According to me, usage of work email for personal use is fine unless it is within the tolerance limit of the company, I wouldn’t mind sending a personal e-mail in case of an emergency. Work  e-mail can also be used to organize team bonding sessions or even wish someone on their birthday which I feel is within the tolerance limit. The only thing I find wrong is when people use it to send inappropriate content which affects harmony within a team and sometimes even create disputes between team members. In one scenario there was a case where employees used e-mail for football betting, which I feel is wrong and affects one’s productivity during work. I also feel that the company has the right to view our personal e-mail whenever they want, since all our data are stored in the organization’s server/equipment. Hence, before sending an e-mail one should be aware and take time to assess the content of the mail. According to a survey conducted by American Management Association (Fahmy, 2009), “more than quarter of companies have fired their employees for misusing e-mail and one third have fired employees for misusing the internet”. Moreover, Jonathan Ezor, Professor of Law and Technology at Touro Law Center says that the law gives employer the privilege to look into information sent by their employees using work equipments such as work mobile, PDA and laptops (Fahmy, 2009). As a law abiding citizen one should hence be aware when sending any personal content using company equipments.

The issue here is when employees use organizational property for their personal gains, which I feel goes against my moral values. By doing this, not only is one ripping off their organization; moreover, whatever they do using it belongs to the organization. The organization also has the right to sue the employee responsible. By pursuing such a deed the employee would later be tempted to develop a product or solution that rivals his/her organization’s solution. This also poses a financial and security risk to the company which has trained the employee. The organization must also have their policies updated frequently with the changing landscape of technology. Organizations that have proper policies in place consider this action as an act of fraud. If the employee has any questions about the usage of company property; one should approach his/her manager or HR and get the necessary clarifications. When an employee works on a personal project using a company’s infrastructure, I believe that the employee is taking advantage of the organization’s proprietary and intellectual information which according to me is considered misappropriate and plagiarizing.