To spy or not to spy
I believe that your article, "Cyber Monday a myth, but workers' online shopping habits still a risk," [scmagazine.com, Nov. 22, 2006] is offbase. There are some industries, such as manufacturing, where it is important to monitor worker behavior. Generally though, the studies have shown that there is no loss of productivity. In fact, it is an advantage to quickly check on items and then go back to work. I am glad that my company does not agree with this philosophy.
Raymond Hooker via email
Editor-in-Chief Illena Armstrong responds: The topic of monitoring employees using company resources has always been controversial, and has been something we've covered for years now. Given the recent chatter about "cyber Monday" it's only fair to ensure we cover the subject to gain insight on why some companies worry about it. Many of our readers do espouse the idea of ensuring that corporate systems are not abused by employees.
We definitely appreciate your viewpoint, too, as it's one that just as many other SC readers share.
Price is wrong
I am writing from Thailand. Regarding the price I was quoted for Analyst's Notebook 6: My initial impression is that the price you quoted [June 2006] is the U.S. government contract price, and the price I was quoted is the small business price. If so, then your readers may want to know this.
Rebecca Lomax, Ph.D. via email
Technology Editor Peter Stephenson replies: Thanks for writing. There are several possibilities. First, between the time we wrote the review and now, the company could have had a price increase. Also, the international price may be different. Third, you may be looking at a combination of i2's tools that we did not review. Analyst's Notebook combines with any or all of several other tools by i2 for a more complete system (although I use i2 by itself for some very creative analyses).
We reported the price for the product and version that we reviewed as i2 reported it to us.
Thanks again for your message. I'm pleased that we caught your eye with i2. It's a good product.
