Testing an Ethical Decision-Making Theory: The Case of Softlifting.

Author List: Thong, James Y. L.; Yap, Chee-sing;
Journal of Management Information Systems, 1998, Volume 15, Issue 1, Page 213-237.
There is a lack of both theoretical and empirical research on the process of ethical decision making in the domain of information systems (IS). As a step in this direction, the authors describe and test a general ethical decision-making theory developed in the marketing discipline. They conducted a study on the ethical decision-making process of 243 entry-level IS professionals with regard to softlifting--that is, illegal copying of software for personal use. The results show support for the applicability of the tested ethical decision-making theory to the domain of IS, specifically in the context of softlifting. Entry-level IS professionals were found to use both deontological and teleological evaluations to arrive at an ethical judgment of a moral issue. Subsequently, moral intention to pursue softlifting behavior is primarily determined by the ethical judgment. These findings have implications for both research and practice.
Keywords: computer ethics; ethical decision-making; softlifting; software piracy
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List of Topics

#156 0.292 ethical ethics ambidexterity responsibility codes moral judgments code behavior professional act abuse judgment professionals morality effect issues unethical intentions personal
#127 0.178 systems information research theory implications practice discussed findings field paper practitioners role general important key grounded researchers domain new identified
#108 0.127 model research data results study using theoretical influence findings theory support implications test collected tested based empirical empirically context paper
#8 0.109 decision making decisions decision-making makers use quality improve performance managers process better results time managerial task significantly help indicate maker
#140 0.067 model use theory technology intention information attitude acceptance behavioral behavior intentions research understanding systems continuance models planned percent attitudes predict
#261 0.066 software development maintenance case productivity application tools systems function tool engineering projects effort code developed applications analysis estimation methodology methods
#9 0.064 using subjects results study experiment did conducted task time used experienced use preference experimental presented decision-making empirical significantly effects better