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Chapter 10 • Global, Ethics, and Security Management 283

Thus, it is practical for all organizations to develop a code of ethics for ERP systems
implementation. In order to formalize the implementation of ethics consistently, the code of ethics
policy of the organization must be explicitly communicated to all the stakeholders, including
external partners and community. Without this, it will be very difficult to enforce the desired
ethical behavior and deal with violators. This code should generally address the four principles of
privacy, accuracy, property, and access in context of the organization’s position on the normative
theory, discussed earlier. It should provide guidelines on such issues as dealing with offensive
content, copyright information, employee education on who has right of access to certain informa-
tion before sharing, and how to protect consumer data (e.g., not downloading consumer data files
in nonprotected areas of their computers or destroying such data after usage).
The following is an example of code of ethics for ERP implementation policy:

•Protect the interest of its customers.
•Privacy decisions are made free of owner’s influence.
•We insist on fair, unbiased access of all information.
• No advertising that simulates editorial content will be published.
•Monitoring fellow employees is grounds for dismissal.
•Company makes prompt, complete corrections of errors.
•Implementation team members do not own or trade stocks of ERP vendors.
•No secondary employment in the ERP industry is permitted.
•Our commitment to fairness is our defense against consumer rights.
•All comments inserted by the employees will be clearly labeled as such.
•CIO will monitor legal and liabilities issues with the ERP system.
•Company attorneys regularly review our ERP system policy to make sure that there is
nothing unethical or illegal in the implementation process.

GLOBALIZATION AND ETHICS The legal and technical costs of complying with an expanding
patchwork of state, federal, and foreign privacy laws are mounting for global companies. Jay
Cline, 29 an expert on privacy, has outlined seven global privacy principles that can improve the
global privacy climate. These principles include (1) giving notice to consumers before collecting
data, (2) collecting only relevant consumer data and retaining these data only until needed,
(3) providing access for consumers to correct data for accuracy, (4) protecting data with firewalls to
prevent unauthorized access, (5) giving consumers choice of sharing their data with third parties,
(6) giving consumers a choice on whether marketers could contact them, and, finally, (7) ensuring
every organization has an officer enforcing the compliance of privacy principles.
Globalization and offshoring have raised the level of ethical concerns. For instance, the
International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) has released a code of ethics and a
set of business practice standards that are designed to help companies improve their processes for
awarding and managing outsourcing contracts. The standards apply to IT deals as well as other
forms of outsourcing, and they provide guidelines to the parties in an outsourcing agreement
based on a common business framework. The standards are general, but they weigh heavily in
favor of disclosure, candor, and the use of objective metrics that are agreed on by both sides. The
benefits are that everyone is up front with the governance, so there is therefore less confusion and
fewer misunderstandings in dealing with third parties.

29 Cline, J. (January 29, 2007). Computer World Magazine. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/280320/
It_s_Time_to_Forge_Global_Privacy_Rules (accessed February 2001).