Importamce of the eticks for the IT professionals Essay

Importamce of the eticks for the IT professionals - Essay Example The advent of technology has leaped mankind to a new level in almost every field of life, ranging from education to business, tourism to medicine. IT departments and computer professionals have grown to become one of the important assets of any organization since they have the power to drive the organization towards the attainment of an effective and structured infrastructure. IT professionals are known to be involved in different activities like development, analysis, design, implementation and maintenance pertaining to computer applications and hardware, as well as data mining and data warehousing techniques. The computer applications that are developed by IT professionals have an impact on their environment and society; some effects may not be as positive as the others. Therefore, it is important for the IT professionals to understand the magnitude of the probable effects of their creations so that they can aim to produce applications that benefit the society, rather than cause ha rm. Thomson and Schmoldt (2001) defined professional ethics as the concepts of doing good or bad, right or wrong; it involves the decision making aspects of any professional conduct. Computer ethics have gained much importance over the last two decades since many articles, journals and conferences discuss its relevance in the prevailing times. It has been attempted to be explained by many researchers, however, Bynum and Rogerson (1996) defined it comprehensively as the field of analysis that identifies the effects of information technology on the health, wealth, intellect, freedom, privacy, security and work of individuals in the society. Therefore it can be stated that computer ethics involve the effects on humans as well as on the society. Crnkovic (n.d) pointed out that an IT professional possesses the power to ‘create’; this power has to be exercised with greater responsibility since it influences people and their lives. The IT professionals should have strong ethic al mindsets to overcome the unjust temptations and continue to use their tools and platforms for the betterment of mankind. 2. Literature Review An IT professional maintains relationships with several figures including, employer, clients and society. Some conflicts of interest might rise among these entities; it is the responsibility of the IT professional to tackle the conflicts with ethical considerations. Keil (2008) categorized the ethical concerns of IT professionals as following: data protection, privacy and security, intellectual property and honesty. Moor (1998) stressed on the relevance of computer ethics by defining it as a ‘special field of ethical research’. He classified the area of computer ethics into two broad divisions; firstly, the social effects of the computer technology on humans and society, and secondly, the policies and standards that are formulated for the implication of computer ethics in different fields. He argued that there exists a ‘p olicy vacuum’ in the area of computer ethics. Moor (1985) also agreed with the minimal focus on formulation of policies of computer ethics on an international level. Few efforts that have been made in this respect have resulted in the development of ‘ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct’ (Association for Computing Machinery, 2011). The guideline compels the IT professionals to develop software that protect the users from health and safety threats. It discourages all actions that are aimed to intentionally destroy data or files that might be present in any individual’s system i.e. development of viruses. Computer ethics are also important so that due credit for the development of any software is given to the deserving side. ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct also promotes this notion and strictly prohibits any unauthorized replications or usage of programs or tools (Association for Computing Machinery, 2011). Weckert (1997) defined intellect ual prop

Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 16

Accounting - Essay Example First, there are numerous advantages of using marginal costing over absorption costing. It is easier to carry out the control and determination of production costs. This is through the management avoiding the arbitrary allocation of the fixed overhead costs thus having an achievement and maintenance of a uniform and marginal cost that is consistent (BANERJEE, 2006). Second, marginal costing helps in planning for short-term profit. This is through the easy demonstrations using the break-even charts and profit graphs. Unlike the absorption costing, comparative profitability can easily be assessed and hence be brought to the notice of the management so that there is decision making (Avis, 2009). Third, with the implementation of marginal costing, there is ready appreciation and assessment of the effects of the production policies and alternative sales. This ensures that there will be maximum yield to the business due to the decisions arrived. This gives it a notch higher than in using absorption costing (V., 2010). The method eliminates any large balances that are left in the overhead control accounts. This thus indicates that there is a difficulty in ascertaining the accurate recovery rate of overheads. With the elimination, it becomes easier to determine the accurate overhead rate of recovery (Drury, 2007). On the other hand, there are the disadvantages of using marginal costing over the absorption costing technique. First, there is difficulty in separating costs into the fixed and variable costs. This is because, in the long run, all costs are variable. Such classification may sometimes lead to misleading results to the cyber firm (Hill, 2012). Second, under the marginal costing, stocks and the work in progress are usually understated. The exclusion of fixed costs, especially from the inventory, affects the profit. With this, the true and fair view of the