Ethics and Sustainability for IT Industry -myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theEthics and Sustainability for IT Industry. Answer: Introduction Modern world of business has changed irrespective of the industry. This has brought many kinds of ethical concerns with it. The competitiveness in the market has increased considerably (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014). In the race to make more profits than competitors, companies are less concerned about the ethics and sustainability. There are many ethical issues that are arising in day to day operations of the firm. In the IT industry which is one of the biggest industries in todays time is facing lot of ethical concerns. All these ethical issues in the industry are directly or indirectly affecting the stakeholders associated with this industry. This report showcases the major ethical issue persisting in the IT industry and its impact on their stakeholders. It also illustrates about the ways in which this ethical issue can be addressed. Ethical issue and its impact on stakeholders There are many ethical issues that have come in the IT industry (Ramey, 2012). The problem has become worse because the use of IT mediums have increased. It has become the part and parcel of life. The major ethical issue that is present within the industry is of security. The security and privacy of data of many peoples is at stake (Stahl, Eden and Jirotka, 2013). It is to be understood that there are many people who are taking the use of IT technologies for doing their job. The Use of internet mediums has made the situation adverse. If there is any kind of private data being leaked then it can result in loss in terms of like money or prestige. It is not just the individuals who got affected by these issues; organisations are also affected by these ethical concerns. This is due to the reason that if the data of the organisations are leaked then it can be loss to them and their stakeholders. Hackers are in search of such kind of data can take use of it for their personal benefit. Apar t from this the data leaks can be used by the competitors for their personal benefit. It the cut throat competition this can be highly dangerous for the company. This ethical issue has a greater impact on the stakeholders that are associated with the firm. This can be understood in the terms that if the data gets leaked related to any stakeholders then it can lead to heavy loss to the prestige of individuals (Wright, 2011). If the data is of significant importance then it may lead to heavy losses to the investors as this data can be utilised by someone else for having strategic edge over the company. Many a times it is seen that the employees are under the great pressure to preserve the data in a better way and take all the measures that can safeguard against such data breaches. It can be seen in many cases that the loss of the company is also the loss to the consumers for which the governments has to pay if the company is unable to give them compensation. Alternatives taken by companies for addressing security concerns There are many ways in which this ethical concern can be addressed (Luftman and Zadeh, 2011). It differs from company to company in the whole industry that what preventive measures they uses for tackling this issue. Some of the widely used alternatives are as follows; Authentication tools: There are many kinds of authentication tools that are available for the purpose of not providing unauthorised access to anyone. Many a times it is also measure reason for the data breach. Use of tools like the passwords protected pages or the OTP helps in securing the data from illegal access (Reynolds, 2011). Data security policy: It has been seen in the past that many a times due to the lack of policy such incidents happens. It is the role of the management to make sure that they have an effective policy for stopping of such kinds of incidents. It is also the role of the management to communicate it with all the stakeholders associated with it. The policy must contain the clear guidelines regarding what to be done and what not (Schwalbe, 2015). Use of malwares: With the use of malwares it can be possible to protect the IT system from the attack of any kind of virus (D'Arcy and Devaraj, 2012). This is due to the reason that many a times it can be seen that hackers are not in the search of any data rather they aim to destroy the data that is stored in the systems. There are large amount of cyber-attacks being noticed in many parts of the world. In many cases it is done by the competitors for giving long term loss to the company and its image. Collaborative approach: Since all the companies in the IT industry are in the competition so a collaborative approach is not possible (Laudon and Laudon, 2016). But it is essential that there must be forum that helps every company whether big or small from such kind of ethical concern. The technology developed by any company must be shared with everyone else for securing their data. Preferred alternative Among the several alternatives that are available for the companies to secure their data, the selection of appropriate one depends on the requirement of the company. But the use of authentication tools can be one of the best ways for addressing this ethical concern (Friedewald and Raabe, 2011). This is also due to the fact that most of the hackers are always in search of finding easy access to the most valuable data of the company. Protecting it with the use of authentication tool will not make their path easy. Without the prior permission of the stakeholder their data cannot be accessed. It is also to make sure that the access to the most valuable data of the company is also given to only few of the people. Everybody must have an access up to certain level as per their requirements. It is also the role of the management to make sure that they continuously improve the authentication tools so as to safeguard the information from such type of data breach in the future also. Conclusion From the above mentioned report it can be concluded that IT industry has great roles in the lives of both individuals and organisations. This has raised several kinds of ethical concerns for the people as many private and protected data is stored on the mediums and securing them can be a difficult task. This ethical issue can be a heavy loss to the company as if the data related to strategic importance gets leaked then it can be utilised by the competitors for their benefits. Ultimately it has an effect on the stakeholders associated with the industry. There are many alternatives that are present for addressing this issue and it depends on the need of the company which alternative they prefer. 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