Content uploaded by J. Michael Pearson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by J. Michael Pearson
Content may be subject to copyright.
D
ue to the sensitive nature of and
value associated with the different
types of information required by
today’s managers, organizations
must insist the accuracy of the
information provided by their
computer-based systems is above reproach. Unfortu-
nately, recent cases involving software piracy, data
theft, system espionage and employee monitoring
have emphasized the unethical behavior that can
accompany the use of information technology. Anec-
dotal experiences and past studies have indicated
that two of the more common causes of the misap-
plication of information technology are: 1) the orga-
nization’s computer system is not secure from
unauthorized outside agencies and 2) the inside keep-
ers of the information system(s) are not able/willing
to operate in an ethical manner. As organizations
become more reliant on IT, it is obvious that the
actions of the information systems professionals can
have a tremendous impact on the success or failure of
their organizations. If the IS professional is to fill
this strategic role, it is critical that individuals
within this profession act in an ethical and responsi-
ble manner.
Currently three major professional IS associations
have proposed ethical standards for the IS profession:
the Data Processing Management Association
(DPMA), the Institute for Certification of Computer
Professionals (ICCP), and the ACM. A recent review
of these codes found that, while these codes of conduct
have many differing and conflicting principles, they
also have several behavioral principles in common [2,
4]. These include statements about obligations to
society; obligations to employer; obligations to
clients; obligations to colleagues; obligations to pro-
fessional organizations; and obligations to profession.
Oz concluded these principles represent criteria that
should be present within any comprehensive profes-
sional code of ethics and that the IS profession must
aspire to one coherent code of professional conduct if
its members are to be recognized as professionals [5].
This study examined three issues related to the IS pro-
fessional’s evaluation of ethical behavior: 1) the impact
of individual characteristics on the IS professional’s
ability to identify the role of certain decision criteria
in his/her ethical evaluations; 2) to which set of ethi-
cal standards the IS professional is most likely to
adhere (i.e., a professional code of ethics or a code of
ethics set forth by the organization); and 3) the IS pro-
fessional’s ability and/or willingness to conduct him-
self/herself in an ethical manner.
This study found that gender, whether the IS pro-
fessional believed a code of ethics was needed, and/or
whether the organization considered itself an ethical
leader had no impact on the IS member’s ability or
inability to identify between the different ethical cri-
teria tested in this study. However, age of the respon-
dent and the respondent’s position within the
organization did significantly impact the respondent’s
94 September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
J. Michael Pearson, Leon Crosby, and J.P. Shim
Measuring the
Importance of
Ethical Behavior
Criteria
Increased reliance on information technology requires
greater attention to ethical issues.
ability to accurately identify the criteria they used in
their evaluation of ethical behavior. The results also
provided very little support for the idea that IS man-
agers are guided by the ethical codes of conduct put
forward by the IS professional associations. However,
it is interesting to note that older individuals and
those in higher-ranking positions appear to value the
ethical criteria put forth by the different professional
associations more than younger, less senior IS profes-
sionals do. It is not clear if this increased interest
occurs with age and position or if it is the by-product
of the older, more senior IS professional being raised in
an earlier time period and/or social environment.
Method
As it is nearly impossible to observe and record the
criteria used when evaluating an ethical situation,
and because of the reported difficulty most decision
makers have when presented with multiple criteria,
it would seem logical to use a research method that
reduces bias and overcomes the problems decision
makers have using multiple criteria. Policy captur-
ing, a simulation-based approach that has been used
successfully to evaluate multiple-criteria decision-
making processes in other management studies, was
used in this study [1, 7–9]. This technique requires
respondents to make decisions about situations
defined by specific criteria or cues [3]. The values, as
indicated by the decisions each respondent makes,
are then regressed providing a slope for each inde-
pendent variable. The rationale for letting regression
coefficients represent the importance of the specific
criteria is that the coefficients measure the change in
the dependent variable (ethical behavior) per unit of
change in each independent variable (ethical
criteria).
The six principles/obligations identified by Oz
were embedded in a questionnaire, along with demo-
graphic questions, to determine which
principles/obligations were most important in deter-
mining the ethics of actions taken by IS professionals
[4]. An analysis of the collected demographic infor-
mation made it possible to determine whether the
order of relative importance changed due to age, gen-
der, or position; whether the IS professional believed a
formal code of ethics is necessary; or if the organiza-
tion considered itself an ethical leader in its industry.
This research does not claim the six principles/obliga-
tions identified by Oz are the only factors that influ-
ence the ethical behavior of the IS professional. These
principles/obligations were selected because, as sug-
gested by Johnson and Oz [2, 4, 5], they represent a
set of ethical criteria that should be present in codes of
ethics to guide professional behavior. Figure 1 con-
tains a sample scenario from this study. Each of the 32
decision scenarios used in the study was identical to
the scenario provided in Figure 1 except the levels for
the six criteria were changed.
Results
A sample of 500 IS professionals was randomly
selected from members of the Data Processing Man-
agement Association (DPMA). Each of these indi-
viduals indicated that he or she: 1) worked for a non-
academic business unit, and 2) was currently work-
ing in an IS position. A pilot questionnaire was
developed and sent to twenty IS professionals ran-
domly selected from the original sample. The pilot
questionnaire was then revised based on the feedback
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 95
For each of the scenarios given below, please circle the ethical behavior you believe best describes the
behavior of the IS professional. Please consider each scenario carefully before making your decision.
Individual #0
–
Example
Considers the welfare of the public when performing his or her job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performs assigned tasks to the best of his or her ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Works diligently to satisify the organization's customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Helps his or her colleagues and respects their work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Upholds the objectives of their professional organization for the common good of all members . .
Exhibits a strong commitment to the data processing profession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Please circle your ETHICAL decision based on the described scenario:
Very
Unethical
Moderately
Unethical
Neither Ethical
nor Unethical
Moderately
Ethical
Very
Ethical
Figure 1.
An example
scenario
provided by these individuals. The revised question-
naire was sent to the remaining 480 DPMA mem-
bers. The mailing provided 118 usable responses for
a return rate of 24.6%.
The reliability or internal consistency of the
respondents was evaluated by examining the adjusted
R
2
(a measure of the explained variation in the depen-
dent variable by the independent variables used in the
regression model) of individual within-subject regres-
sions. The R
2
ranged from 0.34 to 0.96, averaging
0.761. Seven responses were deleted from further
analysis due to R
2
values below 0.50. Adjusted R
2
val-
ues below this threshold indicate a random applica-
tion of the respondents’ decision criteria [8]. This step
assures that, on the whole, the respondents were con-
sistent in their application of the decision criteria in
their decision-making process.
Approximately 54% of the IS professionals
described their position as either manager/director of
information systems or chief information officer, while
approximately 28% gave their job title as technical
service manager, project manager, or programming
manager. The remaining respondents indicated they
were currently employed as programmers and/or ana-
lysts within their organization. The IS professionals
were typically male (82.3%), had been active in the IS
profession for approximately 22 years, and had earned
either vocational or bachelor’s degrees. Approximately
two-thirds of these individuals said they believe a for-
mal code of ethics is needed for IS professionals.
To investigate the issues raised in this study, we
averaged the regression betas for each of the six crite-
ria for all 111 responses (See Table 1). To determine if
significant differences existed between the six criteria,
an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was then conducted.
The Tukey’s Honestly Significant Differences (HSD)
1
test was calculated to determine which of the six cri-
teria differed statistically from the other. Table 1 indi-
cates, for example, that for respondents 40 years old or
younger, there is no significant statistical difference
between the first three criteria (labeled A); no signifi-
cant statistical difference between the second through
fifth criteria (labeled B); and no significant statistical
difference between the third through sixth criteria
(labeled C). Tukey’s HSD does, however, suggest that
the criteria in A are statistically different from B and
the criteria in B are statistically different from the cri-
teria in C.
To determine if demographics (such as age, gender,
position within the IS organization, whether the IS
professional believes a formal code of ethics is neces-
sary, or the organization considers itself an ethical
leader in its industry) changed the relative importance
of the six ethical criteria, a similar analysis was per-
formed for each pooled subcategory. Table 1 provides
the results of an analysis into the impact of respondent
age on the relative importance of the six criteria in
96 September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
Performs assigned tasks to the
best of his or her ability.
Works diligently to satisfy the
organization's customers.
Considers welfare of public when
performing his or her job.
Upholds the objectives of their
professional organization for
the common good of all members.
Helps his or her colleagues and
respects their work.
Exhibits strong commitment to
the data processing profession.
0.513
0.412
0.376
0.305
0.294
0.199
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
C
C
C
C
0.479
0.417
0.342
0.329
0.308
0.141
0.518
0.446
0.365
0.305
0.192
0.135C
A
A
B
B
B
B
A
A
B
BC
CD
DE
E
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 13.97
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 20.55
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 6.52
)(
**
)
a) 40 years or younger
(
n = 30)
b
)
41 or less than 51 years old
(
n = 47
)
c
)
51 years or older
(
n = 34
)
*
**
***
Possible values range from –2 to +2.
F
calc
> F
crit
indicates significant differences exist between sample means.
The different letters (A,B,C,D,E) indicate different groupings based on Tukey's HSD procedure. For example, A is statistically different from B,
B is statistically different from C, etc.
Ethical Obligations
Table 1. Relative importance of ethical obligations (age of respondent)
1
Tukey’s HSD is a statistical method by which all possible pairs of population
means can be tested for significant differences.
assessing the ethical behavior of an IS professional.
All age groups included performance of assigned tasks to
the best of his or her ability and working diligently to satisfy
the organization’s customers as being most important in
evaluating the ethical behavior of an IS professional.
However, the younger IS professionals (less than 41
years old) also considered the welfare of the public when
performing his or her job as being equally important. All
age groups indicated that a strong commitment to the data
processing profession was least important in their evalua-
tion of ethical behavior. Tukey’s HSD indicated that
each age group of IS professionals identified a different
subset of the six ethical criteria as being least important.
Levels of employment changed the respondents’
perception concerning the relative importance of each
of the six criteria in assessing the ethical behavior of IS
professionals (see Table 2). The results indicated IS
professionals in the more senior positions used fewer
criteria in assessing the ethicality of each scenario.
Individuals who were typically employed in program-
ming positions considered more criteria when making
a decision about ethical behavior.
Older and/or more experienced IS professionals
appeared to have a clearer understanding of the crite-
ria they used in evaluating the ethicality of others’
behavior. The younger and less experienced IS profes-
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 97
Performs assigned tasks to the
best of his or her ability.
Works diligently to satisfy the
organization's customers.
Upholds the objectives of their
professional organization for
the common good of all members.
Considers welfare of public when
performing his or her job.
Helps his or her colleagues and
respects their work.
Exhibits strong commitment to
the data processing profession.
0.503
0.437
0.363
0.360
0.181
0.147
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
0.572
0.458
0.383
0.318
0.244
0.128
0.461
0.402
0.345
0.291
0.271
0.160
C
C
C
A
A
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
B
C
C
C
D
D
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 26.20
)(**)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 26.20
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 4.51
)(
**
)
a) Programmers/Analysts
(
n = 21
)
b
)
Managers/Project Leaders
(
n = 31
)
c
)
Directors/CIOs
(
n = 59
)
*
**
Possible values range from –2 to +2.
F
calc
> F
crit
indicates significant differences exist between sample means.
Pearson Table 2
D
D
Ethical Obligations
Performs assigned tasks to the best of
his or her ability.
Works diligently to satisfy the
organization's customers.
Considers welfare of public when performing
his or her job.
Helps his or her colleagues and respects
their work.
Upholds the objectives of their professional
organization for the common good of
all members
Exhibits strong commitment to the data
processing profession.
0.601
0.428
0.381
0.329
0.282
0.187
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 26.20
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 6.63
)(
**
)
a) Respondents – Female
(
n = 17
)
Ethical Obligations
*
**
Possible values range from –2 to +2.
F
calc
> F
crit
indicates significant differences exist between sample means.
0.476
0.419
0.348
0.300
0.286
0.150
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
A
A
B
B
C
C
C
D
b) Respondents – Male
(
n = 94
)
Table 2. Relative importance of ethical obligations (position in organization)
Table 3. Relative importance of ethical obligations (gender)
sionals generally did not appear to have developed this
perceptiveness. This finding is not unexpected as
older, more experienced IS professionals should have a
better understanding of what is proper behavior for an
IS professional. This understanding comes from, in
part, the older IS professionals’ experiences evaluating
and being evaluated by other IS professionals. This
finding lends support to arguments for the develop-
ment of a standardized code of ethics for the IS pro-
fession. This code could be used to facilitate the
growth process of the less experienced IS professionals
in their understanding of ethical behavior.
Table 3 provides the results of a gender analysis on
the relative criteria importance. Male IS professionals
appeared to more clearly differentiate between the
ethical criteria and the importance placed on each of
the criteria. This difference can be partially explained
by the small number of females (17 of 111) in this
sample that were younger and/or lower-level IS pro-
fessionals. Both females and males included perfor-
mance of assigned tasks to the best of his or her ability and
working diligently to satisfy the organization’s customers as
being most important in evaluating the IS profession-
al’s ethical behavior. Females also included the welfare
of the public when performing one’s job as being equally
important. Neither group indicated that a strong com-
98 September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
Performs assigned tasks to the best of
his or her ability.
Works diligently to satisfy the
organization's customers.
Considers welfare of public when performing
his or her job.
Helps his or her colleagues and respects
their work.
Upholds the objectives of their professional
organization for the common good of
all members
Exhibits strong commitment to the data
processing profession.
0.484
0.434
0.370
0.279
0.266
0.163
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 11.40
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 26.25
)(
**
)
a) Respondents – Yes
(
n = 74
)
Ethical Obligations
*
**
Possible values range from –2 to +2.
F
calc
> F
crit
indicates significant differences exist between sample means.
0.533
0.405
0.352
0.335
0.311
0.139
A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
C
b) Respondents – No
(
n = 37
)
B
BC
C
D
D
E
Performs assigned tasks to the best of
his or her ability.
Works diligently to satisfy the
organization's customers.
Considers welfare of public when performing
his or her job.
Helps his or her colleagues and respects
their work.
Upholds the objectives of their professional
organization for the common good of
all members
Exhibits strong commitment to the data
processing profession.
0.493
0.430
0.387
0.265
0.238
0.148
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Sample
Mean
(
*
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 27.31
)(
**
)
Tukey's HSD
(
F
calc
= 27.31
)(
**
)
a) Respondents – Yes
(
n = 69
)
Ethical Obligations
*
**
Possible values range from –2 to +2.
F
calc
> F
crit
indicates significant differences exist between sample means.
0.512
0.415
0.365
0.351
0.311
0.166
A
A
B
B
B
B
C
b) Respondents – No
(
n = 42
)
B
B
C
C
D
D
A
A
Table 4. Relative importance of ethical obligations (code of ethics needed)
Table 5. Relative importance of ethical obligations (organization ethical leader)
mitment to the data processing profession was important in
their evaluation of ethical behavior. Caution should be
used in interpreting the results of the female portion
due to the limited sample size (n=17).
The belief that a formal code of ethics is or is not
necessary and/or working for an organization that con-
sidered itself an ethical leader within its industry did
have a significant impact on how IS professionals
assigned relative importance to the six criteria tested
(see Tables 4 and 5). Each set of IS professionals
included performance of assigned tasks to the best of his or
her ability and working diligently to satisfy the organiza-
tion’s customers as most important in evaluating the eth-
ical behavior of an IS professional. Each set also
indicated that a strong commitment to the data processing
profession was least important in their evaluation of
ethical behavior.
Interestingly, individuals working in organizations
that considered themselves ethical leaders in their
industry and individuals who believed a formal code of
ethics is necessary more finely differentiated between
the ethical criteria they considered most important.
This finding was not unexpected. Organizations that
consider themselves to be ethical leaders probably
have taken the time to define, evaluate, and commu-
nicate what behaviors are considered appropriate for
their employees. Also, individuals who believed that
formal codes of ethics are necessary within the IS pro-
fession have typically given considerable thought to
the criteria and their order of importance in the eval-
uation of ethicality of behavior. One implication of
this finding is that less experienced IS professionals
would benefit from working for organizations that
have well-established ethical codes in place. Profes-
sional development requires not only technical
growth, but also the development of the individual’s
ability to recognize ethical situations and make ethi-
cal decisions.
Limitations
The present research is limited by a number of fac-
tors. The first limitation pertains to the decision-
modeling procedure used for this study. Although
respondents were presented with six decision criteria
derived from Johnson [2] and Oz [4], other criteria
may also influence the respondent’s evaluation of
other IS professionals’ ethical behavior.
Another possible limitation of this study could be
the method by which the scenarios were presented in
the research instrument. Finally, the small sample was
drawn from a single IS professional association
(DPMA), which limits the generalizibility of the find-
ings. It is also possible that the description of “oblig-
ation to the data processing profession” does not tap
the desired information of commitment to a profes-
sional area. Therefore, further research to define the
construct is required to validate this survey.
Conclusion
The results of this study should be encouraging to
and also a cause for concern for managers and IS pro-
fessionals. Managers should be encouraged that the
IS professionals placed significantly more emphasis
on two organization-focused criteria (performing
assigned tasks to the best of his or her ability and working
diligently to satisfy the organization’s customers) than on
more cosmopolitan criteria [6]. This local focus,
however, could also be a cause of concern for organi-
zations that do not have well-developed codes of eth-
ical conduct. Individuals must be confident that the
information provided by the organization’s informa-
tion systems is above reproach and this can occur
only if the IS professional’s ethics are above reproach.
Managers and IS professionals should also be con-
cerned by the apparent lack of understanding the
respondents have in how they actually apply the crite-
ria they use in an ethical evaluation of other IS profes-
sionals. The results of this study suggest that
managers and older, more experienced IS professionals
should take proactive steps that clearly identify and
teach the ethical views of their particular organization
(i.e., mentoring programs, top management involve-
ment, institutionalizing ethical practices, develop-
ment of a “living” code of ethics) and the IS profession
in general. The authors believe professional develop-
ment in the IS profession requires not only technical
growth, but also the development of the individual’s
ethical standards.
The IS profession should also be concerned by the
apparent lack of commitment the respondents pro-
claim for professional associations like the DPMA,
ICCP and ACM. All of the subgroups studied rated
the categories upholds the objectives of their professional
organization for the common good of all members and
exhibits a strong commitment to data processing profession as
not being important criteria in their ethical evaluation
of other IS professionals. This raises an interesting
question about the role and/or effectiveness of these
organizations in the development of ethical standards
for the IS profession. Other professions (i.e., doctors,
lawyers, accountants, and engineers) have developed
standardized codes of ethical behavior that guide and
nurture the ethical development of their members. If
the IS profession is to achieve comparable professional
status, can or should organizations such as the DPMA,
ICCP, and the ACM work together to develop one
standardized code of ethics? Further, business man-
agers must help bolster the development of an IS pro-
COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 99
fessional code of ethics or risk a loss of faith in their
organization’s information systems. In order to achieve
this professional code, these organizations would have
to develop proactive programs that would increase the
commitment of their members to their professional
organizations, and must also improve communication
as to the specific content and application of any stan-
dardized professional code of ethics.
References
1. Butler, J.K., Jr. and Cantrell, R.S. A behavioral decision theory ap-
proach to modeling dyadic trust in superiors and subordinates. Psycho-
logical Reports, 55 (1984), 19–28.
2. Johnson, D.G. Computer Ethics. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
1985.
3. Lane, D.M., Murphy, K.R., and Marques, T.E. Measuring the impor-
tance of cues in policy capturing. Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance 30, (1982), 231–240.
4. Oz, E. Ethical standards for computer professionals: A comparative
analysis of four major codes. J. Business Ethics, 12 (1993), 709–726.
5. Oz, E. Ethical standards for information system professionals: A case for
a unified code. MIS Q. 16, 4 (1992), 423–433.
6. Raelin, J.A. Professional and business ethics: Bridging the gap. Man-
agement Review 78, 11 (1989), 39-42.
7. Slovic, P., and Lechtenstein, S. Comparison of Bayesian and regression
approaches to the study of information processing in judgement. Orga-
nizational Behavior and Human Performance 6 (1971), 649–744.
8. Spencer, B.A., and Butler, J.K., Jr. Measuring the relative importance
of social responsibility components: A decision modeling approach. J.
Business Ethics 6, (1987), 573–577.
9. Stahl, M.J., and Zimmerer, T.W. Modeling strategic acquisition poli-
cies: A simulation of executives’ acquisition decisions. Academy of Man-
agement Journal 27, 2 (1984), 369–383.
10. Vitell, S.J., and Davis, D.L. Ethical beliefs of MIS professionals: The
frequency and opportunity for unethical behavior. J. Business Ethics 9,
1 (1990), 63–70.
J. Michael Pearson (jpearson@stcloudstate.edu) is an
associate professor in the Business Computer Information Systems
Department at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.
Leon Crosby (crosbyle@esumail.emporia.edu) is an assistant
professor in the Management, Marketing, Finance and Economics
Division of Emporia State University in Kansas.
J. P. Shim (jshim@cobilan.msstate.edu) is a professor in the
Department of Management and Information Systems at
Mississippi State University.
Permission to make digital/hard copy of part or all of this work for personal or class-
room use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for
profit or commercial advantage, the copyright notice, the title of the publication and
its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of ACM, Inc. To copy
otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists requires prior spe-
cific permission and/or a fee.
© ACM 0002-0782/97/0900 $3.50
c
100
September 1997/Vol. 40, No. 9 COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ACM
Nominations for ACM
General Election
The ACM Nominating Committee
is preparing to nominate candidates
for the officers of ACM:
President, Vice-President, Secretary;
two Members-at-Large, and the
Western Regional Representative.
Suggestions for candidates are solicited.
Names should be sent by
October 6, 1997
to the Nominating Committee, c/o
Judith R. Brown, Advanced Research
Computing Services,
Information Technology Services,
134A Lindquist Center,
The University of Iowa, Iowa City,
IA 52242 USA,
judy-brown@uiowa.edu.
With each recommendation
please include background information
and names of individuals the
Nominating Committee can contact for
additional information if necessary.
