Similarities in Business and IT Professional Ethics: The Need for and Development of A Comprehensive Code of Ethics

Abstract

The study of business ethics has led to the development of various principles that are the foundation of good and ethical business practices. A corresponding study of Information Technology (IT) professionals' ethics has led to the conclusion that good ethics in the development and uses of information technology correspond to the basic business principle that good ethics is good business. Ergo, good business ethics practiced by IT professionals is good IT ethics and vice versa. IT professionals are professionals in businesses; a difficulty presented to these professionals, however, is the number and diversity of codes of ethics to which they may be held. Considering the existence of several formalized codes of ethics prepared by various IT professionals' associations, a more harmonized approach seems more reasonable. This paper attempts to present a review of the purpose of codes of ethics, the persons who should be covered by such codes and to organize codes of ethics for business in general and IT professionals in particular and to make the argument that, once again, good ethics is good business practice, regardless of the profession or occupation concerned.

The paradoxical effects of legal intervention over unethical information technology use: A rational choice theory perspective

“…In the context of organizations, intervention with respect to UITU often takes the form of business codes. 2 In the case of IT use, business codes are seen as a necessary intervention to promote good business practices (Payne and Landry, 2005). Issued by IT managers or senior managers, they aim to clarify responsibilities (Johnson and Mulvey, 1995;Oz, 1992) and influence behavior (Leonard and Cronan, 2001).…”

Exploration of Ethics as Moral Substance in the Context of Corporate Governance

“…Congruent with the literature, a code of ethics is empirically proven to influence good governance. For example, Payne and Landry (2005) found that a code of ethics influences good governance practices. Payne and Landry's (2005) study revealed seven core values (consistency, respect individual, autonomy, integrity, justice, utility, and competence) as concepts that serve as professional attributes towards good business practices.…”

“…For example, Payne and Landry (2005) found that a code of ethics influences good governance practices. Payne and Landry's (2005) study revealed seven core values (consistency, respect individual, autonomy, integrity, justice, utility, and competence) as concepts that serve as professional attributes towards good business practices. Code of ethics, as perceived by Schwartz, Dunfee, and Kline (2005), includes values such as honesty, loyalty, integrity, responsibility, citizenship and fairness.…”

Data mining: proprietary rights, people and proposals

“…In the consideration of data mining, several constituents are more important than others (Payne & Landry 2005) because the positive or the negative effects of actions exerted on various stakeholders can differ considerably. The main criterion, then, for the authors' selection of stakeholders to review was the magnitude of harm that might be felt by the stakeholder if the data mining process were not executed in an ethical fashion.…”