IS6602 – Seminar 2 Consulting Ethics 1

Transcript:IS6602 – Seminar 2 Consulting Ethics 1:
IS6602 – Seminar 2 Consulting Ethics 1 Introduction In many of the courses that we teach, ethical issues are barely mentioned Ethical issues are complex and very personal If you took IS6000 last semester, then I hope that you gained a sense of research ethics I regard ethics as being a critical topic for consultants This means that we must discuss ethics as early as possible I hope that this will prevent you accidentally engaging in ethically questionable behavior, in your coursework for instance 2 The Basics Ethics are principles and values that influence the way in which people behave For IS6602, that means how researchers and consultants behave. Ethics apply to a variety of situations in which there may be the potential for harm to be caused to someone. Ethics are very personal We each have our own values, standards, beliefs We each know what is right and wrong We are all different, so actually we all have different ways of looking at situations, and therefore different ethics 3 Consultants Need to Know A consultant must be thoroughly familiar with the precise situation of an organisation, if the same consultant is to offer advice or suggest changes This knowledge must extend to industry practices and principles Consultants need to learn new things all the time, including the language (jargon, terminology, culture) of the client If you don’t understand what the client is saying, how can you make sense of anything or recommend changes? So, the consultant has an ethical obligation to be situationally competent 4 An Overheard Conversation “This morning, I heard the CSA mention that the GTS failed again” “Then the SAEs will have to ensure that AIDs are provided to all CSAs before updating the GDB manually” “And our MoT survey should be delayed since customers are bound to be unhappy” “But the VPCR will be furious!” “Naturally, since her own position could be up for grabs. GVPS will have many questions for us” “Can the KO get us out of this mess?” 5 Five Principles for Consultants Confidentiality Faithfulness Beneficence & Nonmaleficence Benefits & Compensation Legality 6 Confidentiality Consultants must at all times protect the confidentiality of any information they receive Lists of customers Database entries Best practices IT policy Unless they are explicitly authorized to disclose this information Consultants may need to sign a NDA (a Non-Disclosure Agreement) as a legal undertaking not to violate