Implications of Cultural Variety for IT Code of Ethics.

Implications of Cultural Variety for IT Code of Ethics

Beth Fratcher

Information Management Systems, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool UK.

ABSTRACT

IT organizations are growing along with the international businesses they service. Driven by globalisation, the world is becoming a single workplace and marketplace. Like all professionals, IT professionals who work within these organizations regularly face problems of an ethical and moral nature. In making decisions, what cultural, social and ethical norms should apply – those of the professionals’ home culture or those of the culture in which they are working, and indeed, are these two choices necessarily different? The answer to this question is the focus of this paper.

“Each Nation has many customs and practices which are not only unknown to another nation but barbarous and a cause of wonder.” Michael de Montaigne (De Botton 2000)

1.0 Globalisation and IT

That which we today call globalisation is merely the latest phase of a process which has been under way since Portuguese navigators of the 15th and 16th centuries first began to open up the globe through exploration. “Religion, technology, economy and empire” have been the four “major engines” driving this process (Mazrui 2000), at greater or lesser rates since the Industrial Revolution. Current definitions of globalisation stress the economic engine driving this process, which has taken the global economy “from a collection of closed national markets [to] an integrated global market” (King 1999).

Observers such as Grossholtz (1998) and Mazrui (2000) raise legitimate concerns over the adverse consequences of the current wave of globalisation and point out the parallels with the “cultural imperialism” of earlier centuries (Mazrui 2000). One of the more obvious results of globalisation is that the influence of western culture now reaches into every corner of the globe. Some examples of this include the almost universal adoption of western business dress, the Gregorian calendar and Microsoft software, as well as the widespread acceptance of western music (particularly of “pop” music by the young) and CNN satellite news broadcasts as the authoritative source of news (Donaldson 1996; Lipinski & Britz 1999; Pohl 1999).

The fall of the Iron Curtain has seen western culture, and that of the United States in particular, rise to the level of “de-facto universalistic power” (Pohl 1999). This is based primarily on the economic strength of the West and the U.S. Dollar (Pohl 1999). Whilst some commentators (Gittins 2000) note a growing hostility towards globalisation among the populations of democracies and believe that the process can be stopped, there appears to be little evidence that the process will not continue in some form or other. For better or worse, the expansion of the geographical bounds of western cultural influence and the internationalisation of businesses seem destined to continue for the foreseeable future.

Globalisation is carrying along with it the computer services industry and the IT professional (Downer 1997; European Commission Brussels 1997). It is now commonplace for an IT business to operate across borders and cultures – employing IT professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds and/or outsourcing work units to IT teams based in locations and cultures spread across the globe (Head 1997; Hemphill 1997; Ellis 1997). Indeed, information technology itself is an artefact of western culture (“western imperialism” say some – Lenarcic 1999 and Mazrui 2000) as witnessed by the English language and Latin alphabet used by all of the major programming languages and the predominant binary codes in which all data was enclosed – EBCDIC and ASCII (the ‘A’ IN WHICH STANDS FOR “American” (Lenarcic 1999))

2.0 Ethics

Ethics are a “set of principles of right conduct” (Chao et al 1995), which are developed by, and reflect the values of, a particular culture at a particular time (Mazrui 2000). Well-defined ethical values are necessary in order to express “the principle duties, rights, obligations and responsibilities of the IT professional” (Barroso 1999). All cultures have a set of ethical values or rules concerning what is morally right and what is morally wrong. Through globalisation, non-western cultures around the world are being exposed to the values of the west, and on a superficial level at least, appear to be adopting western culture. However, the adoption of the outward signs of western culture such as business dress codes does not necessarily mean that the culture has abandoned its own social, ethical and moral values in favour of those of the other. Indeed, the underlying values of non-western cultures appear to remain intact in the face of exposure to western culture (Hinman 1998).

In the field of information technology, while there is evidence that the processes of engineering and implementation of IT systems are being successfully exported to non-western cultures as a consequence of globalisation (Vittal 1999), the adoption of western social and ethical values by these cultures is another matter. Donaldson (1996) agrees with the philosopher Michael Walter that “there is no Esperanto of global ethics”. He concludes that the ethical values of the world’s cultures remain diverse.

The field of computing is generating many different ethical questions (Hull 2000) and the variation in the ethical and social norms across ...

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The field of computing is generating many different ethical questions (Hull 2000) and the variation in the ethical and social norms across the globe merely adds to the level of complexity in finding answers to these questions. How can issues be answered if the “rules” are not fixed? How, for example, can an ethical or moral question about the content of a web site be considered when a hypertext link in that web page may not only take the user to a different part of that site, but to “a site in another part of the world” (Hull 2000) where different ethical values may prevail?

3.0 Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism recognises that “moral values vary from one society or culture to another” (Lenarcic 1999) and that “no culture’s ethics are any better than any other’s” (Donaldson 1996). This leads to the conclusion that variations of values between cultures are all equally valid, and the variation between cultures can indeed be significant. For example, in Mainland China, abortion is recognized as an important tool for population control; in the Republic of Ireland, though, abortions are not available even when the life of the mother is at risk (Fisher 1998).

Since the Second World War, the technological and economic growth of western nations has lead to the almost universal exposure of other cultures around the globe to western culture. Indeed, the culture of the west is propounded by many in the west to be “of universal validity” (Mazrui 2000), which can result in a form or “ethical imperialism” according to Donaldson (1996).

Although western organisations are beginning to understand the problems associated with trying to universally apply western cultural values, it remains a problem for subsidiaries of western companies operating in the third world (Donaldson 1996). Arguments by non-western cultures against the view of the universal validity of western values b the local cultures have invariably been dismissed in the West (Pohl 1999), particularly when issues such as royalties for western intellectual property rights and patents are at issue. These arguments being seen as simply an attempt by developing nations to stem the flow of royalties to the West.

Cultures are different and it should come as no surprise when the application of western values outside of the West have unforeseen consequences (Harris 1998). Donaldson (1999) cites the example of a manager of the Chinese subsidiary of a U.S. firm who, following the policies of the parent company, turned over an employee caught stealing to the local authorities – who then executed him. The manager was following policy “imported” from the western parent company and based on western ethical and social values. It is unlikely that the U.S. parent firm would sanction the execution of an employee for petty theft. The company policy was therefore not appropriate for the culture in which it was applied.

Relativism can, however, be taken to extremes. A purely philosophical case for relativism could successfully argue that there are no absolute values – “anything goes”. Lenarcic (1999) proposes that morals and ethics are purely “learned” concepts, another contribution to the “Nature versus Nurture” debate. This centres around the question of whether genetic factors (“Nature”) or environmental factors (“Nurture”) are fundamental in shaping the physical and psychological make-up of an individual. If the environment significantly shapes cultural values and ethics, then there is little chance of convergence of ethical values because of the diversity of social environments around the globe. Consequently; it is unlikely that there can be a single code of ethics for the IT professional that will be universally valid across the world today – unless that code is conceptual in nature. However, Donaldson (1996), on the other hand, argues that there are some “fundamental values that cross cultures” and that “some activities are wrong no matter where they take place”. It may therefore be possible to define a set of ethical values that can be applied universally, so long as the definitions are sufficiently broad, so as to allow for cultural variation. This is the focus of the remainder of this paper.

4.0 Codes of Ethics for IT Professionals

The handling of information by IT professionals “essentially carries with it a permanent conflict of interests” (Barroso 1999). In research done at the beginning of the 1990s by Vitel and Davis (Barroso 1999), approximately half of the professionals surveyed stated that they had opportunities for unethical behaviour within their normal duties. Although the definition of “unethical” applied to the culture in which the research was done, it demonstrates the need for a set of guidelines to help IT professionals to know what types of behaviour are unacceptable.

There have been several published reviews of codes of ethics. Barroso (1999) reviewed the codes of 50 IT-related organisations. Summarising these codes by frequency of concepts revealed the “top ten” concepts covered in these codes are:

responsibility;
compliance with the code;
professional secrecy;
professional competence;
professional integrity;
truth, objectivity and accuracy;
primacy of service for the common good;
academic preparation and continued formation;
just and honest means; and
collaboration in the development of the profession.

Earlier studies referred to by Barroso (1999) include one undertaken by Martin and Martin of four U.S.-based computing societies. This study revealed a similar set of ten themes to that found by Barroso:

personal integrity and competence;
personal accountability for work;
responsibility to employers and client;
responsibility to the profession;
confidentiality of information;
conflict of interest;
dignity and worth of people;
public safety, health and welfare;
participation in education; and
increasing public knowledge.

These and other reviews of IT codes of ethics (for example Rosenfeld 1997) can be grouped into five categories.

Responsibilities:

responsibilities to employer, to clients, to the community and to the profession.

Professional Qualities:

personal honesty, truthfulness and objectiveness;
professional competence;
integrity;
just and honest means of dealing; and
compliance with the code.

Professional Development:

growth of personal skills; and
encouragement of colleagues.

Privacy of Information:

integrity of data:
confidentiality and privacy of clients data; and
proper use of data.

Regulations and Law:

observance of laws, particularly with respect to intellectual property rights, privacy of information and copyright.

A code of ethics developed by an organisation will be a consensus of the moral and ethical values of the organisation and the individual professionals within that organisation. Can such a code be applied outside the culture in which it was developed? Does there need to be some qualifications of a code of ethics when it is applied to different cultures? The following paragraphs discuss these questions and the likely effects of cultural variety on the five concept categories.

4.1 Professional Responsibilities and Development

The two areas of responsibility and professional development appear at first to present little issue. After all, the responsibility of a professional to his or her clients and employer appears acceptable to all cultures and the responsibility of a professional to keep abreast of the latest developments both to increase his or her own professional abilities and to provide clients with up-to-date advice also appears to sit easily across all cultures. At a high level, this may indeed be correct, however in practice, the implementation of these ethical concepts may have unforeseen consequences. For example, fulfilling a professional responsibility to a client or potential client in Japanese culture may include arranging for expensive entertainment of the client by a geisha. The giving of an expensive gift to a valued client in Japan would be in keeping with that country’s long-standing tradition of gift-giving, but may appear to be bribery to an American (Donaldson 1996). These examples would very likely be viewed as beyond the bounds of ethical behaviour in western cultures, but may be entirely appropriate in Japan.

4.2 Professional Quality

IN some cultures, personal attributes such as individual honesty and integrity may be seen to be of secondary importance compared to greater good of the family or the society (Donaldson 1996). What is seen to be “just and honest” means of aggressive competition in India for example, may be regarded as uncompetitive behaviour in the United States. Detailed definitions of expected behaviours in this area may vary considerably from culture to culture. Lastly, compared to western cultures where rights and responsibilities are based on “common” laws, Asian cultures are “more shaped by particular relationships” (Pohl 1999) which leave individuals open to accusations of cronyism.

4.3 Privacy of Information

Another area where considerable cultural variation can be expected is the area of privacy. This should not be surprising as there is variation even within western cultures. The openness of western business’ financial information to public scrutiny for example, would be most unusual in Japan. Again, although the basic concepts of concerning privacy would likely be widely acceptable across cultures, variability would be expected in the detail of ethical codes.

4.4 Regulations and Law

The area of adherence to the law may pose the greatest problem for a universal code. Whose law is to be followed? The legal opinions issued in recent decades by “international bodies” tend to reflect the values of and support the interests of the industrialised western nations. This is particularly true in the areas of copyright and intellectual property. Western institutions jealously guard the revenue streams that result from royalties in these areas. The issue of copyright is gaining mention quite often in computer-industry journals and newsletters originating in the west – an example being the ethics white paper for the El Camino College (Chao et al 1995). The breaches of copyright in some third world countries may result from purely economic sentiment – perhaps with anti-western undertones. However, there may be some cultures that do not perceive intellectual property rights in the same way as western cultures. In fact, there may be some cultures where “ownership akin to western property rights is antiethical” (Lipinski & Britz 1999). The concept of moral rights to the access to intellectual property is at present very poorly developed in the legal systems in the United States – increasingly these concepts are “far more developed” in continental Europe (Lipinski & Britz 1999). Cultures will all generally agree that stealing is wrong, but “may not view reproducing software without permission as stealing” (Lipinski & Britz 1999). Going further, there may be some cultures where the reproduction and sharing of software is seen as a tribute to the author (Lipinski & Britz 1999).

5.0 The IBE Code of Ethics

As a final example, this section will focus on the British Code of Ethics (IBE 2003) from the perspective of universal application. This code of ethics has been developed through the consensus of IT professionals within the prevailing culture in Britain at this time and as such embodies the values of western culture. Each of the five concepts discussed can be found within the code which has been accepted by members of the IBE, and indeed the broader IT community in Britain as a useful guide to support IT professionals in making decisions which have moral or ethical dimensions. To what extent can the IBE Code of Ethics apply to IT professionals working for British companies in other cultures – say in India, China or Korea? And conversely, should British IT professionals working in these other cultures comply with the British code or a code local to the culture in which they work?

The tenets of the IBE code are high-level principles, and as such may be acceptable to other cultures. Problems arise with the detailed interpretation of the code. The more detailed explanation of the code found in the IBE Code of Professional Conduct and Professional Practice (IBE 2003) appear more likely to contain issues for other cultures. It appears, therefore that codes of ethics defined in high level concepts may be acceptable as universal guides to IT professionals, but that the details for implementing these concepts must be left to the individual society to define in the context of the local culture.

6.0 Conclusion

Defining a code of ethics that would be acceptable to IT professionals in all cultures has been said to be “an impossible task” (Rosenfeld 1997). However, given that there are some ethical values which can and do cross cultural boundaries, it may be possible to select a set of ethical values and to construct a set of guiding principles that would be acceptable to all societies of IT professionals (Rosenfeld 1997). Each cultural group would then in turn build these principles into a code of ethics appropriate for their cultural values. The set of guiding principles may be universally acceptable, but the detail of their application will likely not be. An allowance for variation must be a component of any code of ethics that aims to be applied and accepted across multiple cultures. Multinational, multicultural IT organisations may well find it necessary to “translate” corporate directives and policies for the various cultural groups across their organisation based on the ethical values of those cultures just as they now must translate material into the various languages used by their workforce.

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