The ethical decision-making processes of information systems workers

An empirical investigation was conducted to determine whether management information systems (MIS) majors, on average, exhibit ethical decision-making processes that differ from students in other functional business areas. The research also examined whether the existence of a computer-based informat...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Paradice, David B. (Author) ; Dejoie, Roy M. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Interlibrary Loan:Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany)
Published: 1991
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 1991, Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-21
Further subjects:B High Likelihood
B Empirical Investigation
B Business Ethic
B Educational Level
B Economic Growth
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Description
Summary:An empirical investigation was conducted to determine whether management information systems (MIS) majors, on average, exhibit ethical decision-making processes that differ from students in other functional business areas. The research also examined whether the existence of a computer-based information system in an ethical dilemma influences ethical desision-making processes. Although student subjects were used, the research instrument has been highly correlated with educational levels attained by adult subjects in similar studies. Thus, we feel that our results have a high likelihood of generalization to the MIS professional community. The results indicate that MIS majors exhibit more socially-oriented ethical decision-making processes than non-MIS majors measured by the Defining Issues Test. The results also indicate that the existence of a computer-based information system in an ethical dilemma may influence ethical decision-making processes. The study makes no statement regarding MIS majors making “more (or less) ethical” decisions. The business ethics literature is reviewed, details of the study are presented, implications for management are considered, and directions for future research are suggested.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/BF00383688