Corporations and professionalism: awkward bed-fellows?
| Date | 13 November 2017 |
| Published date | 13 November 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-01-2017-0005 |
| Pages | 366-369 |
| Author | David Kreps |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
Corporations and professionalism:
awkward bed-fellows?
David Kreps
University of Salford, Salford, Manchester, UK
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paperis to respond to Burmeister’s paper on Professionalism in information
and communicationtechnology.
Design/methodology/approach –This is a short and simple responseto an issue that seemed centralto
Burmeister’spaper.
Findings –A key conundrum between the definitions of professionalism and corporations needs
addressing.
Originality/value –This conundrum is a global politicalsituation outwith the ability of the profession to
address.
Keywords Ethics, IT ethics, Human values
Paper type Viewpoint
Acorporationmaybedefined to be a collection of many individuals united into one body,
under a special denomination, having perpetual succession under an artificial form, and
vested, by policy of the law, with the capacity of acting, in several respects, as an individual,
particularly of taking and granting property, of contracting obligations, and of suing and
being sued, of enjoying privileges and immunities in common, and of exercising a variety of
political rights, more or less extensive, according to the design of its institution, or the powers
conferred upon it, either at the time of its creation, or at any subsequent period of its
existence.
—Chitty (1820, p. 121)
Upon reading this piece by Burmeister, I wasstruck first, and last, by what seems to me to
be the core conundrum at the heart of the issues with which it deals. The paper focuses
upon:
a critique of codes of conduct and the value of creating a global code for information
and communication technology (ICT) –which it supports;
a critique of ICT professional certification –which it supports; and then
explores the debate over whether ICT is really a profession or simply artisan
activity, opting for it being a “young profession”.
At each turn, the focus upon individual professionalism, and the ethical behaviour deemed
either central or at least adjunct to it, is contrasted with “corporate settings where their
personal professionalism is challenged by corporate business demands”. At the heart of
these critiques and explorations is the fact that corporate entities are legal fictions whose
signatories enjoy limited liability (since the British Limited Liability Act 1855), and not
individuals with moralsand consciences who must deal personally with the consequencesof
their actions.
JICES
15,4
366
Received19 January 2017
Revised13 February 2017
Accepted14 February 2017
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.15 No. 4, 2017
pp. 366-369
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-01-2017-0005
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