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Ethics deals with placing a “value” on acts according to whether they are “good” or “bad”. Every society has its rules about whether certain acts are ethical or not. These rules have been established as a result of consensus in society and are often written into laws. Therefore, computer ethics is set of moral principles that regulate the use of computers. Some common issues of computer ethics include intellectual property rights (such as copyrighted electronic content), privacy concerns, and how computers affect society. For example, while it is easy to duplicate copyrighted electronic (or digital) content, computer ethics would suggest that it is wrong to do so without the author’s approval. And while it may be possible to access someone’s personal information on a computer system, computer ethics would advise that such an action is unethical.

With it comes to ethics, using pirated product is one thing most commin to all, not only in the Philippines but almost all countries. In my experience with computer i can say that most of software i use is not licensed. One major reason for this is the cost of licensed software, it is just not practical for some people to buy licensed product if they can just get it for free.

Presence of internet cause a lot of unethical work in todays modern world. Even software companies knows this but still they make their products available for download online. This gives people idea, ‘what if i download this and crack/hack it and make it available for free’. ‘Software cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: (copy protection, protection against the manipulation of software), trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances like nag screens and adware.’

Even me tried using unlisenced software. There was a time our IT reformat my laptop and he said if i want to try using Windows 7 OS, so i said yes dso that i would know what are the new feature of this operating system. What we did if we base it on the diffinition of ethics is unethical but who knows?..only me and our IT personnel. I also tried installing MS office 2010, however after 30 days it required me to enter the product key. I tried using key i found on the internet but, maybe this is one measure used by Microsoft to combat this use of unlisenced products, that even you got a product key it still require you to verify it online if that key is genuine.

In Philippines, we have the following laws that cover up the issue on software piracy: (1) RA 8293: Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines which provides power and functions to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines. The RA 8293 covers regulations pertaining to copyright and industrial property. (2) RA 9239: Optical Media Act Republic Act 9239 is the law regulating optical media, details the purpose of the Optical Media Board, and specifies the penalties to those who disobey the law. It also gives information on licensing and other regulatory provisions from the Optical Media Board. However this does not prevent piracy, it only provides a mechanism for remuneration when piracy is discovered.

As technology advances, computers continue to have a greater impact on society. Therefore, computer ethics promotes the discussion of how much influence computers should have in areas such as artificial intelligence and human communication. As the world of computers evolves, computer ethics continues to create ethical standards that address new issues raised by new technologies.

KM…kilometer?…it’s not just distance that we can measure but its a boundless idea that if utilized well will make all our work easy. Knowledge management is a discipline that promotes an integrated approach to identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing all of an enterprise’s information assets. These assets may include databases, documents, policies, procedures, and previously un-captured expertise and experience in individual workers.

In today’s economy, knowledge is people, money, leverage, learning, flexibility, power, and competitive advantage. Knowledge is more relevant to sustained business than capital, labor or land. Nevertheless, it remains the most neglected asset. It is more than justified true belief and is essential for action, performance and adaption. Knowledge provides the ability to respond to novel situations. A holistic view considers knowledge to be present in ideas, judgments, talents, root causes, relationships, perspectives and concepts. Knowledge is stored in the individual brain or encoded in organizational processes, documents, products, services, facilities and systems.

For, PCPPI knowledge management would greatly help not only new and coming employees but also the seniors and old employees because not all that knows the process are the old ones. In todays generation younger people knows a lot on things that older ones, that is why integration of knowledge would greatly benifit all employees from different generations. Documented implicit activites of older generations make the younger ones know of what to do if problems occur, what step to do in certain undertakings and what mesures to apply. And in return assisting/coaching as form of transforming implicit to explicit are done also by younger ones to the older employees if new system or process is taken in action.

Really KM makes it difficult for others to open up thier implicit knowledge for they think it will make them fell that they wil, have no use in the company if others can also do what they call thier experties. But to think of it and to thinks as a whole, it will greatly benifit the company in they ingaged in such activity beacuse, knowledge is really power and more people with appropriate knowlegde more power it will be for the company.

Business intelligence tools are a type of application software designed to retrieve, analyze and report data for business intelligence. The tools generally read data that have been previously stored, often, though not necessarily, in a data warehouse or data mart.

For PCPPI BI tools are used by management to gain a better understanding of its critical operations through improved analytical tools and reporting capabilities. As PCPPI Iloilo Plant continued to grow its market share, it recognized anopportunity to use BI to analyze data from its point-of-sale and general ledger systems to gain an in-depth understanding of its operations and customers and to enhance management decision making.

Currently our comapny use different database and with COGNOS (data are inputed here) from all other database software like, ASDOS-for inventory, ORACLE-general ledger, Legacy-for costing and expenses and other spreadshert. With data gathered and analyzed it makes it easy to management decide for the future plan of PCPPI. During AOP review these data are analyzed, with the help of every department they will come up of a plan for the next year of business.

These practise is used by PCPPI and employees are thought to used these tools not just for the management but also for rank and file employees to enable them to make specific desicion regarding there work.

Outsourcing occurs when a company purchases products or services from an outside supplier, rather than performing the same work within its own facilities, in order to cut costs. The decision to outsource is a major strategy for most companies, since it involves weighing the potential cost savings against the consequences of a loss in control over the product or service.

Some common examples of outsourcing include manufacturing of components, computer programming services, tax compliance and other accounting functions, training administration, customer service, transportation of products, benefits and compensation planning, payroll, and other human resource functions. A relatively new trend in outsourcing is employee leasing, in which specialized vendors recruit, hire, train, and pay their clients’ employees, as well as arrange health care coverage and other benefits.

Successful outsourcing requires a strong understanding of the organization’s capabilities and future direction. Outsourcing based only upon a comparison of costs can lead companies to miss opportunities to gain knowledge that might lead to the development of new products or technologies.

Let’s take a look on some advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing.

Companies that decide to outsource do so for a number of reasons, all of which are based on realizing gains in business profitability and efficiency. Principal merits of outsourcing include the following:

Cost savings. Many businesses embrace outsourcing as a way to realize cost savings or better cost control over the outsourced function. Companies usually outsource to a vendor that specializes in a given function and performs that function more efficiently than the company could, simply by virtue of transaction volume.

Staffing levels. Another common reason for outsourcing is to achieve headcount reductions or minimize the fluctuations in staffing that may occur due to changes in demand for a product or service. Companies also outsource in order to reduce the workload on their employees (freeing them to take on additional moneymaking projects for the business), or to provide more development opportunities for their employees by freeing them from tedious tasks.

Focus. Some companies outsource in order to eliminate distractions and force themselves to concentrate on their core competencies. This can be a particularly attractive benefit for start-up firms. Outsourcing can free the entrepreneur from tedious and time-consuming tasks, such as payroll, so that he or she can concentrate on the marketing and sales activities that are most essential to the firm’s long-term growth and prosperity.

Morale. This is an often-overlooked but still notable benefit that can sometimes be gained by initiating an outsourcing relationship. Often a business’s lack of internal expertise or dedication to non-core tasks results in poor attitudes and ultimately poor performance. This can lead to overlap and duplication of internal efforts. An effectively designed and ongoing communication process emanating from one or more outsourcers can greatly reduce or eliminate these duplications.

Flexibility. Still others outsource to achieve greater financial flexibility, since the sale of assets that formerly supported an outsourced function can improve a company’s cash flow. A possible pitfall in this reasoning is that many vendors demand long-term contracts, which may reduce flexibility.

Knowledge. Some experts tout outsourcing of computer programming and other information technology functions as a way to gain access to new technology and outside expertise. This may be of particular benefit to small businesses, which may not be able to afford to hire computer experts or develop the in-house expertise to maintain high-level technology. When such tasks are outsourced, the small business gains access to new technology that can help it compete with larger companies.

Accountability. Outsourcing is predicated on the understanding shared by business and vendor alike that such arrangements require quality service in exchange for payment.

However, some of the major potential disadvantages to outsourcing include poor quality control, decreased company loyalty, a lengthy bid process, and a loss of strategic alignment. All of these concerns can be addressed and minimized, however, by companies who go about the outsourcing process in an informed and deliberate fashion

There may also be inherent advantages of maintaining certain functions internally. For example, company employees may have a better understanding of the industry, and their vested interests may mean they are more likely to make decisions in accordance with the company’s goals. Indeed, most analysts discourage companies from outsourcing core functions that directly affect the products or services that the business offers.

With all these, the idea of outsourcing requires not just understanding of what you can gain from it however we should always put in mind that bigger investment means bigger risk, and if this will not work as to what we expected it to be there is always failure. So, to minimize risk and failure a good IT strategy would be necessary and back up plans in case of unplanned events happened along the way.

Information technology have taken over our entire existence . Without it, we would never have come to this webpage. Imagine life without cell phones, computers, ipods or smart phone, imagine no sms, e-mails, eletronic transfers, debit and credit cards. Just imagine life without information technology.

Our life would not be what it is now without IT. Take the personal computer for example. Computers have become part of the household today and those who do not own one, use it in the neighborhood cyber café. Owning a computer is no more a luxury, it is a necessity. Most people take it for granted. We use it for work, for play and for everything in between. IT has shaped who we are throughout the years educationally and socially.