This document discusses ethics for IT workers and users. It begins by defining a profession and the criteria to be considered a professional according to US law. While IT workers are considered part of the professional services industry, they are not legally recognized as professionals. The document then discusses seven forces changing professional services like increased client sophistication and globalization. It also covers the relationships and responsibilities IT workers have with employers, clients, suppliers, other professionals, users, and society.

1. ETHICS FOR IT WORKERS
AND IT USERS

2. A profession is a calling that requires
specialized knowledge and often long and
intensive academic preparation.
The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines a
person “employed in a professional capacity”
as one who meets these four criteria:

3. 1. One’s primary duties consist of the
performance of work requiring knowledge
of advanced type in a field of science or
learning customarily acquired by a
prolonged course of specialized intellectual
instruction and study or work.
2. One’s instruction, study, or work is original
and creative in character in a recognized
field of artistic endeavor, the result of which
depends primarily on the invention,
imagination, or talent of the employee.

4. 3. One’s work requires the consistent exercise
of discretion and judgment in its
performance.
4. One’s work is predominantly and varied in
character, and the output or result cannot
be standardized in relation to a given period
of time.
Example doctors, lawyers, accountants

5. - A professional is expected to contribute to
society, to participate in a life long training
program, to keep abreast of developments
in the field, and to help develop others
professionals
- From a legal standpoint, a professional has
passed the state licensing requirements and
earned the right to practice here
- many professional roles carry special right
and responsibilities

6. Many business workers have duties,
background and training that qualify them to
be classified as professionals, including
Marketing analyst, financial consultants, and IT
specialists.
It specialists includes programmers, system
analysts, software engineers, database
administrators, Local area network (LAN)
administrators, and chief information officers
(CIOs).

7. From a legal perspective, IT workers are not
recognized as professionals because they are
not licensed by the state or federal
government.
Example malpractice lawsuits – IT workers are
not liable for malpractice because they do not
meet the legal definition of professional

8. It workers are considered part of the
professional services industry, which is
experiencing immense changes that impact
how members of this industry must think and
behave to be successful.
Ross Dawson, author and CEO of the
consulting firm Advanced Human
Technology, identifies seven forces that are
changing the nature of professional services.

9. - Client Sophistication
- Governance
- Connectivity
- Transparency
- Modularization
- Globalization
- Commoditization

10. Client Sophistication
- Clients are more aware of what they need
from service providers, more willing to look
outside their own organization to get the best
possible services, and better able to drive a
hard bargain to get the best possible service
at the lowest possible cost.
Governance
- More scandals and tougher laws enacted to
avoid future scandals have created an
environment in which there is less trust and
more oversight in client-service provider
reationships.

11. Connectivity
- Clients and service providers have built their
working relationships on the expectation that
they can communicate easily and instantly
around the globe through electronic
teleconferences, audio conferences, e-mail, and
wireless devices.
Transparency
- Clients expect to be able to see work-in-
progress in real time, and they expect to be able
to influence that work. No longer are clients
willing to wait until end product is complete
before they weigh in with comments and
feedback.

12. Modularization
- Clients are able to break down their business
processes into the fundamental steps and
decide which they will perform themselves
and which they will outsource to service
providers.
Globalization
- Clients are able to evaluate and choose
among service providers around the globe,
making the service provider industry
extremely competitive.

13. Commoditization
- Clients look at the delivery of low-end
services as a commodity service for which
price is the primary criteria for choosing a
service provider. For the delivery of high-end
services, clients seek to form a partnership
with their service providers.

14.  Relationship Between IT Workers and
Employers
 Relationship Between IT Workers and Clients
 Relationship Between IT Workers and
Suppliers
 Relationship Between IT Workers and Other
Professionals
 Relationship Between IT Workers and IT Users
 Relationship Between IT Workers and Society

15. IT workers and employers have a critical,
multifaceted relationship that requires
ongoing effort by both parties to keep it
strong.
IT worker and an employer typically agree on
fundamental aspects of the relationship
before the worker accepts an employment
offer.
Job title, general performance expectations, specific work
responsibilities, drug-testing requirements, dress code,
location of employment, salary, work hours, and
company benefits.

16. Many other issues are addressed in the
company’s policy and procedure manual or
in the company’s code of conduct if exists.
Example protection of company secrets, vacation
policy, time off for a funeral, an illness in the
family, use of company resources
Some aspects are addressed by law – for
example, an employee cannot be required
to do something illegal, such as falsify the
results of a quality assurance test.

17. Some aspects are specific to the role of IT worker
and are established based on the nature of the
work or project – for example, the programming
language to be used, the type and amount of
documentation to produced, and the extent of testing
to be conducted.
IT workers must set an example and enforced
policies regarding the ethical use of IT. IT
workers have the skills and knowledge to
abuse systems and data or to allow others to
do so. Example Software piracy – laws and
policies.

18. The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a
trade group that represents the world’s
largest software and hardware
manufacturers. It mission is to stop the
unauthorized copying of software produce
by its members.
“Know It, Report It, Reward It” program,
individuals who report software piracy are
eligible to receive up to $1 million in cash
rewards.

19.  Adobe
◦ Corel
◦ Dell
◦ IBM
◦ McAfee
 Apple
◦ Intel
◦ Microsoft
◦ Cisco Systems
 Autodesk
◦ HP
◦ SAP
◦ Symantec

20. A trade secrecy is information, generally
unknown to the public, that a company has
taken strong measures to keep confidential.
Trade secrets can include the design of new
software code, hardware designs, business
plans, the design of a user interface to a
computer program, and manufacturing
processes.
Example Intel’s manufacturing process for i7 quad core
processing chip
Whistle-blowing is an effort by an employee
to attract attention to a negligent, illegal,
unethical, abusive, or dangerous act by a
company that threatens the public interest.

21. An IT worker often provides services to clients
who either work outside the worker’s own
organization or are “internal”.
IT worker provides hardware, software, or
services at a certain cost and within a given
time frame.
Fraud is the crime of obtaining goods, services,
or property through deception or trickery.
Fraudulent misrepresentation occurs when a
person consciously decides to induce another
person to rely and act on the
misrepresentation.

22. Misrepresentation is the misstatement of
incomplete statement of a material fact. If
the misrepresentation causes the other party
to enter into a contract, that party may have
the legal right to cancel the contract and seek
reimbursement for damages.
Breach of contract occurs when one party fails
to meet the terms of a contract.
Material breach of contract occurs when a party
fails to perform certain express or implied
obligations, which impairs or destroys the
essence of the contract.

23. Frequent causes of problems in IT projects:
- The customer changes the scope of the project of
the system requirement
- Poor communication between customer and
vendor leads to performance that does not meet
expectations
- The vendor delivers a system that meets
customer requirements, but a competitor comes
out with a system that offers more advanced and
useful features
- The customer fails to reveal information about
legacy systems or databases that make the new
system extremely difficult to implement.

24. Bribery involves providing money, property, or
favors to someone in business or government
to obtain a business advantage.
Example A software supplier sales
representative who offer money to another
company’s employee to get its business.
This type of bribe is often referred to as a
kickback or a payoff.

25. Bribes Gifts
Are made in secret, as they are
neither legally nor morally
acceptable
Are made openly and publicly, as a
gesture of friendship or goodwill
Are often made indirectly through
a third party
Are made directly from donor to
recipient
Encourage an obligation for the
recipient to act favorably toward
the donor
Come with no expectation of a
future favor for the donor

26. Resume Inflation it involves lying on a resume and
claiming competence in an IT skill that is in high
demand.
Another ethical issue is the inappropriate sharing
of corporate information. Because of their roles,
IT workers have access to corporate databases of
private and confidential information about
employees, customers, suppliers, new product
plans, promotions, budgets and so on. It might
be sold to other organizations or shared
informally during work conversations with others
who have no need to know.

27. IT users – the person who uses a hardware or
software product from the IT worker who
develop, install, service, and support the product.
IT users need the product to deliver organizational
benefits or to increase their productivity.
IT workers have a key responsibility to establish an
environment that supports ethical behavior by
users.
- Software piracy, minimizes the inappropriate use
of corporate computing resources, and avoids
the inappropriate sharing of information.

28. Regulatory laws established safety standards for
products and services to protect the public.
The action of an IT worker can affect society.
Example a system analyst may design a
computer-based control system to monitor a
chemical manufacturing process. An error or
failure in the system may put workers or
residents near the plant at risk. As a result, IT
workers have a relationship with society
members who may be affected by their actions.

29. Negligence is not doing something that a
reasonable person would do, or doing
something that a reasonable person would
not do.
Duty of care refers to the obligation to protect
people against any unreasonable harm or
risk.