Chapter 4
4.1
Ethics
• Principles of right and wrong that individuals, acting as free moral agents,
use to make choices to guide their behaviours
• Failed ethical judgments by management have occurred across a broad
spectrum of industries
• Can result in legal repercussions
A model for thinking about ethical, social, and political issues
• Society as a calm pond
• IT as a rock dropped in pond, creating ripples of new situations not
covered by old rules
• Social and political institutions cannot respond overnight to these
ripples — it may take years to develop etiquette, expectations, laws
• Requires understanding of ethics to make choices in legally gray areas
Five moral dimensions of the information age
• Information rights and obligations
• Property rights and obligations
• Accountability and control
• System quality
• Quality of life
4.2
Basic concepts: responsibility, accountability, and liability
– Responsibility: Accepting the potential costs, duties, and obligations
for your decisions
– Accountability: Mechanisms for identifying responsible parties
– Liability: Permits individuals to recover damages done to them
– Due process: Laws are well known and understood, with an ability to
appeal to higher authorities
Candidate ethical principles
1. Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
2. Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative: If an action is not right for everyone
to take, then it is not right for anyone
3. Descartes’ rule of change: If an action cannot be taken repeatedly, then it is
not right to be taken at any time
4. Utilitarian Principle: Take the action that achieves the greatest value for all
concerned
5. Risk Aversion Principle: Take the action that produces the least harm or
incurs the least cost to all concerned
6. Ethical “no free lunch” rule: Assume that all tangible and intangible objects
are owned by someone else, unless there is a specific declaration otherwise Ethical Analysis
1. Identify and clearly describe the facts
2. Define the conflict or dilemma, and identify the higher-order values
involved
3. Identify the stakeholders
4. Identify the options that you can reasonably take
5. Identify the consequences of your options
Professional Codes of Conduct
• Promises by professionals to regulate themselves in the general interest of
society
• Promulgated by associations such as the
– Canadian Medical Association (CMA),
– Canadian Bar Association (CBA),
– Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), and
– Association of Computing Machinery (ACM)
4.3
Information rights: Privacy and freedom in the Internet Age
– Privacy: Claim of individuals to be left alone, free from surveillance or
interference from other individuals, organizations, or the state.
– Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act
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