Timothy Paul Cronan

Modeling IT ethics: a study in situational ethics

Misuse of computer information systems has caused significant losses to business and society, even though computing has benefited both businesses and professionals. To this end, several measures have been suggested that both prevent and deter losses. One deterrent measure is to identify individual and situational characteristics of people who act ethically/ unethically. This study identifies specific charIlzak Benbasat was the accepting senior editor for this paper. acteristics that are associated with and may influence the ethical behavior intention of information systems employees when faced with ethical dilemmas. The results of the study show that individual and situational characteristics do influence ethical behavior intention.

What influences IT ethical behavior intentions: planned behavior, reasoned action, perceived importance, or individual characteristics?

This study extends IT ethics research by proposing an IT ethical behavioral model that includes attitude, perceived importance, subjective norms, situational factors, and individual characteristics. The proposed model integrates elements from the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as well as ethical decision-making models. It is hypothesized that behavioral intention is influenced by an individuals attitude (which in turn is influenced by consequences of the action and the environment), obligation, and personal characteristics. The results of the study show that some factors are consistently significant in affecting attitude and behavioral intention. Other factors are significant only in certain scenarios. From the results, organizations may be able to develop realistic training programs for IT professionals and managers and incorporate deterrent and preventive measures that can curb the rising tide of undesired misuse.

How men and women view ethics

business today and the benefits are numerous. But, there is also a downside to the easy data access that IS provides. There are opportunities for invasion of privacy, as well as theft of data, money, and intellectual property (such as software and product designs). Harm can also be done by altering data or modifying software. Studies have cited the monetary loss to businesses as a result of the misuse of computers and computer fraud amounts to billions of dollars per year. A recent article in Fortune magazine reported how easily the security of a business information system was breached. The article noted that many companies do not report such problems to avoid harmful publicity. Information Week surveyed security managers and IS chiefs and found that nearly half of the 1,300 respondents suffered security-related losses. Most of the research in IS ethics has concentrated on premeditated computer misuse and fraud and what preventive measures might be effective. However, the results discussed here explore situations where an employee’s behavior is not blatantly criminal. Not everyone sets out to commit a computer crime or to do harm, but the extensive systems and computer networks available today sometimes put people in situations where they must Jennifer Kreie and Timothy Paul Cronan

Making ethical decisions

T oday’s information technology makes vast amounts of data accessible to businesses and their employees. This accessibility provides great benefits but also creates the potential for misuse of information technology. Businesses are concerned about the ethical behavior of their employees and the security of their information systems. Therefore, businesses are interested in whether they can influence their employees’ decision to act ethically or unethically [1, 9]. One avenue of action for companies is to establish a code of ethics and there is evidence that having such standards does influence employees [7]. Some researchers [4, 8] believe there are certain situations where external influences, such as company standards, are more likely to affect employees’ behavior. This view of ethical decision-making is based on the concept of an individual’s perceived importance of an ethical (PIE) issue [8]. When an ethical issue is perceived as very important, we are more likely to rely on our personal values in judging what is ethical or unethical. However, we are more open to external influences, such as business or professional codes of ethics or the opinions of peers, if we do not consider the ethical issue very important. The results of a recent study support the idea that businesses can influence their employees’ behavior particularly in certain situations. When a person feels the ethical issue in a situation is not especially important, that person is more likely to act based on what company standards say is acceptable or unacceptable behavior. This does not mean employees will ignore company standards when an ethical issue is important to them, but they are more likely to take their cue from the company when they do not feel an important ethical issue is involved. On the other hand, in a situation where a person feels the ethical issue is very Jennifer Kreie and Timothy Paul Cronan

Piracy, computer crime, and IS misuse at the university

Who commits software misuse? Knowing the answer to this question will help organizations protect their information systems.

Attitude toward ethical behavior in computer use: a shifting model

Purpose – In this study the researchers attempt to identify factors that could influence an individuals attitude toward ethical behavior in the information systems (IS) environment and compare them to the findings of an earlier study to determine any changes.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of university students is used to assess environmental influences (societal, belief system, personal, professional, legal, and business), moral obligation, consequences of the action, and gender, in order to determine what influences an individuals attitude toward a behavior. Discriminant analysis is used to assess the factor influences.Findings – The findings indicate that many factors influence attitude toward ethical decisions and are dependent upon the type of ethical issue involved. Moreover, based on two time periods, the ethical attitude influencers have shifted over time. The gender findings indicate that attitude influencers are also dependent on the sex of the individual.Originality/value – The findin...

Applications development by end-users: can quality be improved?

Abstract End-users frequently develop applications to use in their jobs but there is reason to be concerned about the quality of these applications. High error rates have been found in applications developed by end-users in the few empirical studies done. This paper examines one approach to improving application quality which is to provide end-users with training in systems analysis and design methods. The study was conducted via the Internet with real end-users. Though no significant difference was found for some measures of quality, there was a significant improvement in the overall design of an application after an end-user received analysis and design training. This is important information for business managers because a well designed application is more likely to remain accurate and useful over time.

End-user training and computing effectiveness in public agencies: An empirical study

This study reports on the effectiveness of end-user computing (euc) following an end-user training program in a public agency. An end-user training model based on research in euc, information centers, and end-user training, was used as part of the euc program. Over a two-year horizon, more than one hundred employees participated in the training program. As a result, approximately 90 application systems were developed with some 40 currently under development. Effectiveness measures resulting from an evaluation by end users and supervisors indicated that the training program and euc strategy were effective. A 24 percent increase in productivity, a savings of approximately 7.6 hours per week, and a high degree of satisfaction resulted from the euc program.

Equity perceptions as a deterrent to software piracy behavior

Software piracy is a problem for the software industry. An estimated world-wide piracy rate of 35%, representing approximately a

System development: an empirical study of user communication

31 billion dollar loss in 2004 was reported by the second annual Business Software Alliance (BSA) and International Data Corporation (IDC) piracy study. This high rate shows piracy to be a significant global problem. Both BSA and the Software and Information Industry Association consider the impact of piracy to be a critical issue and have established web links to allow anonymous reporting of software piracy. Deterrents have been welcomed by software producers and others. Equity theory offers a possible explanation of software piracy behavior but no models have been shown to link equity constructs as having a direct influence on software piracy. We investigated the use of equity theory (fairness) as a deterrent to software piracy. Our results identified equity components that significantly influenced equity in the context of software piracy and further indicated that equity significantly influenced software piracy.