Information System Ethical Attitudes: A Cultural Comparison of the United States, Spain and Portugal

Abstract

Ethical attitudes and behaviors of individuals influence information systems (IS) use. For organizations that operate across national borders, differences in ethical attitudes and behaviors will impact the actions of employees and customers. This research looks at the differences in attitudes and behaviors that exist among three different countries with distinct national cultures, and examines how these differences might impact information security. Building on existing ethical frameworks, we developed a set of ethical scenarios concerning data access, data manipulation, software use, programming abuse, and hardware use. We surveyed 537 students from three countries about their own ethical experiences and our ethics scenarios. The results indicated interesting differences among the countries that IS professions should be aware of when evaluating information and technology use for a multinational organization. We conclude with implications for current research and future research dimensions to further explore the impact of these differences.