Ethics of teamwork  (Page 2/6)

A framework for value-integration

The objective of this module is to teach you to teach yourselves how to work in small groups. You will develop and test procedures for realizing value goals and avoiding group pitfalls. You will also use Socio-Technical System Analysis to help you understand better how to take advantage of the way in which different environments enable groups activities and to anticipate and minimize the way in which other environments can constrain or even oppose group activities.

• Discovery : "The goal of this activity is to 'discover' the values that are relevant to, inspire, or inform a given design project, resulting in a list of values and bringing into focus what is often implicit in a design project." [Flanagan et al. 323]. Discovery of group values is a trial and error process. To get started, use the ADEM Statement of Values or the short value profiles listed below.
• Translation : "[T]ranslation is the activity of embodying or expressing...values in a system design. Translation is further divided into operationalization, which involves defining or articulating values in concrete terms, and implementation which involves specifying corresponding design features" [Flanagan et al., 338]. You will operationalize your values by developing profiles. (See below or the ADEM Statement of Values for examples.) Then you will implement your values by developing realization procedures. For example, to realize justice in carrying out a group task, first we will discuss the task as a group, second we will divide it into equal parts, third, forth, etc.
• Verification : "In the activity of verification, designers assess to what extent they have successfully implemented target values in a given system. [Strategies and methods] may include internal testing among the design team, user testing in controlled environments, formal and informal interviews and surveys, the use of prototypes, traditional quality assurance measures such as automated and regression-oriented testing and more" [Flanagan et al., 344-5]. You will document your procedures in the face of different obstacles that may arise in your efforts at value-realization. At the end of your semester, you will verify your results by showing how you have refined procedures to more effectively realize values.

The framework on value realization and the above-quoted passages can be found in the following resource: M. Flanagan, D. Howe, and H. Nissenbaum, “Embodying Values in Technology: Theory and Practice,” in Information Technology and Moral Philosophy , Jeroen van den Hoven and John Weckert, Eds. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 322-353.

Value profiles for professional ethics

1. Definition - A value "refers to a claim about what is worthwhile, what is good. A value is a single word or phrase that identifies something as being desirable for human beings." Brincat and Wike, Morality and the Professional Life: Values at Work
2. Reasonableness - Defusing disagreement and resolving conflicts through integration. Characteristics include seeking relevant information, listening and responding thoughtfully to others, being open to new ideas, giving reasons for views held, and acknowledging mistakes and misunderstandings. (From Michael Pritchard, Reasonable Children)
3. Responsibility - The ability to develop moral responses appropriate to the moral issues and problems that arise in one's day-to-day experience. Characteristics include avoiding blame shifting, designing overlapping role reponsibilities to fill responsibility "gaps", expanding the scope and depth of general and situation-specific knowledge, and working to expand control and power.
4. Respect - Recognizing and working not to circumvent the capacity of autonomy in each individual. Characteristics include honoring rights such as privacy, property, free speech, due process, and participatory rights such as informed consent. Disrespect circumvents autonomy by deception, force, or manipulation.
5. Justice - Giving each his or her due. Justice breaks down into kinds such as distributive (dividing benefits and burdens fairly), retributive (fair and impartial administration of punishments), administrative (fair and impartial administration of rules), and compensatory (how to fairly recompense those who have been wrongfully harmed by others).
6. Trust - According to Solomon, trust is the expectation of moral behavior from others.
7. Honesty - Truthfulness as a mean between too much honesty (bluntness which harms) and dishonesty (deceptiveness, misleading acts, and mendaciousness).
8. Integrity - A meta-value that refers to the relation between particular values. These values are integrated with one another to form a coherent, cohesive and smoothly functioning whole. This resembles Solomon's account of the virtue of integrity.