1. Ethics in Business Intelligence An Ferris State MISM-740 Student Presentation By: Adam M. Erickson 4/16/2011 What is Ethics? Does IT have to consider ethics in BI? P.A.P.A. Ethical Issues in BI Suggestions and Solutions

2. What is Ethics World English Dictionary ethics ( ˈɛ θ ɪ ks) — n 1.( functioning as singular ) See also meta-ethics the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophy 2.( functioning as plural ) a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group, profession, or individual 3. ( functioning as plural ) the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, etc: he doubted the ethics of their verdict

3. Tom is a business analyst for a large Data warehousing company. At a training class for using a new query tool with their customers database, he was fascinated by the power of the tool. While looking for people to date, he retrieve the names of females between 21-25 within his apartment complex. Was Todd behaving ethically? As Todd’s manager, what would you do? Ethical BI Situation #1

4. Ethical BI Situation #2 Michelle administers the data warehouse at a large credit union. She purchases a data feed for electronic credit reports on persons applying for loans. These reports have proven to be inaccurate in many cases. However, data services with higher accuracy are expensive. Michelle decides against the better data to reduce her department’s expenses. Was Susan behaving ethically? As Susan’s manager, what would you do?

5. Ethics is a Touchy Subject! Most want to dodge the topic.

6. World is Changing Rapidly A lot of “cannot” things are now “can” things More separation between... Enron-era of corporate integrity General ‘trust-level’ eroding

7. Should IT Authorities be Implicated? Myth: Policy is set by management, and objectives are set by line-of-business However, we understand the technology!

8. Professional Code of Ethics

9. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct General Moral Imperatives: Contribute to society and human well-being, Avoid harm to others, Be honest and trustworthy, Be fair and take action not to discriminate, Honor property rights including copyrights and patent, Give proper credit for intellectual property, Respect the privacy of others & Honor confidentiality

10. Key Ethical Issues in IT - Privacy PAPA (Privacy, Accuracy, Property, Accessibility) Ref: Richard Mason, Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age, Management Information Systems Quarterly, Volume 10, Number 1, March, 1986). Scott McNealy of Sun remarked in 1999: “You have zero privacy anyway; get over it!” Right to know versus right to privacy.

11. Accuracy

12. Accessibility Citizens in an Information Society

13. Pressing Ethical Issues in BI

14. Practical Steps with Ethical Issues 1.Awareness/Recognition 2.Research/Understanding 3.Judgment/Decision 4.Resolution (of an incident )

15. Some Suggestions Be open and honest about the issues Make ethical discussions acceptable Make these discussions ‘professional’ Stay focused Seek qualified legal advice

16. Finally, Plan for an effective corporate initiative: avoid the Dilbert syndrome... I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.