Professional Practice in IT: Ethical Analysis of Tech Companies

This assignment delves into the ethical practices of four major tech companies: Google, Apple, Dell, and Facebook. It begins by examining the companies' stated codes of conduct and slogans, such as Google's "Don't be evil." The paper then presents a survey assessing public perceptions of each company's ethical standing, with results categorized based on individual experiences. The analysis highlights instances of ethical breaches, including Google's copyright issues, Dell's use of faulty parts, and Apple's employee working conditions. The assignment also touches upon tax avoidance strategies employed by these companies, particularly in relation to licensing and subscriptions. The conclusion reflects on the disparity between stated ethical principles and actual practices, emphasizing that the codes of conduct are often not fully implemented.

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Introduction
To advocate and address ethical practices within the organization, different organizations
formulate their codes of conduct differently (Beauchamp, Bowie & Arnold, 2014). Looking at
Google for instance, the company has the slogan “Don’t be evil”, words which have been applied
to regulate the way this company treats its users. The slogan is all about providing its users with
unbiased information access and ensuring that their needs are fully met by giving them the best
services they can.
Similar to google, Dell has also come up with its own slogan which facilitates its
operations “How We Win”, which guides the operations of this company across all its consumers
and ensuring compliance to the applicable laws of the countries they work and serve. Apple
Company on the other hand, has set some ethical standards which guide and monitor its
operations, like total honesty and ethical behavior exhibit while sealing its business dealings.
Ultimately, Facebook Inc. has its own codes of conduct which have been regulating its
operations to ensure that they are ethical. For instance, its employees and staff members are
expected to act according to the law and in the best of their interests while carrying out their
duties on behalf of the company (Foxman & Kilcoyne, 2013)
What people think about the four companies?
A survey which aimed at gathering the opinions of different people in regard to the four
companies depicted some unique results which mainly were based on the preferences of the 10
people who undertook the survey. The table below depicts the results
The question which the participants were required to respond by rating each among the
four companies (Google, Dell, Apple, and Facebook) was “How ethical do you think the

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company is?” The survey used a 4 scale approach to rate the ethical level of each company
1. E- ethical
2. CE-completely ethical
3. UE- unethical
4. TUE- totally unethical
Each participant was allowed to tick according to his opinion on each of the four companies.
How ethical do you think the company is?
Google Apple Dell Facebook
People E CE UE TUE E CE UE TUE E CE UE TUE E CE UE TUE
1 √ x x x √ x x x √ x x x √ x x
2 x √ x x x x √ x √ x x x x √
3 x x √ x √ x x x √ x x x x √ x
4 x √ x x x x √ x x √ x x √ x x
5 √ x x x x √ x x x x √ x x x √
6 √ x x x x √ x x x √ x x x √ x
7 x √ x x x x √ x x √ x x x √ x

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8 √ x x x x √ x x x √ x x x √ x
9 √ x x x x √ x x x √ x x x √ x
10 √ x x x x √ x x x √ x x x √ x
From the results of the survey, it was clearly that each of the participants was rating the
companies according to his or her experiences with the company. In a case where the participant
had an ill experience with a certain company, the results were always Unethical or total
Unethical. The case was also similar if he or she had an wonderful experience with any of the
companies as the results were either Ethical or completely ethical (Williams, Hutchinson &
Sawyer, 2015). The same was the case with me, having been a fun of Apple products and where I
usually get a live support whenever I am stuck while interacting with my device, I could give the
company a tick as a completely ethical company. On the other hand, for Dell whose products
have been serving shorter and then develop complications, I could term the company as
Unethical.
Ethical behavior
Google has been caught severally in its attempts to incorporate copyrighted books in its
books project before even seeking for approval from the owner. Having a look at Dell, between
the year 2003 and 2005, the company used faulty parts in production of computers which were
later sold to schools and government institutions. (Foxman & Kilcoyne, 2013). Apple on the
other hand has been accused of exposing its employees in unfavorable working conditions
without any concern as long as they can attain its goals of profitability.
Australian Tax

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The four companies, especially Google , deals with paid licensing’s and subscriptions of
its services by holding their tax haven jurisdictions, which makes it hard to collect income taxes
and which allows the companies to report transaction as per the seller's location, and not that of
the buyer's. Therefore, most of their sales outside U.S. like in Australia go untaxed (Wang, Lee &
Wang, 2014).
Summary
Looking keenly at these companies, most of what they advocate in their codes of conduct
is just for formality purposes because violations have become the order of the day. Overall, from
the four cases above, it can be clearly seen that the code of conduct outlined in these companies
are just for formality purposes but when it comes to the real applicability, things turn different.
References
Beauchamp, T. L., Bowie, N. E., & Arnold, D. G. (Eds.). (2014). Ethical theory and business.
Foxman, E. R., & Kilcoyne, P. (2013). Information technology, marketing practice, and
consumer privacy: Ethical issues. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 106-119.

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Heitman, E. (2014). Ethical issues in technology assessment: Conceptual categories and
procedural considerations. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health
Care, 14(3), 544-566.
Tavani, H. T. (2013). Ethics and technology: Ethical issues in an age of information and
communication technology.
Williams, B. K., Hutchinson, S. E., & Sawyer, S. C. (2015). Using information technology: A
practical introduction to computers and communications. McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.
Wang, H., Lee, M. K., & Wang, C. (2014). Consumer privacy concerns about Internet
marketing. Communications of the ACM, 41(3), 63-70.