Being Ethical in Developing Information Systems: An Issue of Methodology or Maturity in Judgement?

This paper constructs and compares two practical approaches toward being ethical in developing information systems. Firstly, it looks into the prevailing practice of relying on rational decision-making procedures to address ethical challenges, then an alternative view on being ethical is scrutinised with the focus on moral virtues and maturity in development of moral judgement. Through a study on real ISD project, it is suggested that the two approaches could somehow complement rather than supplant one another, and the combination of both sorts of consideration represents an effective practical paradigm for assessing ICT workers’ ethical activities and performance in developing information systems.