Ethical Theories in IT Service Management: ITECH 7400 Assignment

This discussion board post, submitted as part of an ITECH 7400 assignment, delves into ethical theories within the context of IT service management, specifically focusing on robotic surgery. The student analyzes the ethical implications of robotic surgery through the lenses of utilitarianism, deontology, social contract theory, and character-based ethics. The student explores how each theory addresses the ethical dilemma of responsibility for the accuracy and safety of robotic surgical procedures, considering the roles of both IT professionals and doctors. The post references relevant academic sources to support the analysis, providing a comprehensive overview of ethical considerations in the application of technology within healthcare.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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POST 1
Utilitarianism- It is the normative ethical theory which is helpful in determining right
from the wrong by mainly focusing on the different outcomes. It helps in suggesting that the
actions are correct if they are being useful or benefit of majority of population. It is the secular
system which mainly focuses on humanity (Cohen & Ahn, 2016). In case of the respective
ethical dilemma, as per the respective theory, it can be seen that robots are helpful in times of the
critical surgery and robotic surgeries are cost effective which will be benefitting the entire
society as well. In the respective scenario, the IT professionals are responsible for preparing the
robotics related technology; however, doctors need to fully test significance of the same for
application.
Deontology- It helps in stating the fact that people are morally obliged for acting in
accordance with certain set of the principles as well as regulations regardless of the outcome. It
states that an act is not good morally can be leading to the good outcomes in the future
(Tenenbaum, 2017). The proposed solution for the respective ethical dilemma is that IT
professionals and doctors, both are equally responsible for the accuracy of the robots which are
programmed by me as it is related to the safety of the patients and it is needed to be operated in
an efficient manner.
Social Contract Theory- It is considered to be the theory which suggests that people in
the planet lives together in accordance to the agreement which helps in establishing moral as
well as political rules of the behavior (Jahn & Brühl, 2018). The solution for the ethical behavior
includes the fact that the IT professionals instill the civic kind of duty among the different
individuals in relation to the entire society as a whole. It helped in creating sense of community

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instead of the isolated instances of the different individuals and it helps in establishing basic
rules or rights for the human beings related to the robotic kind of surgery. However, social
contract theory is considered to be the fundamental source of all that is good which individuals
depend upon to live well and in a suitable manner.
Character Based Ethics- It mainly deals with proper honesty as well as morality of the
person and it helps in stating that good habits like honesty along with generosity helps in making
moral and virtuous person (Salloum, 2017). In the light of the respective theory, the main aspect
for the ethical dilemma is that only doctors are responsible for the robotic surgeries and their
accuracy in managing the programs related to surgery in a suitable manner. The theory states that
the technology as a whole has been capable of changing the way the human beings. Robots are
utilized in the critical kind of surgeries which are highly efficient in making the patients recover
fast that will be suitable for maintaining effectiveness and the ethical dilemma will be solved in a
suitable manner as well. The doctors are the ones who are highly responsible for checking the
accuracy of the robots which they program.

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References
Cohen, D. J., & Ahn, M. (2016). A subjective utilitarian theory of moral judgment. Journal of
Experimental Psychology: General, 145(10), 1359.
Jahn, J., & Brühl, R. (2018). How Friedman’s view on individual freedom relates to stakeholder
theory and social contract theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 153(1), 41-52.
Salloum, S. (2017). The place of practical wisdom in science education: What can be learned
from Aristotelian ethics and a virtue-based theory of knowledge. Cultural Studies of
Science Education, 12(2), 355-367.
Tenenbaum, S. (2017). Action, deontology, and risk: against the multiplicative
model. Ethics, 127(3), 674-707.