The Importance of Ethics Among IT Professionals

Abstract

Nowadays, we see that, there are fast developments that involve hardware, software and information systems. They are involving social and political relationships and so make ethical considerations in how information is used all the more important. Good ethics help establish environments in which people can feel assured that a certain moral standard is upheld. To practice good ethics one needs to be able to make decisions with deliberation, carefully perform research and analyse results, be honest, and comply with regulations. One should respect people's privacy and personal boundaries, keep confidential matters confidential, conduct himself or herself in a professional manner, and know when and where to address legal matters.

With that strongest reason, most of the people that involving dealing with people need to master the ethics that for sure will lead them to become one of the most influence people soon and later on. The must be some reason why nowadays some company keep looking on the word ethics in most of the workers during the interview season and most of the workers that have ethics in their resume for sure will be hired with others extra credit.

Introduction

'Ethics' is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as the 'science of morals; moral principles or code' while 'Moral' is defined as the 'standard' of conduct respected by good men independently of positive law and religion'. This definition does not set down the code nor establish how the code might be prepared or professional.

In other words, according to (Washington Ethical Society, 2013) ethics also refers to the specific values, standards, rules, and agreements people adopt for conducting their lives. Ethics is the principles that been used to guide human in generating the ethical culture that can be applied among IT professionals. In addition, according to Tom (2005), the information technology is a

practical discipline. We build the computer system because it is useful and the ethics can help to modify the behaviour of the builders of such systems to work better. To be more specific, the IT professionals should adapt the ethics to against the ethical traps to avoid any bad circumstances in an organization.

The Importance of Ethics Among IT Professionals

The importance of ethics among professionals is to ensure that the use of computer technology will not give harmful to the people, to the environment and also to the society. Thus, in this case, every IT professionals can be titled as a good employee that work for an organization who is practically using the principles of ethics which is fair and honest. It is also to say that the employees who work under the organization that never use any unethical culture, the fellow employees are tend to contribute more good efforts and good results for the organization where they are working.

Other than that,according to Joseph A Goguen (1999) has stated that ethical values embedded in the ways that databases are structured, and more specifically, in the ways that database access is structured. With ethical behaviour among IT professionals, the database can be more easier to access,update and with the skills that professionals have, the large amount of data could be stored safely without any threatening happens while accessing the database. Improper ethics education can cause professionals to steal the data that will cause the organization to lost faith with other organizations. Thus, the relationship between organizations will end up a disaster.

In the atmosphere of workplace, other importance part of ethics is, it is very important to show some respect among professionals while do every tasks given. The cooperation and good ethical communication is very important in order to make the project given is run smoothly, follow exactly the deadline schedule and make sure the project achieves the goal with what as expected between team members and the company. In addition, the customer will be satisfied with the computer system that built based on user interest and this will lead to good environment of computer field.

The Importance of Code of Ethics Among IT Professionals

It is very important for IT professionals to use the code of ethics to establish an ethical expectations with employees and management alike (BankersOnline,2002) and also to protect the organization from any harmful that cause by unethical behaviour of IT professionals. According to Misty(2013), there are some of codes that IT professionals should know in this field of information system. In addition, based on Gordana(1996), professional codes of ethics should be understood as conventions between professionals. The good ethics will encourage the IT professionals to work behave and give more responsibility while doing their jobs with the system and the tools. Examples:

1) Standards: A code of ethics document sets the standards for what is expected of the IT professional. It reinforces what is considered right and wrong by using verbiage such as "always" or "never" to be as clear as possible. 2) Access: A code of ethics reminds IT professionals that they are not to impede or manipulate preauthorized access to the information or hardware of which they are in control. 3) Prevention: A code of ethics helps prevent IT professionals from behaving in a malicious or harmful manner with company information and equipment. 4) Skills: A code of ethics helps motivate an IT professional to stay current in her chosen skill set in order to be more effective on the job for her employer. A motivated IT professional may also be encouraged to learn new skill sets as technology changes. 5) Types: Code of ethics documents can be tailored with verbiage that specifically affects only certain types of IT professional, such as programmers, networkers or cyber forensics experts.

Good Work Ethic and How It Can Benefit You

Work ethic is a set of value based on hard work and diligence and starts with the individual. There are many advantages to maintaining a solid work ethic as you go about your workday. Most employers look highly on people who maintain good ethics and habits. There are many definitions to a good work ethic but mainly it is someone who is a hard worker who is willing to put the company first. Honesty and working well with other co-workers all are considered to be good work ethics as well such as,

It is also a good idea to have a great attitude at work because your co-workers pick up on

it and they will respond to your mood and if it is positive or negative. So having a good attitude is also a part of having a good work ethic.

You can really impress the ones you work with and your superiors if you can have a good

attitude, be on time and lead by example. Most employers are looking for that employee that stands out among the rest and having a good work ethic will get you on the right path to success.

It is easy to spot the employees that have bad work ethics because they are the ones that

are usually trying to get out of working. They always want everyone to cater to them example like they disruptive or rude in the workplace, argumentative and abusive to coworker ,procrastination (waiting until the last minute to get things done).Another one is being unreliable and not getting work done at all. The worst is a lack of punctuality (being late) and truancy (not showing up) and so on.

Having a good work ethic is having a good attitude and finishing your work on time.

People like to be around someone who is positive and in turn helping them have a better working environment example like show respect for the decision maker even if you disagree with the decision, understand that great teamwork relies on genuine interpersonal relationships, exercise restraint in times of stress in the workplace, be empathetic with your work colleagues, be prepared to do everything you can to support an agreed project and so on.

Conclusion

Since information technology has been a relatively new development in the world of business, it has taken considerable time for the ethical concerns associated with IT to be identified and solutions to be developed. IT has become a significant part of our everyday lives, and without an ethical standard and responsible practitioners, the impact could be devastating to our personal happiness and freedom.

In order to overcome the rudeness among the IT field in the future, most of the IT company should be able to understand wisely and practise the word ethics in much more efficient and yet convincing in order to make other company to join venture practising this positive attitude.

Reference

1. Tom (2005), Ethics and The IT Professional. Retrieved February 14, 2013 from http://www.tomw.net.au/2005/ethicsit.html

2. Washington Ethical Society (2013), Ethical Culture. Retrieved February 14, 2013 from http://www.ethicalsociety.org/article/19/about-wes/ethical-culture-our-religious-heritage/faqsabout-ethical-culture/what-does-ethics-mean

3. BankersOnline (2013), Ethics: Why Have Codes of Ethics?. Retrieved February 15, 2013 from http://www.bankersonline.com/articles/v07n06/v07n06a1.html

4. Gordana(1996), On the Importance of Teaching Professional Ethics To Computer Science Students.Retrieved February 16, 2013 from http://www.idt.mdh.se/~gdc/work/TeachingProfEthics.pdf

5. Joseph A Goguen(1999), The Ethics of Database. Retrieved 15 February, 2013 from http://cseweb.ucsd.edu/~goguen/papers/4s/4s.html

6. Misty (2013), The Importance of a Code of Ethics for IT Professionals. Retrieved 15 February, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/facts_6060876_importance-code-ethics-professionals.html 7. RICS (2000), Professional Ethics Guidance Note : Part 1 Introduction. Retrieved 13 February, 2013 from http://www.joinricsineurope.eu/uploads/files/Ethics%20part%201.pdf