Information Systems Ethics in the Triad

Abstract

A convenience sample of 520 bank employees completed a 30-item, three-section IS ethics questionnaire, 129 in the western USA, 176 in Oman, and 215 in South Korea. Section 1 concerned employee use of employer IS resources for personal entertainment, section 2 concerned employee use of employer IS resources for personal or family gain, and section 3 concerned employer monitoring of employee use of employer IS resources. Statistically significant differences occurred on 28 items across all sections; 14 represented differing degrees of commitment but overall agreement on the ethicality of a behavior; 12 represented disagreement regarding the ethicality of a behavior. Of the 12 disagreements, 6 were in section 1 and concerned after-hours use of IS resources, 2 were in section 2 and concerned printing and storing personal documents, and 4 were in section 3 and concerned giving prior notice when monitoring employees. In sections 1 and 2, all samples favored employer rights over employee rights. In section 3, only the US sample favored employers; this section generated the greatest differences among the samples. The US sample was most conservative on 25 items, the Omani sample on 4 items, and the South Korean sample on only 1 item.