In this issue’s column, we focus on the individual
professional and strive to describe him/her
in terms of virtuous traits that help in his/
her professional role. It is beyond debate that
a professional is not just an aggregation of
cognitive knowledge and skills; a professional
is a more holistic person with many more
traits. While we have some knowledge of how
organizations foster ethical practices (e.g.,
codes of ethics), 1 we have not yet attempted
in this column to take a peek at the individual
professional: What would it take for an IT
professional to be virtuous in his role? This
question is too complex to explore fully in
a column, but an attempt can be made to
gain a basic understanding of this landscape.
Admittedly, we aim to generate more thought;
this is not a thorough treatise on virtue ethics of
an IT professional at work.
Since we are now talking about individuals,
not organizations, we can bring into our
discussion not just the externalities of the world
of work and its rules of behavior, but rather a
broad array of who we are, our inner being, our
traits that play a key role in defining our norms of
behavior at work.
Virtue ethics focuses on the moral character
of the person in contrast to the emphasis on rules
(in deontology) or the consequences of action (in
utilitarianism). The term “virtue” is derived from
the Latin word virtus, which over time took the
meaning of a description of Roman virtue. Virtue
ethics encompasses three broad spheres: virtue,
an expression of a stable disposition or character;
practical wisdom or prudence exercised by an
individual; and eudaimonia, the sense of well-being or flourishing. Our interest is in examining
the second sphere, prudence, the origin of
role-based traits.
CHARACTER
A person’s disposition is his/her underlying
constitution, which bears upon the individual’s
decisions at all levels: physical, mental, moral
and spiritual, for example. The disposition cannot
be turned on or off; it influences all aspects
of life—both private and at work. Disposition
is permanent (e.g., glass is fragile), while an
occurrence exhibiting the disposition (glass, upon
impact of a stone, is shattered) is occasional. 2
You do not see a habitual smoker smoking all the
time. On the other hand, a single observed action
is, by itself, insufficient to conclude anything
about the character of the person. Finally,
disposition is not a habit; it is the source that
drives actions from within. Proponents of virtue
ethics would argue that the moral education
that molds one’s disposition is more important
than inculcation of rules, for rules may not have
the requisite variety or complete context within
which exceptions may be made. This broadening
of norms of behavior is often considered as
spanning the area of morality from a somewhat
bounded definition of ethics. 3
A person’s character establishes a reason for
action beyond any rules. An honest person is
wired to practice nothing but honesty, even in
acts where rules are vague or absent; where no
one is looking; and where no laws, regulations or
policies are violated.
PRUDENCE
A virtue ethics framework for a professional
includes meta-virtues (moral or scientific
virtues) as well as role-constituted (prudential)
traits. Meta-virtues (e.g., integrity) are truly
the foundation of one’s character. However,
their explication in terms of the practice of a
professional produces specific character traits,
called role-constituted traits (e.g., integrity
expressed in the level of transparency in
communication). Thus, meta-virtues not only
enhance the good of the professional practice,
but also help delineate other practical traits, i.e.,
traits that are practically visible in action. Such
role-constituted or prudential traits emerge from
what is called phronesis, or the virtue of practical
thought, prudence or wisdom. Any prudent
behavior warrants the grasp of particulars (or the
context), cleverness in dealing with the situation,
Vasant Raval, DBA, CISA,
ACMA, is a professor of
accountancy at Creighton
University (Omaha, Nebraska,
USA). The coauthor of two
books on information systems
and security, his areas of
teaching and research
interests include information
security and corporate
governance. Opinions
expressed in this column
are his own and not those of
Creighton University. He can
be reached at
vraval@creighton.edu.
Character Traits of an IT Professional
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