Ch10 Professional EthicsProfessional EthicsProfessional Ethics (Cont.)Slide 4ResponsibilitiesFull Disclosure RequiredMoral Status for Organizations?Responsibilities to the EmployerGround RuleSlide 10Rules, Laws, and Common PracticeSlide 12Professional SocietiesACMOf InterestBCS: Another ApproachUK Code of Practice for Safety-Related SystemsUK Code of Practice for Safety-Related Systems (Cont.1)UK Code of Practice for Safety-Related Systems (Cont.2)UK Code of Practice for Safety-Related Systems (Cont.3)Ethical ObligationsSimilarities and DifferencesHistoricallyRevised ACM Code of Ethics www.acm.org/servingMore General Moral ImperativesMore Specific Professional ResponsibilitiesSlide 28Professional ResponsibilitiesOrganizational Leadership ImperativesSlide 31Compliance with the Code4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 1Ch10 Professional Ethics4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 2Professional EthicsProfessional ethics has several characteristics that give it a different emphasis from general ethics.First, the professional is an expert in a field that the customer usually knows little about and therefore the customer must rely on the knowledge, expertise, and honesty of the professional.“Gift of Fire” Basse 1st ed.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 3Professional Ethics (Cont.)Second, the products of professionals can profoundly affect large numbers of people and do considerable harm to victims who are in no position to protect themselves.Standards change. Specific standards for ethical behavior are developed gradually based not only upon ethical theory, but also on what is possible using current technology and what is generally accepted practice. “Gift of Fire” Basse 1st ed.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 4Professional Ethics (Cont.)Courage in a professional setting might include: 1. Disclosing the faults and limitations of a product. 2. Declining a job that you are not qualified for.(more on this later). 3. Whistle blowing.“Gift of Fire” Basse, 3rd ed.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 5ResponsibilitiesThe professional has a responsibility to maintain an expected level of competence and be up-to date on professional standards and techniques. Any claim to be a professional (stated or implied) implies that the customer can expect a certain minimum level of expertise, based upon current knowledge, technology and standards of the profession. There is also the responsibility to learn enough about the application field to do a decent job.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 6Full Disclosure RequiredTo be an ethical professional you need to beable to identify all the areas/topics/skills that come to bare on the problem at hand and give full disclosure on your level of expertise and limitations.This is a tough one to honor because the first impact you will probably see is not getting a work assignment and the pay check that comes with it.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 7Moral Status for Organizations?All decisions and actions are made by individuals, but an organization acts with intention and a formal decision structure is a moral entity.Businesses do have a "corporate culture" or "personality" which is shaped by the decision makers (management) of the business.A manager's ethical responsibility includes his or her contribution to the company's ethical personality.4/10/01 CSC309 Miller 8Responsibilities to the EmployerWhen acting in a professional capacity as an employee there are responsibilities to the employer.Responsibilities can be listed explicitly or they can be implied.We have an ethical obligation not to break agreements and contracts.4/15/02 CSC309 Miller 9Ground RuleYou can view a company policy as being unreasonable but if you agree to it as part of accepting employment, then you have an obligation to honor it. Note: This does not say that you have an obligation to follow any policy that your company develops and then lets you know of after the fact.10/28/08 CSC309 Miller 10Ground RuleIf one decides to violate a law or rule because it is viewed as unethical, or for any other reason, one must fully accept responsibility for one's actions and for the consequences. (After a violation is the wrong time to figure out why the broken law or rule was in place.)10/28/08 CSC309 Miller 11Rules, Laws, and Common PracticeLet your first reaction be to honor existingrules, laws, and common practices. When the chemistry professor gives directions on mixing acid and water (acid to water never water to acid) do it that way. When the captain wants rope coiled clockwise as opposed to counter clockwise do it that way.1/22/09 CSC309 Miller 12Rules, Laws, and Common PracticeCommon practices is an interesting one.There usually is no way of spotting the motivation (there might not be one) butseemingly non-significant practices mightbe very significant to members of an organization or family. Your first reaction should be to honor common practices.1/22/09 CSC309 Miller 13Professional SocietiesMost professional societies such as ACM, IEEE, the British Computer Society, etc. have codes of ethical practice for their members.Codes coming from engineering related societies tend to place a very high emphasis on safety aspects while computer related societies give less emphasis and tend to consider other losses as well.10/5/08 CSC309 Miller 14ACMThe Association of Computing Machinery (ACM),established in 1947, is the oldest educational and scientific computing society. With some 80,500 (35% foreign) members it is also the largest computer professional organization.This is the organization that sponsors the international programming contest and the annual computer chesscontest. (They sponsored the contest in Philadelphia where Deep Blue beat the world champion Kasparov.)Conferences and publications are strong points of this organization.10/5/08 CSC309 Miller 15Of InterestRobert Hyatt, a USM undergraduate started writing a program to play chess. He was joined in his efforts by Albert Gower (music faculty) and Harry Nelson. “Blitz” made it’s first move in 1968 and was in a constant state of development and refinement through 1980 when Cray Computers became a corporate sponsor. “Cray Blitz” competed in computer chess contest from 1980 through 1994. It won the ACM contest several times and was World Champion in 1983 and 1986. The program left USM when Hyatt accepted a position at the University of Alabama, Birmingham in 1986.1/22/09 CSC309 Miller 16BCS: Another ApproachThe British Computer Society was formed in 1957 and under a Royal Charter granted in 1984 it has the