IS 6602 Seminar 2 Consulting Ethics 1 Introduction

IS 6602 – Seminar 2 Consulting Ethics 1

Introduction • In many of the courses that we teach, ethical issues are barely mentioned • Ethical issues are complex and very personal • If you took IS 6000 last semester, then I hope that you gained a sense of research ethics • I regard ethics as being a critical topic for consultants • This means that we must discuss ethics as early as possible • I hope that this will prevent you accidentally engaging in ethically questionable behavior, in your coursework for instance 2

The Basics • Ethics are principles and values that influence the way in which people behave • For IS 6602, that means how researchers and consultants behave. • Ethics apply to a variety of situations in which there may be the potential for harm to be caused to someone. • Ethics are very personal • We each have our own values, standards, beliefs • We each know what is right and wrong • We are all different, so actually we all have different ways of looking at situations, and therefore different ethics 3

Consultants Need to Know • A consultant must be thoroughly familiar with the precise situation of an organisation, if the same consultant is to offer advice or suggest changes • This knowledge must extend to industry practices and principles • Consultants need to learn new things all the time, including the language (jargon, terminology, culture) of the client • If you don’t understand what the client is saying, how can you make sense of anything or recommend changes? • So the consultant has an ethical obligation to be situationally competent 4

An Overheard Conversation • “This morning I heard the CSA mention that the GTS failed again” • “Then the SAEs will have to ensure that AIDs are provided to all CSAs before updating the GDB manually” • “And our Mo. T survey should be delayed since customers are bound to be unhappy” • “But the VPCR will be furious!” • “Naturally, since her own position could be up for grabs. GVPS will have many questions for us” • “Can the KO get us out of this mess? ” 5

Five Principles for Consultants • Confidentiality • Faithfulness • Beneficience & Nonmaleficience • Benefits & Compensation • Legality 6

Confidentiality • Consultants must at all times protect the confidentiality of any information they receive • • Lists of customers Database entries Best practices IT policy • Unless they are explicitly authorized to disclose this information • Consultants may need to sign a NDA (a Non-Disclosure Agreement) as a legal undertaking not to violate the client’s right to confidentiality • Clients appreciate secrecy, so ‘semper occultus’ (always secret) is a good motto 7

Temptations • As a KM consultant, you may learn many fascinating details about a company’s internal operations or external policies • Even if your focus is on knowledge processes, not the content, you will overhear the content as well • It is very tempting to gossip about this; with friends or colleagues or even other consulting clients • Maybe you have a sense of power because you know so much? Somehow, you have to control yourself! • If you violate the duty to keep confidences, you may face dire consequences. 8

Faithfulness • A consultant must be committed to a project • Therefore, the consultant must devote sufficient time to it • Also, the consultant should be careful not to place herself in a conflict of interest position, e. g. where she is simultaneously serving two competing clients • Consultants must also be prepared to tell the truth, no more, no less, with complete and accurate information • Clients may not like to hear the truth, but ‘semper veritas’ (always truthful) is another good motto. • You also need to protect yourself. Be careful when telling lies! 9

Temptations • It is tempting to sub-contract work to junior colleagues or even outsiders, so as to avoid the boring and time-taking parts of the work. • But if you have signed a contract to confirm that you will do the work, then you must do it. • It may also be tempting to leverage your experience with one client to find a new opportunity with another client in the same industry, even a competitor. • This may lead to many complications, where you cannot stop yourself from sharing lessons between clients/competitors, again violating the NDA 10

Beneficience & Nonmaleficience • Consultants must be committed to doing good things (beneficience) and also not intentionally doing bad things (nonmaleficience) • They should not take risks that may harm the client, or recommend actions if there is a reasonable chance that a failure could be disastrous • Consultants can be sued for giving bad advice • They should make recommendations likely to lead to positive outcomes that do not harm individual stakeholders • If a client identifies a problem experienced only by management that if solved would harm lower level employees, then consultants should be very cautious when they recommend changes 11

Temptations • If you are too confident, then you may over-estimate your skills or ability to achieve a positive outcome • You must always be sensitive to the risks associated with recommending changes • Recklessness (unconcerned about negative consequences) or Carelessness (not being careful to check if the actions are suitable) have to be avoided. • You may want to try out the latest IT, but is the firm ready for that? Does it have the right people and skills to handle that IT? What is the worst that could happen? • Change often happens at the speed of the slowest. 12

Benefits & Compensation • Consultants are entitled to be paid for their work, but they should be careful about any other benefits they receive as these might be construed as bribery or corruption • They should take care not to abuse their position of authority by seeking inappropriate benefits or opportunities • They should avoid forming an intimate relationship with any of the client’s stakeholders or employees, as this may lead to a conflict of interest • They should not seek to benefit from or remove any client data or other artifacts • All such materials must be returned or destroyed at the end of a project 13

Temptations • Imagine that you are interviewing employees, and find that one is particularly attentive to your questions and indeed to you personally. • He/She invites you for dinner the same day, and shares many interesting facts about the company • This information is certainly very useful as it helps you understand the company situation better • However, you should also be careful to verify the information from other sources as single informants are not always reliable 14

Temptations • But now what? ! • Do you follow up and reciprocate with stories of your own? • You have to be careful not to accidentally share secret information • You also have to be careful not to develop a more intimate relationship as this will compromise your position as an independent consultant. • It may be better to wait until after the consulting project is complete and even then you need to keep secrets. • An intimate relationship with an employee could jeopardise your own consulting efforts and your position with the company 15

Legality • Whatever actions a consultant recommends must be legal in the jurisdiction where they are to be taken • If the consultant is paid by a client to develop a product, then the IP belongs to the client • The consultant cannot resell it to a different client • Each client should be treated as a new project and all products or services should be created afresh • Indeed, clients like to be treated as if they were unique and special, not just one more consulting assignment 16

Temptations • If you spend a lot of time developing a new IT product, it is tempting to forget that the cost of your time was actually paid by the client, and so that the IP of the product belongs to the client, not you • If you succumb to that temptation, it is only a short step further to resell that product to another client, thereby violating the IP of the original client who paid for the work • This kind of situation can lead to legal action very quickly, for the original client will claim sole ownership and seek damages from you, especially if the client to whom you resell the product is also a competitor of the first client 17

NDA and Negotiations • These kinds of agreements and ethical issues should be discussed by client and consultant before the project starts and before a formal contract is signed • A carefully prepared NDA benefits the client and the consultant, who knows what is allowed and what is not • Consultants also need to negotiate access to employees, meetings, documents, etc. so that they can be familiar with the operating environment and problem situation • If the negotiations are tough, the consultant should reconsider the opportunity • Opportunities have costs. 18

City. U Ethical Requirements • City. U’s Code of Human Research Ethics applies to all research done (by staff or students) that involves living people • The coursework for this class counts as research. • The code has 9 questions. If you can truthfully answer ‘no’ to all 9, then the research project can be approved by the Head of Department (IS for IS 6602) quickly. • If you answer ‘yes’ to one or more questions, then a full review by the CB Research Ethics Committee is required. This may take a month or longer. It may also require that you revise your research design and data collection proposals. 19

Code Items 1 -3 1. Will the study involve participants who do not possess the legal, physical or mental capacity to provide valid informed consent to participate in the study (e. g. children, people with developmental disabilities)? If so, parental/guardian consent must be obtained. 2. Will deception of participants, e. g. misleading participants, be necessary during the study? 3. Will financial inducements/incentives (other than reasonable expenses and compensation for time applicable to the nature of the study for the discipline concerned) be offered to participants? If so, please specify details e. g. value, in cash or in kind, the usual rate for the discipline concerned and applicable precedent cases 20

Code Items 4 -6 4. Will the study involve sensitive aspects of the participant’s own behaviour such as illegal conduct, drug or alcohol use, and sexual conduct? 5. If the observations on the participants are disclosed, will it reasonably place the participant at risk of criminal or civil liability or be damaging to the participant’s financial standing, employability, or reputation? 6. Will the study/experiment induce undue psychological stress? 21

Code Items 7 -9 7. Is pain or more than mild discomfort likely to result from the study? 8. Will the study involve prolonged and repetitive testing sessions? 9. Will the study involve the collection of identifiable information (i. e. information that is not anonymous) from participants? If so, explain whether sensitive or private information will be collected and how the confidentiality of the information collected will be maintained? 22

Ethics Planning • You need to consider ethical issues at the start of a research project. • If you identify ethical issues early, you have time to address them. • You can discuss with your colleagues, your team-mates, your supervisor, me. • Don’t hide ethical issues • Clearly, you do not want to have your research design rejected, so being able to answer ‘no’ to all 9 questions may be a good plan. • Assuring research subjects of anonymity and confidentiality • Clearly describe all research procedures • Create a trust-based interaction with research subjects • Provide feedback afterwards 23

Ethics and Respect • Each researcher has his/her own values and beliefs • But as a researcher you must also respect the values/beliefs of your research subjects and your organisational clients • Be aware of legal constraints as they vary from place to place. • At minimum, you need to obey the law, but ideally you will consider a broader ethical perspective • City. U requires all research projects (that involve collecting data from living humans) to gain ethics approval • The human ethics application form is on the class website. 24

Coursework Planning • This is a major activity for IS 6602 • Working in small groups (max 6 people) you need to undertake a small-scale consulting research project • I suggest that you use the basic principles of Action Research, which I will introduce next week • By next week, you need to confirm the group membership and ideally you should be moving towards identifying a context • In Week 7, you will need to present your first ideas • In Week 13, you will have to do a full, formal presentation 25