IT Ethics, Leadership, and Quality of Life in the Digital Age

Introduction: Ethics, Leadership, and Information Technology

The ethical standards of organizational cultures are often directly related to the ethics of the leaders and managers who largely shape norms, values, expectations, and the boundaries of organizations (Cary, Wen, & Mahatanankoon, 2003). Add in the component of information systems and related technologies, and the attitudes, beliefs, and values surrounding ethics that a leader holds are immediately amplified across the organization, even when it is global in scope. The ethics of leaders—especially those managing and leading IT efforts—have a very immediate and lasting impact on the ethics of their entire organizations as a result. Setting standards for the ethical conduct of information technology professionals is therefore critical. Examining the importance of ethical behaviors that the IT professional must adhere to is also assessed in this analysis, including the critical need to safeguard data under their control.

As with any corporate-wide resource that has the ability to drastically change a corporate culture relatively quickly, the role of the IT professional in protecting intellectual property and defining best practices for its release and use is an important area of discussion. Finally, the importance of ethical behavior in ensuring a high quality of life in an online-dominated world—both at work and at home—is addressed. The greater the level of ubiquity any information system or series of technologies achieves within an organization, the more they permeate employees' lives outside of work and eventually become part of their daily routines (Cronan, Leonard, & Kreie, 2005). The RIM BlackBerry is a case in point, as it was continually used by many workers regardless of the day or hour.

Moral Imperatives of the IT Professional

In evaluating the importance of ethical standards to the IT professional, the areas of overarching moral imperatives, professional responsibilities, leadership and managerial ethical imperatives, and the need for compliance are all relevant. The ethical behavior of a leader has an immediate and long-term effect on subordinates, and if the leader is managing information systems and IT resources, their effect is immediately amplified and made even more pronounced (Butcher, 2009). The same holds true for any IT professional, as their impact on the organization is immediate and wide-ranging given their influence over IT systems, processes, and the communications those systems enable globally.

The moral imperatives of the IT professional must be anchored first with a responsibility to society—to act so as to protect the health, safety, and online and offline privacy of anyone interacting with systems, websites, or transaction terminals throughout a business. From internal employees entering orders to customers using a website or shoppers using a point-of-purchase terminal, the IT professional has a moral imperative to ensure these transactions and interactions adhere to the highest levels of security and privacy possible at all times. Privacy and security technologies are moving targets, however; they constantly change as hackers and online criminals look to circumvent even the most complex security measures. It is therefore the moral imperative of the IT professional to continually stay current in their field and strive to learn more, as greater knowledge enables better protection of both employees and customers (Dillon, 2010).

A second moral imperative of the IT professional is to design computing and IT systems so that they cause no physical harm to others or to the environment (Butcher, 2009). This imperative also includes protecting personal and public property and shielding entire enterprise networks from computer viruses and attempts to breach a company's core systems (Pemberton, 1998). It further carries with it the need for continual learning and staying up to date on the latest technologies and procedures for averting potential attacks. The moral imperative to remain vigilant against threats, reinforced by continual training, underscores many of the ethical standards the IT professional must adhere to (Grupe, Garcia-Jay, & Kuechler, 2002).

A third moral imperative is to strive to earn trust daily by telling the truth—even when the news is not good—and by not covering up failures in either personal or corporate-wide system and technology performance (Gotterbarn & Miller, 2010). This imperative also applies to the programming and development of entirely new computing systems. Programmers who are highly skilled in security technologies may, for example, find it tempting to shortcut authentication or secured integration points in a system. The potential to trim up to a month off a development schedule by omitting a given feature or series of functions could seriously harm the entire operations of a company over the long term. The moral imperative to be honest and transparent about what is included in a given system design and configuration is critical if an IT professional is to set the right foundation for a business to embrace ethics over the long term (Kallman, 1992).

The moral imperative of honesty is the most critical for leaders of IT organizations who strive to define cultures that seek continual improvement over stagnation and mediocrity. Often the best strategy for enabling an IT organization to become more focused on achievement is authenticity and transparency (Miller, 2009). When the leaders of an IT organization strive to attain this moral imperative of truthfulness, it permeates the organization and greater trust is created over time. Studies of high-performing IT organizations show that trust can become an accelerator of change and positive growth. Without it, organizations become closed, information gets hoarded, and mistakes that could have been avoided become commonplace (Molnar, Kletke, & Chongwatpol, 2008). A large part of any IT department's culture is dictated by how strong an IT leader is in the area of honesty.

A fourth moral imperative for IT professionals is to not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, age, disability, or national origin (Gotterbarn & Miller, 2010). This imperative must also anchor all ethical standards by protecting the rights of those using computer systems, websites, and transaction systems, ensuring that no person is discriminated against on the basis of gender, religion, age, disability, or national origin (Dillon, 2010). The IT professional must continually learn new approaches to screening inappropriate content, filtering potentially discriminatory materials, and creating greater efficiencies in approaches that minimize and eliminate discrimination through the use of IT systems and related websites (Grupe, Garcia-Jay, & Kuechler, 2002). IT leaders can have a major impact on this ethical standard by setting a policy of zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind in their organization and demonstrating that they mean it by taking action whenever anyone is discriminated against or harassed (Dillon, 2010).

The fifth moral imperative is to always design IT systems and processes to protect the copyrights, intellectual property (IP), and patents of the company and its partners. From a strategic standpoint, this imperative is critical for the entire organization to maintain trust with its core partners and those involved in joint ventures and development projects (Stapleton, 2007). Specifically designing systems to protect and, in some cases, enforce copyrights, intellectual property, and patents is critical for companies in knowledge-centric businesses—including information systems, market research, search engine design, and online advertising (Molnar, Kletke, & Chongwatpol, 2008). As with many other moral imperatives, it is the responsibility of the IT professional to continually expand their skill set so they can better anticipate and respond to these challenges. Many techniques and approaches for managing intellectual property require auditable steps and procedures to ensure that use is tracked (Gotterbarn & Miller, 2010). It is incumbent on the IT professional to excel in the areas of intellectual property security and privacy, as for many companies their IP is the core strength of their business model. It is also the moral imperative of any IT leader to set the tone for managing IP as a valued corporate asset—one that needs to be tracked and reported on over time, supported by ongoing training and recognition when handled well.

IT Professional's Ethical Standards

The ethical standards for the IT professional include the duty to strive for the highest quality, effectiveness, and performance in all processes and systems created and maintained over time, as well as the need to continually alleviate potential risks to enterprise data (Cronan, Leonard, & Kreie, 2005). This area of ethical responsibility centers on creating integrity and reliability in systems and applications while also designing safeguards against data theft. The continual creation and updating of security techniques and technologies within enterprise systems is an ethical responsibility of the IT professional.

In order to successfully protect the information and intellectual property assets of a firm, an IT professional must also make a personal commitment to stay as current as possible on existing and emerging technologies (Pemberton, 1998). This commitment needs to be supported by the leaders of an IT organization, complete with budgets allocated for ongoing certification and training. The continual pursuit of professional competence is an ethical requirement, and any leader of an IT function must continually focus on how to create a culture that embraces learning and change (Gotterbarn, 1999). From an ethical standards standpoint, lifelong learning is not an option—it is a requirement. As knowledge is the precursor to behavior, IT professionals need to determine which specific areas of ongoing education they will pursue over time. The need for security expertise, particularly in the areas of intellectual property, is especially important, as skill sets in information security are in high demand (Stapleton, 2007).

Another ethical standard that IT professionals must continually maintain involves understanding the existing laws and covenants governing the use of key corporate assets and defining the methods by which intellectual property may be accessed. Of particular importance are the processes and procedures for safeguarding corporate information assets both internally and externally (Stapleton, 2007). IT professionals need to understand the auditable, verifiable steps required to check in and check out information for internal use. Most importantly, the IT professional must also understand how to assess the risks and potential compromises of allowing external access through authentication, single sign-on, and the use of non-sanctioned IT systems on the corporate network (Gotterbarn & Miller, 2010). All of these aspects of IT security need to be core competencies if IT professionals are to protect intellectual property and ensure their organizations can remain and grow profitable in future years.