Professional Issues

1IT 5105 – Professional Issues in IT
Evolution of IT Profession (8)

Evolution of IT (HW/SW/Internet/Telecommunication)
Society related PI
Social issues in computing (3)
Ethical issues in computing (5)
Legal issues in computing (7)
Organizational related PI
IT environment in organization (6)
Privacy and Civil Liberties (9)
IT industry related PI
Communication (1)
Team working (2)
Intellectual Properties (4)
01
Professional Communication
1. Technical writing
1.1 Handwriting and Typing
1.2 Mechanics of Writing
1.3 Essay Writing
1.4 Formal Report Writing
2. Oral presentations
2.1 Small Talk
2.2 Interviews
2.3 Presentations & Public Speaking
2.4 Effective Listening Skills
3. System documentation
3.1 Summarizing and Paraphrasing
3.2 Reading Fiction & Non-fiction
01
Professional Communications
1.1 Handwriting and Typing
Handwriting
● Unique and shows your personality
● is important for taking notes, writing test essays, cards, etc.
● should be clear and readable
● should form letters correctly
● should keep spaces (between letters, words, lines and paragraphs) properly
● is important even in the age of computers
Why handwriting is still important in the digital age?
The educational benefit

● Most exams are still handwritten.
● A student’s ability to write legibly and accurately is a great advantage
Handwriting has cognitive benefits
● We are more likely to remember what we write
● Allows you time to re-evaluate what you have
● written and digest your notes adding extra thoughts and observations to what you have written.
It has many benefits for creative writing.
● Writing with pen and paper helps you to get rid of the distractions of the digital world and lets
your ideas flow.
Handwriting is less restrictive
● Pen and paper can allow you to think more freely
● When doing things such as brainstorming.
It forms part of our culture
Disadvantages of Handwriting
Legibility
● Handwritten notes are often less legible than typed ones
Typos
● Typing using digital devices is facilitated with spellchecker whereas in handwritten content time
may be wasted in order to find correct spelling etc.
Decreased efficiency
● Handwritten notes usually take a longer time
● So, writing notes by hand can decrease the efficiency of note taking
● You might develop a hand cramp or general discomfort from writing so much
Missed Points
● Since handwritten notes take longer to jot down and require a more laborious effort than typed
notes, you risk missing important points.
Touch typing
● is a typing technique in which people type without looking at the keyboard.
● A typing speed is said to be good if a typist types 30-35 words per minute (wpm)
● Learning to touch type helps you, type fast
● And use keyboard shortcuts effectively
● Touch typing involves placing your hands and fingers correctly on the keyboard.
1.2 Mechanics of Writing
CAPITALIZATION
● Capitalize the first word of sentence or a quoted sentence.
We would like to take a look at it.
He said, “Please give me that book.”
● Capitalize a proper noun.
Sri Lanka/ Malini/ Anuradhapura
● Capitalize a person's title when it precedes the name.
Mrs. Perera will talk to all of us.
● Capitalize the titles of high-ranking government officials when used before their names.
Do not capitalize the civil title if it is used instead of the name.
The governors and attorneys general are called for a special task force.
Governor Rupasinghe, and Attorney General Sirimanna confirmed their attendance.
● Capitalize points of the compass only when they refer to specific regions.
We have had three relatives visit from the South.
Go south three blocks and then turn left.
● Capitalize key words of book titles etc.
Alice in Wonderland
Midnight is a Lonely Place
PUNCTUATION
● Use a full stop at the end of a complete sentence.
Sri Lanka is a beautiful island.
● Use a comma between items in a series or a list.
I love to eat bananas, mangoes, grapes and pineapples.
● When writing, we use commas in places where we should pause while reading the text.
Therefore, we should abide by the rules.
● Use a question mark at the end of a question.
Could you help me ?
● Use an exclamation mark to indicate strong feelings or a raised voice in speech.
Help, I’m stuck in the mud !
● When quoting someone word-for-word, use quotation marks to show the reader exactly which words are
being borrowed from a particular source or which words were actually spoken.
“I wish I had a pet,” said Nuwan.
1.3 Essay Writing
PARTS OF AN ESSAY
● Introduction
● Body
● Conclusion
Introduction
● An essay begins with a introduction
● Prepares the reader for the essay
● Introduces the main idea and purpose of the essay
● Should be attention grabbing
For example it start with a question, quotation, direct announcement, definition, etc.
Body
● Develops the main idea of the essay
● Explains, illustrates or provides evidence to support the main idea of the essay
● A single paragraph discusses only one aspect of the main idea. Another should be discussed in a
New paragraph.
● Clarity and cohesiveness should be maintained between the paragraphs of the body text.
Conclusion
● An essay ends with a conclusion.
● Brings the essay to a logical end
● Provide closure for the reader by reviewing main points
● Remind readers of the primary focus of the essay by restating the main idea in different words
● An effective conclusion would be a memorable one for example, a call for action, a memorable
message, etc.
1.4 Formal Report Writing
What is a formal report?

● A document prepared following a fixed procedure
● Used to describe an investigation and give results and recommendations based on it.
Parts of a Formal Report

● Title
● Summary (Optional)
● Introduction
● Findings
● Conclusions
● Recommendations
Title
● Should be specific
● Convey useful information about the content of the report
● Followed by names of authors and date it was finished
Survey of First Year Students at University of Colombo School of Computing : 2011-2012

University Student Survey Committee,
August11,2013
Summary
● Optional
● Briefly state
● Aim of the report
● Describe the methodology followed
● Group conclusions of the investigation to categories
A survey of the first year students of the University of Colombo School of Computing (UCSC) was carried out to
identify the problems they face. Students were surveyed on several matters. Majority expressed satisfaction with the
university whereas a few areas of concern were identified.
Introduction
Parts of Introduction
● What is to be investigated
● Who requested the report
● When it was requested
● What methodology is to be used (should be indicated last)
● Tense : Past tense. Use present tense for aims/goals.
ThemainpurposeofthissurveyistoidentifywaysofimprovingeffectivenessofeducationforthefirstyearsofUCSC.
This report was requested by the director of UCSC on December 1st, 2012. A university student survey committee
was formed, consisting of the Director, Deputy Director, Student Counselor and Registrar. The committee was asked
to submit its findings by September 1st, 2013.
The committee constructed a questionnaire aiming at extracting information from the students who have been first
year undergraduates within the period of 2011 -2012. Copies of this questionnaire are available at the UCSC Library.
A total of 112 students answered the questionnaire and out of this 100 were usable responses. 118 students were
registered as first year undergraduates in2011-2012. Hence these responses can be taken to reflect the views of
assign if cant majority of this batch of students. The questionnaire included 20 variables categorized in to 6 groups
● Information received from UCSC before their arrival to the university

● The student’s reception into the university
● The courses and lectures at UCSC
● Interaction with staff and senior students
● Learning resources
● Food and accommodation
Findings
● Facts discovered by using the methodology described in the introduction
● Tense: Past tense. Passive voice is commonly used.
3.1 Before arrival at UCSC

Students were inquired whether they have received thorough, partial or no information about UCSC, their chosen
program of study and campus culture. Results suggest that sufficient information was provided on the above
mentioned aspects.
3.2 After arrival at UCSC

Using a scale of unsatisfied, satisfied or very satisfied, students were asked to rate five aspects of their arrival and
stay at UCSC. A considerable number of responses suggested that hostel facilities and time allocated for English
lessons need improvement.
Conclusions
● Statements of fact derived from findings
● Tense: Present Simple or Present Perfect Tense
This survey of the first year undergraduates of UCSC within the period of 2011-2012 shows why UCSC is a destination
sought by many youngsters for their higher education. However, two main concerns have been highlighted.
4.1 The hostel facilities provided have been insufficient..
4.2 Not enough teaching time has been allocated for English lessons.
Recommendations
● Suggestions of how the problems can be solved
● Often contains the word, should
● Verbs with should be in active voice or passive voice
Based on the survey results, the committee makes the following recommendations.
5.1 The university should allocate a spacious building for hostel facilities.
5.2 The first year time table should have more time allocated for English lessons
2.1 Small Talk
● Is a casual form of conversation

● Breaks the ice or the silence between people
● There are times that small talk is appropriate
● It is sometimes considered rude to say nothing when someone who makes small talk with you
● Ability to conduct small talk is considered a social skill
● People with different relationships make small talk but mostly it's made between people who do not know
each other
Conversation Starters
● Talking about weather
– It's too hot today, isn't it?
– Can you believe all of this rain we've been having?
● Talking about current events
– Did you listen to news today?
– Did you hear about the hurricane at Trincomalee?
● At the office
– Looking forward to the weekend?
– What do you think of the new computers?
● At a social event
– Hi, I just love your saree! May I ask you where you got it?
– Pretty nice place huh?
● Out for a walk
– Those roses are so beautiful, aren't they?
– Hello, nice day outside isn't it?
● Waiting somewhere
– It looks like we are going to be here a while, huh?
– How long have you been waiting?
Appropriate Subjects for Small Talk

● Sports ● Hobbies
● Weather ● Family (not private matters)
● Media (films, books, magazines, TV shows, etc.) ● Holidays
● Job (only general questions) ● Celebrities
Inappropriate Subjects for Small Talk

● Salary ● Age
● Politics (not unless you get to know the person better) ● Intimate Relationships
● Religion (tolerance is the key!)
● Death (we all face it but need not talk about it for the first time we meet someone)
● Sales (do not try to sell something to someone you have just met unless s/he is your customer)
2.2 Interviews
Facing an Interview
● Conduct some research about the company before you go
● Be polite
– Go in when you are called in and greet the interviewer politely with a smile
– Do not sit until you are offered a seat
– When offered, say, “Thank you,” and sit down
● Prepare your introduction and key points
– This is your two minute opportunity to highlight yourself and demonstrate what you can offer for
the company
● Smile, be natural and speak with confidence
● Dress for Success – Dress smart, be neat and clean
● Be Punctual – Come at least 15 minutes prior to your appointment time
● Be open and honest
● Do not talk about salary or benefits (unless they make an offer or ask you to make an offer)
Conducting an Interview
● Consider the purpose and prepare questions
● Scan through the documents provided by interviewees
● Thank the interviewee for taking part
● Explain the purpose
● Ask questions that you prepared
● Analyze the results (and select the employee/s)
Probable Interview Questions

● Tell us about yourself
– Always focus on your strengths relevant to the job
– You may tell the interviewer about your other skills as well
● Would you call yourself a team player?
– Yes
– Support your answer with evidence from past experience
● Why should we employ you?
– List out your strengths that are relevant to the job
e.g.: I have good coordination skills, My greatest asset is my ability to motivate people, etc.
● Do you have offers from other companies?
– Be honest
– Whatever your answer is, it should match your career goals
● What salary are you expecting?
– Try not to get into salary details early unless you are pressed
– If you have done your homework, you would know how much people in similar jobs are paid
– You may tell them that you would accept a salary that the company would think reasonable for you
● How much do you think you are worth?
– Be honest
– Do not under estimate or over estimate yourself
● What kind of a culture are you comfortable with?
– Be clear about your preference
– This way, the employer would get a clear picture of your preference
● What is more important to you – salary or growth opportunities?
– This will reveal the real you
– You may tell them that you value growth opportunities more with a reasonable salary
●What do you know about our company?

– Do not give your opinion about the company
– Stick to reported facts that you have gathered such as, product portfolio, size, income, customers,
● Tell us about your strengths and weaknesses
– Remember to state both strengths and weaknesses
– Be careful that the weaknesses you mention are not construed as problem areas that could
negatively impact the company.
● Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?
– Talk about your positive goals that bear a positive impact on the company as well
● What are your plans for higher studies?
– Once again, talk about the positive plans that are related to the company.
2.3 Presentations & Public Speaking
Essentials in Presentations & Public Speeches

● A presentation or a public speech is a way of communication between the speaker and the audience.
● Through presentations and public speeches, you communicate three messages with your audience.
– Physical message
– Story Message
– Visual Message
Physical Message
● The message that your body sends to the audience. This is done via;
● Eye contact
Speakers who make eye contact with the audience open the flow of communication and convey
interest, concern, warmth and credibility.
● Posture
Standing erect and leaning forward communicates that you are approachable, respective and
friendly. Interpersonal closeness results when you and your audience face each other. Speaking with
your back turned to the audience or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided as it
communicates disinterest.
● Gestures
If you use gestures (body language and facial expressions) while speaking, you won't be boring but
will be interesting for the audience. It will also facilitate understanding of your speech content.
● Voice
If you speak in monotonous tone, you will sound dull to your audience. Speak loud enough and clear.
Vary your volume, tone, pitch and pace in order to suit what you say.
Story Message
The message you convey with your words, sentences and paragraphs. A presentation/ speech has three parts.
● Introduction
This should be attention grabbing. Be creative. Make sure to address the audience.
● Body
Use evidence for the points you make. Don't overload the audience with facts, statistics, etc. Make
it interesting through example stories, humour, etc. where necessary.
● Conclusion
Summarize your presentation and have a memorable conclusion. Finally, thank the audience.
Visual Message
● The visual message is the message you communicate with the visuals such as handouts, props, posters,
Open Office Impress or PowerPoint.
● Remember 3 points about the visual message;
Make good, easily understandable, visuals
- Show images and keep the information short and simple.
Use them well
- Tell the audience what the visual is about. Explain how to read your visual and emphasize
your point.
No plagiarism
- Don't use someone else's work without giving her/him any credit. For more information,
refer the following we99bsite;
Is there a difference between public speaking and presentation skills? Well…it’s a subtle difference
● When you deliver a speech, it’s more likely that you are standing in front of your audience who will listen
without interruption
● However, in a presentation, you are more likely to be questioned.
● A presentation is traditionally a meeting with colleagues or clients.
● A public speech could be anywhere but more likely to be a larger audience
● In a public speech, any form of relevant visual aid could be used which is optional
● However, a presentation is to have clear visual aids such as PowerPoint slides
2.4 Effective Listening Skills
How to Become an Active Listener

● Remember that listening is different from hearing!
● Pay attention
● Listen for Ideas
– Not Just Words!
● Show that you are listening
– Use your body language in doing so (e.g: nod occasionally)
● Provide feedback
– Ask questions to clarify certain points. "What do you mean when you say....“
● Defer Judgment
– Allow the speaker to finish his/her point. Do not interrupt with counter arguments
– Don't mentally prepare a rebuttal
● Respond Appropriately
– Be open and honest in your response.
– Voice your opinions respectfully.
3.1 Summarizing and Paraphrasing
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as your own.
Importance of Summarizing and Paraphrasing

● Paraphrasing and Summarizing are useful tools in writing academic research that students should use in
essay writing.
● Paraphrasing and Summarizing allow you to express someone else´s ideas in your own words in order to
avoid plagiarism.
When to Summarize…
● Summarize when you need to provide a brief overview of a text. The summary is very flexible.
● Summarize to distill only the most essential points of someone else's work
When to Paraphrase…
● To paraphrase means to express someone else's ideas in your own language.
● A paraphrase may be the best option when you need your document to be more detailed and specific.
Summarizing
● Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s).
● You should focus on the central idea of the passage.
● Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.
● Summarize when you want to present the main points of a lengthy passage. A summary should be brief,
complete and objective.
● A summary should be attributed to the original source.
● Identify main points.
● Condense the main points without losing the essence of the material.
● Use your own words to condense the message. If certain synonyms are awkward, quote the words.
● Keep your summary short.
● Do not plagiarize.
● Write down all documentation facts so that you can document your source when you use it in your
writing.
Paraphrasing
● Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words.
● A paraphrase must be also attributed to the original source.
● In paraphrasing one doesn't only restate the writer's main points, but, follows the progression of a writer's
ideas sentence by sentence.
● The paraphrase, is usually almost the same length as the original (longer than the summary).
● Paraphrasing is used most effectively when you want to present material written in language that is
abstract, archaic, or highly technical.
● Say what the source says, but no more.
● Reproduce the source’s order of ideas and emphasis.
● Use your own words and paraphrasing to restate the message.
● Read over your sentences to make sure they make sense.
● Do not distort the sources meaning.
● Expect your material to be as long as (and possibly longer than) the original.
● Do not plagiarize.
● Write down all documentation facts so that you can document your source when you use it in your
writing.
3.2 Reading Fiction & Non-fiction
What is ● Literature created through someone’s What is Writing that is about facts or real events
Fiction? imagination Non-
● Not true fiction?
Front Consists of title of book, author’s name and Front Consists of titleof book, author’s name,
Cover illustration Cover illustration,
Back Cover ●Includes a blurb, ISBN, etc. Front ● Copyright page:
●Usually we first look at the front cover matter: title, author’s name, copyright
and the back cover of the book. information, ISBN, publisher information.
●A blurb is a short summary of the story or ● Foreword:
promotional piece that tempts you to usually written by an expert in the field
read the book. ● Preface:
Author’s personal story about the book
● Introduction:
practical guide to using the book;
● Acknowledgments:
recognizes people who contributed
Spine Consists of title of book, author/illustrator Spine title, author’s name, publisher
and publisher
Title Page Back ●Bibliography:
matter: References
title, ●Appendices:
background information or details
author, ●Glossary:
alphabetically arranged dictionary of
terms used in the book
●Index:
publisher, is a list of words or phrases and
year of associated pointers to where useful
publication information can be found in the book
Copyright Title PageCopyright page

page
Body text Pages containing the story Body text Chapters
Reading a ●Take a look at the front cover Reading a ● You read a non fiction book to get to
Fiction (title, author) Non-fiction know something
Book ●Read the blurb at the back so you can get book ● Before you open a book, you must know
Aglimpse of the story inside what you are looking for
●Scan1 through the first few pages and ● Unlike reading fiction, you don’t need to
body text feel that you have to finish reading the
●This way you can choose a book for book
yourself to read ● More likely, you are only looking for
●Unlike, non-fiction, reading fiction information you need to find
involves reading from the beginning of ● As in the case of a fiction book, we go
your story to the end through the front and back covers, spine
●Read this way and enjoy the book and front matter of the book.
●For more information, see; ● To find what you want to know (without
reading the whole book), you should go
through;
The content page / Index
(if you need to read about management,
find the word in the index, which will tell
you the exact pages to read)
02
Team Work
1. Group dynamics
1] Forming
2] Storming
3] Norming
4] Performing
2. Leadership styles
1] Authoritarian
2] Paternalistic
3] Democratic
4] Laissez-faire
5] Transactional
6] Transformational
3. Personality types
1] Analysts
2] Diplomats
3] Sentinels
4] Explorers
4. Collaboration tools
1] Communication
E-Mail
Voicemail
Instant messaging (IM)
VoIP(voice over ip) / video call
2] Coordination
Online Calendars
Time trackers
Spreadsheets
3] Collaboration
Video conferencing
IM Teleconferencing
5. Conflict Resolution Strategies

1] Discussion
2] Written Communication
3] Mediation
4] Compromise
5] Voting
Group Dynamics
Group Dynamics is basically the study of groups and the processes that are involved in group formation and
functioning. It is a field that is very diverse and has the elements of sociology, communication studies and
psychology.
Groups are actually individuals that are connected to each other by social relationships. Then there are also groups
that are formed in organizations. Since they have to interact with each other, it is termed as a very dynamic process.
Elements of Group Dynamics:
Forming:
In this element the collection of individuals strive to form a group. Issues such as composition, work load
division, leadership and life span are taken care of. Individuals see a need to establish their personal
identities and acquaintance with each other.
Storming:
This involves surfacing of a conflict in the group. The purpose of the formation of group, leadership, roles
etc. are challenged by some individuals. However this element leads to reveling of actual identities and
motives and building of trust amongst the group members.
Norming:
Patterns of work are set within the group. Issues such as level of commitment, structure, harmony etc. are
also established.
Performing:
After coming to terms with all the issues, the group actually starts performing. It is characterized with the
orientation of achievement, productivity, norms, culture and structure of the group. The focus is on the
accomplishment of goals.
Leadership styles
A leadership style is a leader's style of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.There are
many different leadership styles that can be exhibited by leaders in the political, business or other fields.
Styles of Leadership
Authoritarian
The authoritarian leadership style keep main emphasis on the distinction of the authoritarian leader and their
followers, these types of leaders make sure to only create a distinct professional relationship. Direct supervision is
what they believe to be the key in maintaining a successful environment and followership. Authoritarian leadership
styles often follow the vision of those that are in control, and may not necessarily be compatible with those that are
being led. Authoritarian leaders have a focus on efficiency, as other styles, such as a democratic style, may be seen
as a hindrance on progress.
Examples of authoritarian leadership is a police officer directing traffic, a teacher ordering a student to do his or her
assignment, and a supervisor instructing a subordinate to clean a workstation. All of these positions require a distinct
set of characteristics that give the leader the position to get things in order or get a point across. Authoritarian
Traits: sets goals individually, engages primarily in one-way and downward communication and controls discussion
with followers.
Several studies have confirmed a relationship between bullying, on the one hand, and an autocratic leadership and
an authoritarian way of settling conflicts or dealing with disagreements, on the other. An authoritarian style of
leadership may create a climate of fear, where there is little or no room for dialogue and where complaining may be
considered futile.
Paternalistic
The way a Paternalistic leader works is by acting as a father figure by taking care of their subordinates as a parent
would. In this style of leadership the leader supplies complete concern for his followers or workers. In return he
receives the complete trust and loyalty of his people. Workers under this style of leader are expected to become
totally committed to what the leader believes and will not strive off and work independently. The relationship
between these co-workers and leader are extremely solid. The workers are expected to stay with a company for a
longer period of time because of the loyalty and trust. Not only do they treat each other like family inside the work
force, but outside too. These workers are able to go to each other with any problems they have regarding something
because they believe in what they say is going to truly help them.
One of the downsides to a paternalistic leader is that the leader could start to play favorites in decisions. This leader
would include the workers more apt to follow and start to exclude the ones who were less loyal.
Workers who follow paternalistic leadership also have better organization skills. The leader encourages organization
because they allow the workers to complete tasks so that they can stay on top of their work. The workers complete
tasks, this boosts self-confidence and it makes them work harder to reach a goal and exceed the goal to prove to
their boss they are working hard. Having this style of leadership can also help implement a reward system. This
system will allow their workers to work even better because there is something for them at the end of the tunnel.
While doing this they will also be able to accomplish more work in a set time frame.
Democratic
The democratic leadership style consists of the leader sharing the decision-making abilities with group members by
promoting the interests of the group members and by practicing social equality.
The boundaries of democratic participation tend to be circumscribed by the organization or the group needs and the
instrumental value of people's attributes (skills, attitudes, etc.). The democratic style encompasses the notion that
everyone, by virtue of their human status, should play a part in the group's decisions. However, the democratic style
of leadership still requires guidance and control by a specific leader. The democratic style demands the leader to
make decisions on who should be called upon within the group and who is given the right to participate in, make and
vote on decisions.
Research has found that this leadership style is one of the most effective and creates higher productivity, better
contributions from group members and increased group morale. Democratic leadership can lead to better ideas and
more creative solutions to problems because group members are encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas.
While democratic leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles, it does have some potential downsides. In
situations where roles are unclear or time is of the essence, democratic leadership can lead to communication
failures and uncompleted projects. Democratic leadership works best in situations where group members are skilled
and eager to share their knowledge. It is also important to have plenty of time to allow people to contribute, develop
a plan and then vote on the best course of action.
Laissez-faire
The laissez-faire leadership style is where all the rights and power to make decisions is fully given to the worker.
Laissez-faire leaders allow followers to have complete freedom to make decisions concerning the completion of their
work. It allows followers a self-rule, while at the same time offering guidance and support when requested. The
laissez-faire leader using guided freedom provides the followers with all materials necessary to accomplish their
goals, but does not directly participate in decision making unless the followers request their assistance. This is an
effective style to use when:
● Followers are highly skilled, experienced, and educated.

● Followers have pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own.
● Outside experts, such as staff specialists or consultants are being used.
● Followers are trustworthy and experienced.
This style should NOT be used when:

● The leader cannot or will not provide regular feedback to their followers.
Transactional
Transactional leaders focus their leadership on motivating followers through a system of rewards and punishments.
There are two factors which form the basis for this system, Contingent Reward and management-by-exception.
● Contingent Reward
Provides rewards, materialistic or psychological, for effort and recognizes good performance.
● Management-by-Exception
allows the leader to maintain the status quo. The leader intervene when subordinates do not meet
acceptable performance levels and initiates corrective action to improve performance. Management
by exception helps reduce the workload of managers being that they are only called-in when
workers deviate from course.
This type of leader identifies the needs of their followers and gives rewards to satisfy those needs in exchange of
certain level of performance.
Transactional leaders focus on increasing the efficiency of established routines and procedures. They are more
concerned with following existing rules than with making changes to the organization.
A transactional leader establishes and standardizes practices that will help the organization reach:
● Maturity
● Goal-setting
● Efficiency of operation
● Increasing productivity.
Effect on work teams
Transactional leaders work better in teams where there is a lower level of emotions going into the project. This is
because individuals are able to
● Think freely when setting their emotions aside from their work.
● Have all of their focus on the given task.
A transactional leader is:
1. Negatively affected when the emotional level is high.
2. Positively affected when the emotional level is low.
Transactional leadership presents a form of strategic leadership that is important for the organizations development.
Transactional leadership is essential for team innovativeness.
Transformational
A transformational leader is a type of person in which the leader is not limited by his or her followers' perception.
The main objective is to work to change or transform his or her followers' needs and redirect their thinking. Leaders
that follow the transformation style of leading, challenge and inspire their followers with a sense of purpose and
excitement. They also create a vision of what they aspire to be, and communicate this idea to others (their
followers). There are three identified characteristics of a transformational leader:
● Charismatic leadership has a broad knowledge of field, has a self-promoting personality, high/great
energy level, and willing to take risk and use irregular strategies in order to stimulate their followers to
think independently
● Individualized consideration
● Intellectual stimulation
Personality types
Type 1 - Analysts
Architect Logician Commander Debater
Description imaginative & Innovative inventors with Bold, imaginative Smart & curious thinkers
strategic thinkers an unquenchable(never and strong-willed who cannot resist an
with a plan for full) thirst for knowledge leaders always intellectual challenge
everything finding a way - or
making one
Strengths Quick, Imaginative Great Analysts and Efficient Knowledgeable
and Strategic Mind Abstract Thinkers
High Self-Confidence Imaginative and Original Energetic Quick Thinkers
Independent & Open-Minded Self-Confident Original
Decisive
Hard-working and Enthusiastic Strong-Willed Excellent Brain stormers
determined
Open-minded Objective Strategic Thinkers Charismatic
Jacks-of-all-Trades Honest and Charismatic and Energetic
Straightforward Inspiring
Weaknesses Arrogant Very Private and Stubborn and Very Argumentative
Withdrawn Dominant
Judgmental Insensitive Intolerant Insensitive
Overly analytical Absent-minded Impatient Intolerant
Loathe highly Condescending Arrogant Can Find It Difficult to
structured Focus
environments
Clueless in romance Loathe Rules and Poor Handling of Dislike Practical Matters
Guidelines Emotions
Second-Guess Cold and Ruthless
Themselves
Type 2 – Diplomats
Advocate Mediator Protagonist Campaigner
Description Quiet & mystical, yet Poetic, kind & altruistic Charismatic & Enthusiastic, creative
very inspiring and people, always eager to inspiring leaders, and sociable free spirits,
tireless idealists help a good cause able to mesmerize who can always find a
their listeners reason to smile
Strengths Creative Idealistic Tolerant Curious
Insightful Seek and Value Harmony Reliable Observant
Inspiring and Open-Minded and Charismatic Energetic and
Convincing Flexible Enthusiastic
Decisive Very Creative Altruistic Excellent

Communicators
Determined and Passionate and Energetic Natural leaders Know How to Relax
Passionate
Altruistic Dedicated and Very Popular and
Hard-Working Friendly
Weaknesses Sensitive Too Idealistic Overly Idealistic Poor Practical Skills
Extremely Private Too Altruistic Too Selfless Find it Difficult to Focus
Perfectionist Impractical Too Sensitive Over think Things
Always Need to Have Dislike Dealing With Data Fluctuating Self- Get Stressed Easily
a Cause Esteem
Can Burn Out Easily Take Things Personally Struggle to Make Highly Emotional
Tough Decisions
Difficult to Get to Know Independent to a
Fault
Personality types
Type 3 - Sentinels
Logistician Defender Executive Consul
Description Practical & fact- Very dedicated and warm Excellent Extraordinarily caring,
minded individuals, protectors. Always ready administrators, social and popular
whose reliability to protect their loved unmatched at people. Always eager to
cannot be doubted ones managing things – help
or people
Strengths Honest and Direct Supportive Dedicated Strong Practical Skills
Strong-willed and Reliable and Patient Strong-willed Strong Sense of Duty
Dutiful
Very Responsible Imaginative & Observant Direct and Honest Very Loyal
Calm and Practical Enthusiastic Loyal, Patient and Sensitive and Warm
Reliable
Create and Enforce Loyal and Hard-Working Enjoy Creating Good at Connecting
Order Order with Others
Jacks-of-all-trades Good Practical Skills Excellent
Organizers
Weaknesses Stubborn Humble and Shy Inflexible and Worried about Their
Stubborn Social Status
Insensitive Take Things Too Uncomfortable Inflexible
Personally with Unconventio-
Onal Situations
Always by the Book Repress Their Feelings Judgmental Reluctant to Innovate or
Improvise
Judgmental Overload Themselves Too Focused on Vulnerable to Criticism
Social Status
Often Unreasonably Reluctant to Change Difficult to Relax Often Too Needy
Blame Themselves
Too Altruistic Difficulty Too Selfless
Expressing Emotion
Type 4– Explorers
Virtuoso Adventurer Entrepreneur Entertainer
Description Bold & practical Flexible & charming Smart, energetic Spontaneous, energetic
experimenters, artists, always ready to & very perceptive & enthusiastic people –
masters of all kinds explore & experience people, who truly life is never boring
of tools something new enjoy living on the around them
edge
Strengths Honest and Direct Supportive Dedicated Strong Practical Skills

Strong-willed and Reliable and Patient Strong-willed Strong Sense of Duty
Dutiful
Very Responsible Imaginative &Observant Direct and Honest Very Loyal
Calm and Practical Enthusiastic Loyal, Patient and Sensitive and Warm
Reliable
Create and Enforce Loyal and Hard-Working Enjoy Creating Good at Connecting
Order Order with Others
Jacks-of-all-trades Good Practical Skills Excellent
Organizers
Weaknesses Stubborn Humble and Shy Inflexible and Worried about Their
Stubborn Social Status
Insensitive Take Things Too Uncomfortable Inflexible
Personally with
Unconventional
Situations
Always by the Book Repress Their Feelings Judgmental Reluctant to Innovate or
Improvise
Judgmental Overload Themselves Too Focused on Vulnerable to Criticism
Social Status
Often Unreasonably Reluctant to Change Difficult to Relax Often Too Needy
Blame Themselves
Too Altruistic Difficulty Too Selfless
Expressing
Emotion
Communication
Communication collaboration tools allow exchanging information between individuals:
E-Mail
The invention of email as a collaboration tool changed the way we used to communicate in the workplace. It is the
easiest method to make contact within an organization and is well established. Especially for organizing daily
correspondence, email can reach various people with just one click.
Although email is still the most common used tool in communication collaboration it is not very efficient on a big
scale and other forms of communication seem to take over. Besides its flexibility it is not very well for group
conversations as they grow too fast. There is no way to be sure that you have the latest version of a document that
has been sent to you and it is impossible to always track via your email what tasks need to be done and by which
deadline. As Cisco states in their Cisco Blog about the "Future of Email", emails "will improve productivity by
organizing your data for you" and try to bring more transparency in your work with email.
Voicemail
Voicemail as a collaboration tool is more and more integrated in services such as Google Voice. As pointed out in an
IBM future scenario the role of voicemail could be that of what email is for us today.
Instant messaging(IM)
Through instant messaging as a collaboration tool we are able to reach people within an organization in real-time. In
the future instant messaging is not a stand-alone software anymore, but very well integrated in bigger solutions such
as Unified Communication.
VoIP / video call

Voice over IP as a collaboration tool has quickly gained popularity among companies and is part of their
communication portfolio. As a report from Eclipse Telecom is pointing out, the VoIP is moving towards the state to
totally replace our telephones in our offices and also integrate in existing collaboration service environments.
Coordination
Coordination is defined as "the deliberate and orderly alignment or adjustment of partners’ actions to achieve jointly
determined goals". Collaboration tools supporting this are the ones who allow you to set up group activities,
schedules and deliverables
Online Calendars
You will not find an organization that has no online calendar, they are part of our professional behavior at work and
fully integrated in other systems. As a research paper from University of Bath explains, online calendars could in the
future be much closely linked to other data such as social media and have even a larger impact.
Time trackers
Time trackers are especially used to measure the performance of employees. Its effect on productivity is discussed
as being controversial.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are like emails very popular within the corporate environment and as a collaboration tool essential for
financial analysis or modelling. Although very popular, several studies found out that many spreadsheets contain
inaccurate data and are therefore inefficient.
Collaboration
Collaboration tools allow groups to have real-time discussions and to shape an idea or thoughts together. Trends in
terms of collaboration target on helping to maintain the "main idea" within big organizations and make connections
visible. Also the idea of bringing people who are not working in a company on a regular basis into the organization
and make use of their knowledge.
Video conferencing
In most cases video conferencing is part of the overall communication and collaboration strategy of organizations.
Especially now when all services are cloud-based and therefore implementation costs became more affordable. The
long term vision for video conferencing lies in the correct usage of computer processing power, data storage or
mobile bandwidth speeds to further decrease the obstacles of collaboration.
IM teleconferencing
Bringing teams, meetings or events as close as possible is what teleconferencing solutions want to do. Apart from
business environments Teleconferencing is currently used in a variety of fields, such as telemedicine, where they
contribute enormously to the efficiency and productivity as distance and time are limited factors.
Conflict Resolution Strategies
Discussion
Often, conflict arises simply due to a lack of communication. If you feel that your employees are having conflict
because they are not talking with each other, set up time for a discussion. Encourage the employees to talk through
the problem, particularly if you suspect that it simply stems from the fact that they have failed to communicate
effectively up to this point.
Written Communication
If an issue has escalated or one of the employees has a hot temper, written communication may be a more effective
way of breaking down the wall and resolving conflict. Ask each employee to write a letter to the other, outlining the
problem. By writing letters instead of talking face to face they benefit from the opportunity to more carefully select
their words. They can also make sure that the exchange does not erupt into a yelling match. Additionally, letter
writing provides a means to document this communication easily.
Mediation
Sometimes, two individuals in a conflict simply cannot work it out together without the aid of third party. If your
workers' conflict has escalated to the point where outside intervention is necessary, set up a mediation session.
Train a staff member in the art of mediation. Allow this staffer to sit down with the feuding individuals and assist
them in working through their problems in a productive manner.
Compromise
Ask each person to give a little and take a little by arranging a compromise between the two. Ask both of the
members to come to your offer and talk the problem through with them, presenting potential compromises and
allowing them to mull these options over. By arranging a compromise instead of just selecting one member's
interests over the other, you can reduce the likelihood that one staff member feels slighted by the way in which the
conflict was resolved.
Voting
If you simply must put a conflict to bed, voting can be an effective method. If, for example, two employees are
arguing over a potential advertising campaign or other business endeavor, set up a vote and allow other employees
to weigh in. The numbers will solve the conflict and serve as a once-and-for-all answer.
03
Social Context of Computing
01 Social informatics
Gross domestic product (GDP)
Productivity
Factors that affect national productivity rates
Telework/Telecommuting
02 Online Social Networking
Business Applications of Online Social Networking
Social network advertising
– Direct advertising
– Advertising using an individual’s network of friends
– Indirect advertising through groups
– Company-owned social networking Web site
– Viral marketing
Hiring and recruiting process
Improve Customer Service
Social Shopping Web Sites
Social Networking Ethical Issues
– Cyberbullying
– Cyber stalking
– Sexual predators
– Uploading inappropriate material
03 Cyber technology and gender
Access to High-Technology Jobs
Gender Bias in Software Design and Video Games
04 Cyber technology, democracy, and democratic standards
Has Cyber technology Enhanced or Threatened Democracy?
Social/Political Fragmentation and “Personalization” Filters
How has Cyber technology Affected Political Elections in Democratic Nations?
Electronic Devices and Social Media
Political Blogs and the Democratic Process
05 The transformation and the quality of work
Job Displacement and the Transformed Workplace
Automation, Robotics, and Expert Systems
Remote Work, Job Outsourcing, and Globalization
06 The Quality of Work Life in the Digital Era
Employee Stress, Workplace Surveillance, and Computer Monitoring
Distinguishing Between Two Different Aspects of Employee Monitoring
07 The Digital Divide
Social Informatics
• Gross Domestic product (GDP)

–Measurement of the standard of living
–Equals total annual output of a nation’s economy
• Productivity
–Amount of output produced per unit of input
–Modern management techniques and automated technology increase productivity
–Innovation is a key factor in productivity improvement
–Relationship between IT investment and productivity growth is complex
–Possible lag time between:
Application of innovative IT solutions
Capture of significant productivity gains
–Difficult to quantify how much the use of IT has contributed to worker productivity
–Factors that affect national productivity rates
Business cycles of expansion and contraction
Outsourcing to contractors can skew productivity
Regulations make it easier to hire and fire workers
More competitive markets for goods and services
Difficult to measure output of some services
IT investments don’t always produce tangible results
• Telework/Telecommuting
–Employee works away from the office
–Advances in technology enable communications
–Highly skilled workers demand more flexibility
–Laws passed to encourage telework
–Organizations must prepare guidelines and policies
–Some positions are not suited to telework
–Some individuals are not suited to be teleworkers
What Is a Social Networking Web Site?

• Creates an online community of Internet users that eliminates barriers created by time, distance, and
cultural differences
• Allows people to interact with others online by sharing opinions, insights, information, interests, and
experiences
• Members may use the site to interact with friends, family members, and colleagues they already know
• Members may also wish to develop new personal and professional relationships
• Endless range of interests and a wide range of social networking Web sites catering to those interests
• Over 314.5 million social network users worldwide
• Average visitor spends almost six hours per month
• Popularity increasing mostly rapidly among those aged 50 and older
Social Networking Web Site
Business Applications of Online Social Networking

• Social network advertising
–Uses social networks to communicate and promote the benefits of products and services
• Social network advertising strategies
–Direct advertising
Banner ads on social networking Web site
–Advertising using an individual’s network of friends
People frequently make decisions based on input from their close group of friends
Ethical issues with exploiting an individual’s personal relationships for the financial benefit of
a company
–Indirect advertising through groups
Interested users can join by becoming “fans”
Fans gained in this manner may not remain loyal
–Company-owned social networking Web site
Users can talk about what new products, services, or improvements they would like to see
–Viral marketing
Users pass along marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth
• The Use of Social Networks in the Hiring Process
• 89% of recruiters use some form of social media in the recruiting process
• Employers can and do look at the social networking profiles of job candidates when hiring
• Companies may reject candidates who post:
–Information about their drinking or drug use
–Provocative or inappropriate photos
–Discriminatory remarks relating to race, gender, or religion
–Confidential information
•Employer cannot legally screen applicants based on race or ethnicity, but:
–Members of social networking Web sites frequently provide sex, age, marital status, sexual
orientation, religion, and political affiliation data
–Personal photos may reveal a disability or user’s race or ethnicity
–Individuals may reveal data that are protected by civil rights legislation
Use of Social Media to Improve Customer Service

• Consumers use social networks to share their experiences, both good and bad, with others
• Also seek help and advice on how to use products more effectively and how to deal with special situations
• Unless organizations monitor social networks, customers are left to resolve questions and issues on their
own, risking loss of customers and future sales
Social Shopping Web Sites

• Combine two highly popular online activities: shopping and social networking
• Shoppers and sellers can share information and make recommendations while shopping online
• Revenue is generated through retailer advertising or by sharing with retailers data about their members’
likes and dislikes
• Retailers can design product improvements based on input and get ideas for new product lines
• Great way for small businesses to boost sales
• Ethical issues for social networking Web sites are:

–Cyberbullying
–Cyber stalking
–Sexual predators
–Uploading inappropriate material
• Cyberbullying
–Harassment, torment, humiliation, or threatening of one minor by another minor or group of
minors via the Internet or cell phone
–Cyberbullying can become so intense, child commits suicide
Numerous forms of cyberbullying

–Sending mean-spirited or threatening messages
–Sending thousands of text messages to victim’s cell phone and running up a huge cell
phone bill
–Impersonating victim and sending inappropriate messages to others
–Stealing victim’s password and modifying his or her profile to include racist, homophobic,
sexual, or other inappropriate data that offends others or attracts the attention of
undesirable people
–Posting mean, personal, or false information about the victim in the cyber bully’s blog
–Creating a Web site whose purpose is to humiliate or threaten the victim
–Taking inappropriate photos of the victim and either posting online or sending to others via
cellphone
–Setting up an Internet poll to elicit responses to embarrassing questions regarding victim
–Sending inappropriate messages while playing interactive games
• Cyber stalking
–Threatening behavior or unwanted advances using the Internet or online and electronic
communications
–Adult version of cyber bullying
–Can escalate into:
Abusive or excessive phone calls
Threatening or obscene mail
Trespassing
Vandalism
Physical stalking
Physical assault
–Over three dozen states have laws prohibiting cyber stalking
–Current federal statues address some forms of cyberstalking, but there are large gaps in federal
and state law
• Encounters with sexual predators

–Some social networking Web sites are criticized for not protecting minors from sexual predators
MySpace banned 90,000 registered sex offenders from its site
–Legislators are pushing social networking Web sites to adopt stronger safety measures
• Uploading of inappropriate material

–Social networking Web sites have policies against uploading videos depicting violence or obscenity
–Most social networking Web sites have terms of use agreements that give the sites the right to
delete material and terminate users accounts that violate their policy
–Most Web sites do not have sufficient resources to review all material posted
The Digital Divide
• Standard of living
–Level of material comfort measured by the goods, services, and luxuries available
• Digital divide
Is the gap between those who have and do not have access to “information tools” such as
Cell phones / Personal computers / The Internet, among age groups, economic classes, and
cities/rural areas
Must be improve in
• Emergencies such as
–Health emergencies
–Crime emergencies
• Access to IT and communications technology:
–Enhances learning
–Provides educational and economic opportunities
–Influences cultural, social, and political conditions
• Education Rate (E-Rate) program
–Created by the Telecommunications Act of 1996
–Goal to help schools and libraries obtain:
• Access to state-of-the-art services and technologies
• Discounted rates
• Low-cost computers for developing countries
–One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
• Provides low-cost laptop computers for education
–Classmate PC from Intel
–Free notebook from Asus
• Mobile phone
–Tool to bridge the digital divide
–Costs less than PC and more broadly available
04
Intellectual Property
1. Copyright law
Plagiarism
Software Piracy
Fair-use / First-sale
Copyright law in USA
DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act]
SBCTEA [Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act]
2. Patent law
3. Trade secret law
4. Key Intellectual Property Issues

– Plagiarism
– Reverse engineering
– Open source code
– Competitive intelligence
– Trademark infringement
– Cybersquatting
04
Intellectual Property
What Is Intellectual Property?

• Term used to describe works of the mind
–Distinct and “owned” or created by a person or group
• Copyright law
–Protects authored works
•Patent law
–Protects inventions
•Trade secret law
–Helps safeguard information critical to an organization’s success
Copyright law
Plagiarism (breach of copyright)

•Stealing some one’s ideas or words and passing them off as one’s own
•Many students:
–Do not understand what constitutes plagiarism
–Believe that all electronic content is in the public domain
•Plagiarism is also common outside academia
•Plagiarism detection systems
–Check submitted material against databases of electronic content
List of plagiarism detection services and software
• Steps to combat student plagiarism

–Help students understand what constitutes plagiarism and why they need to cite sources
–Show students how to document Web pages
–Schedule major writing assignments in portions due over the course of the term
–Tell students that instructors are aware of Internet paper mills and plagiarism detection services
–Incorporate detection into an anti plagiarism program
Software Piracy
• Definition of software piracy is practice of illegally making copies of software or enabling others to access
software to which they are not entitled.
• In 2009, 43% of all software in circulation worldwide was pirated—at a cost of over $ 51 billion(USD).
• The countries with the highest piracy rate were Georgia(95%), Zimbabwe(92%), Bangladesh(91%),
Moldova(91%), and Armenia(90%).
• The lowest piracy rates were in the United States(20%), Japan(21%), Luxembourg(21%),and NewZealand
(22%).
Fair-use
Every author or publisher may make limited use of another person’s copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news, reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. This principle is important to the computer industry
in particular, and to engineering in general, because it supports the practice of “reverse engineering,” which allows
someone to buy a product for the purpose of taking it apart to see how it works.
First-sale
Once the original work has been sold for the first time. At this point, the original owner loses rights over the
previously protected work. For example, once you purchase a copy of a (physical) book, you are free to give away,
resell, or even destroy your copy. But media in digital format that is licensed for use but not, strictly speaking, owned
by a user.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
 DMCA is a United States copyright law that implements in 1996
 Governs distribution of tools and software that can be used to circumvent (avoid) technological measures used to
protect copyrighted works
 Provides safe harbors for ISPs whose customers/subscribers may be breaking copyright laws
–ISP must comply with “notice and takedown procedures” that grant copyright holders a process to halt
access to alleged infringing content
 Grants creators (Author ) of original works the exclusive right to:

–Distribute
–Display
–Perform
–Reproduce work
–Prepare derivative works based upon the work
• Author may grant exclusive right to others
 Guarantees developers the rights to their works for a certain amount of time
Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act
–Created after 1/1/78, life of the author plus 70 years
–Created but not published or registered before 1/1/78, life of the author plus 70 years; no
expiration before 12/31/2004
–Created before 1978 still in original or renewable term of copyright, 95 years from the date the
copyright was originally secured
 Types of work that can be copyrighted

–Architecture
–Art
–Audiovisual works
–Choreography [is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies]
–Drama
–Graphics
–Literature
–Motion pictures
–Music
–Pantomimes [funny musical play based on traditional children's stories]
–Pictures
–Sculptures
–Sound recordings
 Fair use doctrine (policy)

–Allows portions of copyrighted materials to be used without permission under certain circumstances
–Maintains balance between protecting an author’s rights and enabling public access to copyrighted works
–Factors to consider when evaluating the use of copyrighted material
–Purpose and character of the use
–Nature of the copyrighted work
–Portion of the copyrighted work used
–Effect of the use upon the value of the copyrighted work

–Key concept: an idea cannot be copyrighted, but the expression of an idea can be
•Copyright infringement
–Copy substantial and material part of another’s copyrighted work without permission
•Software copyright protection

–Raises many complicated issues of interpretation
–Copyright law should not be used to inhibit interoperability between the products of rival vendors
• The Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008
–Increased enforcement and substantially increased penalties for infringement
•General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)

–Trade agreement between 117 countries
–Created World Trade Organization (WTO) to enforce
–Despite GATT, copyright protection varies greatly from country to country
•The WTO and the WTO TRIPS Agreement (1994)

–Many nations recognize that intellectual property has become increasingly important in world trade
–Established minimum levels of protection that each government must provide to the intellectual property
of members
–Covers copyright, patents, and trade secrets
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

–Agency of the United Nations
–Advocates for the interests of intellectual property owners
–WIPO Copyright Treaty provides additional copyright protections for electronic media
Patents
• Grant of property right to inventors

• Issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
• Permits an owner to exclude the public from making, using, or selling the protected invention
• Allows legal action against violators
• Prevents independent creation as well as copying
• Extends only to the United States and its territories and possessions
• Applicant must file with the USPTO
–USPTO searches prior art
–Takes an average of 35.3 months from filing an application until application is issued as a patent or
abandoned
• Prior art
–Existing body of knowledge
–Available to a person of ordinary skill in the art
• An invention must pass four tests

–Must be in one of the five statutory classes of items
–Must be useful
–Must be novel
–Must not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the same field
• Items cannot be patented if they are:

–Abstract ideas
–Laws of nature
–Natural phenomena
• Patent infringement
–Making unauthorized use of another’s patent

–No specified limit to the monetary penalty
• Software patent
–Protects feature, function, or process embodied in instructions executed on a computer
• 20,000 software-related patents per year have been issued since the early 1980s
• Some experts think the number of software patents being granted inhibits new software
development
• Before obtaining a software patent, do a patent search
• Software Patent Institute is building a database of information
• Software cross-licensing agreements

–Large software companies agree not to sue each other over patent infringements
–Small businesses have no choice but to license patents if they use them
• Average patent lawsuit costs $3 -$10 million
• Defensive publishing
–Alternative to filing for patents
–Company publishes a description of the innovation
–Establishes the idea’s legal existence as prior art
–Costs mere hundreds of dollars
–No lawyers
–Fast
• Patent troll firm

–Acquires patents with no intention of manufacturing anything; instead, licensing the patents to
others
•Standard is a definition or format

–Approved by recognized standards organization or accepted as a de facto standard by the industry
–Enables hardware and software from different manufacturers to work together
•Submarine patent
–Patented process/invention hidden within a standard
–Does not surface until standard is broadly adopted
• Patent farming involves:

–Influencing a standards organization to make use of a patented item without revealing the
existence of the patent
–Demanding royalties from all parties that use the standard
Trademarks
• A trademark is a logo, packaged sign, phrase, sound, or word that enables consumer to differentiate one
company’s products from another’s.
• Consumersoftencannotexaminegoodsorservicestodeterminetheirqualityorsource, so instead they
rely on the labels attached to the products.
• The Lanham Act of 1946(also known as the Trademark Act, Title15, Chapter22 of theU.S.Code)defines
The use of a trademark, the process for obtaining a trademark from the Patent and Trademark Office, and
The penalties associated with trademark infringement.
• The law gives the trademark’s owner the right to prevent others from using the same mark or a
Confusingly similar mark on a product’s label.
Trade Secrets
• Trade secret
–Business information
–Represents something of economic value
–Requires an effort or cost to develop
–Some degree of uniqueness or novelty
–Generally unknown to the public
–Kept confidential
• Information is only considered a trade secret if the company takes steps to protect it
•Trade secret law has a few key advantages over patents and copyrights
–No time limitations
–No need to file an application
–Patents can be ruled invalid by courts
–No filing or application fees
• Law doesn’t prevent someone from using the same idea if it is developed independently
• Trade secret law varies greatly from country to country
• Trade secret law has a few key advantages over patents and copyrights
–No time limitations

–No need to file an application
–Patents can be ruled invalid by courts
–No filing or application fees
• Law doesn’t prevent someone from using the same idea if it is developed independently
• Trade secret law varies greatly from country to country
• Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)

–Established uniformity across the states in area of trade secret law
–Computer hardware and software can qualify for trade secret protection
• The Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996

–Penalties of up to $10 million and 15 years in prison for the theft of trade secrets
Employees and Trade Secrets

•Employees are the greatest threat to trade secrets
•Unauthorized use of an employer’s customer list
–Customer list is not automatically considered a trade secret
–Educate workers about the confidentiality of lists
•Nondisclosure clauses in employee’s contract
–Enforcement can be difficult
–Confidentiality issues are reviewed at the exit interview
• Non compete agreements
–Protect intellectual property from being used by competitors when key employees leave
–Require employees not to work for competitors for a period of time
–Wide range of treatment on non compete agreements among the various states
Key Intellectual Property Issues

– Plagiarism
– Reverse engineering
– Open source code
– Competitive intelligence
– Trademark infringement
– Cybersquatting
Reverse Engineering
• Process of taking something apart in order to:
–Understand it
–Build a copy of it
–Improve it
• Applied to computer:
–Hardware
–Software
• Convert a program code to a higher-level design
• Convert an application that ran on one vendor’s database to run on another’s
• Compiler
–Language translator
–Converts computer program statements expressed in a source language to machine language
• Software manufacturer
–Provides software in machine language form
• De compiler
–Reads machine language
–Produces source code
• Courts have ruled in favor of reverse engineering:
–To enable interoperability
• Software license agreements forbid reverse engineering
• Ethics of using reverse engineering are debated
–Fair use if it provides useful function/interoperability
–Can uncover designs that someone else has developed at great cost and taken care to protect
Open Source Code

• Program source code made available for use or modification:
–As users or other developers see fit
• Basic premise
–Many programmers can help software improve
–Can be adapted to meet new needs
–Bugs rapidly identified and fixed
–High reliability
• GNU General Public License (GPL) was a precursor to the Open Source Initiative (OSI)
Trademark Infringement
•Trademark is logo, package design, phrase, sound, or word that enables consumer to differentiate one
company’s product from another’s
•Trademark owner can prevent others from using the same mark or a confusingly similar mark on a
product’s label
•Organizations frequently sue one another over the use of a trademark in a Web site or domain name
•Nominative fair use is defense often employed by defendant in trademark infringement case
Cyber squatters
–Register domain names for famous trademarks or company names
–Hope the trademark’s owner will buy the domain name for a large sum of money
•To curb cybersquatting, register all possible domain names
–.org, .com, .info
•Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
–Several top-level domains
(.com, .edu, edu., .gov, .int, .mil, .net, .org, aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .pro, .asis, .cat,
.mobi, .tel, and .travel)
–Current trademark holders are given time to assert their rights in the new top-level domains before
registrations are opened to the general public
–Anti cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act allows trademark owners to challenge foreign
cyber squatters
Competitive Intelligence
•Gathering of legally obtainable information
–To help a company gain an advantage over rivals
• Often integrated into a company’s strategic plans and decision making
• Not the same as industrial espionage, which uses illegal means to obtain business information not available
to the general public
• Without proper management safeguards, it can cross over to industrial espionage
(a) What is intellectual property? (02 marks)

(b) How is intellectual property/objects different from tangible property/objects? (04 marks)
(c) What is the DMCA? (02 marks)
(d) What is the principle of fair use? (02 marks)
(e) (i) Discuss the conditions under which a company’s customer list can be considered a trade secret. (02 marks)
(ii) Trade secret law has a few key advantages over patents and copyrights. Name one of them. (01 mark)
(f) (i) Define what plagiarism is. (01 mark)
(ii) Why do students resort to plagiarism most of the time? (02 marks)
(iii) How do Plagiarism detection systems work? (01 mark)
(iv) What steps would you suggest to combat student plagiarism? (05 marks)
(g) Name three conditions that an invention must pass to be accepted as a patent? (03 marks)
2) Given below are some scenarios associated with Intellectual Property Rights – Copyrights, Patents & Trademarks.
(a) Name four common types of computer security attacks? (04 marks)
(b) Table below shows some perpetrators (in Column X) of computer crime and their objectives (in Column Y).
Match correctly a perpetrator from Column X with a phrase from Column Y.
(c) What is meant by risk assessment of an organization’s computers & networks? (01 mark)
(d) Outline the eight steps in the risk assessment process. (08 marks)
(e) What would one do to prevent the following type of computer crimes/security breaches in your
computer systems?
(i) An employee of a company initiates electronic purchase orders which then are approved by himself.
This allowed him to input large invoices on behalf of a “friendly vendor” and approve the invoices for
payment. He then disappeared from the company to split the money with the vendor. (02 marks)
(ii) Repeated failed login attempts, recurring attempts to download a program to a server, unusual
traffic at odd hours or a user in a human resource department trying to accesses an accounting
program for which he/she has no authority have been observed. (02 marks)
(iii) Unwanted Internet traffic which cannot be permitted is observed entering your corporate network. (02 marks)
05
Legal Issues in Computing
1. Crimes
Hackers and Crackers
Crime in Virtual Worlds
Viruses
2. Prevention
Risk Assessment
Establishing a Security Policy
Educating Employees, Contractors, and Part-Time Workers
Security actions for prevention
3. Detection
4. Response
5. Moral responsibility, legal liability, and accountability

05
Legal Issues in Computing
Crimes in computing
Hackers and Crackers

• Hackers
–Test limitations of systems out of intellectual curiosity
• Some smart and talented
• Others inept; termed “lamers” or “script kiddies”
• Crackers
–Cracking is a form of hacking
–Clearly criminal activity
Online Virtual Worlds

• Virtual world is a shared multimedia, computer-generated environment in which users represented by
avatars can act, communicate, create, retain ownership of what they create, and exchange assets with
each other
–Massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) is multiplayer video game capable of supporting
hundreds or even thousands of concurrent players
•Massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) provides huge online world in
which players take on the role of a character and control that character’s action
• Avatars can do everything one can do in real life
–Shop, hold jobs, run for political office
–Develop relationships with other avatars
–Start up new businesses
–Engage in criminal activities
Crime in Virtual Worlds

• Should law enforcement—real or virtual—get involved in acts that occur in virtual worlds?
• Criminal acts in a virtual world:
–Can be clearly illegal, such as trafficking in actual drugs or stolen credit cards
–May not be real-life crime, such as virtual muggings and sex crimes that can cause real life anguish
–May be in the gray area, for example, unfair operation of virtual casinos
• Virtual worlds have rules against offensive behavior in public, such as using racial slurs or performing
overtly sexual actions, but:
–Consenting adults can travel to private areas and engage in socially unacceptable behavior
–Bad deeds done online can often be mediated by game administrators based on rules of the game
Viruses
• Pieces of programming code
• Usually disguised as something else
• Cause unexpected and undesirable behavior
• Often attached to files
• Deliver a “payload”
• Spread by actions of the “infected” computer user
• Infected e-mail document attachments
• Downloads of infected programs
• Visits to infected Websites
Risk Assessment
• Process of assessing security-related risks:

–To an organization’s computers and networks
–From both internal and external threats
• Identifies investments that best protect from most likely and serious threats
• Focuses security efforts on areas of highest payoff
Eight-step risk assessment process

1 Identify assets of most concern
2 Identify loss events that could occur
3 Assess likelihood of each potential threat
4 Determine the impact of each threat
5 Determine how each threat could be mitigated
6 Assess feasibility of mitigation options
7 Perform cost-benefit analysis
8 Decide which countermeasures to implement
Prevention
Establishing a Security Policy

• A security policy defines:
–Organization’s security requirements
–Controls and sanctions needed to meet the requirements
• Delineates responsibilities and expected behavior
• Outlines what needs to be done
–Not how to do it
• Automated system policies should mirror written policies
•Trade-off between:
–Ease of use
–Increased security
• Areas of concern
–Email attachments
–Wireless devices
• VPN uses the Internet to relay communications but maintains privacy through security features
• Additional security includes encrypting originating and receiving network addresses
Educating Employees, Contractors, and Part-Time Workers

• Educate and motivate users to understand and follow policy
• Discuss recent security incidents
• Help protect information systems by:
–Guarding passwords
–Not allowing sharing of passwords
–Applying strict access controls to protect data
–Reporting all unusual activity
–Protecting portable computing and data storage devices
Security actions for prevention

• Implement a layered security solution
–Make computer break-ins harder
• Installing a corporate firewall
–Limits network access
• Intrusion prevention systems
–Block viruses, malformed packets, and other threats
• Installing antivirus software
–Scans for sequence of bytes or virus signature
–United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) serves as clearinghouse
• Safeguards against attacks by malicious insiders
• Departing employees and contractors
–Promptly delete computer accounts, login IDs, and passwords
• Carefully define employee roles and separate key responsibilities
•Create roles and user accounts to limit authority
• Defending against cyber terrorism
–Department of Homeland Security and its National Cyber Security Division (NCSD) is a resource
• Builds and maintains a national security cyberspace response system
• Implements a cyber-risk management program for protection of critical infrastructure,
including banking and finance, water, government operations, and emergency services
•Conduct periodic IT security audits

–Evaluate policies and whether they are followed
–Review access and levels of authority
–Test system safeguards
–Information Protection Assessment kit is available from the Computer Security Institute
Detection
• Detection systems
–Catch intruders in the act
• Intrusion detection system
–Monitors system/network resources and activities
–Notifies the proper authority when it identifies:
•Possible intrusions from outside the organization
•Misuse from within the organization
–Knowledge-based approach
–Behavior-based approach
Response
• Response plan
–Develop well in advance of any incident
–Approved by:
• Legal department
• Senior management
• Primary goals
–Regain control and limit damage
–Not to monitor or catch an intruder
• Only 56% have response plan
• Incident notification defines:
–Who to notify
–Who not to notify
• Security experts recommend against releasing specific information about a security compromise
in public forums
• Document all details of a security incident
–All system events
–Specific actions taken
–All external conversations
• Act quickly to contain an attack
• Eradication effort
–Collect and log all possible criminal evidence
–Verify necessary backups are current and complete
–Create new backups
• Follow-up
–Determine how security was compromised
• Prevent it from happening again
• Review
–Determine exactly what happened
–Evaluate how the organization responded
• Weigh carefully the amount of effort required to capture the perpetrator
• Consider the potential for negative publicity
• Legal precedent
–Hold organizations accountable for their own IT security weaknesses
Computer Forensics
• Combines elements of law and computer science to identify, collect, examine, and preserve data and
preserve its integrity so it is admissible as evidence
• Computer forensics investigation requires extensive training and certification and knowledge of laws that
apply to gathering of criminal evidence
Moral Responsibility Legal Liability Accountability

Attributes blame (or praise) to Does not attribute blame or Does not necessarily attribute blame
individuals. fault to those held liable. (in a moral sense).
Usually attributed to individuals Typically applies to corporations Can apply to individuals, groups of
rather than collectivities or groups. and property owners. individuals, and corporations.
Notions of guilt and shame Compensation can be required Someone or some group is
apply, but no legal punishment even when responsibility in a answerable (i.e., it goes beyond mere
or compensation need result. formal sense is not admitted. liability).
06
Organizational Context
1 Business processes
Documentation
ERP Systems
Management
Reengineering
ISO Certification
2 IT environment
IT Systems Services
IT Operational Services
IT Operating Environment Services
The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
3 Organizational culture
Organization culture in ethics
How to create an ethical organizational culture
4 Professionalism
06
Organizational Context
6.1 Business processes
A process is a series of tasks that are completed in order to accomplish a goal. Business processes are the essence of
what a business does, and information systems play an important role in making them work. A business process,
therefore, is a process that is focused on achieving a goal for a business. If you have worked in a business setting,
you have participated in a business process. Anything from a simple process for making a sandwich at Subway to
building a space shuttle utilizes one or more business processes.
Processes are something that businesses go through every day in order to accomplish their mission. The better their
processes, the more effective the business. Some businesses see their processes as a strategy for achieving
competitive advantage. A process that achieves its goal in a unique way can set a company apart. A process that
eliminates costs can allow a company to lower its prices (or retain more profit).
The advent of information technologies has had a huge impact on how organizations design, implement, and support
business processes. From document management systems to ERP systems, information systems are tied into
organizational processes. Using business process management, organizations can empower employees and leverage
their processes for competitive advantage. Using business process reengineering, organizations can vastly improve
their effectiveness and the quality of their products and services.
Integrating information technology with business processes is one way that information systems can bring an
organization lasting competitive advantage
Documenting a Process
Every day, each of us will conduct many processes without even thinking about them: getting ready for work, using
an ATM, reading our e-mail, etc. However, as processes grow more complex, they need to be documented. For
businesses, it is essential to do this, because it allows them to ensure control over how activities are undertaken in
their organization. It also allows for standardization: McDonald’s has the same process for building a Big Mac in all of
its restaurants.
The simplest way to document a process is to simply create a list. The list shows each step in the process; each step
can be checked off upon completion. For processes that are not so straightforward, documenting the process as a
checklist may not be sufficient.
Managing Business Process Documentation
As organizations begin to document their processes, it becomes an administrative task to keep track of them. As
processes change and improve, it is important to know which processes are the most recent. It is also important to
manage the process so that it can be easily updated! The requirement to manage process documentation has been
one of the driving forces behind the creation of the document management system.
A document management system stores and tracks documents and supports the following functions:
● Versions and timestamps –

The document management system will keep multiple versions of documents. The most recent version of a
document is easy to identify and will be served up by default.
● Approvals and workflows –

When a process needs to be changed, the system will manage both access to the documents for editing and the
routing of the document for approvals.
● Communication –
When a process changes, those who implement the process need to be made aware of the changes. A document
management system will notify the appropriate people when a change to a document is approved.
Of course, document management systems are not only used for managing business process documentation. Many
other types of documents are managed in these systems, such as legal documents or design documents.
ERP Systems
An enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is a software application with a centralized database that can be used
to run an entire company. An ERP system not only centralizes an organization’s data, but the processes it enforces
are the processes the organization adopts. When an ERP vendor designs a module, it has to implement the rules for
the associated business processes. A selling point of an ERP system is that it has best practices built right in to it. In
other words, when an organization implements an ERP, it also gets improved best practices as part of the deal!
For many organizations, the implementation of an ERP system is an excellent opportunity to improve their business
practices and upgrade their software at the same time. However for others, an ERP brings them a challenge:
Is the process embedded in the ERP really better than the process they are currently utilizing? If they implement this
ERP, and it happens to be the same one that all of their competitors have, will they simply become more like them,
making it much more difficult to differentiate themselves?
This has been one of the criticisms of ERP systems: that they commoditize business processes, driving all businesses
to use the same processes and there by lose their uniqueness. The good news is that ERP systems also have the
capability to be configured with custom processes. For organizations that want to continue using their own
processes or even design new ones, ERP systems offer ways to support this through the use of customizations.
However, there is a drawback to customizing an ERP system: organizations have to maintain the changes
themselves. Whenever an update to the ERP system comes out, any organization that has created a custom process
will be required to add that change to their ERP. This will require someone to maintain a listing of these changes and
will also require retesting the system every time an upgrade is made. Organizations will have to wrestle with this
decision: When should they go ahead and accept the best-practice processes built into the ERP system and when
should they spend the resources to develop their own processes? It makes the most sense to only customize those
processes that are critical to the competitive advantage of the company.
Some of the best-known ERP vendors are SAP, Microsoft and Oracle.
Business Process Management
Organizations that are serious about improving their business processes will also create structures to manage those
processes. Business process management (BPM) can be thought of as an intentional effort to plan, document,
implement and distribute an organization’s business processes with the support of information technology.
BPM is more than just automating some simple steps. While automation can make a business more efficient, it
cannot be used to provide a competitive advantage. BPM, on the other hand, can be an integral part of creating that
advantage.
Not all of an organization’s processes should be managed this way. An organization should look for processes that
are essential to the functioning of the business and those that may be used to bring a competitive advantage. The
best processes to look at are those that include employees from multiple departments, those that require decision-
making that cannot be easily automated, and processes that change based on circumstances.
Business Process Reengineering
As organizations look to manage their processes to gain a competitive advantage, they also need to understand that
their existing ways of doing things may not be the most effective or efficient. A process developed in the 1950s is not
going to be better just because it is now supported by technology in 1990 or the new millennium.
Michael Hammer published an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Reengineering Work: Don’t
Automate, Obliterate”. This article put forward the thought that simply automating a bad process does not make it
better. Instead, companies should “blow up” their existing processes and develop new processes that take
advantage of the new technologies and concepts.
Many of our job designs, work flows, control mechanisms, and organizational structures came of age in a different
competitive environment and before the advent of the computer. They are geared towards greater efficiency and
control. Yet the watchwords of the new decade are innovation and speed, service and quality.
It is time to stop paving the cow paths. Instead of embedding outdated processes in silicon and software, we should
obliterate them and start over. We should “re-engineer” our businesses: use the power of modern information
technology to radically redesign our business processes in order to achieve dramatic improvements in their
performance.
Business process reengineering is not just taking an existing process and automating it. BPR is fully understanding
the goals of a process and then dramatically redesigning it from the ground up to achieve dramatic improvements in
productivity and quality. However this is easier said than done. Most of us think in terms of how to do small, local
improvements to a process; complete redesign requires thinking on a larger scale.
Unfortunately, business process reengineering got a bad name in many organizations. This was because it was used
as an excuse for cost cutting that really had nothing to do with BPR. For example, many companies simply used it as
an excuse for laying off part of their workforce. Today, however, many of the principles of BPR have been integrated
into businesses and are considered part of good business-process management.
ISO Certification
Many organizations now claim that they are using best practices when it comes to business processes. In order to set
themselves apart and prove to their customers (and potential customers) that they are indeed doing this, these
organizations are seeking out an ISO 9000 certification. ISO is an acronym for International Standards Organization.
This body defines quality standards that organizations can implement to show that they are, indeed, managing
business processes in an effective way. The ISO 9000 certification is focused on quality management. In order to
receive ISO certification, an organization must be audited and found to meet specific criteria. In its most simple form,
the auditors perform the following review:
• Tell me what you do (describe the business process)

• Show me where it says that (reference the process documentation)
• Prove that this is what happened (exhibit evidence in documented records)
Over the years, this certification has evolved and many branches of the certification now exist. ISO certification is
one way to separate an organization from others.
6.2 IT environment
In computers, the term environment when unqualified usually refers to the combination of hardware, software,
telecommunications and data.
Hardware refers to the physical components within a computer system. These include:
● Input devices (keyboards, mouse, scanners, remote sensors, barcode readers, etc.)
● Storage devices (primary storage such as hard disk drives and secondary storage – DVDs, CD-ROMs, etc.)
●Output devices (screens, printers, audio speakers, etc.)
●(Most important) the central processing unit (CPU), which manipulates data and controls the computer system.
Software
Software is a set of instructions written in a specialized code that controls the operation of the computer and how it
communicates with other computers. This is divided into systems software (managing the resources of the
computer, such as the CPU, communications links and output devices) and application software (enabling users to
apply the computer to specific tasks, such as email, word processing and stock control).
Telecommunications
Telecommunications refers to the communication of information by electronic means over distance. In the past this
meant voice transmission over the telephone. Today a great deal of telecommunication is digital data transmission,
using computers, software and devices such as modems and cables to transmit data from one location to another.
There is a worldwide digital telecommunications network that enables business and private individuals to obtain and
distribute information – sending emails or visiting a website.
The most significant development of the past 15 years has been the explosion of communications networking.
Communications networks are a linked group of computers and can be arranged locally, say within a single building,
called a LAN (local area network). Alternatively, networks may cover greater distances, and are then known as a
WAN (wide area network). The most significant development of a WAN is the internet.
Data
The combination of all of this hardware, software and telecommunications equipment makes it possible for people
in organizations to analyze data much more effectively than when they could analyze it only with traditional paper-
based systems. The growth in this computing power has made it possible for a far greater depth of analysis to be
carried out, so much so that organizations invest a great deal in capturing the data that is generated with each
transaction. They do this effectively by creating databases.
Another view of the IT environment can be explained using a framework.

A Basic Decomposition of the IT Environment Framework
To understand the IT Environment Framework, we must understand that it is composed of four (4) key sections that
make up the whole.
A Basic Decomposition of the IT Environment Framework
1 - IT Systems Services:
This area or section of the framework represents all technical solutions and services put in place around Systems, big
or small, that are considered critical for the purpose of meeting a set of functional or behavioral goals within one or
more specific Operating Environment. Examples of such technical solutions or Systems could be as small as those
considered to be Atomic Systems, such as Computing Devices, Storage, and Software, or as large as those considered
to be Composite Systems, such as Document Management Systems, Application Monitoring Systems, Business
Intelligence Systems, or even business related Systems, such as Accounting or Payroll Systems. Big or small, a System
is a System is a System and no Environment is complete until all relevant Systems are completely accounted for,
made available, made stable, made repeatable, and are properly supported for the Environment or Environments
that leverage such Systems.
2 - IT Operational Services:
This area or section of the framework represents all Operating Services that are put in place to help maintain or use
any and all Systems made available in one or more specific Operating Environment. This includes, both, the Services
that are directly related to specific Systems, such as Release Management and Deployment Management, as well as
those that are more general in nature and non-System specific, such as Project Management, Incident Management,
Problem Management, etc.
3 - IT Operating Environment Services:
In addition to the previous two components of the framework, this area or section represents the controlled and
bounded Operating Environments, themselves, that enable System and Technology related work to occur in
contained areas that do not impact other areas of work, as well as all the relevant Services put in place to support
such activities. Such Services include but are not limited to the work necessary to construct or reconstruct an
Environment, the work necessary to tear down an Environment, the work necessary to Deploy to an Environment,
and the work necessary to support an Environment. These Services obviously become even more complex when the
owners and managers of such Environments must deal with many Organizations trying to run multiple types of work,
simultaneously, throughout a common Environment, in a manner that allows what the industry often refers to as a
multi-tenancy model for operations.
4 - The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC):
This area or section of the framework represents the SDLC for which a specific Environment is a part of, including all
the policies, standards, procedures, and work necessary to move a System through such an SDLC in an effective and
productive manner. It is the SDLC that drives the purpose of a specific Operating Environment and, therefore, all the
work necessary to create, deploy to, operate, support and/or tear down an Environment. A well-defined SDLC not
only defines what Environments must exist but also helps an Organization and its Resources understand how best to
move Systems and other relevant Solutions through such Environments and, ultimately, through the SDLC, itself.
6.3 Organizational culture –
Role of Organizational culture in ethics Organizational Culture

• Corporate/Organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, goals, norms and ways of solving problems by
The members of the organization
• Influences ethical conduct at work places
• Embedding ethical values in dominant cultures helps to guide employees of an organization.
Ethics
• Is a branch of philosophy that involves moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior
• Business ethics can be defined as the critical, structured examination of how people & institutions should
Behave in the world of commerce.
Organization culture in ethics

• Each organization develops its own culture partially based on the values its founder(s) want(s) to transmit
in workplace
• A set of assumptions that the members of an organization share in common also forms the organizational
culture
• Organizational culture will differ from one organization to another organization
• Strong cultural and ethical standards of an organization results in positive ethical behavior of managers
• Ineffective organizational culture may result in unethical behavior
• Strong ethical behavior can cost the organization
• Top executives having strong ethical & social conscience can inspire their subordinates to exhibit these
values by their thoughts & deeds
How to create an ethical organizational culture

• Selecting the right leader
• A clear purpose & strategy
• A focus on doing the right thing
• Hiring the right people
• Firing the wrong people
• Run ethical training courses
• Reward people for doing the right thing
• Tolerate mistakes (but not when they are made repeatedly
Fact 1:
• Despite rising employee awareness of formal ethics, compliance programmers& ethical training, standards of
ethical conduct has remained the same or worsened
Fact 2:
• The unethical people are not necessarily ignorant of the ethical & moral values but are so because of the culture
they follow in the organization
• E.g.: Corruption become a part of various government sectors because it is the culture that prevail starting from
politicians at the top level to the clerks & other bottom line workers.
08
History of Computing
1. Four developmental phases in cyber technology
2. The IT profession
Professional Relationships with
–Employers
–Clients
–Suppliers
–Other professionals
–IT users
–Society at large
3 IT education
New Media Consortium (NMC)
Second Life Work Microsites
4 Environmental Issues
Green Computing
1. Four developmental phases in cyber technology
Phase Time Period Technological Features Associated Issues

1 1950s–1960s (large mainframe computers) Artificial intelligence (AI),
Database privacy (“Big Brother”)
2 1970s–1980s Minicomputers and the ARPANET; Issues from Phase 1 plus concerns involving
desktop computers interconnected intellectual property and software piracy,
via privately owned networks computer crime, and communications privacy
3 1990s–present Internet, World Wide Web, and early Issues from Phases 1 and 2 plus concerns
“Web.2.0” applications, about free speech, anonymity, legal jurisdiction,
environments, and forums behavioral norms in virtual communities
4 Present to near Convergence of information and Issues from Phases 1–3 plus concerns about
future communication technologies with artificial electronic agents (“bots”)with decision-
nanotechnology and biotechnology; making capabilities, and developments in Nano
increasing use of autonomous computing, bioinformatics, and ambient
systems intelligence
2. IT Professionals
•Profession is a calling that requires:

–Specialized knowledge
–Long and intensive academic preparation
•Professionals:
–Require advanced training and experience
–Must exercise discretion and judgment in their work
–Their work cannot be standardized
–Contribute to society, participate in lifelong training, assist other professionals
–Carry special rights and responsibilities
•Partial list of IT specialists

–Programmers
–Systems analysts
–Software engineers
–Database administrators
–Local area network (LAN) administrators
–Chief information officers (CIOs)
•Legal perspective
–IT workers do not meet legal definition of professional
Not licensed by state or federal government
Not liable for malpractice
•The Changing Professional Services Industry

IT workers are considered part of the professional services industry
Seven forces are changing professional services
–Client sophistication (able to drive hard bargains)
–Governance (due to major scandals)
–Connectivity (instant communications)
–Transparency (view work-in-progress in real-time)

–Modularization (able to outsource modules)
–Globalization (worldwide sourcing)
–Commoditization (for low-end services)
•Professional Relationships
IT workers involved in relationships with:
–Employers
–Clients
–Suppliers
–Other professionals
–IT users
–Society at large
IT Workers and Employers

IT workers agree on many aspects of work relationship before workers accept job offer
Other aspects of work relationship defined in company’s policy and procedure manual
Some aspects develop over time
As steward of organization’s IT resources, IT workers must set an example and enforce policies
regarding the ethical use of IT in
Software piracy
–Act of illegally making copies of software or enabling access to software to which they are
not entitled
–Area in which IT workers can be tempted to violate laws and policies
–The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is a trade group representing the world’s largest
software and hardware manufacturers; mission is to stop the unauthorized copying of
software
–Thousands of cases prosecuted each year
Trade secrets
Business information generally unknown to public
Company takes actions to keep confidential
Require cost or effort to develop
Have some degree of uniqueness or novelty
Whistle-blowing
Employee attracts attention to a negligent, illegal, unethical, abusive, or dangerous act that
threatens the public interest
IT Workers and Clients

•IT worker provides:
–Hardware, software, or services at a certain cost and within a given time frame
•Client provides:
–Compensation
–Access to key contacts
–Work space
•Relationship is usually documented in contractual terms
•Client makes decisions about a project based on information, alternatives, and recommendations
provided by the IT worker
•Client trusts IT worker to act in client’s best interests
•IT worker trusts that client will provide relevant information, listen to and understand what the IT
worker says, ask questions to understand impact of key decisions, and use the information to make
wise choices
•Ethical problems arise if a company recommends its own products and services to remedy
problems they have detected
–Creates a conflict of interest
•Problems arise during a project if IT workers are unable to provide full and accurate reporting of a
project’s status
–Finger pointing and heated discussions can ensue
•Fraud
–Crime of obtaining goods, services, or property through deception or trickery
•Misrepresentation
–Misstatement or incomplete statement of material fact
–If misrepresentation causes a party to enter into a contract, that party may have the right
to cancel contract or seek reimbursement for damages
•Breach of contract
–One party fails to meet the terms of a contract
–When there is material breach of contract:
•The non-breaching party may rescind the contract, seek restitution of any compensation paid to
the breaching party, and be discharged from any further performance under the contract
•IT projects are joint efforts in which vendors and customers work together
–When there are problems, it is difficult to assign who is at fault
IT Workers and Suppliers

•Develop good working relationships with suppliers:
–To encourage flow of useful information and ideas to develop innovative and cost-effective
ways of using the supplier in ways that the IT worker may not have considered
–By dealing fairly with them
–By not making unreasonable demands
•Bribery
–Providing money, property, or favors to obtain a business advantage
–U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA): crime to bribe a foreign official, a foreign political
party official, or a candidate for foreign political office
–At what point does a gift become a bribe?
–No gift should be hidden
–Perceptions of donor and recipient can differ
–United Nations Convention Against Corruption is a global treaty to fight bribery and
corruption
IT Workers and Other Professionals

•Professionals feel a degree of loyalty to other members of their profession
•Professionals owe each other adherence to their profession’s code of conduct
•Ethical problems among the IT profession
–Résumé inflation on 30% of U.S. job applications
–Inappropriate sharing of corporate information
•Information might be sold intentionally or shared informally with those who have no need to know
IT Workers and IT Users

•IT user: person using a hardware or software product
•IT workers’ duties
–Understand users’ needs and capabilities
–Deliver products and services that meet those needs

–Establish environment that supports ethical behavior:
•To discourages software piracy
•To minimize inappropriate use of corporate computing resources
•To avoid inappropriate sharing of information
IT Workers and Society

•Society expects members of a profession:
–To provide significant benefits
–To not cause harm through their actions
•Actions of an IT worker can affect society
•Professional organizations provide codes of ethics to guide IT workers’ actions
4. Educational and Business Uses of Virtual Worlds
•New Media Consortium (NMC)

–International consortium of hundreds of organizations
–Explores new media and technologies to improve teaching, learning, and creative
expression
–Also builds custom virtual learning worlds, simulations, and learning games
•Second Life Work Microsites
–Enable businesses and government agencies to use Second Life for virtual meetings, events,
training, and simulations
–Stimulates engaged, collaborative learning to augment their traditional curriculum
5. Green Computing
•To manufacture truly “green” products, companies must:

–Produce product that requires less electricity
–Reduce the amount of hazardous materials used
–Increase amount of reusable or recyclable materials
–Help consumers dispose of their products in an environmentally safe manner at the end of
the product’s useful life
•Personal computers and cell phones contain thousands of components composed of many
different materials
–Some harmful to humans and environment
–Workers along the entire supply chain at risk
–Users can also be exposed to these materials
•EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool)
–Enables purchasers to evaluate, compare, and select electronic products
•Based on a total of 51 environmental criteria
•Products are ranked in three tiers of environmental performance
•European Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive
–Restricts use of many hazardous materials in computer manufacturing
•How to safely dispose of obsolete computers
–Many states have recycling programs
–Some manufacturers have developed programs
•Greenpeace environmental activist organization
–Issues quarterly ratings of manufacturers according to the manufacturers’ policies on toxic
chemicals, recycling, and climate change
•Manufacturers have long way to go to meet the high standards
08
Professional and Ethical Issues & Responsibilities
1. Ethics / Virtues / Vices
2. Morals / Ethics / Laws
3. Ethics in the Business World

Creating an Ethical Work Environment
Ethical Considerations in Decision Making
–Develop problem statement
–Identify alternatives
–Evaluate and choose alternative
–Implement decision
–Evaluate results
–Success
4. Ethics in Information Technology

–Cyberbullying
–Cyberstalking
–Sexual predators
–Uploading inappropriate material
Whistle-Blowing
Identity Theft
Ethical Hacking
1. Ethics / Virtues / Vices
What is Ethics?
Moral code
–Set of rules
–Establishes boundaries of generally accepted behavior
–Different rules often have contradictions
Morality
–Social conventions about right and wrong
–Widely shared
–Form basis for an established consensus
Morality may vary by:
–Age
–Cultural group
–Ethnic background
–Religion
–Life experiences
–Education
–Gender
Ethics –Set of beliefs about right and wrong behavior
Virtues –Habits that incline people to do what is acceptable
Vices –Habits of unacceptable behavior
2. Morals / Ethics / Laws
Morals: one’s personal beliefs about right and wrong
Ethics: standards or codes of behavior expected of an individual by a group
Law: system of rules that tells us what we can and cannot do

–Laws are enforced by asset of institutions
–Legal acts conform to the law
–Moral acts conform to what an individual believes is the right belief of right and wrong
3. Ethics in the Business World
Both the likelihood and the negative impact of inappropriate behavior have increased
Several trends have increased the likelihood of unethical behavior:
–Globalization creating complex work environments
–Organizations challenged to maintain profits / revenue
–Heightened vigilance by:
•Employees
•Shareholders
•Regulatory agencies
Creating an Ethical Work Environment
Steps in a decision-making process

–Develop problem statement
–Identify alternatives
–Evaluate and choose alternative
–Implement decision
–Evaluate results
–Success
Develop a Problem Statement

•Clear, concise description of the issue
•Answers these questions:
–What causes people to think there is a problem?
–Who is directly affected by the problem?
–Is there anyone else affected?
–How often does it occur?
–What is the impact of the problem?
–How serious is the problem?
•Most critical step in decision-making process
Example of a good problem statement:

“Our product supply organization is continually running out of stock of finished products, creating an out of-stock
situation on over 15 percent of our customer orders, resulting in over $300,000 in lost sales per month.”
Examples of poor problem statements:

–“We need to implement a new inventory control system.” (Possible solution, not a problem statement)
–“We have a problem with finished product inventory.” (Not specific enough)
Identify, Evaluate, and Choose an Alternative

•Enlist help to brainstorm alternative solutions
•Evaluate by weighing laws, guidelines, and principles
•Consider likely consequences of each alternative
•Alternative selected must:
–Be ethically and legally defensible
–Be consistent with policies and code of ethics
–Take into account impact on others
–Provide a good solution to problem
Common Approaches to Ethical Decision Making
Virtue ethics approach

–Focuses on concern with daily life in a community
–People guided by virtues to reach “right” decision
–More effective than following set of principles/rules
Problems
–Does not provide guide for action
–Virtue cannot be worked out objectively; depends on circumstances
Utilitarian approach
–Chooses action that has best overall consequences
–Finds the greatest good by balancing all interests
–Fits concept of value in economics and the use of cost-benefit analysis
Problems
–Measuring and comparing values is often difficult
–Predicting resulting benefits and harm is difficult
Fairness approach
–Focuses on fair distribution of benefits/burdens
–Guiding principle is to treat all people the same
Problems
–Decisions can be influenced by personal bias
–Others may consider the decision unfair
Common good approach

–Work together for common set of values and goals
–Implement systems that benefit all people
Problems
–Consensus is difficult
–Some required to bear greater costs than others
Implement the Decision and Evaluate the Results

•Implement the decision
–Efficient, effective, timely implementation
–Communication is key for people to accept change
–Transition plan made easy and pain-free
•Evaluate the results
–Monitor results for desired effect
–Observe impact on organization and stakeholders
–Return to “Develop problem statement” step if further refinements may be needed
Ethics in Information Technology

Public concern about the ethical use of information technology includes:
–E-mail and Internet access monitoring
–Downloading in violation of copyright laws
–Unsolicited e-mail (spam)
–Hackers and identify theft
–Students and plagiarism
–Cookies and spyware
Whistle-Blowing
Effort to attract public attention to a negligent, illegal, unethical, abusive, or dangerous act by a company
Whistle-blower
–Usually has personal or special knowledge
–Risks own career
–Might even affect lives of friends and family
–Must choose between protecting society and remaining silent
Protection laws allow employees to alert authorities to employer actions that are unethical, illegal, or unsafe or that
violate specific public policies
–No comprehensive federal law

–Each law has different:
•Filing provisions
•Administrative and judicial remedies
•Statutes of limitations
•False Claims Act (“Lincoln Law”)

–Enacted during the Civil War
–Enticed whistle-blowers to come forward
–Offered a share of the money recovered
•Qui tam provision allows private citizen to file in name of government
•Violatorsareliableforthreetimesthedollaramountthegovernmentisdefrauded
•Provides strong whistle-blower protection
•Complexity requires advice of an attorney
•Whistle-blower protection for private-sector workers
Many states, not all, have laws that prevent workers from being fired because of an employee’s participation in
“protected” activities
•Whistle-blowers can file claims against their employers for retaliatory termination
•Whistle-blowers are entitled to jury trials
•If successful at trial, can receive punitive damage awards
•Dealing with a whistle-blowing situation

–Assess the seriousness of the situation
–Begin documentation
–Attempt to address the situation internally
–Consider escalating the situation within the company
–Assess implications of becoming a whistle-blower
–Use experienced resources to develop action plan
–Execute the action plan
–Live with the consequences
Identity Theft
•Theft of key pieces of personal information to impersonate person,
–Name
–Address
–Date of birth
–Social Security number
–Passport number
–Driver’s license number
–Mother’s maiden name
09
Privacy and Civil Liberties
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act –1996 (HIPAA)

•Improves the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage
•Reduces fraud, waste, and abuse
•Simplifies the administration of health insurance
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act -1998
Websites catering to children must offer comprehensive privacy policies, notify parents or guardians about its data-
collection practices, and receive parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13
Family Education Rights and Privacy Act –1974(FERPA)

•Assigns rights to parents regarding their children’s education records
•Rights transfer to student once student becomes 18
European Union Data Protection Directive

•Requires companies doing business within the borders of 15 European nations to implement a set of
privacy directives on the fair and appropriate use of information
•Goal to ensure data transferred to non-European countries is protected
•Based on set of seven principles for data privacy
•Concern that U.S. government can invoke USA PATRIOT Act to access data
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act -1999
•Bank deregulation that enabled institutions to offer investment, commercial banking, and insurance
services
•Three key rules affecting personal privacy
–Financial Privacy Rule
–Safeguards Rule
–Pretexting Rule

Professional Issues

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Professional Issues

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1IT 5105 – Professional Issues in IT

Evolution of IT Profession (8)

1.1 Handwriting and Typing

Why handwriting is still important in the digital age?

The educational benefit

1.2 Mechanics of Writing

1.3 Essay Writing

1.4 Formal Report Writing

What is a formal report?

Parts of a Formal Report

Survey of First Year Students at University of Colombo School of Computing : 2011-2012

● Information received from UCSC before their arrival to the university

3.1 Before arrival at UCSC

3.2 After arrival at UCSC

2.1 Small Talk

● Is a casual form of conversation

Appropriate Subjects for Small Talk

Inappropriate Subjects for Small Talk

Probable Interview Questions

●What do you know about our company?

2.3 Presentations & Public Speaking

Essentials in Presentations & Public Speeches

2.4 Effective Listening Skills

How to Become an Active Listener

3.1 Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Importance of Summarizing and Paraphrasing

3.2 Reading Fiction & Non-fiction

Copyright Title PageCopyright page

5. Conflict Resolution Strategies

Elements of Group Dynamics:

● Followers are highly skilled, experienced, and educated.

This style should NOT be used when:

Effect on work teams

Decisive Very Creative Altruistic Excellent

Strengths Honest and Direct Supportive Dedicated Strong Practical Skills

VoIP / video call

Conflict Resolution Strategies

• Gross Domestic product (GDP)

What Is a Social Networking Web Site?

Social Networking Web Site

Business Applications of Online Social Networking

Use of Social Media to Improve Customer Service

Social Shopping Web Sites

Social Networking Ethical Issues

• Ethical issues for social networking Web sites are:

Numerous forms of cyberbullying

• Encounters with sexual predators

• Uploading of inappropriate material

The Digital Divide

3. Trade secret law

4. Key Intellectual Property Issues

What Is Intellectual Property?

Plagiarism (breach of copyright)

List of plagiarism detection services and software

• Steps to combat student plagiarism

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

 DMCA is a United States copyright law that implements in 1996

 Grants creators (Author ) of original works the exclusive right to:

• Author may grant exclusive right to others

 Types of work that can be copyrighted

 Fair use doctrine (policy)

–Effect of the use upon the value of the copyrighted work

•Software copyright protection

•General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)