Morrigan Department Stores (The Ethics of Forced Software Upgrading) Morrigan Department Stores is a chain of department
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 8:14 am
Morrigan Department Stores (The Ethics of Forced Software
Upgrading) Morrigan Department Stores is a chain of department
stores in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States
that sells clothing, shoes, and similar consumer items in a retail
setting. The top managers and their staff members meet once a year
at the international meeting. This year’s meeting was in Hawaii—a
geographical midpoint for them—and several accounting managers
participated in a round-table discussion that went as follows:
Roberta Gardner (United States): One of our biggest problems in our
Auckland office is the high cost and seemingly constant need to
upgrade our hardware and software. Every time our government
changes the tax laws, of course, we must acquire software that
reflects those changes. But why do we need new hardware too? All
this discussion of “64-bit machines” is a mystery to me, but the IT
department says the hardware in the old machines quickly become
outdated. Donalda Shadbolt (New Zealand): I’ll say! If you ask me,
all these upgrades are costly, time-consuming, and even
counter-productive. I do a lot of work on spreadsheets, for
example, and constantly ask myself: “Why do I have to spend hours
relearning how to format a simple column of numbers in the newest
version of Excel?” It takes time and effort, it’s frustrating, and
in the end, I’ve spent hours relearning skills that I already know
how to do in the older version. Linda Vivianne (Canada): I know
what you mean, but the newer hardware is faster, cheaper, and more
capable than the old machines. Hard drives have moving parts in
them, for example, and they eventually wear out. The newer software
runs under the newer operating systems, which are also more
competent and have more built-in security such as antivirus
software. Ed Ghymn (Australia): I agree with you, Linda, but I
think a lot of these new capabilities are more hype than real. If
the security software was competent, we wouldn’t need all those
patches and upgrades in the first place. And why must we upgrade so
often, just to get newer capabilities that most of us don’t even
need? Alex McLeod (Australia): I don’t think anyone can stop the
march of progress. I think the real problem is not the upgrades to
new software, but the fact that our company expects us to learn it
without proper training. Personally, I don’t buy my boss’s argument
that “you’re a professional and should learn it on your own.” Linda
Vivianne (Canada): I’m also beginning to realize just what
advantages there are in outsourcing some of our accounting
applications to cloud service providers. That won’t solve all our
problems because we all still need word processing and spreadsheet
capabilities, but at least we can let cloud providers deal with the
software upgrades for our accounting software. Given how dispersed
we are, that might also make it easier for us to consolidate our
financial statements at year’s end too.
Do you agree with Ed Ghymn’s argument that many upgrades are
“more hype than real?” Why or why not?
Upgrading) Morrigan Department Stores is a chain of department
stores in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States
that sells clothing, shoes, and similar consumer items in a retail
setting. The top managers and their staff members meet once a year
at the international meeting. This year’s meeting was in Hawaii—a
geographical midpoint for them—and several accounting managers
participated in a round-table discussion that went as follows:
Roberta Gardner (United States): One of our biggest problems in our
Auckland office is the high cost and seemingly constant need to
upgrade our hardware and software. Every time our government
changes the tax laws, of course, we must acquire software that
reflects those changes. But why do we need new hardware too? All
this discussion of “64-bit machines” is a mystery to me, but the IT
department says the hardware in the old machines quickly become
outdated. Donalda Shadbolt (New Zealand): I’ll say! If you ask me,
all these upgrades are costly, time-consuming, and even
counter-productive. I do a lot of work on spreadsheets, for
example, and constantly ask myself: “Why do I have to spend hours
relearning how to format a simple column of numbers in the newest
version of Excel?” It takes time and effort, it’s frustrating, and
in the end, I’ve spent hours relearning skills that I already know
how to do in the older version. Linda Vivianne (Canada): I know
what you mean, but the newer hardware is faster, cheaper, and more
capable than the old machines. Hard drives have moving parts in
them, for example, and they eventually wear out. The newer software
runs under the newer operating systems, which are also more
competent and have more built-in security such as antivirus
software. Ed Ghymn (Australia): I agree with you, Linda, but I
think a lot of these new capabilities are more hype than real. If
the security software was competent, we wouldn’t need all those
patches and upgrades in the first place. And why must we upgrade so
often, just to get newer capabilities that most of us don’t even
need? Alex McLeod (Australia): I don’t think anyone can stop the
march of progress. I think the real problem is not the upgrades to
new software, but the fact that our company expects us to learn it
without proper training. Personally, I don’t buy my boss’s argument
that “you’re a professional and should learn it on your own.” Linda
Vivianne (Canada): I’m also beginning to realize just what
advantages there are in outsourcing some of our accounting
applications to cloud service providers. That won’t solve all our
problems because we all still need word processing and spreadsheet
capabilities, but at least we can let cloud providers deal with the
software upgrades for our accounting software. Given how dispersed
we are, that might also make it easier for us to consolidate our
financial statements at year’s end too.
Do you agree with Ed Ghymn’s argument that many upgrades are
“more hype than real?” Why or why not?