I have uploaded today's Globe & Mail article "Corruption-proofing you career" to the Ethics Considerations folder. It provides some valuable insights and a prioritized list of ethics infractions. One thing it highlighted to me was that there are two types of ethical considerations: 1. Committing ethical infractions; and 2. Reporting ethical infractions.
I recommend we review our examination topics for completeness and emphasis against this and other similar articles.
The peculiar nature of Canadian regulation of "professions" causes problems. In Canada, only the Provinces have the power to regulate or recognize professions. That forced CIPS to seek Provincial recognition as a profession in as many Provinces as possible. National CIPS inspired the Provincial CIPS societies. But those Provincial CIPS societies are officially independent.
So we have officially independent Provincial CIPS societies that have as members I.S.P. holders who normally reside in that province. That leaves non-I.S.P. holders outside the Provincial CIPS societies. It means that I.S.P holders who are not resident in one of the six (?) Provinces with a Provincial CIPS society in a sort-of limbo.
This means that there are different official enforcement procedures. If you live in a Province with a Provincial CIPS society, and hold the I.S.P., then enforcement is in the hands of the Provincial society. Otherwise, it's done at the National level. Some/many/most Provinces would follow the National enforcement practice, but they are officially independent societies that could follow their own path with little or no regard for National policies and procedures.
This patchwork quilt of policies, procedures, and regulations was an important part of what inspired the new Governance model for CIPS. Many of these details are yet to be worked out - it's an implementation issue.
I've raise the enforcement procedure question at the National level - I should be hearing back real soon now. The version of the Code of Ethics on my site is the latest version approved by the National Executive. No Province raised any objection to the clarifications in that version.
I would like to share some brief findings (quick browse of all provincial websites for code of ethics, enforcement, hearing process, disciplinary process, complaint process, etc.)
- One province reference national code of ethics in its bylaws in writing and yet has a copy on local site that is different from national
- One province reference national code of ethics using hyperlink and yet has a copy on local site that is different from national, but identical to another province
- One province states its disciplinary process may take precedence over national process.
- A few provinces have very little information on code of ethics
- One province has complaint procedure linked to the wrong national webpage
- Even fewer provinces have information on hearing, enforcement, complaint, or related subject.
- Some provincial constitution or bylaw states something like "society" or "member" can vote for changes to code of ethics. Not sure what level is meant by "society" such as provincial or national. National constitution states "Society" is CIPS. Does that mean at all levels including chapter/region?
- One province incorporates governmental provincial legislation with its code of ethics disciplinary process, etc.
- According to CIPS National provincial regulation webpage, provincial is responsible for ISP which also has traceability to provincial code of ethics, right? Do we need a traceability matrix developed for our code of ethics between national and provinces?
- Is the latest and greatest CIPS code of ethics residing on Bob's website?
- Finally, according to CIPS latest governance model, CIPS national is the "maintainer" for CIPS code of ethics while provinces are "responsible" for it. Who is "accountable" for our code of ethics? If I were to follow RACI chart, should region/chapter be "consulted"?
Conclusions? Should code of ethics be determined at the provincial or national level, or even international level like Project Management Institute (PMI) in light of I3P? And, should part of our ethics exam has provincial specific contents?
I agreed with Alex's points. The exam should also include questions with regards to point 1. Understanding the CIPS Code of Ethics. The exam should test knowledge on CIPS' investigation and disciplinary processes with respect to its code of ethics, such as section 1. CIPS "... disciplinary action". What is it? At what stage do we start injunction, adjudication, prosecution, etc. How does CIPS enforces its code of ethics, for members and non-members? What is our code of ethics framework with respect to CIPS organization/structure? What is the reporting process for violation or investigation, and at what level; section, provincial, national? etc.
CIPS code of ethics should mention required qualifications and experience to perform professional and ethical work. This is where we reference ISP requirements, and ask related questions on our exam. I believe this is where we stand out from other ethical exam, and show the value and worth of ISP.
CIPS code of ethics sub-sections should be numbered so they can be referenced later in the exam solution.
I'm of the view that an Ethics Exam, if open to automatic scoring, can only determine if the candidate recognizes ethical actions. That ability is necessary in order to have an ethical IT professional, but is not sufficient.
A more elaborated process would consist of three steps:
Recognize that there are potential ethical decisions in a situations confronting the IT professional.
Identify the choices to that situation which conform to general morality and to professional ethics.
Follow-through, even when the IT Professionl's short term interests are not served by acting ethically.
An exam of the kind being considered only speaks to the seconf point. It's a (modest) step in the right direction, but falls far short of proving that the person who successfully completes the exam will be an ethical professional.
We could go further with essay exams of the kind used by the Australian Computer Society, but we don't have any of the machinery in place to fairly score such exam papers.
As discussed, I believe the Ethics Exam should help CIPS memebers behave ethically by:
Understanding the CIPS Code of Ethics
Applying the CIPS Code of Ethics
Making valid ethical decisions
The first objective can be satisfied by asking members questions about the contents of the CIPS Code of Ethics. The second objective might require them to demonstrate how the CIPS Code of Ethics applies to given situations. The third objective can be satisfied by demonstrating an ability to resolve ethical dilemmas. In the latter case, members can use one of several approahces to arrive at a decision. They would be evaluated more on using a valid approach than on the ethical decision (althought the decision should also be evaluated gainst current community standards).
Below are two of many Frameworks for Ethical Decision Making that should be considered:
Comments
Globe & Mail Artilce: Corruption-proofing your career
I have uploaded today's Globe & Mail article "Corruption-proofing you career" to the Ethics Considerations folder. It provides some valuable insights and a prioritized list of ethics infractions. One thing it highlighted to me was that there are two types of ethical considerations: 1. Committing ethical infractions; and 2. Reporting ethical infractions.
I recommend we review our examination topics for completeness and emphasis against this and other similar articles.
- Alex
Thanks
Thank you Bob for the clarification.
Looks like we are heading the right direction.
Looking forward to the journey with the task force members.
Regards,
Vincent
Whose Code of Ethics
The peculiar nature of Canadian regulation of "professions" causes problems. In Canada, only the Provinces have the power to regulate or recognize professions. That forced CIPS to seek Provincial recognition as a profession in as many Provinces as possible. National CIPS inspired the Provincial CIPS societies. But those Provincial CIPS societies are officially independent.
So we have officially independent Provincial CIPS societies that have as members I.S.P. holders who normally reside in that province. That leaves non-I.S.P. holders outside the Provincial CIPS societies. It means that I.S.P holders who are not resident in one of the six (?) Provinces with a Provincial CIPS society in a sort-of limbo.
This means that there are different official enforcement procedures. If you live in a Province with a Provincial CIPS society, and hold the I.S.P., then enforcement is in the hands of the Provincial society. Otherwise, it's done at the National level. Some/many/most Provinces would follow the National enforcement practice, but they are officially independent societies that could follow their own path with little or no regard for National policies and procedures.
This patchwork quilt of policies, procedures, and regulations was an important part of what inspired the new Governance model for CIPS. Many of these details are yet to be worked out - it's an implementation issue.
I've raise the enforcement procedure question at the National level - I should be hearing back real soon now. The version of the Code of Ethics on my site is the latest version approved by the National Executive. No Province raised any objection to the clarifications in that version.
Bob
Quick and brief browse of all provincial and national websites
Greetings everyone,
I would like to share some brief findings (quick browse of all provincial websites for code of ethics, enforcement, hearing process, disciplinary process, complaint process, etc.)
- One province reference national code of ethics in its bylaws in writing and yet has a copy on local site that is different from national
- One province reference national code of ethics using hyperlink and yet has a copy on local site that is different from national, but identical to another province
- One province states its disciplinary process may take precedence over national process.
- A few provinces have very little information on code of ethics
- One province has complaint procedure linked to the wrong national webpage
- Even fewer provinces have information on hearing, enforcement, complaint, or related subject.
- Some provincial constitution or bylaw states something like "society" or "member" can vote for changes to code of ethics. Not sure what level is meant by "society" such as provincial or national. National constitution states "Society" is CIPS. Does that mean at all levels including chapter/region?
- One province incorporates governmental provincial legislation with its code of ethics disciplinary process, etc.
- According to CIPS National provincial regulation webpage, provincial is responsible for ISP which also has traceability to provincial code of ethics, right? Do we need a traceability matrix developed for our code of ethics between national and provinces?
- Is the latest and greatest CIPS code of ethics residing on Bob's website?
- Finally, according to CIPS latest governance model, CIPS national is the "maintainer" for CIPS code of ethics while provinces are "responsible" for it. Who is "accountable" for our code of ethics? If I were to follow RACI chart, should region/chapter be "consulted"?
Conclusions? Should code of ethics be determined at the provincial or national level, or even international level like Project Management Institute (PMI) in light of I3P? And, should part of our ethics exam has provincial specific contents?
Regards,
Vince
Understanding CIPS Code of Ethics
Greetings,
I agreed with Alex's points. The exam should also include questions with regards to point 1. Understanding the CIPS Code of Ethics. The exam should test knowledge on CIPS' investigation and disciplinary processes with respect to its code of ethics, such as section 1. CIPS "... disciplinary action". What is it? At what stage do we start injunction, adjudication, prosecution, etc. How does CIPS enforces its code of ethics, for members and non-members? What is our code of ethics framework with respect to CIPS organization/structure? What is the reporting process for violation or investigation, and at what level; section, provincial, national? etc.
CIPS code of ethics should mention required qualifications and experience to perform professional and ethical work. This is where we reference ISP requirements, and ask related questions on our exam. I believe this is where we stand out from other ethical exam, and show the value and worth of ISP.
CIPS code of ethics sub-sections should be numbered so they can be referenced later in the exam solution.
Vince
Personal Ethics in a Corporate World
This new article from Strategy + Business might be instructive http://www.strategy-business.com/media/file/leading_ideas-20071119.pdf
Exam Objective(s)
I'm of the view that an Ethics Exam, if open to automatic scoring, can only determine if the candidate recognizes ethical actions. That ability is necessary in order to have an ethical IT professional, but is not sufficient.
A more elaborated process would consist of three steps:
An exam of the kind being considered only speaks to the seconf point. It's a (modest) step in the right direction, but falls far short of proving that the person who successfully completes the exam will be an ethical professional.
We could go further with essay exams of the kind used by the Australian Computer Society, but we don't have any of the machinery in place to fairly score such exam papers.
Indentify Choices
Bob, I don't have a problem with limiting the scope. I only wanted to make sure we considered the bigger picture before finalizing our approach.
- Alex
Ethical Decision Making
As discussed, I believe the Ethics Exam should help CIPS memebers behave ethically by:
The first objective can be satisfied by asking members questions about the contents of the CIPS Code of Ethics. The second objective might require them to demonstrate how the CIPS Code of Ethics applies to given situations. The third objective can be satisfied by demonstrating an ability to resolve ethical dilemmas. In the latter case, members can use one of several approahces to arrive at a decision. They would be evaluated more on using a valid approach than on the ethical decision (althought the decision should also be evaluated gainst current community standards).
Below are two of many Frameworks for Ethical Decision Making that should be considered:
- Alex