Who Says Professionals Are Ethical? A Cross-sectional Analysis of Ethical Decision Making, Attitudes and Action

This study examines how different groups (students, full-time employees and IT professionals) respond to ethical IT decisions. Each group operates within a particular ethical work climate, socializing ethical and unethical, professional and or unprofessional behaviors facing ethical IT dilemmas. Two-hundred and forty respondents across three groups assessed two vignettes depicting ethical IT dilemmas, one of a programmer hacking into bank software and another of an employee using computer equipment for personal work. The results suggest that for students and IT professionals, levels of professionalism was linked to ethical and whistleblowing behavior, but this relationship was absent for other non-IT employees regardless of the ethical dilemma. In addition, we find overwhelming support for the link between ethical work climates involving laws, rules, and codes and levels of professionalism for all groups, but other work climates were only salient for non-IT professionals

Are All Commercial Websites Created Equal? Web Vendor Reputation and Security on Third Party Payment Use

New web vendors emerge daily as business-to-consumer e-commerce grows substantially over the years. However, new webvendors may be regarded with skepticism in an existing marketplace, and may require third party support to reduceuncertainty. This study investigates the effect of consumer’s perceived security and reputation of web vendors on consumer’spurchase intention and third party payment choice. Our study examines under what condition adopting a reputable third partypayment system is beneficial to web vendors. Applying trust transference theory, we found that website with high reputationand high security may not benefit from having a third party payment presence, while website with low reputation and lowsecurity will benefit the most for having an alternative financial payment mechanism. Our study also found that onlineconsumers tend not to choose to use third party payment system when the website is perceived as high security regardless ofthe reputation of the website

A Framework for the Impact of IT on Organizational Performance

Abstract: Purpose -Despite the constant stream of research investigating information technology (IT) business value, IT capabilities, and competitive advantage, researchers are calling for a more coherent understanding of the firm-level impacts of IT, and how those firm-level impacts can be measured. The purpose of this study is to investigate the multitude of organization-level studies of the impact of IT. Originality/value -The research framework proposed provides a comprehensive snapshot of IS studies on organizational performance. IT business value | organizational impact | productivity rate | profitability | financia

The moral milieu of information technology: using domain and affordance theory to explain situational and technological effects on ethical IT decision making

Unethical behavior in the use of IT may result in significant negative impacts on the productivity, profitability, and reputation of the organization. IT exacerbates moral problems through its constant evolution, multi-faceted nature and encroachment into our personal and professional lives. People have difficulty recognizing moral characteristics, applying moral decision-making heuristics, and anticipating consequences of ethical problems when IT is present. These qualities highlight the moral milieu of ethical IT problems in organizations. The dissertation investigates this phenomenon through three perspectives. First, while moral development in childhood and adolescence predispose people toward particular moral reasoning, situational and contextual factors of ethical IT dilemmas may unearth other different moral reasoning patterns. The deviation of people's situational moral reasoning from broader moral dispositions is explored. Second, the scenario-specific situational moral reasoning is further framed into patterns of decision-making heuristics using the domain theory of moral development. Third, research in IT ethics has largely ignored the properties and characteristics of IT artifacts in ethical decision-making. Using affordance theory from ecological psychology, the dissertation proposes a framework of moral affordances, including ownership, anonymity, reproducibility, etc. that shapes ethical IT decision-making, intentions and behaviors. The study surveys 321 individuals across three ethical IT dilemmas of varying moral character and technology use. Ethical intentions and decisions deviated significantly from when situational moral judgments were considered, emphasizing utilitarian and relativist judgments. These decision-making models are transformed when ethical IT dilemmas were attributed to different domains of morality, exhibiting not only different patterns of moral reasoning but also an entirely different moral character. Finally, the salience of IT moral affordances varied between ethical dilemmas and demonstrated some influence on ethical IT decisions and intentions; however, these moral affordances lacked predictive efficacy within the broader ethical IT decision-making model

A Framework for the Impact of IT on Organizational Performance

Purpose – Despite the constant stream of research investigating information technology (IT) business value, IT capabilities, and competitive advantage, researchers are calling for a more coherent understanding of the firm-level impacts of IT, and how those firm-level impacts can be measured. The purpose of this study is to investigate the multitude of organization-level studies of the impact of IT. Design/methodology/approach – Meta-analysis of IS literature from 2001-2009. Findings – The findings are synthesized into an overarching framework of the impact of IT at the organization level. The framework categorizes measures of the impact of IT into productivity, profitability, and intangible benefits, while the antecedents of IT impact are categorized into IT resources, IT capabilities, IT/business alignment and external factors. Originality/value – The research framework proposed provides a comprehensive snapshot of IS studies on organizational performance

EXPLORING THE INFORMATION EFFECTS OF IDENTITY AND INFORMATION TRANSPARENCY IN REPUTATION SYSTEMS

Reputation systems are extensively used in e-commerce, particularly online auction markets, to foster cooperation and accountability between buyers and sellers, resulting in price premiums and improved trust between buyers and sellers. The diffusion of reputation systems through online auction markets is pervasive, as trust engendered through reputation is necessary for cooperative action. Information transparency influences cooperative and competitive behavior in online auction markets, and through information transparency this study explores the information effects within online auctions on seller reputation and buyer trusting beliefs and intentions. In addition, a seller\u27s reputation is dependent on the salience of their market identity, and cannot be relegated to simple feedback scores. Therefore, we propose that perceived reputation of sellers\u27 depends on seller identifiability through pseudonyms and levels of identity knowledge. Finally, a distinction is drawn between institutionalized reputation, e.g. feedback scores, and perceived reputation, e.g. the impression of potential buyers. In this research in progress, we present a theoretically grounded research model to study the effects of identity and information transparency in reputation systems and online auction markets. We outline the proposed experimental design using a proxy website to manipulate key information components to induce treatment effects, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of adopting different identity and transparency design for reputation systems in online auction markets

The moral milieu of information technology: Using domain and affordance theory to explain situational and technological effects on ethical IT decision making

Unethical behavior in the use of IT may result in significant negative impacts on the productivity, profitability, and reputation of the organization. IT exacerbates moral problems through its constant evolution, multi-faceted nature and encroachment into our personal and professional lives. People have difficulty recognizing moral characteristics, applying moral decision-making heuristics, and anticipating consequences of ethical problems when IT is present. These qualities highlight the moral milieu of ethical IT problems in organizations. The dissertation investigates this phenomenon through three perspectives. First, while moral development in childhood and adolescence predispose people toward particular moral reasoning, situational and contextual factors of ethical IT dilemmas may unearth other different moral reasoning patterns. The deviation of people's situational moral reasoning from broader moral dispositions is explored. Second, the scenario-specific situational moral reasoning is further framed into patterns of decision-making heuristics using the domain theory of moral development. Third, research in IT ethics has largely ignored the properties and characteristics of IT artifacts in ethical decision-making. Using affordance theory from ecological psychology, the dissertation proposes a framework of moral affordances, including ownership, anonymity, reproducibility, etc. that shapes ethical IT decision-making, intentions and behaviors. The study surveys 321 individuals across three ethical IT dilemmas of varying moral character and technology use. Ethical intentions and decisions deviated significantly from when situational moral judgments were considered, emphasizing utilitarian and relativist judgments. These decision-making models are transformed when ethical IT dilemmas were attributed to different domains of morality, exhibiting not only different patterns of moral reasoning but also an entirely different moral character. Finally, the salience of IT moral affordances varied between ethical dilemmas and demonstrated some influence on ethical IT decisions and intentions; however, these moral affordances lacked predictive efficacy within the broader ethical IT decision-making model

IT’s Impact on Organizational Performance: A Meta-Analysis

Despite the constant stream of research investigating IT business value, IT capabilities, and competitive advantage, researchers are calling for a more coherent understanding of the firm-level impacts of IT, and how those firm-level impacts can be measured. The purpose of this study is to investigate the multitude of organization-level studies of the impact of information technology. A meta-analysis approach was used spanning five years (2003-2008) and 60 articles concerning the impact of information technology at the organizational level. The findings are synthesized into an overarching framework of the impact of IT at the organization level. The study finds that IS research on organizational impacts of IT is diverse, with a multitude of variables and constructs as antecedents and measures of the impact of IT. The framework categorizes measures of the impact of IT into organizational productivity, financial performance, and intangible benefits, while the antecedents of IT impact are categorized into business alignment, IT resources, IT capabilities, and external forces