customers are satisfied and to make sure their employees are treating the customers adequately. It also provides them legal protection from outsiders who may make false claims of negligence against company employees. Corporate assets that are spent on entertainment can be decreased dramatically thus saving the company money. So many companies have reported significant monetary losses due to extended periods of time that their employees spend on the Internet. "It all boils down to one thing. The time the company pays the employee for belongs not to the employee but the company, as does company equipment. The firm has the right to monitor the usage of both" (Menezes p.12). Obviously, by having this surveillance equipment, much money can be saved and used for other purposes. In many retail stores, video cameras are set up not only to protect from customer theft but also to protect against theft-from its' employees. Once again, the long term effects of using security cameras proves to be cost efficient and provides security and safeness for customers and employees. Managers recognize the benefits of using monitoring equipment and unless law dictates otherwise, they will continue to do so. A study conducted by the American Management Association (1999) shows that electronic surveillance is steadily the rise. Forty five percent of the U.S. firms that were polled say that say that they monitor staff communications and computer activity. This represents a steep rise, only two years earlier, thirty five percent of the same firms used monitoring. Most monitoring was strictly done for the purpose of spot checks and focused on specific job categories. Additionally, twenty seven percent of those questioned say that they monitor e-mail activity, both internal and external. More than one hundred of the Fortune 500 companies are believed to be using some type of surveillance as well, leading one to believe that if some of the better companies in the ...
