Contact: Vige Barrie at 214-768-3678
ETHICS OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
Richard O. Mason, Cox School of Business - Southern Methodist University Florence M. Mason, Principal, F. Mason and Associates Mary L. Culnan, School of Business, Georgetown University _____________________________________________________________
By 1994, nearly 50,000 U.S. firms exchanged data electronically. It is estimated that by the year 2000, over 95 percent of all jobs will require the handling of information, and all jobs will require use of this information. Decisions and actions taken with information and its related technologies affect the lives of other people, having ethical and moral implications.
"The problem for most of us is that the ethical moments of truth blast right past us," said Mason. "We either donÃt comprehend the significant power exercised when information is used, or we fail to understand how information radically changes the context and timing in which decisions are made. Couple that with the rapid pace of modern society and we can quickly have situations occur before we have given them adequate ethical decision." Yet, few of us are capable of identifying information moments of truth - moments when we are called upon to be responsible information concerning givers, takers or gatekeepers. This book prepares the reader to "identify information moments of truth, to think clearly about them, and to act ethically when they occur."
As the old adage says, "information is power." Power is the ability to achieve oneÃs goals, and in an information society information replaces weaponry and monetary wealth as the principle source of power. Civilizations have attempted to curtail the wanton use of power and guide its application in more socially acceptable directions. This new source of power - information - calls for a new set of guidelines.
The age of information is also the age of organization. The authors set an agenda to make organizations more responsive to the ethical needs of information handling, as well as usage.
Four poles - liberty, equality, community, and control - are used to create able a "societal moral compass map" and to evaluate various legislative initiatives and policies of the information. There are also several major tensions that must be resolved in the future as the information society progresses. These are timeless issues, concerning intellectual property; privacy; accuracy and quality of information; access, burden and other issues of information justice; social gatekeeping; and the effect of technology on society.
Ethics of Information Management is designed to aid in avoiding the many ethical pitfalls that lie ahead in the road to information.
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