Self-Service in the Internet Age by Fay Sudweeks Celia Romm Livermore & David Oliver

Author:Fay Sudweeks, Celia Romm Livermore & David Oliver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer London, London

6.7 Conclusions

There are a number of implications of this study. While many business ethics issues are not manifestly new in web-based IS, it is “becoming apparent that the ethical dimensions of IS-related business decisions cannot be safely ignored” (Smith & Hasnas 1999, p. 111). It is necessary to renew the articulation of ethics in view of the capacity of new technologies to affect dubious practice. Ethical guidelines and frameworks in IS design and marketing; corporate and professional codes of ethics; and ethics in the IS and marketing curricula, also need to be re-visited.

There is assumed ethicality in how IS are designed and how marketing practice is conducted; such assumptions need to be challenged. Writers have advised practitioners and teachers to be worried if there is a complete absence of contact information (Kassler 2002). This concern is largely focussed on the potential for deceit and fraud. It is not normally directed at reputable firms who obscure contact details to reduce interaction and dialogue. This oversight demands some revision in how information systems and marketing are taught to students of IT and business programmes. But how should teachers approach this issue – as an advocate of entrepreneurs or of consumers? Do teachers make students critically aware of gummy practices or should they demonstrate how they can be achieved to match the demands of business practice? Conversely, should educators more fully teach students how to develop systems so that they are ethically acceptable?

Social responsibility in corporate governance has become an imperative for many firms. Do LCCs using self-service delivery demand different standards because they are low-cost? Is there a layer of insulation that such operators enjoy because, to many non-technical observers, the nuances of intentional design practices remain unclear? The lowering of customer expectations that de-marketing has brought about, has lowered the threshold of systems design. Is this benchmark acceptable or is it a tolerable outcome of a Faustian-like bargain? While all of these questions involve a much broader social discourse, it is timely to debate them.

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