Ethical values of IT professionals: Evidence from Hong Kong

Robert M. Davison; Maris G. Martinsons; Henry W.H. Lo; Carol S.P. Kam

doi:10.1109/TEM.2005.861817

Author(s)

Robert M. Davison
Maris G. Martinsons
Henry W.H. Lo
Carol S.P. Kam

Related Research Unit(s)

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	48-58
Journal / Publication	IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
Volume	53
Issue number	1
Publication status	Published - Feb 2006

Link(s)

DOI	DOI https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2005.861817 Final Published version
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Attachment(s)	Documents 5186568.pdf Post-print, 392 KB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement © 2006 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. Davison, R. M., Martinsons, M. G., Lo, H. W. H., & Kam, C. S. P. (2006). Ethical values of IT professionals: Evidence from Hong Kong. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 53(1), 48-58. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2005.861817.
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-31744432841&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(44c052f3-8e76-401f-8eef-8e2ba13d994c).html

Abstract

In the wake of recent scandals involving information technology (IT) professionals, the ethics of this profession deserve more attention. This paper reports on the first phase of an initiative to research the ethics of IT professionals. The ethical values of the IT profession in Hong Kong were investigated using an instrument designed to reflect the stages of moral reasoning present in Kohlberg's theory of Cognitive Moral Development. The vast majority of respondents espoused ethical values consistent with both a high level of reasoning and the prevailing societal culture. At the same time, many respondents exhibited considerable uncertainty in their ethical reasoning, indicating a dynamic tension between high and low moral principles. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. © 2006 IEEE.