Information Systems Ethics

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Information Systems Ethics

• IS 460 NotesbyThomas Hilton

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Definition of Ethics

• Business Ethics
• Gaming Ethics
• Rules of right conduct in business
• IS Ethics Rules of right conduct in IS

3
Business Ethics

• Role of Business in Society
• Ethical Decision-Making
• Ethical Leadership
• Corporate Governance

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Misconceptions About IS Ethics

• Not different from other business ethics
• Not relative to the individual (consensual)
• Not the same as getting caught
• Not security
• Not law
• Not conscience
• Not common sense

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Basic Duties of IS Ethics

• Order filling agreed-upon role(s)
• Cooperation helping (or not hindering) others
  to fulfill their proper role
• Improvement continually improving goods,
  services, or their production
• Trust Giving one's best efforts to achieving
  agreed-upon goals

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The Domain of IS Ethics

• Information Systems Components
• Information, hardware, software, procedures,
  people, data
• Information Systems Actions
• Access
• Use
• Creation
• Destruction

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When Duties Conflict

• Bentham's Law (legitimized by John Stuart Mill)
• Seek the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number
• Whats good?
• Who counts in the greatest number?
• Subject to abuse
• Use only in context of the Four Duties

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How Computers Remove Barriers to Unethical
Behavior

• Location
• Time
• Power
• Separation

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How to Make an Ethical Decision

• Is it an IS issue?
• What are feasible responses?
• Which duties does each response fulfill/neglect?
• Resolve conflicts among duties?
• Carry out the most ethical response
• Although doing nothing is a legitimate
  alternative, dont succumb to Analysis Paralysis

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The Other Half of the Story

• Knowing ethics rules isnt enough.
• We must choose to behave ethically.

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How to Develop a Good Attitude Toward Ethical
Behavior?

• Albert Banduras Social Learning Theory
• Introduce a credible model
• Have the model demonstrate the desired behavior
• Show the model being rewarded for engaging in the
  behavior
• Repeat steps 1-3 often

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Is Such Manipulation Ethical?

• Very good question
• We can do this consciously/deliberately to
  ourselves
• Our actions very likely contribute to others
  attitudes

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Ethics Issues in IS

• Honesty
• Competence
• End User Issues
• Professional Issues
• Other Stakeholder Issues

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End User Issues

• A la Mason, 1986
• Privacy
• Accuracy
• Property
• Access

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Professional Issues

• Developer (errors, controls, etc.)
• Team (interpersonal relations, overtime,
  resources, etc.)
• Managerial (vendor relations, management
  relations, project management)

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Other Stakeholder Issues

• Regulation
• Legislation
• Professional Society Participation