Personal and Organizational Ethics

1. Search the Web If you are interested in ethics conversations regarding technology, visit http://www.ethix.org Personal and Organizational Ethics 8 1

2. Chapter Eight Objectives • Identify the role of technology in business • Gain an understanding of the technological environment and its relationship to ethics • Identify technological benefits and side effects • Realize an appreciation of society’s fascination with technology and the impact of this fascination • Differentiate between the information technology and biotechnology and their ethical implications 2

3. Chapter Eight Outline • Technology and the Technological Environment • Characteristics of Technology • Ethics and Technology • Information Technology • Biotechnology • Summary

4. Introduction to Chapter Eight This chapter explores questions surrounding technology and business ethics, including: • What does technology mean? • What are the benefits and challenges of technology? • How does ethics relate to technology? • What are the ethical issues surrounding the major realms of technology: information technology and biotechnology?

5. Technology and the Technological Environment Technology is the totality of the means employed to provide objects necessary for achieving human sustenance and comfort • Macroenvironment of business vs. the technological environment

6. Characteristics of Technology Benefits of Technology • Increased production of goods and services • Reduced labor force needed to produce goods and services • Reduced the number of injuries in the workplace • Increased standard of living

7. Characteristics of Technology Side Effects and Challenges of Technology • Environmental pollution • Natural resource depletion • Technological unemployment • Work satisfaction

8. Ethics and Technology Concern over the ethical use and implications of technology • Avoid amoral applications of technology

9. Ethics and Technology Society’s Obsession with Technology • Favor the quick fix • Fear and worship technology • Blur the distinction between what is real and fake • Accept violence as normal • Love technology as a toy • Live our lives distanced and distracted

10. Information Technology Two Types of Information Technology • Electronic commerce • Computer technology

11. Information Technology Issues Concerning Electronic Commerce • Scams • Invasion of privacy

12. Information TechnologyE-Commerce Privacy Issues • Issue of identity theft • Issue of unintentionally revealing information • Issue of lost/stolen personal information • Issue of fake web sites • Issue of government distribution of information

13. Information TechnologyE-Commerce Privacy Issues • Issue of broadcasting information over the internet • Issue of victim of spying – employer or spouse • Issue of victim of spying – stranger • Issue of cyberstalkers

14. Information TechnologyE-Commerce and Government Protection • The Financial Services Modernization Act • Opt in • Proposed legislation • Consumer Online Privacy and Disclosure Act • Online Consumer Protection Act • Unsolicited Commercial Electronic Mail Act

15. Information TechnologyE-Commerce and Business Initiatives • Ethical leadership • Privacy policies • Chief privacy officers

16. Information TechnologyE-Commerce and Questionable Businesses and Practices • Pornography • Gambling • Intellectual property • Napster • MusicNet • Payment for web page placement • Monitoring technology

17. The Workplace and Computer Technology Employee Impression of Technology • Expands job-related knowledge • Increases productivity • Improves communications with clients and customers • Relieves job stress

18. The Workplace, Computer Technology and Surveillance Types of Monitoring • Monitoring of e-mail and Internet usage • Monitoring fax usage • Monitoring workers via video camera • Monitoring cell phone usage • Liability for cell phone use

19. The Workplace, Computer Technology and Unethical Employee Activities • Engaged in dangerous activities • Blamed error on technological glitch • Copied company software for home use • Accessed corporate files without permission

20. The Workplace, Computer Technology and Unethical Employee Activities • Used company computer to shop • Used company computer to look for another job • Used technology to invade a coworker’s privacy • Used company computer to visit porn sites

21. The Workplace, Computer Technology and Computer Ethics The Ten Commandments 8-21

22. Biotechnology • Bioethics is a field that has emerged to deal with ethical issues embedded in the use of biotechnology. • Proceduralism is the use of elaborate protocols to ensure that classical ethical dilemmas do not arise, such as informed consent.

23. American Society for Bioethics and Humanities www.asbh.org GE Food Alert Campaign Center www.gefoodalert.org National Coalition for Patient Rights www.nationalcpr.org Do No Harm www.stemcellresearch.org Council for Responsible Genetics www.gene-watch.org Bioethics.net www.bioethics.net Human Genome Research Institute www.nhgri.nih.gov Biotechnology Nonprofits

24. BiotechnologyGenetic Engineering • Stem cell research • Cloning • Genetic testing and profiling

25. BiotechnologyGenetically Modified Foods • Safety issues • Labeling issues

26. Bioethics Biotechnology Chief privacy officer Cloning Electronic commerce Embryonic stem cells Genetic engineering Genetic profiling Genetic testing Genetically modified foods Information technology Surveillance Technology Technological environment Therapeutic cloning Selected Key Terms