Class 17

Ethical Issues in

Information Technology

Structure of IT- ITES industry

• IT Services

• IT Enabled Services

IT services

• IT Services is the dominant sector of the industry in terms of revenues as well as size. This particular sector can be understood in terms of the value chain of services it offers to its customers.

• IT Services Tier I: Consultancy and Product Development

• IT Services Tier II: Infrastructure Management and Systems Integration

• IT Services Tier III: Application Development and Maintenance

IT enabled services

Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the practice of

contracting a third party, by an organization, to carry out

a specific activity or process of its business. Broadly,

BPO operations can be of two types:

• Outsourcing front office

• Back office processes.

Front office operations include customer service,

marketing etc. Examples of back office operations are

logistics, supply chain management etc.

Unique characteristics of IT-

ITES industry• Technology and the Medium of Operation

• IT Industry’s workforce

• IT Industry’s output process: Information

and tools

Ethical perspective of IT-ITES

industry

• Information security: Lack of information

security processes; disclosure of

confidential information about customers

to unauthorized people; forcing of

customers to part with confidential

information; hacking; cookies; conspiracy

among IT employees/organizations to help

clients perform unethical transactions


industry

• Intellectual property rights: software

piracy; violation of EULA (End-user license

agreement); illegal use of intellectual

properties; reverse engineering of

programs to gain access to the business

logic and intellectual property of the

vendor company.


industry

• Work culture and environment: leakage of

recruitment test question papers; wastage of

company time and resources; breach of

employment agreements; fraudulent bills;

poaching of employees from competitors;

unethical means of retaining the employees;

unrealistic estimations and plans; breach of

privacy of the employee; non-ergonomic working

conditions

Computer ethics

“Computer ethics” is the analysis of the

nature and social impact of computer

technology and the corresponding

formulation and justification of policies for

the ethical use of such technology.

IT Ethics Can Span a Broad

Range of Concerns• Information Security

– “Ethical hacking”?

• Assumptions of Information Privacy

– Regulatory compliance

• Ethics as Information Security

– When do you say “No” to a customer?

• Admin Rights as Ethical Quandary

– “Just because you can do a thing…”

Ethics in Information

Technology

• Public concern about the ethical use of

information technology includes:

– E-mail and Internet access monitoring

– Peer-to-peer networks violation of copyright

– Unsolicited e-mail

– Hackers and identify theft

– Plagiarism

– Cookies and spyware

Ethics in Information

Technology

• The general public has not realized the critical importance of

ethics as applied to IT

• Important technical decisions are often left to technical experts

• General business managers must assume greater responsibility

for these decisions

• They must be able to make broad-minded, objective, ethical

decisions based on technical savvy, business know-how, and a

sense of ethics

• They must also try to create a working environment in which

ethical dilemmas can be discussed openly, objectively, and

constructively

Corporate ethics officer

– Is a senior-level manager

– Provides vision and direction in the area of

business conduct

– Tries to establish an environment that

encourages ethical decision making

Corporate ethics officer

• Responsibilities include:

– Complete oversight of the ethics function

– Collecting and analyzing data

– Developing and interpreting ethics policy

– Developing and administering ethics

education and training

– Overseeing ethics investigations

Conducting Social Audits

• Social audit

– Identifies ethical lapses committed in the past

– Sets directives for avoiding similar missteps in

the future

Requiring Employees to Take

Ethics Training• Comprehensive ethics education program

encourages employees to act responsibly

and ethically

– Often presented in small workshop formats

• Principle-based decision making is based

on principles in corporate code of ethics

When Good Ethics Result in

Short-Term Losses• Operating ethically does not always guarantee

business success

• Organizations that operate outside the United

States

– Deal with a “business as usual” climate

– Are placed at a significant competitive disadvantage

• Good ethics will prove to be good business in

the long term

How Management Can Affect

Employees’ Ethical Behaviour

Manager’s Checklist

Ethical Issues in Human

Resource Management

Definition of HRM

HRM is a management function involving

the recruitment of suitable human

resources, training, developing and

sustaining their competencies, motivating

them, offering them rewards on a rational

and equitable basis, and ensuring their

continued commitment to the organization

for achieving its overall objectives.

Growth of Human Resource

Management• 1890–1910 – Fredrick W. Taylor formulated

scientific management, which included a careful selection of employees; finding out the best method of doing the job; systematic training of workers; provision of suitable implements; and giving adequate rewards for good performance.

• 1910–1930 – Greater importance to welfare of workers, emergence of industrial psychology and improvements in the mode of recruitment procedures


Management• 1930–1945 – Principle of Hawthorne studies

gains momentum in personnel management in

an industrial organization. Greater emphasis

given to motivating factors affecting worker

productivity.

• 1945–1965 – More emphasis on collective

bargaining and labour relations. Compensation

and benefits gained importance as unions

negotiated for and obtained paid vacations,

paid holidays and insurance coverage.


Management• 1965–1985 – Equal employment

opportunity and affirmative action became

crucial human resource management

responsibilities

• 1985–2005 – Increased diversity of the

labour force, in terms of age, gender, race

and ethnicity; globalization of business and

the accompanying technological revolution;

focus on HRM as a “strategic function”

Big Scope of HRM

• Determining human resource needs;

• Attracting potential employees;

• Choosing employees;

• Teaching/preparing;

• Rewarding;

• Evaluating performance; and

• Creating a positive work environment

Different aspects of HRM

• Recruitment

• Training and development

• Learning organizations

• Performance management

• Pay

• Team work

• Motivation

HR related ethical issues

• Discrimination issues

• Suppression of democratization in the workplace

• Privacy issues

Recruitment and selection

Performance tracking

Privacy issues of computerized employee records

Electronic surveillance

• Safety and health

• Performance appraisals

Emerging challenges of HRM

a.Globalization of markets and

intensification of competition has made

employers and employees conscious of

their changing and strategic roles in

organizations;

b.Corporate restructuring has become an

absolute necessity for organizations;

c.Need for reconciling to multiple work ethos

as a result of mergers and acquisitions;


e. Emphasis on total quality

management;

f. Changing job profiles and the need

for and ability to get adjusted to them;

g. Adoption to changing workforce

profile consequent on structural

changes;


h. Increasing role of women employees in

organizations;

i. Increasing use of Information Technology

that is altering the very nature of work

delivery in organizations; and

j. Increasing emphasis on knowledge

management and the need for acquisition

and use of knowledge to keep pace with

the fast changing world.

Role of HRM in creating an ethical

organization

• The top management should be committed to

ethical behaviour

• They should be the role models to their

employees

• The organization should evolve codes of ethics

for its employees and enforce them.

• Ethics committees should be formed with top

executives as members to advice on ethical

issues.

Role of HRM in creating an ethical

organization

• Company journals to publish articles on ethical issues

and pose hypothetical ethical dilemmas and

discussions on how to resolve these

• An ethics office with ethics officers to oversee the

process and help communicate policy to employees.

• Organize employee ethics training which can play an

integral role in ensuring compliance with the ethics

code.

• A disciplinary system to deal with ethical violations

promptly and decisively.

Categories

• Employers

• Employees

• Government Agency

• Manpower Consultancy

• Outside Sources

Discrimination Origin

• Age

• Sex

• Handicapped

• Religion or Caste

• Country of Origin

• Whimsical – No Fixed Reason

Class 17

Documents

Transcript of Class 17