Beliefs regarding right and wrong behavior. Conforms to
generally accepted social norms Virtues Vice Value System
Slide 4
Religious views Islam: Christianity: Allah commands justice,
the doing of good, and liberty to kith and kin, and He forbids all
shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you, that
ye may receive admonition. [Chapter 16, Verse 90] Jesus asked: If
you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is
that to you? [Luke 6:34]
Slide 5
Slide 6
Gathering and using personal data Employers monitoring
employees activities on company resources Peer 2 Peer downloading
Copyrighted material Hackers engaged in cyber-terrorism
Slide 7
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Association of
Information Technology Professionals (AITP) Institute for
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Certified Software
Development Professional (CSDP)
Slide 8
Slide 9
Provided 20 Inputs have: 12 Unethical inputs 7 Not Unethical
inputs 1 Not related to Ethic Do as directed by the employer Take
stand and do something about it
Slide 10
One should take action towards the misconduct Bring it up to
immediate supervisor If trivial consequences, fixable later If
serious, will not execute Blowing whistle ?
Slide 11
What is Whistle-Blowing? Voluntary release of nonpublic
information to an appropriate audience about illegal conduct. Who
can blow the whistle? Only employees are considered to blow the
whistle. A witness or a reporter exposing illegal actions of an
organization is not considered as blowing the whistle. Should we
blow the whistle?
Slide 12
Is whistle-blowing justified? Ethical justification is
obviously in favor of public service The Loyal Agent argument
Meaning of loyalty When is whistle-blowing justified? Lives are on
stake All facts are properly understood All internal channels are
exhausted Closely related to the employees work
Slide 13
Consequences Great risk on personal life and financials
Possible dismissal Being blacklisted as trouble-maker Chuck
Atchinson Quality Control Inspector at Brown & Root Joseph Rose
In-house attorney for the Associated Milk Producers Incorporated
(AMPI) Sharron Watkins Vice President of corporate development at
ENRON
Slide 14
Is it Right to blow the whistle? Federal False Claims Act of
1863 (amended 1986) Paid percentage of settlements to
whistle-blowers during post-Civil War reconstruction period.
Highest settlement was issued to Douglas D. Keith for $22.5 million
of the $150 million received in the settlement with United
Technologies Corporation. Civil Service Reform Act of 1978
Prohibited retaliation against federal government employees
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) Prohibited
retaliation in private sector as well. Title VII of 1964 Civil
Rights Act Protects employees against discrimination
Slide 15
Argument Against Whistle-Blower Protection Used by disgruntled
employees to cover their own incompetence by blowing the whistle
and taking out the antidismissal insurance Makes it harder for
employers to run their business as they see fit and makes it harder
for managers to run the company Will reduce the trust and value in
working as team in an organization
Slide 16
Argument For Whistle-Blower Protection Direct benefit of
bringing up illegal corporate conduct, gross waste and
mismanagement, and danger to public brought to light Ralph Nader
said, corporate employees are among the first ones to identify the
problem and can help prevent many hazards if take appropriate
action in time.
Slide 17
When questionable inputs are provided and harm to public or
environment is realized, the employee should report to appropriate
party as he is under moral obligation to do so. He is an agent of
his employer and have limited obligation towards his organization,
but also have obligations to the greater good of public service.
The law protects him and it is in his best interest to sound the
alarm now rather than to be a part of a conspiracy later.
Slide 18
IBM developerWorks
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/may06/pollice/index.html
Boatright, John R. ETHICS AND THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS. 3rd. Upper
Sadle River: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 2000. Reynolds, George. ETHICS IN
Information Technology. Boston: THOMPSON LEARNING INC., 2003.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_views_on_busine
ss_ethics
