Ethics and Technology

Ethics and Technology Ethics and the organization is an important topic in business today. With numerous failures of companies, and a lack of restraint in terms of investment, ethics are truly relevant. There are many ethical considerations from packages promised to retiring CEOs to assuring environmental standards are in sync with current trends. Human rights issues are paramount for international organizations in particular. How might firms make use of technology to manage ethical standards and guidelines? In some cases, technology is not appropriate in attempting to manage ethical problems. On the other hand, it is also the case that sometimes technology broaches ethical territory such as in the context of medical science. There are artificial hearts and limbs, and these are considered good, but some science treads on shaky turf. For example, technology utilized to impregnate women after menopause is controversial. Ethical breaches may occur when contracts are made between surrogate parents. Yet, in the context of ordinary businesses that generally manage financial, personal and statistical information, technology can help a firm adhere to ethical standards. When it comes to general business concerns, and ethical foundations, computers and the maintenance of data are important considerations. In respect to the Internet, there are many ethical issues that crop up from illegal downloads of copyrighted material to the protection of personal data in company databases. Gregory (2007) brings up the problem of spam, hoaxes and chain mail. A firm can use technology such as software to weed out spam, and rules to assure that company employees a