ICT Workers
and Professional Attitudes:
Construction of an
Appropriately Professional Working Environment
Abstract
Nowadays, information and communication
technology (ICT) is ubiquitous, and the quality of our home, work and social
life is significantly dependent on the quality of ICT-based information
systems. Since the majority of ICT and ICT-based information systems are
developed and used in business organisations, ICT workers, including ICT
professionals and ICT non-professionals or end-users, have both intentional and
unintentional power over the general public. They have to recognise their
responsibility to the general public and develop a professional outlook and
attitude in order to create and maintain a safe and reliable information
society.
Well-organised codes of conduct for guiding ICT
workers in their professional behaviour have already been laid down; however,
these codes may not function well on their own, unsupported by context. An ICT
worker is not necessarily an independent and unchallenged entity; he/she works
within a complex environment filled with various types of stress and pressure.
This context might affect individual decisions, which may result in
unprofessional behaviour, even though that individual has made a conscious
decision to abide by a code. Therefore, the construction of an appropriately
professional working environment, designed to encourage ICT workers to develop
their sense of professional ethics, could offer a useful strategy for making
codes of ICT professional conduct more effective.
1. Introduction
In industrial nations, information and
communication technology (ICT) is ubiquitous, and is necessary for a great
number of individual and organisational activities. As a result of ICT
development such as database and network technology, and the explosive growth
of the Internet, a great majority of business organisations conduct operations
in an eBusiness environment, wherein most communication is conducted via
Internet technology. It is no exaggeration to claim that the quality of home,
work, and social life in general significantly depends on the quality of
ICT-based information systems.
A consequence of society’s dependence on ICT and
ICT-based information systems is that defects and malfunctions in ICT-based
information systems, along with ICT abuse, cause serious, and sometimes
catastrophic, situations. Malicious or negligent development or use of ICT and
ICT-based information systems has led to a number of incidents that have
infringed on human rights and corroded human values. Thus, an ICT-dependent
society is vulnerable. The development of high-quality information systems, and
their reliable operation, is essential to the dependable and secure functioning
of society as a whole.
Since business organisations play such a major
role in the development and utilisation of ICT-based information systems, ICT
technology professionals who are employed by business organisations, and
develop and maintain ICT and ICT-based information systems, have both
intentional and unintentional power over the public. ICT non-professionals or
end-users who work in business organisations and use ICT-based information
systems independently also have a significant influence over the quality of
life in modern society. All ICT workers, not simply ICT professionals, but also
non-professionals or end-users, must recognize their responsibility to the
general public and develop their professional ethics and outlook in order to
maintain safety and security, both in the eBusiness environment and in society.
There are already well-organised, carefully
developed codes of ICT professional conduct to guide ICT workers in their
professional behaviour (e.g. [Gotterbarn et al., 1999]). However,
these codes of conduct may not function well alone. We cannot ignore the fact
that the majority of ICT workers are employed by for-profit businesses.
Moreover, any code of conduct is subject to interpretation, and the extent to
which ICT workers in business organisations actually follow a code of conduct
tends to be influenced by their organisational and social structures and
cultures.
This paper will clarify the conditions that must
be met in order to create efficacious codes of ICT professional conduct that
will help to make a safe and reliable information society:
(a) ICT workers, not only ICT professionals but ICT
non-professionals, should develop their sense of professional ethics and their
professional attitude as the basis for interpreting codes of ICT professional
conduct; and
(b) Organisational and social measures should be taken
to establish appropriately professional working environments, in which ICT
workers are supported in behaving according to their professional code of
conduct.
The next section points out how important a
sense of professional ethics and professional attitudes are to ICT workers.
Section 3 examines some typical ICT working environments, including an
illuminating Japanese case. Section 4 explores organisational and social
measures required for the construction of an appropriately professional working
environment.
2. Importance of a
Professional Outlook to ICT Workers
2.1 The Notion of Profession and ICT Professionals
The word profession has various meanings, from
broad to narrow. In academic fields this word is used in a restricted sense,
which may be summarised into the following criteria or characteristics
[Flexner, 1910; Flexner, 1915; Johnson, 2001; Kizza, 1998; Yamada, 1998]:
(a) A highly specialised body of knowledge and
technique: members of a profession have an advanced, systematic, and exclusive
body of knowledge, as well as techniques acquired through long-term education
and training; furthermore, they continue to derive their raw material from
science and learning.
(b) Autonomy with responsibility: professionals apply
knowledge and techniques to problems freely and autonomously, assuming
substantial personal responsibility; they are governed by a developed sense of
personal discretion.
(c) Self-organisation: the social and personal lives
of professionals tend to be organised around a professional nucleus;
professional associations or groups are organised in order to set definite and
practical ends, to set standards for practice, and to control the
qualifications related to the profession and its membership based on its ends
and responsibility.
(d) Public service: the professions have assumed an
increasingly altruistic motivation, taking on the aim of working in the public
service or to fulfil the profession’s social function.
While the term ICT professional or computer
professional is regularly used in everyday life, many researchers do not
consider work related to ICT and information systems ‘professional’ in this
restricted sense. For example, Hodges [2001] states that work done on computers
by specialists and users is so diverse that standards of excellence, notions of
success, and internal rewards are not common within the community. This means
that there can be no community of values, or agreement on standards of
behaviour, which constitutes the foundation for a sense of professional
obligation.
Linderman and Schiano [2001] have also claimed
that the field of information technology cannot be a profession because it does
not meet some of the defining conditions for a profession, such as
certification standards, agreement on educational requirements, and meaningful
or enforceable sanctions for unprofessional behaviour. Chief information
officers (CIOs) are often not promoted from a group of colleagues, and may not
have appropriate qualifications; in addition, priorities are often based on
industrial and market interests. Consequently, those who consider themselves to
be ICT professionals may encounter identity problems and a power vacuum, which
may lead in turn to a vacuum when it comes to social responsibility.
2.2 Professional Attitudes and the Stature of ICT Professionals
Even though work related to ICT and information
systems may not constitute a profession in the traditional sense, it is not
fair to say that it would be ineffectual or misleading to apply professional
ethics to this evolving field. Instead, with a view to creating and preserving
a safe and reliable information society and eBusiness environment, it is far
more constructive to use knowledge yielded from the field of professional
ethics to examine how the ICT field can fulfil its social functions and
responsibilities, and what kinds of behaviour are desirable for those ICT
professionals who develop and maintain ICT and ICT-based information systems.
For example, we could create an imaginary ICT
professional who behaves according to some socially accepted code of ICT
professional conduct as an ideal; then we could apply this behaviour to a
real-world ICT professional, situated within a specific context. The goal is
for real-world ICT professionals to develop a ‘professional outlook’ that
underlies their code of professional conduct, because no code can be exhaustive
or guarantee appropriately professional decisions, and rapid ICT development
could continually create novel ethical problems.
The development of a professional outlook and a
sense of professional ethics should promote the following elements:
(a) Altruism: those who develop a professional outlook
should recognise that their work is primarily a form of public service, and
that public interest should guide their judgment and decision-making.
(b) Intellectual modesty: they should recognise that
the quality of their work depends upon their knowledge and understand,
therefore, that cognitive limitations and obsolescence of knowledge can reduce
the quality of their work. This recognition leads to a respect for others and
motivates continuous learning.
(c) Integrity: they should accept full responsibility
for their work and remain honest with themselves and with others.
2.3
Necessity of a Professional Outlook for ICT Non-professionals
Today, most white-collar workers in developed
countries are ICT workers; furthermore, majority of them are ICT
non-professionals or end-users. ICT non-professionals mainly process
information, utilising ICT and ICT-based information systems to perform various
tasks, from routine work to the creation of knowledge. Usually, they have some
knowledge concerning ICT, and are authorised to access certain data, including
personally identifiable information (PII), within their business organisation,
according to their position and task. Their organisations provide them with
computer facilities so that they can process data, and even write simple
computer programs, even though they are called end-users. In some business
organisations, end-user computing and development is recommended as it can
enhance productivity in business operations, and systems developed by end-users
can be used by colleagues. Thus, it is difficult to draw a clear distinction
between ICT professionals and non-professionals based on knowledge and business
operations.
If ICT professionals could control all the
behaviour of ICT non-professionals by providing them with knowledgeably
developed ICT and information systems, ICT non-professionals could avoid
responsibility for their behaviour related to the use of ICT and information
systems. Of course, this is not the case; any artefact is subject to
interpretation and its developer cannot completely control how others use it.
Consequently, ICT non-professionals may have power over a wide range of people
and groups, based on their empowerment with respect to information systems.
Even though these workers share less responsibility than ICT professionals,
they too should develop a professional outlook in order to create and preserve a
safe and reliable information society. Flexner’s words are particularly
appropriate here:
But, after all, what matters most is
professional spirit. All activities may be prosecuted in the genuine
professional spirit. In so far as accepted professions are prosecuted at a
mercenary or selfish level, law and medicine are ethically no better than
trades. In so far as trades are honestly carried on, they tend to rise toward
the professional level. … In the long run, the first, main and indispensable
criterion of a profession will be the possession of a professional spirit, …
[Flexner, 1910]
3. ICT Workers in Business
Organisations
3.1 Constraints on ICT Professionals
in Workplaces
ICT professionals now have significant social
responsibility; this will never diminish because of their intentional and/or
unintentional power [Huff, 2003] over a wide range of people and groups. The
development and deployment of ICT and information systems has transformed
society irreversibly [Murata, 2001], and the decision-making and value
judgments that ICT professionals embed in the ICT and information systems they
develop constitute an invisible factor in this transformation.
It is impossible to ignore the fact that the
majority of ICT professionals work for business organisations; they work in the
context of a market economy and a business structure. Sometimes, they may be
coerced into following ‘logic of business’ that causes them to lose touch with
the public interest.
Usually, ICT professionals in workplaces are
under two types of constraint: contractual and intellectual. The latter
involves human factors such as limits to cognition and knowledge; this is
inevitable for both ICT professional individuals and groups. The former relates
to the multiple roles played by an ICT professional in the workplace; he/she is
required to follow working regulations as an employee, to abide by a code of
professional conduct as a professional, to meet due dates on a budget as a
contractor, to support a household as a member of a family, and so on.
These constraints often prevent ICT
professionals from developing their sense of professional ethics and outlook,
thereby constraining their sense of responsibility and accountability. For
instance, problems in software codes caused by many hands and diehard bugs,
which are typical barriers to ICT professional accountability [Nissenbaum,
1994], could be avoided if ICT professionals had no limits in cognition and
knowledge or could spend unlimited time and money. However, because ICT
professionals play many roles, conflicts can arise between responsibilities to
different stakeholders, making it difficult to maintain a sense of professional
responsibility [Johnson, 2001: 74-76]; in addition, time constraints may give
ICT professionals an incentive to disregard democratic values and to make a
decision selfishly, or one based on the economic and political power of
stakeholders.
3.2 Working Environment of ICT Professionals
Complicated situations related to responsibility and
accountability never lighten the ethical burden of ICT professionals. However,
a highly stressful and physically demanding working environment can disrupt the
professional outlook of ICT professionals, causing them to have an
irresponsible or an apathetic attitude.
ICT workers in business organisations do not operate
in a vacuum, and are not necessarily independent and unchallenged. Often they
work in complicated situations with conflicting responsibilities, and it can be
difficult for them to appropriately prioritise their professional
responsibilities. ICT-based information systems are often developed within
tight schedules and tight budgets, with only essential personnel. These factors
may prevent developers from addressing ethical issues relating to their
information systems.
ICT workers also tend to have a precarious
position within business organisations; in modern global capitalism, where
investors are relatively powerful in relation to business organisations as
compared to other stakeholders, many business organisations now adopt personnel
policies centred on improving labour productivity and reducing personnel costs,
forcing longer working hours and less rewards on all office workers. ICT has
been integral to ‘reengineering’ business processes, the result of which has
been a reduction in redundant personnel since the early 1990s. Today it is ICT
workers who are threatened by cost-cutting employment policies that recommend
replacing full-time employees with contract workers or temporary staff, and
experienced ICT workers with fresh university graduates. Rapid ICT development,
which has been described in ‘dog years’, provides human resource managers with
an excuse for the dismissal of experienced ICT professionals; only those who
have knowledge about state-of-the-art ICT are considered indispensable. Because
ICT professionals produce information, which can be immediately transferred
anywhere via the global net, offshore employment or global outsourcing of
labour can also threaten the status of ICT professionals in developed countries.
Consequently, ICT workers are often employed in a highly stressful and
physically demanding business environment, and it is likely that many are more
concerned with their job status, personal obligations, and retirement than with
social responsibility.
Such a difficult work environment may affect the
judgment of ICT workers, and may cause irresponsible and apathetic attitudes,
even in workers who consciously intend to abide by codes of professional
conduct; it may also undermine the professional spirit underlying these codes.
Therefore, the construction of an appropriately professional environment,
designed to encourage the development of professional attitudes in ICT workers,
could be useful for making codes of ICT professional conduct effective. ICT workers
employed in a positive business environment would be more motivated to uphold
their social responsibilities.
3.3 Moral Crises in ICT Workers
Many ICT non-professionals have working
environments similar to those mentioned above. They tend to have relatively
long working hours and fewer rewards, such as fringe benefits and company
pensions. In order to reduce personnel costs, these workers are often employed
for shorter periods, and there tend be more contract and temporary workers. For
these reasons, many ICT non-professionals feel that their organisational and
social status is getting precarious.
As the phrase ‘jobless recovery’ indicates, even
business improvement cannot improve the working environments of ICT
professionals and non-professionals. Managers who force massive layoffs under
the pretext of ‘restructuring’ are applauded if the result is improved, even
short-term, profit. These circumstances force many ICT workers to be concerned
about their job status, everyday living expenses, and old age; accordingly,
they give business logic priority over professional spirit.
It is easy to blame ICT workers who lack a sense
of professional ethics and a professional outlook. However, the working life of
an individual ICT worker may not necessarily be helpful in this respect; it may
be very difficult to inspire an appropriately professional outlook, and to
discourage unprofessional behaviour, when an employee is forced to work in a
highly stressful workplace with poor working conditions. The saying “an empty
sack cannot stand upright” applies to ICT workers. In this working environment,
ICT workers have few choices; they have the right to protect their lives and
families, and they may be forced to choose between this right and the
professional quality of their work.
3.4 Working Environment of ICT workers in Japan
In Japan there are thirteen kinds of national
accredited certificates relating to ICT (ten for ICT professionals, one for
system auditors, and two for end-users). One objective of these certificates is
to establish the social status of information technology engineers. However,
few Japanese firms require certification, even ICT related firms such as
hardware manufacturers, software houses, and consulting firms. Work experience
in system development or maintenance is considered more important, and is used
to evaluate the abilities of ICT professionals.
Many employees in Japanese firms, especially
firms related to ICT, are called System Engineers (SEs). This job title covers
employees who engage in information system analysis, design and development,
and project management. They are also often responsible for pre-sale and
post-sale technical consulting. SEs do not have high status in Japanese firms
or society. On the contrary, they are often considered ‘disposable’ personnel
because their job is so physically demanding; in addition, they are usually
required to finish their work by a scheduled completion date, which is usually
set very tightly.
The Japanese word “SENMONKA” is considered to
correspond to the English word ‘professional’. However, SENMONKA does not
exactly correspond to the term ‘professional’ in the narrow sense described in
section 2.1, and Japanese in general do not recognize the difference between a
professional and an artisan, nor between a profession and a trade. This makes
it difficult for ordinary Japanese to associate a professional with social
interest.
The following case is based on a real situation.
It represents how ICT professionals are likely to act in an ethically questionable
way given certain organisational and social circumstances:
DAMEMOTO, a large Japanese automobile
manufacturer, decided to replace its outdated mainframe-based information
system with a state-of-the-art C/S system. DAMEMOTO’s CIO had worked in production
management at DAMEMOTO’s main factory for over thirty years and had been
promoted to his current position six months ago. This project was a good
opportunity for him to show his competence as CIO, so he was determined to
construct a flawless information system.
A joint
venture was organised to develop DAMEMOTO’s new system; several experienced
system engineers from the four software houses involved in the joint venture
were ordered to join the project team. A clause in the contract stated that
they must provide the CIO with a semi-monthly report of ‘the bug control curve’
to help him follow the project’s progress. The bug control curve was an
application of a quality control (QC) measure which was commonly used in
Japanese automobile factories; the CIO proposed it, based on his experience in
production management.
The CIO told
the project team that he expected the number of bugs in the system programs to
approximate a logistic curve. That is, if the project were well managed, the
number of bugs detected would diminish as the project progressed, and would
asymptotically become zero by the end of the project. Conversely, if the number
did not diminish, the CIO would consider this to be evidence of the project
management’s failure.
However, it
is impossible to control the number of bugs detected during this type of
project. The project team reluctantly decided to insert bugs intentionally in
the programs they coded and to ‘control’ the number of bugs detected. As
intended, the shape of their bug control curve was nearly a logistic curve.
4. Construction of an Appropriately Professional Working Environment
4.1 Organisational Measures to Construct an
Appropriately Professional Working Environment
In order to create and preserve a safe and
reliable information society, it is necessary not only to institute a code of
professional ethics for ICT workers, but also to take organisational measures
to relieve the pressure and stress that can induce unprofessional behaviour.
Managers in business organisations need to understand that an appropriately
professional working environment, in which ICT workers are prompted to maintain
a professional attitude and to behave in an ethical manner, has practical or
strategic value as well as ethical value.
ICT workers operating in an appropriately
professional working environment could contribute to improved business
performance by means of:
(a) Their professional integrity, which could improve
the quality and reliability of the goods and services they produce, thereby
boosting the organisation’s trustworthiness and reputation, and lowering the
costs of human resource management (HRM);
(b) Their concern for public interest, which could
mean caring about a wide range of stakeholders and, therefore, obviating risks
to the organisation’s trust and reputation; and
(c) Their high motivation for learning, which could
facilitate maintenance of a high standard of knowledge and lessen HRM costs
such as those incurred for in-house education.
In the eBusiness environment, an organisation’s trustworthiness
and reputation are key, but intangible, assets in the construction of
relationships with business partners and customers [Murata, 2003]. Even in the
short term, an appropriately professional working environment can be quite
effective in enhancing an organisation’s business performance. In the long
term, a business organisation with an appropriately professional working
environment could enjoy favourable relationships with its business partners,
customers, and its skilled and loyal employees, helping the organisation to
remain competitive.
The following measures could be applied to take
pressure off ICT workers and to make their working environment less stressful:
guaranteeing ICT workers enough income for their living expenses, including such
expenses after retirement; guarantee of status; recruitment of a sufficient
number of employees; clear presentation of the typical career path; intrinsic
motivation through challenging tasks; manifestation of the business
organisation’s values; and provision of mental health care.
In order to construct such a working
environment, whereby ICT workers would be supported in conducting their duties
with professionalism, both organisational business measures and social measures
are required.
4.2 Social
Measures to Support an Appropriately Professional Working Environment
An appropriately professional working
environment for ICT workers is beneficial to society; poor working conditions
tend to cause fatigue and apathy in workers, which can lead to insensitivity to
ethical issues, ensuing, ultimately, in failures within society. Conversely,
because ICT development and use now underlie such a wide range of economic
activities, the production of reliable, quality goods and services by ICT
workers with a developed sense of professionalism can contribute to the
activation of economic activities. In this way, support for the construction
and maintenance of an appropriately professional working environment is
socially meaningful.
The following measures may be effective in
supporting such a working environment for ICT workers: establishing official
certification for ICT workers; forming a trade union of ICT workers across
businesses; creating legislation to protect whistle blowers; and setting up
social safety nets for ICT workers.
5. Conclusion
In an information society, ICT workers in
business organisations have power over the general public’s quality of life.
Thus, ICT professionals and non-professionals are responsible to the public and
need to develop a professional outlook and ethical attitude in order to create
and preserve a safe and reliable information society.
However, individual ICT workers are not
necessarily independent and unchallenged individuals; their behaviour can be
affected by stress and pressure experienced in the workplace. Accordingly,
organisational as well as social measures are needed to construct an
appropriately professional working environment in which ICT workers are
supported in maintaining their professional ethics and outlook.
An appropriately professional working
environment has practical value as well as ethical value for business
organisations, and is beneficial to society. Such a working environment could
constitute the basis for professionalism in ICT workers, which, in turn, would
provide the basis for a safe and reliable society. The efficacy of codes of
professional conduct can only be ensured through the construction of an
appropriately professional working environment.
Acknowledgement
This study was supported by an Academic Frontier
project for private universities entitled “Global Business and IT Management:
Global e-SCM”; a matching fund subsidy was provided by MEXT (the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), 2002-2006.
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