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Chapter 4 Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems 153

involvement in the design of the information systems to incorporate features
with the ethical concerns in-mind, redesign business processes which take ac-
count of the ethical concerns, allocate suffi cient resources to include in the
design the ethics informed features, and deploy new technologies to meet user
needs.
Here are some questions to think about: What ‘Smart Home’ ‘telecare’ tech-
nologies were used as part of the Sydney initiative and how were they deployed
to support the aged community at home? What were the ethical concerns as-
sociated with each ‘telecare’ technology and how were these being addressed?

4.1 UNDERSTANDING ETHICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
RELATED TO SYSTEMS

I n the past 10 years, we have witnessed, arguably, one of the most ethically
challenging periods for U.S. and global business. Table 4.1 provides a small
sample of recent cases demonstrating failed ethical judgment by senior
and middle managers. These lapses in ethical and business judgment
occurred across a broad spectrum of industries.
In today’s new legal environment, managers who violate the law and
are convicted will most likely spend time in prison. U.S. federal sentencing
guidelines adopted in 1987 mandate that federal judges impose stiff sentences

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