Thisis Module 2:
Go to Ethics in Business, select Maintaining Ethical Standards, read Ethical Decision Making;
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Ethical Decision Making
Ethics are moral principles that guide a person’s behavior. These morals are shaped by social norms, cultural practices, and religious influences. Ethical decision making is the process of assessing the moral implications of a course of action. All decisions have an ethical or moral dimension for a simple reason—they have an effect on others. Managers and leaders need to be aware of their own ethical and moral beliefs so they can draw on them when they face difficult decisions.
Ethical decisions can involve several determinations. The field of ethics, also known as moral philosophy, shows that there are various ways of systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. For example, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right action is one that produces a good outcome, or consequence. A utilitarian perspective takes the position that the proper course of action is one that maximizes overall happiness.
Most ethical decisions exist in a gray area where there is no clear-cut or obvious decision that can be determined solely through quantitative analysis or consideration of objective data or information. Ethical decision making requires judgment and interpretation, the application of a set of values to a set of perceptions and estimates of the consequences of an action. Sometimes ethical decisions involve choosing not between good and bad, but between good and better or between bad and worse.
Making ethical decisions also involves choice about who should be involved in the process and how the decision should be made. For example, if a decision will have a significant impact on the local community, leaders may feel obligated to invite a representative of the community to participate in discussions. Similarly, decisions with a significant ethical dimension may benefit from being made by consensus rather than by fiat—to demonstrate that the choice is consistent with an organization ‘s espoused values.
Training Ethical Decision Making
Many organizations implement compliance and ethics programs to help guide the decision making and behavior of employees. Compliance with regulatory requirements and the organization’s own policies are a critical component of effective risk management. Monitoring and maintaining compliance is not just to keep the regulators happy—it is one of the most important ways for an organization to maintain its ethical health, support its long-term prosperity, and preserve and promote its values.
On a more practical level, a compliance and ethics program supports the organization’s business objectives, identifies the boundaries of legal and ethical behavior, and establishes a system to alert management when the organization is getting close to (or crossing) a legal or ethical boundary. Once an issue is detected, management must be prepared to respond quickly and appropriately to minimize the impact on the organization. The presence of compliance and ethics programs demonstrates an organization’s commitment to creating a work environment and corporate culture that values doing what is right, good, and just.
Ethics training inside corporations is aimed at helping employees address the moral dimension of business decisions. Training for ethical decision making can include workshops, guest lectures, and manager/employee discussions. Most ethics training focuses on clarifying and communicating an organization’s ethical code so employees understand what is expected. Some learning opportunities go beyond this to focus on how to take action when ethics are involved in a decision. Discussions of scenarios and role-playing exercises simulate real decision-making situations and provide practice in how to think through ethical considerations. Some ethics training will also cover the resources available to help employees when they face an ethical dilemma or suspect that someone in the organization has made an ethical breach.
Managers Role in Ethical Conduct
Managers hold positions of authority that make them accountable for the ethical conduct of those who report to them. They fulfill this responsibility by making sure employees are aware of the organization’s ethical code and have the opportunity to ask questions to clarify their understanding. Managers also monitor the behavior of employees in accordance with the organization’s expectations of appropriate behavior. They have a duty to respond quickly and appropriately to minimize the impact of suspected ethical violations. Lastly, managers make themselves available as a resource to counsel and assist employees who face ethical dilemmas or who suspect an ethical breach.
Of course, managers are responsible for upholding ethical standards in their own actions and decisions. In addition to following the organization’s ethical code, managers may be obligated to follow a separate professional code of ethics, depending on their role, responsibilities, and training. Fiduciary duty is an example that applies to some managerial roles. A fiduciary must put the interests of those to whom he is accountable ahead of any interests, and must not profit from his position as a fiduciary unless the principal consents.
Many managers have responsibility for interacting with external stakeholders such as customers, suppliers, government officials, or community representatives. In those encounters, managers may be called on to explain a decision or a planned action in terms of ethical considerations. The stakeholders will be interested to hear how the organization took ethics into account, and in those cases it is the manager’s duty to speak on the company’s behalf.
Additionally, managers may be responsible for creating and/or implementing changes to an organization’s ethical codes or guidelines. These changes may be in response to an internal determination based on the experience of employees; for instance, additional clarification may be needed about what constitutes nepotism or unfair bias in hiring. Alternatively, new regulations, altered public perceptions and concerns, or other external factors may require the organization to make adjustments.
Codes of Conduct
As part of comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies formulate policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees. These policies can be simple exhortations in broad, highly generalized language, or they can be more detailed directives containing specific behavioral requirements. Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and applying that understanding to their decisions and actions. They are generally meant to identify the company’s expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling some of the more common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business.
There are three types of ethical codes: codes of business ethics, codes of conduct for employees, and codes of professional practice.
Assignment is below:
For this paper, the following five elements must be addressed:
·
Describe a current IT-related ethical issue: Since this is a paper exercise, not a real-time situation,
you may want to construct a brief scenario
where this issue comes into play, and thus causes an ethical dilemma. The dilemma may affect you, your family, your job, or your company; or it may be a matter of public policy or law that affects the general populace. See the list below for a list of suggested issues, which may be a source of ethical dilemmas.
·
Define a concise problem statement
that is
extracted
from the above description or scenario. It is best if you define a specific problem caused by the dilemma, that needs a specific ethical decision to be made, that will solve the dilemma. Be aware that if it is a matter of public policy or law, that it may require a regulatory body or congressional approval to take action to implement a solution.
·
Analyze your problem
using one of the structured decision-making frameworks chosen from Module 2.
Make sure that you identify the decision-making framework utilized. In addition, the steps in the decision-making framework selected must be used as major headings in the Analysis section.
·
Consider and state the impact of the decision that you made
on an individual, an organization, stakeholders, customers suppliers, and the environment, as applicable!
·
State and discuss the applicable ethical theory
from Module 1
that supports your decision.
Concerning your paper:
· Prepare a minimum 3- 5 page, double-spaced paper and submit it to the LEO Assignments Module as an attached Microsoft Word file.
· Use headings for each topic criteria
· Provide appropriate American Psychological Association (APA) source citations for all sources you use. In addition to critical thinking and analysis skills, your paper should reflect appropriate grammar and spelling, good organization, and proper business-writing style.
Reminder: Each of the steps for whatever framework that you select must be a major heading in the Analysis section of your paper.
Here are some suggested issues for you to consider, the additional text is designed to help you flesh out the issue:
1. Privacy on the Web: What is happening now in terms of privacy on the Web? Think about recent abuses and improvements. Describe and evaluate Web site policies, technical and privacy policy protections, and current proposals for government regulations.
2. Personal Data Privacy Regulations in Other Countries: Report on personal data privacy regulations, Web site privacy policies, and governmental/law enforcement about access to personal data in one or more countries; e.g., the European Union. This is especially relevant as our global economic community expands and we are more dependent on non-US clients for e-business over the Internet.
3. Computer-Based Crimes: Discuss the most prevalent types of computer crimes, such as Phishing. Analyze why and how these can occur. Describe protective measures that might assist in preventing or mitigating these types of crimes.
4. Government Surveillance of the Internet: The 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001 brought many new laws and permits more government surveillance of the Internet. Is this a good idea?
5. The Digital Divide: Does it exist; what does it look like; and, what are the ethical considerations and impact?
6. Privacy in the Workplace – Monitoring Employee Web and E-Mail Use: What are current opinions concerning the monitoring of employee computer use. What policies are employers using? Should this practice of monitoring, be authorized or not?
7. Medical Privacy: Who owns your medical history? What is the state of current legislation to protect your health information? Is it sufficient? There are new incentives with federal stimulus financing for health care organizations to develop and implement digital health records.
8. Software Piracy: How many of you have ever made an unauthorized copy of software, downloaded software or music (free or for a fee), or used copyrighted information without giving proper credit or asking permission? Was this illegal or just wrong? How is this being addressed?
9. 9. Consumer Profiling: With every purchase you make, every Web site you visit, your preferences are being profiled. What is your opinion regarding the legal authority of these organizations to collect and aggregate this data?
10. Biometrics & Ethics: Your fingerprint, retinal-vessel image, and DNA map can exist entirely as a digital image in a computer, on a network, or in the infosphere. What new and old ethical problems must we address?
11. Social Networking: What are some of the ethical issues surrounding using new social networks? How are these now considered for business use? What are business social communities? Are new/different protections and security needed for these networks?
12. Gambling in Cyberspace: Is it legal? Are there national regulations and/or licensing? What are the oversight and enforcement requirements? Are there international implications? What are the social and public health issues?
13. Pornography in Cyberspace: For example, the U.S. Supreme Court ruling protecting as free speech computer-generated child pornography
14. Medicine and Psychiatry in Cyberspace: Some considerations include: privacy issues; security; third-party record-keeping; electronic medical records; access to information, even by the patient (patient rights); access to information by outsiders without patient knowledge; authority to transfer and/or share information. Are there any policies proposed by professional organizations?
15. Counterterrorism and Information Systems: Your protection versus your rights
16. Open-source Software versus Closed-source Software: Ethical ramifications and impact on intellectual property law
17. Creative Commons Licenses: How do they work and what are the legal and ethical impacts and concerns?
18. Universal ID card: What is the general position of the U.S. government about issuing each individual a unique ID card? Which individual U.S. government agencies have already provided a unique ID card? What steps have been taken to include individual ID information electronically in passports? How is privacy and security provided?
19. Video Games: Does playing video games distract from everyday responsibilities? Do video games correlate with real world violence? Why do game creators continually increase the violence of video games? What is video game addiction?
20. Cyberbullying: What is cyberbullying and what can be done to stop it?
21. Net Neutrality: What is the current position of the federal government and is it fair to all?
