Professional Environment Report: Ethics, Culture, and IT Perspective

This report, titled "PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT," addresses ethical considerations and cultural awareness within the context of Information Technology (IT). The report examines the ethical issues affecting professional conduct in the IT industry, including data security, privacy, and contractual obligations, drawing on the lecture by Prof. Karl Reed. It emphasizes the importance of ethical protocols and the potential for conflict of interest between personal/business objectives and professional responsibilities. Furthermore, the report explores cultural diversity and its impact on intercultural communication, highlighting the significance of cultural sensitivity in a diverse workplace. The report analyzes cultural diversity in groups, considering language, beliefs, and practices as potential hurdles to communication and teamwork. The report emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural nuances to avoid misunderstandings and foster effective teamwork. The assignment references several sources and presents a comprehensive overview of ethical and cultural considerations in the professional environment. This assignment is contributed by a student and available on Desklib.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Name of the Student
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Some Issues for Ethics, Professionalism and Technology – An IT Perspective
Ethics can be understood as the moral principles that underlie the code of conduct, and
action of an individual. Professionalism is the set of skills or competencies expected from a
professional (Kurtines 2014). Professional ethics should include moral principles and
professionalism (Durkheim 2013).
What happened?
Prof. Karl Reed’s lecture titled “Some Issues for Ethics, Professionalism and Technology
– An IT Perspective” highlights some of the ethical issues affecting professional code of
conduct, in the Information Technology (IT) industry. It discusses how ethics can have impact
social/political scenarios, social behavior, security and authenticity of data/ information,
contracting jobs, and surveillance systems (Quinn 2014). It is important to identify and
differentiate the responsibilities expected from the organization and compliance to ethical
standards.
What did it mean to me?
Surprisingly. unethical practice in IT industry is not very uncommon. Breach of client
contract, divulgence of personal data, providing misleading or incorrect information has been
practiced by both agencies and individuals. Working in these scenarios, it is important that

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professionals know their rights, and responsibilities. One cannot be forced to do unethical work,
and consenting to such activity, can indict the individual as an accessory of crime. The ‘Goals
and Methods’ matrix suggested by Turner and Cochrane can be used to analyze the potential
complexity of a project. A well defined project has clear objectives, and goals, and provides a
clarity of information and expectations (Senescu, Aranda-Mena and Haymaker 2012). Any
unethical practice expected from an individual can be easily identified (and disputed) from a well
defined project, in contrast to a “fuzzy” outline, that leaves room for speculation, and promotes
sequestering of unethical practices. Ethically, an engineer ought to demonstrate integrity,
practice competently, exercise leadership, and promote sustainability. Often adhering to such
practices can cause conflict of interest between the ‘job’ and ‘principles’.
What value is it to me?
As professionals, we have the responsibility to not only serve the organization, but also
the society, which is why ethical protocols should get precedence over personal/business
objectives. For example, every citizen has the constitutional right to privacy of information.
Leaking of sensitive data by Snowden or Manning have only exposed the illegal practice of
surveillance (Greenwald, MacAskill, and Poitras 2013). Similarly, leak of police data can
threaten the security of individuals, especially if it ends up in the wrong hands. As we see,
privatization of government information can lead to data security issues (Fitzgibbon 2013).
How it might help me in the future.
This knowledge can be helpful in the future to decide the correct curse of action, if faced
with such a conundrum. To summarize, any action expected from a professional may or may not

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be ethical, and therefore an understanding of rights and responsibilities of an individual as a
professional and responsible citizen is necessary.
Cultural Awareness in Intercultural Communication:
Cultural awareness is the simply the cognition of different aspects of culture (values,
beliefs, perceptions and practices) and their diversity. It can include the awareness of culturally
induced behavior of own self and others (Tomalin and Stempleski 2013). In the modern day,
culturally diverse society, intercultural communication is not only important, but is almost
unavoidable.
What happened?
The project analysed the cultural diversity in different groups, with respect to language,
beliefs, and practices (Banks 2015). These can be potential hurdles towards communication and
team work. For example, religious practices can cause individuals to refrain from work on
certain days, or consumption of certain food. Both of these can affect profession or personal
relations, and therefore one needs to be sensitive to the other’s beliefs and practices, to avoid
conflicts.
What did it mean to me?
Analysing cultural diversity sheds light into the heterogenous nature of human behavior,
and beliefs. Since thought and action are intrinsically related to cognition, it is particularly
relevant in understanding behavior (Kuhl and Beckman 2012). This insight can be useful to
maintain a cultural sensitivity within a culturally diverse framework, to avoid any unintentional

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offense. For example, to refrain from offering certain food that can be offensive on religious
grounds.
What value is it to me?
Much of our social turmoil is fuelled by a lack of cultural sensitivity, in a multicultural
environment. This generally results in an alienation of the people belonging to different cultural
groups. Knowledge of beliefs and practices of a cultural group is important recognize and
implement the proper code of conduct. For example a single colour (like white) can have
different cultural meanings- from cleanliness or spirituality (in occidental cultures) to the concept
of death (in certain oriental cultures). So, the practice of gift-wrapping with white paper, can
have different meanings for different cultures.
How it might help me in the future.
A knowledge of the social and cultural diversity allows a deeper introspection on how
beliefs and practices can influence actions. We can understand when a line has been crossed, and
when our behavior can potentially upset someone from a different cultural background. Since
todays cosmopolitan/metropolitan society is culturally diverse, it is important to be sensitized to
these differences. Teamwork can mean regular and stipulated interaction with individuals from
other cultural groups. An effective and positive teamwork can exist if this diversity is
acknowledged, and a workable communication and conduct is structured around this knowledge,
and can prevent the feeling of discrimination and alienation (Geyer and Schweitzer 2012).

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REFERENCES:
Banks, J.A., 2015. Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Durkheim, E., 2013. Professional ethics and civic morals. Routledge.
Fitzgibbon, W., 2013. Risk and privatisation. British Journal of Community Justice, 11(2/3),
p.87.
Geyer, R.F. and Schweitzer, D.R. eds., 2012. Theories of alienation: critical perspectives in
philosophy and the social sciences. Springer Science & Business Media.
Greenwald, G., MacAskill, E. and Poitras, L., 2013. Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind
the NSA surveillance revelations. The Guardian, 9(6).
Kuhl, J. and Beckmann, J. eds., 2012. Action control: From cognition to behavior. Springer
Science & Business Media.
Kurtines, W.M., 2014. Handbook of moral behavior and development: Volume 1: Theory.
Psychology Press.
Quinn, M.J., 2014. Ethics for the information age. Pearson.
Senescu, R.R., Aranda-Mena, G. and Haymaker, J.R., 2012. Relationships between project
complexity and communication. Journal of Management in Engineering, 29(2), pp.183-197.
Tomalin, B. and Stempleski, S., 2013. Cultural Awareness-Resource Books for Teachers. Oxford
University Press.