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New Ethics for E-Business Offshore Outsourcing
affects the individual or society. The remaining principles are duty-based ones. The principles of benevolence, paternalism, harm, honesty, and lawfulness are based on duties we have toward others. The principles of autonomy, justice, and the various rights are based on moral rights.
Ethics and Culture
All cultures have a set of ethical values or rules concerning what is morally right and what is mor-ally wrong (Anscombe, 1981). Through globaliza-tion, non-western cultures around the world are being exposed to the values of the west, and on DVXSHU¿FLDOOHYHODWOHDVWDSSHDUWREHDGRSWLQJ western culture. However, the adoption of the outward signs of western culture such as business dress codes does not necessarily mean that one culture has abandoned its own social, ethical and moral values in favor of those of the other. Indeed, the underlying values of non-western cultures appear to remain intact in the face of exposure to western culture.
Within e-business environment, while there is evidence that the processes of engineering and implementation of information technology systems are being successfully exported to non-western cultures as a consequence of globaliza-tion, the adoption of western social and ethical values by these other cultures is another matter. However, the ethical values of the world’s cultures remain diverse.
7KH¿HOGRIFRPSXWLQJLVJHQHUDWLQJQHZDQG GLI¿FXOWHWKLFDOTXHVWLRQVDQGWKHYDULDWLRQLQWKH ethical and social norms across the globe merely DGGVWRWKHOHYHORIFRPSOH[LW\LQ¿QGLQJDQVZHUV to these questions. How can issues be answered if WKHHWKLFDOUXOHVDUHQRW¿[HG"+RZIRUH[DPSOH can an ethical or moral question about the content of a Web site be considered when a hypertext link in that Web page may not only take the user to a different part of that site, but to a site in another part of the world where different ethical values may prevail?
These notions impose the cultural relativism. Cultural relativism recognizes that moral values vary from one society or culture to another, and that no culture’s ethics are any better than any other’s. This leads to the conclusion that the varia-tions of values between cultures are all equally valid, and the variation between cultures can in-GHHGEHVLJQL¿FDQW6LQFHWKH6HFRQG:RUOG:DU the technological and economic growth of western nations has lead to the almost universal exposure of other cultures around the globe to western cul-ture. Indeed, the culture of the West is propounded by many in the West to be of universal validity, which can result in a form of ethical imperialism. Although western e-business organizations are beginning to understand the problems associated with effort to universally apply western cultural values, it remains a problem for subsidiaries of western companies operating in the third world. Arguments by non-western cultures against this view of the universal validity of western values by the local cultures have invariably been dismissed in the West, particularly when issues such as royalties for western intellectual property rights and patents are at issue.
A code of ethics developed by an organiza-tion will be a consensus of the moral and ethical values of the organization and the individual professionals within that organization (Weston, 1997). Can such a code be applied outside of the culture in which it was developed? Does there QHHGWREHVRPHTXDOL¿FDWLRQRIDFRGHRIHWKLFV when it is applied to different cultures? Besides individual country ethics values, there are some fundamental values that cross cultures, and that some activities are wrong no matter where they take place. Therefore, it could be possible to de-¿QHDVHWRIHWKLFDOYDOXHVWKDWFRXOGEHDSSOLHG universally.
As the Net develops, English will cease to be the dominant language, with Chinese, French, German and other languages generating webs within webs. Important for countries where English is only one spoken language is the fact
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that most of their citizens only speak a single language, while English is the most spoken sec-ond language in the world. In other words, as the Web sources develop, non-American surfers, who generally speak two or more languages, will have access to a larger web of services and contents. Enormous differences still remain from country
• the promotion of local cultures in the digital medium
• the participation of individuals and groups in the political (communal, regional, national, international) processes
In the scope of information and telecommuni-
to country. The U.S.-centric pattern wanes only with substantial and sustained infrastructure builds of the sort that has swept Europe, rolled into Asia, announced itself in Latin America, and stalled in most of Africa.
Applied E-Business Ethics
7KH¿HOGRIEXVLQHVVHWKLFVH[DPLQHVPRUDOFRQ-troversies relating to the social responsibilities of capitalist business practices, the moral status of corporate entities, deceptive advertising, insider trading, basic employee rights, job discrimina-WLRQDI¿UPDWLYHDFWLRQGUXJWHVWLQJDQGZKLVWOHV blowing. Issues in environmental ethics often overlap with business and medical issues. These include the rights of animals, the morality of animal experimentation, preserving endangered species, pollution control, management of envi-ronmental resources, whether ecosystems are entitled to direct moral consideration, and our obligation to future generations.
The massive diffusion of information and telecommunications technology causes radical changes in public and private institutions in general as well as in national and international information and communication policies in par-ticular. This may concern:
cations technology, we are speaking about infor-mation ethics. Information ethics as a descriptive WKHRU\H[SORUHVWKHSRZHUVWUXFWXUHVLQÀXHQFLQJ attitudes towards information and traditions in different cultures and epochs. Information ethics as an emancipatory theory develops criticisms of moral attitudes and traditions in the informa-WLRQ¿HOGDWDQLQGLYLGXDODQGFROOHFWLYHOHYHO,W includes normative aspects. A basis for ethical WKLQNLQJLQWKHLQIRUPDWLRQ¿HOGWKDWLVWKHEDVLV for e-business ethics as well are the following principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: respect for the dignity of human beings, FRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\HTXDOLW\RIRSSRUWXQLW\SULYDF\ right to freedom of opinion and expression, right to participate in the cultural life of the community, right to the protection of the moral and material LQWHUHVWVFRQFHUQLQJDQ\VFLHQWL¿FOLWHUDU\RU artistic production.
7KHOLWHUDWXUHGHDOLQJVSHFL¿FDOO\ZLWKWKH ways in which the Internet affects ethics and moral decision-making in e-business is scarce. 6SHFL¿FDOO\LQWHUPVRIFUHGLELOLW\DQGYHUL¿FDWLRQ of information, two of the core issues relating to new media ethics, there seem to be little or no SXEOLVKHGVWXGLHVDWKDQG7KHRQHSRVVLEOHGH¿QL-tion of ethical issues in e-business environment FRXOGEHGH¿QHGDVDVHWRISULQFLSOHVRIULJKW
• the creation of specialized (regional) knowl-edge markets
• the development of electronic commerce
• WKHSXEOLFDWLRQDQGGLIIXVLRQRIVFLHQWL¿F knowledge through the Internet
• the creation of services for public access to the Internet
conduct — the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the conduct of the members of a profession. It also includes the statement that e-business ethics in an organization relates to a corporate culture of values.
Speed, freedom and individual power are WKRURXJKO\PRGHUQFRQFHSWVWKDWGH¿QHWKH,Q-formation Age in which e-business exists. They triangulate to create a new kind of human being
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particularly adapted to life in the networked soci-ety (Borgman, 2000). The result is that e-culture WXUQVWKHRQFHZHOOGH¿QHGDUHDVRIVRFLDOHWKLFV into a huge gray area of individual and situational FRQVLGHUDWLRQVWKDWUHTXLUHUHVHDUFKDQGUHÀHFWLRQ to navigate but which provides no time to do so. Among many issues related to applied e-business, ethics is social responsibility.
E-Business Outsourcing Ethics
Issues dealing with ethics in e-business outsourc-ing refer mostly on legislation, security, informa-tion, and business itself.
Legislation, codes and national standards relevant to the workplace include:
Social responsibility in e-business environ-ment is an organization’s obligation to maxi-mize its positive impact on stakeholders and to minimize its negative impact (Deborah, 1991). It includes legal, ethical, economic, and philan-thropic dimensions.
• Legal dimension refers to obeying govern-mental laws and regulations civil law: rights and duties of individuals and organizations FULPLQDOODZSURKLELWVVSHFL¿FDFWLRQVDQG
• Award and enterprise agreements
• National, state, regional legislative require-ments
• Industry codes of practice • Copyright laws
• Privacy legislation
• ,QWHOOHFWXDOSURSHUW\FRQ¿GHQWLDOLW\UHTXLUH-ments
• Legal and regulatory policies affecting e-business
LPSRVHV¿QHVDQGRULPSULVRQPHQWDVSXQ-ishment for breaking the law;
• Ethical dimension refers to behaviors and activities that are expected or prohibited by organizational members, the community, DQGVRFLHW\QRWFRGL¿HGLQWRODZVWDQGDUGV QRUPVRUH[SHFWDWLRQVWKDWUHÀHFWWKHFRQ-cern of major stakeholders;
• Economic responsibilities refer to how resources for the production of goods and services are distributed within the social
Security issues include:
• Security measures • Privacy
• &RQ¿GHQWLDOLW• Information management • Risk management
• Intellectual property
• Fraud prevention and detection • Business ethics
system;
• Philanthropic dimension refers to business’ contributions to society.
Information and development support in-clude:
In life, the people that we trust the most are those individuals that provide close consultations to us: our spouse, family and friends. Likewise, se-cure and successful e-commerce business owners are most likely to loan trust to those that qualify, were a good relationship has been built up. This is true for most of the e-business on the Internet. Technically, this important trust relationship is built by the three ethical issues in e-business eth-ics: honesty, integrity and trustworthiness.
• Advice on information and communications technology issues and compatibility
• Protocols for electronic data interchange
• Protocols relating to legal or security is-sues
• 3HUVRQDOLGHQWL¿FDWLRQDQGSDVVZRUGIRURQ-line access including electronic signature
• Contact person
Ethical issues include:
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• Privacy legislation
• &RQ¿GHQWLDOLW\RIUHFRUGVDQGLQIRUPDWLRQ • Intellectual property
• Fraud prevention and detection • Trade Practices Act
Changes in technology and business processes
important in securing intellectual property rights in offshore operations. However, this is not to say that absolutely no software piracy occurs in ¿UVWZRUOGFRXQWULHVZKHUHJRYHUQPHQWFRQWURO over intellectual property rights is known to be the strictest and intellectual property violations happen everywhere.
can outpace companies’ ability to consider their ethical implications or to train employees to deal with them (Brenner, 1992). Most everyone in e-business agrees that questionable ethical moves that compromise customer privacy for short-term marketing gain are bad for business in the long run. Online business is entering a more mature phase, and the issue of who the customer trusts becomes more of a competitive differentiator. :HEVLWHVDUHDUHÀHFWLRQRIEXVLQHVVHVRQWKH Internet. The three principal keys in doing e business: honesty, integrity, and trustworthiness crossover directly to the Web site framework and the Internet. This is especially true for the big online service providers.
The consensus seems to be that offshore out-sourcing operations are at higher risk of copyright or intellectual property theft, especially when said operations pertain to software development. The European Union governments and U.S. have a good policy on intellectual property theft and piracy, compared to many other countries. Intellectual property protection laws are strictly LPSOHPHQWHGLQ¿UVWZRUOGFRXQWULHV(YHQ6LQ-gapore, which accepts outsourcing jobs, has very ¿UPLQWHOOHFWXDOSURSHUW\SROLFLHV7KLVLVSDUWRI what makes Singapore very attractive to outsourc-ing entrepreneurs, despite the high cost of labor and infrastructure. Still, it is not enough that the host country’s government supports intellectual property efforts. The prime concern of entrepre-neurs who seriously consider offshoring is cost HI¿FLHQF\0DQ\HQWUHSUHQHXUVLQWKHVRIWZDUH GHYHORSPHQW¿HOGRIIVKRUHWKHLUSURMHFWVHYHQ with the knowledge that intellectual property protection laws are loose in the host country. The support of a host country’s government is
DEVELOPMENT OF E-BUSINESS ETHICS AS ONGOING PROCESS
The competitive pressures companies face to UHGXFHFRVWVDQGLQFUHDVHHI¿FLHQF\ZLOOQRWGH-crease anytime soon. The practice of offshoring, therefore, is a business reality, one that companies and their many stakeholders will face and need to manage far into the future. There is the fact that employees, governments, communities, and others are best served not by opposing the offshoring trend, but by campaigning to encour-age companies and governments to address the negative impacts and ensure the greatest spread RIEHQH¿WVWRWKRVHDIIHFWHG
With all the recent headlines about company misconduct and ethics violations has come a VLJQL¿FDQWDQGORQJRYHUGXHLQFUHDVHLQWKHFRQ-sideration of ethics among businesses. Companies have quickly penned ethics codes, instituted ethics compliance monitoring programs, or have had KLJKOHYHOFRUSRUDWHRI¿FHUVYLVLEO\WRXWLQJWKHLU company’s ethics focus in the hope of regaining FRQVXPHUFRQ¿GHQFHLQDGHYDVWDWHGHFRQRP\ :KLOH EXVLQHVVHV DUH ¿JKWLQJ IRU VXUYLYDO LQ adverse conditions, they need to be looking to the future and building solid foundations upon which to base their future efforts. Even without LQYHVWLQJYDVW¿QDQFLDOUHVRXUFHVDQ\FRPSDQ\ FDQUHDSWUHPHQGRXVEHQH¿WVIURPFRQVLGHULQJ and initiating an ethics program. In addition to the widely recognized value of improved com-pany image and a smoother, more effective and happier work environment, an ethics program can contribute to a better bottom line, through
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stronger and more solid client relationships and decreased expenses in a variety of areas.
Attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change (Madsen & Shafritz, 1990). In times of fundamental change, values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Atten-tion to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when leaders and managers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass. Thus, attention to e-business ethics is next step in developing new e-business environment.
Changes in technology and business processes can outpace companies’ ability to consider their ethical implications or to train employees to deal with them. Few companies have formal programs WRFRPSOHWHRIHWKLFVWUDLQLQJ7RIÀHU,W is traditionally been seen as an add-on. Thus, it is needed to bring ethics into e-business context, since e-business raises ethical issues that may have existed before, but not in such clear reality. In large part to address potential information technology-related liabilities, both inside and outside a company, a growing number of busi-nesses have high-level ethics executives or chief SULYDF\RI¿FHUVWRHQIRUFHFRPSDQ\VWDQGDUGV The goal is to raise awareness, to be proactive and preventive rather than punitive. As e-busi-ness moves more and more business processes and transactions online, information technology, and the people who manage it, is at the forefront of decisions with ethical implications.
The debate over ethical standards in busi-ness is not new. What is new, or at least more apparent than ever, is central role of information technology in some of the most important busi-ness-ethic issues of the day: privacy, the owner-ship of personal data, and the obligations created
by extended e-business partnerships. How these controversies affected information technology managers and others involved with technology? What ethical issues, if any, are business executives grappling with in connection with cutting-edge technology? And where do information technol-ogy professionals go for guidance on ethically ambiguous situations? Far from self-evident, the answers may be critical to the development of the trust and integrity needed to succeed at and global e-business.
Trust between workers and employers is another key issue putting information technol-ogy managers in the middle of ethical decisions. Most companies forbid employees using company computers to access Web sites with material that is pornographic, violent, or hate-related. Most information technology managers and executives agree there needs to be more training in ethics, especially now that information technology has taken a central role in doing business. Indeed, thinking of business and ethics, or information technology and ethics, as opposing forces may be a false dichotomy.
Standardization of E-Business Ethics at Company’s Level: Code of Ethics
An e-business company’s ethics code ought to address both general values for which the com-SDQ\VWDQGVDQGSDUWLFXODUSULQFLSOHVVSHFL¿FWR the daily operations of that particular enterprise. Thus some codes may focus on full disclosure of their own abilities, time estimates, and costs, while others might address safety and/or full ac-ceptance of responsibility for the quality of some product. The key is to generate a code that is tailored to the activities and goals of a particular organization, while simultaneously upholding universal ethical principles. A code of ethics, and thus compliance, must be universal. What is appropriate for the organization as a whole ap-plies to all individuals. An organization’s code of
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