Professional Practices

for
Information Technology

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MUZAFFAR IQBAL
• PhD in Progress (International Islamic University Islamabad)
• MS Software Engineering (London-UK)
• MSc Computer Science (Pakistan)
• Assistant Professor in COMSATS (2013-todate)
• Assistant Professor in FUUAST (2006-2013)
• Deputy Director in ICMAP (1997-2004)

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Plagiarism
• What is it?
• Positive reasons for not plagiarizing
• Copying from single/multiple sources
• Paraphrasing, collusion
• How to avoid it?
• Reference list VS bibliography
• Plagiarism detection
• Penalty

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Ethics in Information Technology,
Fourth Edition

George W. Reynolds

Chapter 1
An Overview of Ethics
Objectives
• As you read this chapter, consider the following questions:
• What is ethics, and why is it important to act according to a
code of ethics?
• Why is business ethics becoming increasingly important?
• What are organizations doing to improve their business ethics?

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
• Why are organizations interested in adopting good business
ethics?
• What approach can you take to ensure ethical decision making?
• What trends have increased the risk of using information
technology in an unethical manner?

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What is Ethics?
• Each society forms a set of rules by which a society lives.
• A set of rules establishes the boundaries of generally accepted
behavior.
• Unfortunately, the different rules often have contradictions, and

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
people are sometimes uncertain about which rule to follow.
• Example, Cheating in exams

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What is Ethics…
• Morality
• Social conventions about right and wrong
• Form basis for an established consensus
• Morality may vary by:

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
• Age
• Cultural group or Ethnic background
• Religion
• Life experiences
• Education
• Gender

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• There is widespread agreement on the immorality of murder,
theft, and ransom.
• But other behaviors that are accepted in one culture might be
unacceptable in another.

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
• Even within the same society, people can have strong
disagreements over important moral issues.
• For example, issues such as the death penalty and gun control
are continuously debated, and both sides feel that their
arguments are on solid moral ground.

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Definition of Ethics
• Ethics is a set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior within a
society.
• Many of which are almost universal. E.g. nearly everyone would agree
that lying and cheating are unethical.
• Opinions about what constitutes ethical behavior often vary

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
dramatically. For example, attitudes toward software piracy.
• People also develop habits that make it easier to choose between what
society considers good or bad.
• Virtues are habits that incline people to do what is acceptable. E.g.
Fairness, kindness, and loyalty
• Vices are habits of unacceptable behavior. E. g. egotism, greed,
jealousy, and anger
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The Importance of Integrity
• Your moral principles/ statements of what you believe to be right
may vary.
• As a child, you may have been taught not to lie, cheat, or steal.
• As an adult facing more complex decisions, you often reflect on

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
your principles when you consider what to do in different
situations like,
• Is it okay to lie to protect someone’s feelings?
• Is it acceptable to exaggerate your work experience on a résumé?
• Can you cut corners on a project to meet a tight deadline?

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The Importance of Integrity…
• People with integrity:
• Act in accordance with a personal code of principles
• Extend to all the same respect and consideration
• Apply the same moral standards in all situations
• Unfortunately, consistency can be difficult to achieve

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
• In this situation, you may be forced to compromise one of your
principles and act.
• Lack of integrity emerges if you apply moral standards differently
according to situation or people involved
• Many ethical dilemmas are not as simple as right versus wrong, for
example selling a company product having some hidden issues, or
telling a little white lie to spare a friend some pain or
embarrassment 13
The Difference Between Morals,
Ethics, and Laws
• Morals: one’s personal beliefs about right and wrong
• Ethics: standards or codes of behavior expected of an
individual by a group (nation, organization, profession)
• Example: the ethics of the law profession demand that defense
attorneys defend an accused client to the best of their ability,

Ethics in Information
Technology, Fourth Edition
even if they know that the client is guilty)
• Law: system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do
• Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
• Legal acts conform to the law
• Laws can proclaim an act as legal, although many people may
consider the act immoral
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Ethics in the Business World
• Ethics has risen to the top of the business agenda because the
risks associated with inappropriate behavior have increased.
• In the past decade, we have seen the failure of major
corporations due to unethical behavior including Enron, NokiaMI1
and WorldCom.
• We have also witnessed numerous corporate officers and
senior managers sentenced to prison due to their unethical
behavior.
• We have watched the collapse of several financial institutions
due to unwise and unethical decision making.

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Slide 15

MI1 https://medium.com/multiplier-magazine/why-did-nokia-fail-81110d981787
Muzaffar Iqbal, 30/09/2020
Ethics in the Business World…
• Several trends have increased the likelihood of unethical
behavior.
• First, for many organizations, greater globalization has created
a much more complex work environment that spans diverse
cultures and societies, making it much more difficult to apply
principles and codes of ethics consistently.
• Second, in today’s recessionary economic climate,
organizations are extremely challenged to maintain revenue
and profits. Some organizations are greatly tempted to resort
to unethical behavior to maintain profits.

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Ethics in the Business World…
• Employees, shareholders, and organizations are increasingly…
• violating accounting standards
• violating required health and safety practices
• producing unsafe or substandard products
• Examples can be seen in the book

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Why Fostering Good Business
Ethics Is Important
• Organizations have at least five good reasons for promoting a
work environment in which employees are encouraged to act
ethically when making business decisions:
1. Gaining the good will of the community:
• Although organizations exist primarily to earn profits or
provide services to customers, they also have some
fundamental responsibilities to society.
• Often they declare these responsibilities in a formal statement
of their company’s principles or beliefs.

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COMSATS Socially Responsible
Activities
• Scholarships for needy students
• Scholarships for faculty members
• Housing schemes for faculty members
• Seminars for research and developments
• Pak-China forum

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2. Creating an organization that operates consistently
• Consistency ensures that employees know what is expected of
them.
• Consistency also means that shareholders, customers,
suppliers, and community know what they can expect of the
organization.
• Although each company’s value system is different, but many
companies share the following values:
• Operate with honesty and integrity, staying true to organizational
principles
• Operate according to standards of ethical conduct, in words and
action
• Treat colleagues, customers, and consumers with respect
• Strive to be the best at what matters to the company
• Make decisions based on facts and principles
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