Ethics and Responsibilities

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Ethics and Responsibilities
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Plagiarism Source Turnitin Research Resources -
http//www.turnitin.com/research_site/e_home.htm
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• Definition According to the Merriam-Webster
  Online Dictionary, to "plagiarize" means
• to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of
  another) as one's own.
• to use (another's production) without crediting
  the source.
• to commit literary theft .
• to present as new and original an idea or product
  derived from an existing source.

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All of the following are considered plagiarism

• Turning in someone else's work as your own
  Changing the words of an original source is not
  sufficient to prevent plagiarism. If you have
  retained the essential idea of an original
  source, and have not cited it, then no matter how
  drastically you may have altered its context or
  presentation, you have still plagiarized.
• Copying words or ideas from someone else without
  giving credit failing to put a quotation in
  quotation marks.
• Giving incorrect information about the source of
  a quotation.
• Changing words but copying the sentence structure
  of a source without giving credit.
• Copying so many words or ideas from a source that
  it makes up the majority of your work, whether
  you give credit or not (see our section on "fair
  use" rules).

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What is citation?

• A "citation" is the way you tell your readers
  that certain material in your work came from
  another source. It also gives your readers the
  information necessary to find that source again,
  including
• Information about the author
• The title of the work
• The name and location of the company that
  published your copy of the source
• The date your copy was published
• The page numbers of the material you are borrowing

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The following situations almost always require
citation

• Whenever you use quotes
• Whenever you paraphrase
• Whenever you use an idea that someone else has
  already expressed
• Whenever you make specific reference to the work
  of another
• Whenever someone else's work has been critical in
  developing your own ideas.

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Reasons to cite sources

• Citations are extremely helpful to anyone who
  wants to find out more about your ideas and where
  they came from.
• Not all sources are good or right -- your own
  ideas may often be more accurate or interesting
  than those of your sources.
• Proper citation will keep you from taking the rap
  for someone else's bad ideas.
• Citing sources shows the amount of research
  you've done.
• Citing sources strengthens your work by lending
  outside support to your ideas.

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Citation examples

• Amrith, S. 2001. Democracy, Globalization and
  Health The African Dilemma. Cambridge King's
  College.
• Ashby, W. R. 1960. Design for a Brain The
  Origin of Adaptive Behavior. New York Wiley
• Atkinson, S., Rolim Medeiros, R., Lima Oliveira,
  P., Dias de Almeida, R. 2000. Going Down to the
  Local Incorporating Social Organisation and
  Political Culture into Assessments of
  Decentralised Health Care. Social Science
  Medicine, 51 619-636.
• Atkinson, S. 2002. Political Cultures, Health
  Systems and Health Policy. Social Science and
  Medicine, 55(1) 113-124.
• Bach, J. Stark, D. 2004. Link, Search, and
  Interact The Co-evolution of NGOs and
  Interactive Technology. Theory, Culture
  Society, 21(3) 101-117.

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Evaluate your Internet sources

• http//lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html

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Ethics - Definitions
Ethics--A set of values that describe what is
right or wrong, good or bad. Ethics Definition
adapted from UNESCO/IUBS/Eubios Bioethics
Dictionary A system of moral principles or
standards governing conduct. 1. a system of
principles by which human actions and proposals
may be judged good or bad, right or wrong 2. A
set of rules or a standard governing the conduct
of a particular class of human action or
profession 3. Any set of moral principles or
values recognized by a particular religion,
belief or philosophy 4. The principles of right
conduct of an individual. Ethical behavior
requires the ability to reason, to understand the
consequences and to make choices about ones
actions. Latin ethicus or Greek ethikos
pertaining to "ethos" or character. Morality--A
doctrine or system of ideas concerned with right
(human) conduct.
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Ethical Systems
An ethical system should be generalizable. It
should hold for a broad range of cases. Although
generalizable, conflicts will always arise
between ethical principles.
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Institutional Ethics

• Government
• -Bill of Rights Declaration of Independence (We
  hold these truths to be self-evident...)
• These are expressions of an institutional
  ethics.
• These are also expressions of cultural ethics.
• Business
• -The ethics and moral code for a business may be
  different than that of the government or an
  individual.
• Profession
• -A professional group purporting to represent a
  profession makes an ethical code. This may again
  differ from the ethics of an individual.
• What is the hierarchy of these codes?

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Ethical Guidelines for Professionals

• How are professional ethics different from
  personal ethics?
• The professional is an expert in a field (e.g.,
  medicine or computing) that the general public
  may know little about.
• Customers from the general public rely on the
  knowledge, expertise, and honesty of the
  professional. To the extent that a professional
  advertises expertise, he or she has an
  obligation to provide it.
• To the extent that their expertise is required by
  society, professionals have a responsibility not
  only to their customers, but to the general
  public.

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Information Ethics (Floridi, 1999)

• Responsibility and Accountability
• Virtual actions frequently leave no physical or
  perceptible effect.
• The virtual context separates the actor from the
  consequences of his or her actions due to
  anonymity and conceptual distance.
• Responsibility is diffused through the marginal
  or microscopic nature of virtual action.
• Compartmentalization of virtual actions restricts
  evaluation of their consequences.
• Lack of human interaction limits perception of
  immorality.
• The high rate of change within the virtual
  context of the infosphere renders impossible the
  forecasting of action consequences.
• The Digital Divide
• Computer literate and illiterate
• Information rich and poor
• Insiders and outsiders access and use

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The Challenge and Dilemma for the Ethical
Individual
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Cases

• What kinds of ethical situations can a management
  professional face?
• What is the role of personal ethics?
• Are there general, universal ethical principles
  that can be formulated and applied to every case?

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Cases

• Copying an Employees Files
• You are a computer system manager. An employee is
  out sick and another employee requests that you
  copy all files from the sick persons computer to
  his so he can do some work.
• Insufficient Privacy Protection
• Your customer is a community clinic that works
  with problems of family violence. The clinic has
  3 sites and does numerous at-home visits. The
  clinic director wants a networked computerized
  record system for the 3 sites that contains
  patient records. She also wants a few notebook
  computers with patient records that would be used
  when visiting clients at home. At the shelter,
  staffers use only first names, but the computers
  contain complete records. There is no mention of
  passwords or encryption, and the clinic does not
  have much money for the project.

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Cases

• Going Public
• You are a member of a team working on a
  computer-controlled crash-avoidance system for
  automobiles. You think the system has a flaw that
  could endanger people. The project manager does
  not seem concerned and expects to announce
  completion of the project soon. Are you ethically
  obligated to do something?
• Release of Personal Information
• You work for the IRS, the Social Security
  Administration, a medical clinic, or a large
  credit bureau. Someone asks you to get a copy of
  a persons file. He will pay you 500.

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Cases

• Conflict of Interest
• You have a small consulting business. CyberStuff
  plans to acquire a new Web-hosting system, and it
  wants to hire you to evaluate bids from vendors.
  Your spouse works for Networkx and did most of
  the writing for their bid. You read the bid, and
  you think it is excellent. Do you tell CyberStuff
  about your spouses connection with Networksx?

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Managers communicate organizational values

• Through their reactions to problems and crises
• Through what they reward
• Through what they punish

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The managers role in creating an ethical
communications climate

• Business ethics Applying ethical principles to
• How an organization conducts its business
• How it treats its employees
• How it interacts with the surrounding community
• The implementation of an organizations mission,
  goals and values into daily practice

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Ethical communications requirements

• Be knowledgeable about ethical issues and
  understand organizational values
• Participate in the decision-making process
  regarding ethical issues
• Communicate decisions regarding ethical issues to
  employees
• Keep communications channels open for all
  employees to feedback information without fear of
  reprisals
• Ensure relevant information is passed on to those
  who can act on it

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Discussion Questions

• What are some of the organizational costs when
  managers do not handle prejudiced behavior
  effectively?
• What action do you think a manager should take
  when an organizational value conflicts with a
  personal value?
• How do you think the globalization of companies
  and their workforces will affect organizational
  ethics and values?