Legal & Ethical Issues for It Practitioners
Legal and Ethical Issues for IT Practitioners
Brandy L. Spinks
Business 670
Dr. Stephens
December 20, 2010
Legal and Ethical Issues for IT Practitioners
For ages thinkers have written hundreds of books in an effort to understand, explain, categorize, and label moral, immoral, an amoral human behavior and the rationales behind our actions. Yet, there still is not a universally accepted way of analyzing ethical situations (Hatcher & Aragon, 2000) and ethical issues are not a favored topic for discussion in public arenas or private conversations (McDowell, 2000). However, as a society we do feel that people should be supportive, trustworthy, and fair in their work and dealings with each other. We expect from others and from ourselves behavior, which promotes the welfare of individuals, organizations, and communities. Yet as recent events demonstrate our society faces a crisis in professional responsibility (McDowell, 2000). Professional associations are worried about the image of their professionals, and as a result they have developed and enforced codes of ethics to protect the public and the company’s interest.
Ethics refers to principles of human conduct, or morals, and to the systematic study of such human values, often called moral philosophy, the study of theories of conduct and goodness, and of the meanings of moral terms (Hatcher & Aragon, 2000). An act is considered to be ethical if it is in accordance with approved moral behavior or norms. Ethics implies civic responsibility on the part of citizens and responsibility by society's institutions, including governments. Ethics is concerned with questions such as when is an action right or wrong and what standard separates 'good' from 'bad'. We propose to accept one of the basic tenets of modern moral philosophy that the authority invoked for 'good' conduct is the rule of reason and that moral behavior results from rational thought that does not harm the individual and leads ultimately to the
Brandy L. Spinks
Business 670
Dr. Stephens
December 20, 2010
Legal and Ethical Issues for IT Practitioners
For ages thinkers have written hundreds of books in an effort to understand, explain, categorize, and label moral, immoral, an amoral human behavior and the rationales behind our actions. Yet, there still is not a universally accepted way of analyzing ethical situations (Hatcher & Aragon, 2000) and ethical issues are not a favored topic for discussion in public arenas or private conversations (McDowell, 2000). However, as a society we do feel that people should be supportive, trustworthy, and fair in their work and dealings with each other. We expect from others and from ourselves behavior, which promotes the welfare of individuals, organizations, and communities. Yet as recent events demonstrate our society faces a crisis in professional responsibility (McDowell, 2000). Professional associations are worried about the image of their professionals, and as a result they have developed and enforced codes of ethics to protect the public and the company’s interest.
Ethics refers to principles of human conduct, or morals, and to the systematic study of such human values, often called moral philosophy, the study of theories of conduct and goodness, and of the meanings of moral terms (Hatcher & Aragon, 2000). An act is considered to be ethical if it is in accordance with approved moral behavior or norms. Ethics implies civic responsibility on the part of citizens and responsibility by society's institutions, including governments. Ethics is concerned with questions such as when is an action right or wrong and what standard separates 'good' from 'bad'. We propose to accept one of the basic tenets of modern moral philosophy that the authority invoked for 'good' conduct is the rule of reason and that moral behavior results from rational thought that does not harm the individual and leads ultimately to the
References: Gordon, W., & Sork, T. (2001). Ethical issues and codes of ethics: Views of adult education practitioners in Canada and the United States Hatcher, T., & Aragon, S. (2000). A code of ethics and integrity for HRD research and practice. Jennings, E. T., Jr., & Krane, D. (1998). IT ethics and standards. Policy Studies Review, 15(2-3), 170-201. McDowell, B. (2000). Ethics and excuses: The crisis in professional responsibility. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. Raul, C. (2008). IT professionals and general business law. Concepts and Implications. IGI Global. p.271. Wolfe, A. (2001). Moral freedom in recent ethics. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/4544418. Wood, D. (1999). The information technology experience of the ethical. In R. Kearney & M. Dooley (Eds.), Questioning ethics: Contemporary debates in Philosophy (pp