Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

Chuck Huff; Laura Barnard; William Frey

2008 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/14779960810921114

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a four component model of ethical behavior that integrates literature in moral psychology, computing ethics, and virtue ethics as informed by research on moral exemplars in computing. This is part 2 of a two part contribution, part 1 having appeared in Vol. 6 No. 3. Design/methodology/approach – This psychologically based and philosophically informed model argues that moral action is grounded in relatively stable personality characteristics, guided by integration of morality into the self‐system, shaped by the context of the surrounding moral ecology, and facilitated by morally relevant skills and knowledge. Findings – The model seeks to explain the daily successful (and unsuccessful) performance of moral action by computing professionals and to provide groundwork for a pedagogy that emphasizes ethically effective performance. Practical implications – The model has significant implications for how ethical action to computer professionals and other design professionals might be taught. It also makes recommendations about what need to be measured to construct a complete picture of sustained ethical action in a profession. Originality/value – Most accepted models of ethical behavior are unidimensional, emphasizing either principled reasoning or a simplistic model of integrity/character. This model brings together a variety of disparate literatures in the light of its emphasis on sustained moral action in the profession. It thereby provides researchers and educators with a picture of what is needed to construct a complete understanding of moral action in the profession.

Rakesh Belwal; Khalid Al‐Zoubi

2008 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/14779960810921123

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the efforts made by Jordan in the direction of e‐governance and people's perception of corruption, trust, and e‐governance. Design/methodology/approach – Desk research was conducted using secondary data sources followed by a field survey conducted with 412 sample respondents in three major cities of Jordan. Following the triangulation approach, the responses of university professors and the common people were also secured. Findings – The Jordanian government's efforts towards e‐governance are commendable in the Middle East. However, there are certain impediments that are witnessed in the form of the digital divide, corruption, social bottlenecks, the stage of democratization, the lack of marketing to stakeholders, and the citizen's lack of adoption of technology. Educated people are aware of the merit of e‐governance contrary to the uneducated ones and perceive that corruption in the Jordanian public sector is increasing. Research limitations/implications – The study mainly reflects the views of the educated people. The views of the uneducated ones are secured through basic interactions as they expressed their inability to respond to the questionnaires. Somehow, the respondents are not very open to freely share their opinions or have abstained from participation‐since they consider this a sensitive issue within the Jordanian cultural and political setup. Further, asking opinions of members of the public might not be the ideal way of judging the level of corruption, or changes in it. Originality/value – People's perception is that Jordan is affected by a low level of corruption and that its citizens lack awareness of e‐governance. To remedy this, its citizens need to be motivated to trust and to participate in the process of e‐governance and to increase their understanding of the tools and technologies available.

John Knight

2008 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/14779960810921132

Purpose – This paper aims to inform and improve the quality of electronic products and services by outlining an approach to ethically grounded design. Design/methodology/approach – A number of design disciplines were investigated using desk research and also learning from experience in commercial design practice in the mobile phone, Internet and software industries. Findings – It is suggested that design “scripts” specific behaviours with either good or bad results. Scripts have a behavioural element and they define the physical, social and individual impact of products and services. This suggests that designers should be aware of the impact design decisions have throughout the product lifecycle. In order to achieve this, three ethical design principles (situated research, reflexivity and participation) are proposed to frame ethical design practice. Research limitations/implications – It is suggested that measuring impact alone is insufficient to minimise harm caused by electronic products and services. Instead, research should focus on positively informing design through actionable results in the participatory design tradition. Conversely, design needs to accommodate research into measuring the impact of products in order to deliver long‐term benefits to users rather than perpetuating passive consumption. Practical implications – The paper provides an overview of methods for value‐centred interaction design based on the analysis of alternative approaches to ethical design. Originality/value – The research in the paper spans a number of related but heretofore separate disciplines pertinent to deepening design thinking. These disciplines are critiqued on the basis of their appropriateness and applicability to an ethical design approach and the concept of scripting, used in traditional design, is applied to interactivity. Lastly, three new principles are proposed for ethically grounded design.

Richard Lucas; Nyree Mason

2008 Journal of Information Communication and Ethics in Society

doi: 10.1108/14779960810921141

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a preliminary analysis of age and gender across a number of questions asked in a survey of ethical attitudes of professionals in the information and communication technology (ICT) industry in Australia. While a large number of demographic questions regarding ethics and regulation, only those concerning age and gender are examined here. Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was conducted of the ICT workplace in Australia. The results were analyzed using SPSS. Findings – There are some significant differences across the generations as well between the genders. Gen Y is different when compared to the others on how important ethical regulations ought to be. Gen Y thinks that ethical regulations ought to be less important. When gender was examined it was clear that males thought that ethical regulations ought to be significantly less important when compared with what females thought. Research limitations/implications – While a larger sample size was desired, the consistency of the replies, when compared against a number of comparative populations, indicated that the replies we received were representative of the ICT workforce. Originality/value – This paper raises many issues that demand greater care and attention be given when constructing new models of governing ethics within the Australian ICT workplace.