Blowing the Whistle on Unethical Information Techmology Practices: The Role of Machiavellianism, Gender and Computer Liteacy

Although organizations can derive competitive advantages from developing and implementing information systems, they are confronted with a rising number of unethical information practices. Because end-users and computer experts are the conduit of an ethical organizational environment, their intention to report unethical IT-related practices plays a critical role in protecting intellectual property and privacy rights. Using the survey methodology, this paper investigates the relationship between willingness to report intellectual property and privacy violations and Machiavellianism, gender and computer literacy in the form of programming experience. We found that gender and computer literacy interact with Machiavellianism to influence individuals’ intention of reporting unethical IT practices. This study helps to improve our understanding of the emergent ethical issues existing in the IT-enabled decision environment.