Date of Award

1-1-2003

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Information Technology

Faculty

Faculty of Computing, Health and Science

First Supervisor

Associate Professor William Hutchinson

Second Supervisor

Dr Thomas O'Neill

Abstract

Employees undertake a wide range of activities when they use the World Wide Web in the work place. Some of these activities may leave the modem Internet connected organisation vulnerable to undue or unknown risk, potential productivity losses and expense us a result of misuse or abuse or the Internet provision. Much of the existing literature on this subject points to a purported epidemic of misuse in the workplace. If this practice is so prevalent and widespread, what can modem Internet connected organisations do to identify the abuse and reduce the risks and losses that these abuses represent? To what extent is the World Wide Web used by employees for non-business related activities in organisations and can filtering or organisational policies impact on this activity? This research specifically examines contextually, the level of misuse with respect to the use of the World Wide Web in three selected Western Australian organisations using multiple interpretive case study as the vehicle for the study. The research is significant internationally to all organisations that use Internet in their everyday work. The research has discovered anomalous behaviour on the part of non-business users who have employed a variety of techniques and tactics to mask their activities. Also, organisational management in the cases examined had demonstrated shortfalls in their perception of misuse within their organisations and, the implementation of effective policy.

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