Discuss about the Corporate Social Responsibility, and Developing.
The improvements in the field of information technology have contributed to various sectors and the misuse of the same has caused ample problems too. The training and practice of IT professionals involves various complicacies and includes distinctiveness in skills. Therefore, IT managers or professionals are capable of unique expertise in their own manner and could be considered as a plausible benefit for organizations and concerned stakeholders. However the increasing complicacy of systems used for storing and accessing information has resulted in proliferation of numerous flaws which could be misused by certain individuals to gain unfair advantage (Parrott, 2014). These issues give rise to ethical concerns for IT managers as they have to deal with the balance between data security, stakeholder interest and organizational objectives. This report aims at reflecting on a profound ethical issue and a barrier for contemporary IT managers i.e. security. The background of the report is vested in the domain of information technology and relates to the impact of such ethical issues on stakeholders and processes of an organization as well as on the general population (Gibson, 2016). Data security is a concern for IT security consultants as they have to respond to the possible issues which could arise in the security systems as well as the individuals operating the systems.
The key stakeholders involved in the operations of IT managers include government IT security agencies, the shareholders of the organization, other managerial personnel and employees of the organization. The senior management of an organization serves as the primary stakeholder in the organization and they have to perceive data security as a crucial ethical issue. The owners are generally included in the senior management and they have to protect their financial interests in the company through sustaining the company alongside stakeholders (Doh, Husted & Yang, 2016). An organization is operated through the coordinated effort of stakeholders and the implications of security breaches such as financial harm could result in severe losses for stakeholders. System security deserves comprehensive detailing and managers must apprehend the possible harms which can occur in event of a security breach. Damage or corruption of valuable hardware and software as well as unnecessary loss of time and financial resources are the formidable impacts which must be included as a profound implication of ethical breaches related to security for the primary stakeholders of the company (Ritchie et al, 2013). The damage to hardware could invoke substantial amounts of investments from the supply chain in order to provide for the maintenance and repairs. Information security breaches are accounted as higher threats than economic losses because organizations could invest massive amounts of money for new initiatives but would never risk the loss of data pertaining to the existing customers, financial details and strategic documents of the organization Furthermore, the possibilities of association of the data with some sort of cultural or social value could also prove to be more detrimental than economic harm (Bryman, 2015). The role of external stakeholders such as third parties and agencies such as government internet regulators and local internet service providers also deserves a promising mention in the priority list of IT managers. In such cases, the external service providers such as hardware maintenance staff, security agencies and internet service providers could also compromise the information related to an organization. Security consultants visit various companies frequently and hence they are prone to intentions of misappropriating data (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). The concerns of IT managers could also be aggravated in case of switching. After being appointed at the competitor of the earlier employer, IT managers could consider utilizing information and strategies used by the other company. Therefore, this situation creates an ethical dilemma which relates to whether the organization should condone such type of work practice or should it continue promoting it in order to obtain a viable advantage over its competitors (Corey et al, 2014). The impact of security issues from the perspective of employees is also essential as employees also form an integral part of the organization’s list of stakeholders. Employees could face risks of intellectual property rights violation as a major outcome of data breach. The strategies formulated by the employees of an organization could be breached and thus accounts for a huge setback for employees in terms of loss of completed work as well as superfluous investment in recovering the lost data. Access rights of an individual can be violated through information security breaches and is considered as a profound indication of ethical issue. The impact on the customers as well as the general population would include inappropriate access to their details related to personal life, financial details and other confidential information. The impact of security breaches in banks and hospitals show that security can be a major ethical issue in IT management which needs to be encompassed in the domain of law (Sarantakos, 2012). The necessities of the determination of sources of the breach as well as preparing a functional strategy for preventing any ethical dilemmas in IT management can only be fulfilled through comparison of the individual stakeholder perspectives in a cumulative manner. IT managers also have to understand that the impact of security breaches should call for security systems (Weiss, 2014). However, the key aspect to look out for in the new systems is to make them flexible for general use which would not imply violation of any rights. Employees should not feel restrained to use the new security measures which could account for a win-win situation for every stakeholder of an organization (Punch, 2013).
The consideration of security breaches as a profound ethical issue has to be addressed through the ethical measures rather than legal action. The validity of legal action could be considered as a major drawback for the victim organization as it would have to be embroiled in a legal tussle as well as lose substantial reputation in the market (Frank, 2013). Furthermore, legal action would have to be considered in cases when the severity of the incident is largely impactful on the finances of the organization. However, issues which arise from the insufficiency in internal management could not be exposed to the view of the outer world. The use of faulty practices to acquire confidential information from competitors by violating their security could account for an ethical violation. Therefore IT managers should address this violation by organizing a complete review of the competition analysis procedure and identify the areas in which the analysts have utilized unwarranted information from the competitors. Ethical actions in case of such situations would be largely inclined towards the forgiving of the analysts and reprimanding them for using faulty methods (Hepworth et al, 2016). The appointment of new analysts for the job as well as establishment of functional supervision systems for reviewing their activities would prove to be a viable initiative for promoting the growth and sustainability of the organization. Internal policies of an organization which are supposed to deal with the cases of security breaches would also be applied as an ethical measure for reducing the frequency of unethical activities (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015). Legal proceedings are also accountable for higher requirement of time which could also act as a barrier for the development of the organization. On the contrary, informing the IT managers about their roles and responsibilities as well as engaging them in promising training sessions would serve as reasonable methods for addressing security issues through ethical avenues. IT managers should be capable of apprehending the inherent security concerns to each information system and present a conclusive report to the senior management (Hartman, DesJardins & MacDonald, 2014). The managers could also facilitate a priority based list illustrating the issues to be addressed first. Therefore, the ethical way of solving security issues for IT managers can be considered as a favorable option over legal measures.
The stakeholders are also ethically obliged to each other as well as to the general population. The risks of security breaches are not detrimental for the concerned organization but also for the other companies associated with the same. Supply chain members as well as dependent industries could face a major setback in event of security breaches. Therefore the owners of an organization have to satisfy their ethical obligations in order to present a viable impression in the market. For example, organizations imposing constraining measures on the employees who violate security standards would be an indication that the management of the organization satisfies their role as a prominent stakeholder (Callahan & Jennings, 2012). The employees are also ethically obliged to refrain from any interaction with information systems which are beyond their access. Employees are also required to convey the details of any discrepancy in the information systems to the respective managers. Furthermore, employees are also ethically bound to acquire skills in their respective domains so that they can deal with security concerns immediately. IT managers are included as a key stakeholder owing to their role in deciding the policies which are related to the information security concerns of an organization. They have to be ethically responsible by improvising their skills and information related to sources of security breaches and the extent to which an organization could be affected (Levy & Slavin, 2013). Different instances of data security violation such as network breaches, personal identification information breaches, and unauthorized access to corporate information and government secrets have created numerous setbacks for IT managers and therefore, the ethical obligations of IT managers can be perceived in a diverse context which comprises of the organization, employees and customers. The activities of managers for limiting security breaches could be apprehended through frequent meetings with senior management concerning the existing issues which could result in possible instances of data loss. This initiative could be aptly realized through review of the practices implemented by the employees in monitoring the performance of information systems (Doh, Husted & Yang, 2016). The managers are also required to confirm the presence of every single protective measure to protect organizational information in order to safeguard the interests of other stakeholders such as customers, other organizations and the general population. The impact of obligation to all ethical standards and utilizing ethical routes for resolving security breaches which are a major issue for IT managers can be clearly apprehended in the suggested ethical obligations of each stakeholder (Hepworth et al, 2016). The stakeholders must execute their roles perfectly in order to facilitate a formidable security framework which would be less vulnerable to information security violations. Furthermore, organizations, managers and employees must acknowledge their mistakes in case of breaches which would be helpful for substantiating the ethical responsibility of stakeholders towards the general population.
Conclusion:
The report highlighted the prominent ethical concerns which arise in case of IT managers and the possible remedial measures which could account for resolving the ethical issues without any substantial harm for the financial aspects of the organization (Hepworth et al, 2016). The report also illustrates the relationship between the various stakeholders and their responsibilities towards each other (Corey et al, 2014). The interdependencies between each stakeholder and their obligations as well as the comparison between ethical and legal actions to address the security concerns faced by IT managers are also included in the report.
References
Bryman, A., 2015. Social research methods. Oxford university press.
Carroll, A.B. and Buchholtz, A.K., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education.
Callahan, S. and Jennings, B. eds., 2012. Ethics, the social sciences, and policy analysis. Springer Science & Business Media.
Corey, G., Corey, M.S., Corey, C. and Callanan, P., 2014. Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions with 2014 ACA Codes. Nelson Education.
Doh, J., Husted, B.W. and Yang, X., 2016. Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Developing Country Multinationals.
Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson Education.
Frank, A.W., 2013. The wounded storyteller: Body, illness, and ethics. University of Chicago Press.
Gibson, S., 2016. Mobilizing hospitality: the ethics of social relations in a mobile world. Routledge.
Hartman, L.P., DesJardins, J.R. and MacDonald, C., 2014. Business ethics: Decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility. McGraw-Hill.
Hepworth, D., Rooney, R., Rooney, G.D. and Strom-Gottfried, K., 2016.Empowerment Series: Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills. Nelson Education.
Levy, C.S. and Slavin, S., 2013. Social work ethics on the line. Routledge.
Parrott, L., 2014. Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters.
Punch, K.F., 2013. Introduction to social research: Quantitative and qualitative approaches. Sage.
Ritchie, J., Lewis, J., Nicholls, C.M. and Ormston, R. eds., 2013. Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. Sage.
Sarantakos, S., 2012. Social research. Palgrave Macmillan.
Sieber, J.E. ed., 2012. The ethics of social research: Fieldwork, regulation, and publication. Springer Science & Business Media.
Weiss, J.W., 2014. Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
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