Ethics in Information

Technology, Fourth Edition

An Overview of Ethics
 What is Ethics?

• Moral code
– Set of rules
– Establishes boundaries of generally accepted
behavior
– Different rules often have contradictions
• Morality
– Social conventions about right and wrong
– Widely shared
– Form basis for an established consensus

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 What is Ethics? (cont’d.)

• Morality may vary by:

– Age
– Cultural group
– Ethnic background
– Religion
– Life experiences
– Education
– Gender

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 Definition of Ethics

• Ethics
– Set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior

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 The Difference Between Morals,
Ethics, and Laws
• Morals: one’s personal beliefs about right and wrong
• Ethics: standards or codes of behavior expected of
an individual by a group
• Law: system of rules that tells us what we can and
cannot do
– Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
– Legal acts conform to the law
– Moral acts conform to what an individual believes is
the right belief of right and wrong

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 Ethics in the Business World

• The negative impact of inappropriate behavior have

increased
• Several trends have increased the likelihood of
unethical behavior:
– Globalization creating complex work environments
– Organizations challenged to maintain profits / revenue

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 Ethics in the Business World (cont’d.)

• Recent scandals in IT companies

– Satyam Computer Services (India)
– Computer Associates International
– IBM

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Why Fostering Good Business Ethics Is
Important
• To gain the good will of the community
• To create an organization that operates consistently
• To foster good business practices
• To protect organization/employees from legal action
• To avoid unfavorable publicity

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 Gaining the Good Will of the
Community
• Organizations have fundamental responsibilities to
society
– Declared in formal statement of company’s principles
or beliefs
– Include:
• Making contributions to charitable organizations and
non profit institutions
• Providing benefits for employees in excess of legal
requirements
• Choosing economic opportunities that might be more
socially desirable than profitable

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 Creating an Organization That
Operates Consistently
• Consistency ensures that employees:
– Know what is expected of them
– Can employ the organization’s values to help them in
decision making
• Consistency also means that shareholders,
customers, suppliers, and community know what
they can expect of the organization

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 Creating an Organization That
Operates Consistently
• Consistency ensures that employees:
– Know what is expected of them
– Can employ the organization’s values to help them in
decision making
• Consistency also means that shareholders,
customers, suppliers, and community know what
they can expect of the organization

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 Creating an Organization That
Operates Consistently (cont’d.)
• Many companies share the following values:
– Operate with honesty and integrity, staying true to
organizational principles
– Operate according to standards of ethical conduct, in
words and action
– Treat colleagues, customers, and consumers with
respect
– Strive to be the best at what matters to the company
– Value diversity
– Make decisions based on facts and principles

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 Fostering Good Business Practices

• Good ethics means good business/improved profits

• Companies that:
– Produce safe and effective products
• Avoid costly recalls and lawsuits
– Provide excellent service that retains customers
– Develop and maintain strong employee relations
• Suffer lower turnover rates
• Enjoy better employee morale

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 Fostering Good Business Practices
(cont’d.)
• Suppliers/business partners place priority on
working with companies that operate in a fair and
ethical manner
• Bad ethics means bad business profits
– Bad ethics can lead to bad business results
– Bad ethics can have a negative impact on employees

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 Protecting the Organization and Its
Employees from Legal Actions
• Clear Policies and Procedures: Develop
comprehensive employee handbooks and policies that
align with legal standards. Ensure they are
communicated clearly to all employees.
• Employee Training: Regularly conduct training on
topics such as workplace safety, harassment prevention,
and discrimination laws to foster a compliant work
environment.
• Document Everything: Maintain proper documentation
of employee interactions, performance evaluations,
disciplinary actions, and terminations to provide legal
support if disputes arise.
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 Protecting the Organization and Its
Employees from Legal Actions
• Employment Contracts and Agreements: Use well-
drafted contracts, including non-disclosure, non-
compete, and intellectual property agreements to protect
the company’s interests.
• Workplace Safety: Implement and enforce health and
safety standards to prevent accidents, thereby reducing
liability for workplace injuries.
• Data Security: Protect employee and client data through
robust cyber security measures to avoid data breaches
that could result in legal consequences.

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 Avoiding Unfavorable Publicity

• Public reputation of company strongly influences:

– Value of its stock
– How consumers regard products and services
– Amount of support and cooperation received
• Organizations are motivated to build strong ethics
programs to avoid negative publicity

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 Common Approaches to Ethical
Decision Making

Table 1-5 Four common approaches to ethical decision making

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 Virtue Ethics Approach

• Virtue ethics approach

– Focuses on concern with daily life in a community
– People guided by virtues to reach “right” decision
– More effective than following set of principles/rules
• Problems
– Does not provide guide for action
– Virtue cannot be worked out objectively; depends on
circumstances

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 Utilitarian Approach

• Utilitarian approach
– Chooses action that has best overall consequences
– Finds the greatest good by balancing all interests
– Fits concept of value in economics and the use of
cost-benefit analysis
• Problems
– Measuring and comparing values is often difficult
– Predicting resulting benefits and harm is difficult

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 Fairness Approach

• Fairness approach
– Focuses on fair distribution of benefits/burdens
– Guiding principle is to treat all people the same
• Problems
– Decisions can be influenced by personal bias
– Others may consider the decision unfair

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 Common Good Approach

• Common good approach

– Work together for common set of values and goals
– Implement systems that benefit all people
• Problems
– Consensus is difficult
– Some required to bear greater costs than others

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 Implement the Decision and
Evaluate the Results
• Implement the decision
– Efficient, effective, timely implementation
– Communication is key for people to accept change
– Transition plan made easy and pain-free
• Evaluate the results
– Monitor results for desired effect
– Observe impact on organization and stakeholders
– Return to “Develop problem statement” step if further
refinements may be needed

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 Ethics in Information Technology

• Public concern about the ethical use of information

technology includes:
– E-mail and Internet access monitoring
– Downloading in violation of copyright laws
– Unsolicited e-mail (spam)
– Hackers and identify theft
– Students and plagiarism
– Cookies and spyware

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 Ethics in Information Technology
(cont’d.)
• The general public does not understand the critical
importance of ethics as applied to IT
• General business managers must assume greater
responsibility for these decisions by:
– Making decisions based on technical understanding,
business know-how, and a sense of ethics
– Creating an environment where ethical dilemmas can
be discussed openly, objectively, and constructively

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 Ethics in Information Technology
(cont’d.)
• Goals of this text
– To educate people about the tremendous impact of
ethical issues in the successful and secure use of
information technology
– To motivate people to recognize these issues when
making business decisions
– To provide tools, approaches, and useful insights for
making ethical decisions

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