The Visible Employee

Reviewer's Bookwatch, August, 2006 by Oliver Norton

The Visible Employee

Jeffrey M. Stanton and Kathryn R. Stam

Information Today, Inc.

143 Old Marlton Pike, Medford, NJ 08055-8750

0910965749 $24.95 1-800-300-9868 www.infotoday.com

"The Visible Employee" presents the results of a four-year research project concerning prevailing workplace security measures and their side effects. On the one hand, deliberate or accidental employee misuse of information systems can cause havoc; on the other, too much monitoring and surveillance of employees can provoke conflict on all levels of hierarchy and cause drag on the efficiency of a business. Chapters present the perspectives of Information Technology professionals, managerial perspectives, employee perspectives, the pros and cons of different approaches to the quandary of balancing security against efficiency, and much more. Numerous appendices from employee interview protocol to a recommended password policy ("never use a dictionary word for a password" or "never send a password using email") and an index round out this valuable guide to businesses trying to successfully compete in a rapidly evolving and interconnected world.