Tuesday, April 29, 2003

Organizational Design by Regulations As a follow up from my posting yesterday - networks do influence organizations. Then again, so does regulations. Two recent legislations: Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) & HIPAA are examples of its effects. There is undoubtedly, tremendous benefits but I think the industry in general, is implementing it to its own detriment. There is now a cottage industry offering services to conform to the regulations. Indeed, one shows you how to manage the information conveyed by wireless to the ubiquitous PDA! I think the point is being missed here - the legislations were to protect and benefit the end-consumer in matters of financial services and health-care. Unfortunately, it is taking its toll on the firms itself - anxiety abounds. On a visit to a local healthcare facility, I saw an illustrative poster meant for the healthcare staff - 'Don't be a HIPPO. Be sensitive to HIPAA'. Right idea in educating the employees but insensitively done. 7:51:03 AM