The Ethics of IT Professionals in Japan and China

The ethical integrity and accountability of Information Technology (IT) professionals is important given our reliance on various forms of IT. We examined the applicability of Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of Cognitive Moral Development (CMD) in non-Western contexts by investigating the ethical values of IT professionals in Asia’s two largest economies. Analysis of survey data from Japan (n=289) and China (n=290) indicates support for the basic six-stage model of CMD. The concept of abiding by universal laws and rules (termed stage 4 reasoning by Kohlberg) was widely accepted by IT professionals in both Japan and China, despite the Confucian cultural emphasis on personal relationships with particularistic obligations. However, differences between Japanese and Chinese IT professionals were found while, in direct contrast with the stage-wise theory of CMD, the respondents from Japan and especially China exhibited significant volatility, reasoning at different stages simultaneously. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed

Regional Difference in Ethics Decision Making: A Study of IT Pre-professionals in China

Information and communications technology played a significant role in the recent economic growth of China, which now ranks as the second largest economy in the world. As a result, China faces many social and ethical challenges common to technology-advanced countries. Ethical reasoning and practices are often influenced by cultural expectations and regional norms. The purpose of this study is to investigate IT ethics decision making in different regions of China.An IT ethics survey was developed and administered in four regions in China with different degrees of westernization. The data were analyzed using standard cross tabulation and Chi-square test techniques. Preliminary results reveal observable differences among subjects from the four regions with respect to their decision choices, reasons for the choices, the scope of consideration, and the stage of their moral development. In particular, the subject group that was exposed to the strongest western influence, showed the highest degree of individualism in ethics decision making

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON SOFTWARE PIRACY BETWEEN CHINA AND AMERICA

Software piracy in China has been a serious problem for decades. This paper builds on an existing software piracy model and adds a cultural dimension. We aim to study the differences between the U.S. and Chinese college students on their attitude toward software piracy, perceived punishment, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and piracy intention. Through the data analysis, we aim to find the key factors that influence the piracy intent, to identify the differences between the Chinese and Americans, and to provide insights to fight piracy in China

The Case of Digital Ethics in IS Research – A Literature Review

Due to the rapid development in technology and the increasing digitization of organizations and society as a whole, digital ethics is becoming an increasingly important topic for researchers and practitioners of information systems (IS). This literature review shows the state of the art of ethical views present in IS research, at first establishing the relevance of the topic and then showing recent developments. Using a holistic view on ethics, this article provides (1) an overview of the number of publications considering ethics in IS research and on the different ethical constructs and theories. Additionally, it provides an overview (2) on the different fields of application. The aforementioned concepts (3) are contrasted to identify research streams and derive research gaps. Additionally (4), we provide a categorization scheme to classify ethics research in IS into 4 different types and from there (5) derive research propositions for future projects

Information Technology Codes of Ethics: An Analysis Proposal

In this paper, we propose a framework to systematically analyze the structural form and thematic content of codes of ethics related to Information and Communication Technology (ICT codes of ethics). Then we apply this framework, within a sample of 30 organizations. Our purpose is to assess the organizational ethical positioning advocated by these ICT codes of ethics, using an adaptation of Kohlberg’s cognitive moral development theory (CMD). Our results indicate that a majority of the organizations studied adopt an ICT code which refers to the conventional level of CMD. The implications of our study for research and practice are discussed

Moral Philosophy and Ethical Decision Making in an Information Technology Dilemma

This study explores the fundamental philosophical differences found in the ethical decision making approaches of studentsenrolled in a Management Information Systems (MIS) course required at an accredited university in New England. Thedecision choices of the students were classified according to five widely accepted theories of ethics: (a) Axiological, (b)Deontological, (c) Perfectionist, (d) Utilitarian, and (e) Relativistic. Based on their major areas of study, students wereclassified into three categories: (1) Arts & Sciences majors, (2) Business majors, and (3) Information Technology majors.The analysis of 103 decisions confirms the existence of statistically significant differences among students in their ethicalapproaches to resolving an information technology dilemma based on their major areas of study. While the Arts & Sciencesmajors prefer Utilitarian ethics, Business majors prefer Axiological, and Information Technology majors favor Relativisticapproach. Some possible reasons behind these differences are discussed in the paper

Exploring the Effect of National Culture on Emerging Technologies: A Glimpse into the Future

As organizations become increasingly globalized, understanding the impact of national culture on the successful usage and adoption of emerging technologies is crucial. National culture influences the strategies of organizations, for instance how the employees successfully adopt and use emerging technologies. While the effect of national culture has been widely observed in information systems, it is still challenging to measure the influence of national culture on the usage and adoption of emerging technologies. To contribute to the existing body of knowledge, we conducted a structured literature review on how previous work measured national culture to provide a starting point for further theory development. For instance, our findings emphasize the need to measure culture at an individual level. Finally, we developed a research agenda to provide a starting point for developing theories to measure the influence of national culture on emerging technologies

Beyond panoptic surveillance: On the ethical dilemmas of the connected workplace

Technological advances such as the Internet-of-Things, big data, and artificial intelligence have enabled new ways of managerial oversight moving away from panoptic surveillance to what we call “connected surveillance”. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of connected surveillance, which purpose is not only scrutinizing employees’ work performance, but also health, personal beliefs, and other private matters. With the implementation of connected workplaces, therefore, various ethical dilemmas arise. We highlight four emerging dilemmas, namely: (1) the good of the individual versus the good of the community, (2) ownership versus information disclosure, (3) justice versus mercy, and (4) truth versus loyalty. We discuss those ethical dilemmas for the case of corporate wellness programs which is frequently being used as guise to introduce connected surveillance. Following a socio-technical perspective, we discuss ethical responses that focus on people involvement and technology assessment. We highlight practical responses that can aim at mitigating the dilemmas

Beyond Panoptic Surveillance: On the Ethical Dilemmas of the Connected Workplace

Technological advances such as the Internet-of-Things, big data, and artificial intelligence have enabled new ways of managerial oversight moving away from panoptic surveillance to what we call “connected surveillance”. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of connected surveillance which purpose is not only scruitizing employees’ work performance but also health, personal beliefs, and other private matters. With the implementation of connected workplaces, therefore, various ethical dilemmas arise. We highlight four emerging dilemmas, namely: (1) the good of the individual versus the good of the community, (2) ownership versus information disclosure, (3) justice versus mercy, and (4) truth versus loyalty. We discuss those ethical dilemmas for the case of corporate wellness programs which is frequently used as guise to introduce connected surveillance. Following a socio-technical perspective, we discuss ethical responses that focus on people involvement and technology assessment. We also highlight practical responses that can aim at mitigating the dilemmas

Morality, Ethics, and Reflection: A Categorization of Normative IS Research

Moral views and perceptions, their ethical evaluation and justification, and practical concerns about how to incorporate them all play important roles in research and practice in the information systems discipline. This paper develops a model of normative issues ranging from moral intuition and explicit morality to ethical theory and meta-ethical reflection. After showing that this normative model is relevant to IS and that it allows an improved understanding of normative issues, the paper discusses these levels of normativity in the context of two of the most prominent normative topics in IS: Privacy and intellectual property. The paper then suggests that a more explicit understanding of the different aspects of normativity would benefit IS research. This would leverage the traditional empirical strengths of IS research and use them to develop research that is relevant beyond the boundaries of the discipline. Such broader relevance could be aimed at the reference disciplines. In particular, moral philosophy could benefit from understanding information technology and its role in organizations in more detail. It could, furthermore, inform policy makers who are increasingly called on to regulate new information technologies