population defined in the research has an equal chance of being selected.

3.4.2 Sample size

The sample size is chosen according to the simple random sampling method. The total number of commercial banks, finance companies and telecommunication companies in Sri Lanka will be chosen as the population and the sampling size is chosen randomly.

The selected companies for this research are as follows:

·         Commercial Banks – 22

·         Financial Companies – 31

·         Telecommunication Companies – 8

The number of the population will be calculated as per the weighted average method in order to gain the sample. The total population is 61 and the sample chosen will be 30 for the calculation.

The sample population is 30 companies and the amount will be divided using the weighted average method and the calculation is done below:

Commercial Banks – 22/61*30 = 11

Financial Companies – 31/61*30 = 15

Telecommunication Companies – 8/61*30 = 4

Figure 2 – Population and Sample size Chart

Chapter 04 – Conclusion

This research is clearly focused on electronic and electrical waste management in selected companies in Sri Lanka. The explanation of the problem is the issues that have led the some of the companies in Sri Lanka to create e-waste.

The research done is based on the evidence of the previous literature review that have a relationship between e-waste management and other independent variables for instance environmental impacts, health impacts, waste minimization, imports and exports and legal framework.

Currently there is an increase in e-waste in most of the developing countries rather than the developed countries. Sri Lanka is also facing the same situation with an increase in e-waste in some of the selected companies. As there is an increase in e-waste in Sri Lanka, some of the companies have planned to implement e-waste management systems in order to reduce their waste. Most of the developed countries have successfully implemented the e-waste management system which has provided favorable results causing less pollution to the environment and reduction in health issues.

References

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