71,754 research outputs found
Selling packaged software: an ethical analysis
Within the IS literature there is little discussion on selling software products in general and especially
from the ethical point of view. Similarly, within computer ethics, although there is much interest in
professionalism and professional codes, in terms of accountability and responsibility, the spotlight
tends to play on safety-critical or life-critical systems, rather than on software oriented towards the
more mundane aspects of work organisation and society. With this research gap in mind, we offer a
preliminary ethical investigation of packaged software selling. Through an analysis of the features of
competition in the market, the global nature of the packaged software market and the nature of
product development we conclude that professionalism, as usually conceived in computer ethics, does
not apply particularly well to software vendors. Thus, we call for a broader definition of
professionalism to include software vendors, not just software developers. Moreover, we acknowledge
that with intermediaries, such as implementation consultants, involved in software selling, and the
packaged software industry more generally, there are even more âhandsâ involved. Therefore, we
contend that this is an area worthy of further study, which is likely to yield more on the question of
accountability
A very modern professional: the case of the IT service support worker
The IT profession has retained a reputation as a âprivileged area of the labour marketâ (Webster, 2005, p.4; Bannerji, 2011). Workers practicing IT skills have been at the forefront of the competitive drive for innovation and efficiency gains promoted by a neoliberal enterprise ideology (Blackler et al, 2003). In the last two decades, as systems thinking (e.g. Ackoff, 1999) and customer-centric practices (e.g. Levitt, 2006) have converged in a globally powerful IT service management (ITSM) âbest practiceâ discourse (Trusson et al, 2013), the IT service support worker has emerged to be a worker-type of considerable socio-economic importance. Aside from keeping organizational information systems operative, when such systems fail these workers are called upon to rapidly restore the systems and thus head-off any negative commercial or political consequences. Yet these workers are acknowledged only as objectified resources within the ITSM âbest practiceâ literature (e.g. Taylor, Iqbal and Nieves, 2007) and largely overlooked as a distinctive contemporary worker-type within academic discourse.
This paper, through analysis of salary data and qualitative data collected for a multiple case study research project, considers the extent to which these workers might be conceived of as being âprofessionalsâ. The project approached the conceptual study of these workers through three lenses. This paper focuses on the projectâs consideration of them as rationalised information systems assets within âbest practiceâ ITSM theory. It also draws upon our considerations of them as knowledge workers and service workers.
We firstly situate the IT service support worker within a broader model of IT workers comprising four overlapping groupings: managers, developers, technical specialists and IT service support workers. Three types of IT service support worker are identified: first-line workers who routinely escalate work; second-line workers; and âexpertâ single-line workers. With reference to close associations made with call centre workers (e.g. Murphy, 2011) the status of IT service support workers is explored through analysis of: (i) salary data taken from the ITJOBSWATCH website; and (ii) observational and interview data collected in the field. From this we challenge the veracity of the notion that the whole occupational field of IT might be termed a profession concurrently with the notion that a profession implies work of high status.
Secondly, the paper explores two forces that might be associated with the professionalization of IT as an occupation: (i) rationalisation of the field (here promoted by the British Computer Society); and (ii) formalisation of IT theoretical/vocational education. A tension is identified, with those IT service support workers whose work is least disposed to rationalisation and whose complex âstocks of knowledgeâ (Schutz, 1953) have been acquired through time-spent practice laying claim to greater IT professional status.
Thirdly, consideration is given to individualsâ personal career orientations: occupational, organizational and customer-centric (Kinnie and Swart, 2012). We find that whilst organizations expect IT service support workers to be orientated towards serving the interests of the organization and its clients, the most individualistically professional tend towards being occupationally orientated, enthusiastically (re)developing their skills to counter skills obsolescence in an evolving technological arena (Sennett, 2006)
Professionalism In The First Year Of A Software Engineering Curriculum
Professionalism is an important part of any subject of study where graduates subsequently move into a professional career following their degree course. Most professional bodies therefore require accredited degree programmes to include this topic in the curriculum. The British Computer Society gives guidelines to institutions in the UK. These guidelines have been followed in the construction of the current Software Engineering Curriculum in the Department Of computer Science at the University of Sheffield. However it is unclear how effective the current form of presentation is. This report seeks to investigate this and look to possible ways of improving the presentation, particularly in the first year. I conclude that the most important factor in teaching professionalism; is the professionalism of the teachers. Students seem to learn these skills best by example, and therefore the greatest improvements are likely to be found by implementing common standards for teaching practice across the syllabus
Ethics and Professionalism in Non-Adversarial Lawyering
Traditional notions and rules of professionalism in the legal profession have been premised on particular conceptions of the lawyer\u27s role, usually as an advocate, occasionally as a counselor, advisor, transaction planner, government official, decision maker and in the recent parlance of one of this symposium\u27s participants-a statesman [sic]. \u27 As we examine what professionalism means and what rules should be used to regulate its activity, it is important to ask some foundational questions: For what ends should our profession be used? What does law offer society? How should lawyers exercise their particular skills and competencies
Being Good Lawyers: A Relational Approach to Law Practice
In response to past generations of debates regarding whether law is a business or profession, we advance an alternative approach that rejects the dichotomies of business and profession, or hired gun and wise counselor. Instead, we propose a relational account of law practice. Unlike frameworks grounded in assumptions of atomistic individualism or communitarianism, a relational perspective recognizes that all actors, whether individuals or organizations, have separate identities yet are intrinsically inter-connected and cannot maximize their own good in isolation. Through the lens of relational self-interest, maximizing the good of the individual or business requires consideration of the good of the neighbor, the employee or customer, and of the public. Accordingly, relational lawyers advise and assist clients, colleagues, and themselves to take into account the well-being of others when contemplating and pursuing their own interests.
A relational approach to law practice does not require a choice between labeling law a business or a profession, and indeed is consistent with both perspectives. Lawyers can access relational perspectives from a wide range of understandings of the lawyerâs role, with the exception of the particular hired gun ideology that views lawyers as amoral mouthpieces for clients who act as Holmesian bad men and women aggressively pursuing their self-interest with no regard to others. The relational framework offers all lawyers, whether they see themselves as professionals or business persons, a framework for understanding that they can continue to serve as societyâs civic teachers in their capacity as intermediaries between the people and the law, integrating relational self-interest into their representation of clients and their community service. By doing so, lawyers as professionals, individuals, and community members will more effectively represent clients, as well as enhance their contribution to the public good and to the quality of their own professional and private lives. They will also surmount the generation-long malaise resulting from the crisis of professionalism
T-government for benefit realisation
This paper proposes a model for t-Government and highlights the research agenda needed to
increase understanding of transformational government and the processes involved in
furthering the agenda of the t-Government. In particular, both an operational and a conceptual
model for the effective involvement of citizens and businesses in government functioning
have been proposed. This will help to define an agenda for t-Government research that
emerges from national UK strategy and policy for e-Government. The main threads of t-
Government encompass: (1) A citizen-centric delivery of public services or e-inclusion, (2) A
shared services culture to maximize value added to clients, (3) The effective delivery and
management of resources and skills within government or professionalism. All three threads
should be addressed principally from the perspectives of delivery, evaluation and participation
in view of benefit realisation as envisioned by Government strategic planning and policy
directives (CabinetOffice, 2005). The management of change dimension of these phenomena
have been included in the research agenda. In particular, research is needed to reshape the
discourse towards emphasising a citizen centric approach that defines, develops, and benefits
from public service. Decision makers in Government will need models of Governance that
fulfil transformational objectives. They will also need models of benefits realisation within a
strategic Governance framework. It has been argued that t-Government research should be
addressing these relative voids
STAFF PROFESSIONALISM IN UNIVERSITY SERVICES: A CASE STUDY OF UiTM
This paper aims to show that staff professionalism is one of the factors that lead to customer satisfaction in university services. Staff professionalism is an important component in university services. A quality service is considered as one of the important research topics in the context of service delivery in universities. Frontline university service is the first step before the public or customers pursue the matter further. If at this first step they are provided with quality service, indirectly it reflects positively on the university. However, if the quality of the service provided is poor it reflects negatively on the university. In this study, 192 of 909 graduates students who responded to the questionnaire and analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software to achieve the outcome of the study. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between staff professionalism and customer satisfaction. Several recommendations were suggested to UiTM in order to improve its counter services delivery and to achieve customer satisfaction.Staff professionalism, customer satisfaction, public universities
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Multi-channel customer management: A case study in Egypt
Channel management is one CRM systems component much influenced by the behaviour of customers in relation to the implementation and use of channel management CRM component. The consumersâ behaviours, preferences, perceptions and expectations are crucial for the implementation and use of channel management. Customersâ contact with the organizationâs multi-channels can occur at several touch points through out customer lifecycle. Customersâ behaviours may be differentiated according to the individual or micro level, but it might also differ at an ecological or macro level of analysis (Ramaseshan et al., 2006). In this paper the author has conducted a case study in Egypt to analyze customersâ behaviours at a macro level and customers channel choices, through out the customer lifecycle. The author has used a Structurational Analysis model (Ali and Brooks, 2008) to identify the cultural factors (Ali, et al. 2008) that influence the multi-channel customer management in Egypt
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