DCIT25 Professional Ethics Anabelle J.

Almarez

Morality
Social conventions about right and wrong that are widely shared May vary by age, cultural group, ethnic background, religion, life experiences, education and gender.

Ethics
Set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior within a society. Conforms to generally accepted norms widespread or usual practice, procedure, or custom

Ex:

attitudes toward software policy

Virtues vs. Vices

Virtues are habits that incline people to what is acceptable Vices are habits of unacceptable behavior.

Fairness, generosity and loyalty are

example of virtues while vanity, greed, envy and anger are considered vices.

Importance of Integrity
Integrity a firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values A person who acts with integrity acts in accordance with a personal code of principles. To extend to all people the same respect and consideration that you expect to receive from others.

Morals, Ethics and Laws

Morals are ones personal beliefs about right and wrong; Ethics describes standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by group (nation, organization, profession) to which an individual belongs. Law is a system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do. Enforced by set of institutions.

Ethics in Business World

unethical behavior has led to serious negative consequences that have had a major global impact.

Corporate Scandal (US)

Hewlett-Packard (HP) hired investigators to identify members of its board of directors who here responsible for leaking confidential company information to the press.

Corporate Scandal

Comverse Technology develops, designs, manufactures, and supports computer and telecommunications systems for multimedia communications. It provides its products to more than 500 service providers in over 130 countries. In 2008, the companys founder and former CEO Jacob Alexander admitted he backdated Comverse stock options for personal gain and is being sued by the firm for $70 million.

Corporate Scandal

The Chairman of the India-based outsourcing firm Satyam Computer Services admitted he falsified his firms profits for years by as much as $1 billion. The revelation represents Indias largest ever corporate scandal

Why Fostering Good Business Ethics is Important?

Gaining the good will of the community. Creating an organization that operates consistently. Fostering good business practices. Protecting the organization and its employees from legal action. Avoiding unfavorable publicity.

Gaining the Good Will of the Community

Our Values: As a company, and as individuals, we vale integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect. We are committed to our customers and partners and have a passion for technology. We take big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through. We hold ourselves accountable to our costumers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality. ~Microsoft

Creating an organization that operates consistently.

Organizations develop and abide by values to create an organizational culture and to define a consistent approach Organization will behave in the future as it has in the past.

Creating an organization that operates consistently.

Although each companys value system is different, many share the following values:
Operate with honest and integrity Operate according to standards of ethical

conduct, in words and action Treat colleagues, customers, and consumers with respect Strive to the best at what matters most to the organization Value diversity Make decisions based on facts and principles

Fostering Good Business Practices

Good ethics mean a good business and improved profits. Bad ethics can lead to bad business results.

Protecting the organization and its employees from legal action

Employer can be held responsible for the acts of its employees even if the employees act in a manner contrary to corporate policy and their employers directions. Ex:
An example of the application of this principle can be

found in the collapse in 2002 of Arthur Andersen, one of the Big Five international accounting firms. Andersen was indicted by the Department of Justice for obstruction of justice for the shredding of documents associated with the auditing work that a few of its partners performed for Enron.21 Andersen was forced to relinquish its auditing license. It closed its U.S. offices due to lack of clients, and some 26,000 employees lost their jobs.

Avoiding Unfavorable Publicity

The public reputation of a company strongly influences the value of its stock, how consumers regard its product and services, the degree of oversight it receives from government agencies, and the amount of support and cooperation it receives from its business partners.

Improving Corporate Ethics

Characteristics of a successful ethics program:

Employees are willing to seek advice about

ethics issues. Employees feel prepared to handle situations that could lead to misconduct. Employees are rewarded for ethical behavior. The organization does not reward success obtained through a questionable means. Employees feel positively about their company.

Appointing a Corporate Ethics Officer

Corporate ethics officer also called corporate compliance officer Provides an organization with vision and leadership in the area of business conduct. Well respected, senior-level manager who reports directly to the CEO. Comes from diverse backgrounds, such as legal staff, human resources, finance, auditing, security, or line operations.

Ethical Standards Set by Board of Directors

Board of directors responsible for the careful and responsible management of an organization Not responsible day-to-day management and operations. Responsible for supervising the management team. Expected to conduct themselves according to the highest standards for personal and professional integrity.

Establishing a Corporate Code of Ethics

Code of ethics a statement that highlights an organizations key ethical issues and identifies the overarching values and principles that are important to the organization and its decision making. The values and the principles that should guide its employees actions. Applies to its directors, officers and employees Helps ensure that employees abide by the law, follow necessary regulations, and behave in an ethical manner.

Intels Five Principle of Conduct

Intel conducts business with honesty and integrity Intel follows the letter and spirit of the law Intel employees treat each other fairly Intel employees act in the best interests of Intel and avoid conflicts of interest Intel employees protect the companys assets and reputation

Conducting Social Audits

Social audit - an organization reviews how well it is meeting its ethical and social responsibility goals, and communicates its new goals for the upcoming year.

Including Ethical Considerations in Decision Making

Ethics in IT

Many employees might have their e-mail and Internet access monitored while at work, as employers struggle to balance their need to manage important company assets and work time with employees desire for privacy and selfdirection.

Ethics in IT

Millions of people have downloaded music and movies at no charge and in apparent violation of copyright laws at tremendous expense to the owners of those copyrights.

Ethics in IT

Organizations contact millions of people worldwide through unsolicited e-mail (spam) as an extremely low-cost marketing approach.

Ethics in IT

Hackers break into databases of financial and retail institutions to steal customer information, then use it to commit identity theftopening new accounts and charging purchases to unsuspecting victims.

Ethics in IT

Students around the world have been caught downloading material from the Web and plagiarizing content for their term papers.

Ethics in IT

Web sites plant cookies or spyware on visitors hard drives to track their online purchases and activities.