Managing Information Technology

Chapter 15 • Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues 577

be affected. If one or more of the stakeholders might be
harmed, there is likely to be an ethical problem.

Analyzing Ethical Problems

There is no universally accepted way to determine whether
an action is ethically justified or unethical. There are exam-
ples where almost everyone would agree that an action,
such as murder, is unethical, but still there are those who
believe that they are acting ethically when they kill women
and children in an act of terrorism or in war. Even though
there are no universally accepted rules, many concepts are
helpful in analyzing ethical problems.
A number of professional organizations have rec-
ognized that IT presents many ethical issues. The
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
have jointly developed a comprehensive code of ethics
for the software engineering profession. The preamble to
this Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, developed
by the IEEE-CS/ACM Joint Task Force on Software
Engineering Ethics and Professional Practices, contains
the following paragraph:

Ethical tensions can best be addressed by

thoughtful consideration of fundamental

Principles, rather than blind reliance on

detailed regulations. These Principles should

influence software engineers to consider broadly

who is affected by their work; to examine if they

and their colleagues are treating other human

beings with due respect; to consider how the

public, if reasonably well informed, would view

their decisions; to analyze how the least

empowered will be affected by their decisions;

and to consider whether their acts would be

judged worthy of the ideal professional working

as a software engineer. In all these judgments

concern for the health, safety, and welfare of the

public is primary; that is, thepublic interestis

central to this Code

(Gotterbarn, Don, Keith Miller, and Simon Rogerson,

“Software engineering code of ethics is approved,”

Communications of the ACM42 (October), © 1999

Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Reprinted by per-

mission. Web address doi.acm.org/10.1145/317665.317682).

The Association for Computing Machinery

(ACM) code of ethics for its members explicitly recog-

nizes that managers and organizations have special

responsibilities as expressed in Section 3 of this code

(see Figure 15.1).

3. Organizational Leadership Imperatives. As an ACM member and an
   organizational leader, I will ...
   3.1 Articulate social responsibilities of members of an organizational unit and
   encourage full acceptance of those responsibilities.
   3.2 Manage personnel and resources to design and build information systems
   that enhance the quality of working life.
   3.3 Acknowledge and support proper and authorized uses of an organization’s
   computing and communication resources.
   3.4 Ensure that users and those who will be affected by a system have their
   needs clearly articulated during the assessment and design of
   requirements; later the system must be validated to meet requirements.
   3.5 Articulate and support policies that protect the dignity of users and others
   affected by a computing system.
   3.6 Create opportunities for members of the organization to learn the principles and
   limitations of computer systems.

Section 3 of the ACM Code of Ethics

FIGURE 15.1 Section 3 of the ACM Code of Ethics (Anderson, Ronald E., “ACM code of

ethics and professional conduct,” Communications of the ACM35 (May), © 1992

Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Web address

doi.acm.org/10.1145/129875.129885)