These issues about Global Information Technology Projects are usually caused by companies merging across national borders, European unification, World Wide Web, and stock exchanges (Edberg et al., 2001). In addition, IT managers encounter new problems as the scope of ISs increasingly spans the globe. Being aware of these issues and their causes fundamentally assists in solving them.
The first legal issue for global IT is that accounting laws vary from country to country. For instance, US laws emphasize information that informs all stockholders about the business’s financial health. On the other hand, European countries are more concerned with tax reporting. The second legal issue is the difference in how the management should handle employees’ issues, such as hiring, firing, and compensation (Edberg et al., 2001). For example, the government of Italy has some laws limiting hiring foreign employees to ensure full employment in the country.
The third common legal issue is differing forms of protectionism. Despite many efforts to implement free trade, protectionism is still in play, limiting businesses’ ability to maintain worldwide standards. For instance, Brazil has restrictive laws aimed at protecting local computer and data communication businesses. This law prevents a firm from using the same software and hardware products across countries (Edberg et al., 2001). The fourth legal issue is fraud protection. In this concern, some countries are not focused on protecting businesses against fraudulent purchases. Fraudulent activities are more common in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Mexico, Romania, and many others.
The fifth legal issue on Global Information Technology Projects is privacy and electronic monitoring. In this concern, acquiring individually referenced data on customers or workers is not allowed in European countries. Therefore, companies are forced to discard or revamp systems monitoring. Another challenge is the differing union job classification from country to country (Edberg et al., 2001). Other legal issues are associated with different laws governing vacations and overtime. For instance, businesses in European countries should allow their workers at least five weeks’ vacation. Other legal issues are variations in licensing and intellectual and property protection.
There are many legal issues for a company that is global or wants to be. The complexity multiplies as you move into different markets and support employees and customers.
A few of the issues are based on accounting rules, protection of privacy and intellectual property, hiring and firing of people, unions, and customs.
Just think of eBay as an example. Selling in the United States is burdensome but when you sell internationally the addresses and postage rates are different. You might have priced shipping too low. That is why eBay came up with its Global Shipping Program. You ship within the U.S. and the global shipper handles the rest, providing a tracking number and dealing with customs. There are fees to the customer, but you just have to get the product to the nearby facility which ships it out.
Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:
- Explain the differences between data center structures in the U.S. and other countries.
Instructions
- Review the rubric to make sure you understand the criteria for earning your grade.
- Read this article on issues for Global IT:
- Write a one-page paper on the topic of legal or regulatory issues for Global IT.
- Name the document WS1_Legal_Issues.docx
. - Submit the assignment by the last day of the workshop.