The impact of codes of ethics on information systems personnel

• Authors: Susan J. Harrington
• Venue: SIGCPR '94 Proceedings of the 1994 computer personnel research conference on Reinventing IS : managing information technology in changing organizations: managing information technology in changing organizations
• Year: 1994

This research looks at the impact of company codes of ethics, as well as codes of ethics written specifically for information systems (I.S.) employees. Moreover, since the intent of ethics codes is to clarify responsibility, the personality characteristics of denial of responsibility and its interaction with exposure to codes of ethics was examined. The impact of codes and the personality characteristic of denial of responsibility were measured based on I.S. judgments concerning illegal software copying, computer cracking (sometimes called hacking), spreading viruses, corporate sabotage using the computer, and computer fraud. Denial of responsibility was found to be related to a variety of computer abuses and did interact with company codes of ethics to influence attitudes toward viruses and computer fraud.