Ethical and Social Issue

As information technology systems is rapidly improving, the ethical issues of a organization as big as AT&T can no longer be ignored. This is mainly because with improving technology trends, growing benifits concerning the company will affect both existing and former executives. Since AT&T gathers incredibily massive amount of data from customers, how this information is used can be a major concern. For example, the personal information of a customer can be traded or sold to other information technology companies for personal benifits. The degree of value of personal information is not a small matter, so AT&T needs to provide to provide guarantee to their customers and public that no unethical act is possibly done unnoticed. AT&T has established a formal Code of Ethics and established a transparency policy that enables the organization to provide sufficient data to all of its stakeholders and the public. Transparency in the organization has been noted to ensure accountability and ethical behavior. With a program like this in place, the organization must provide clear and comprehensive information to all pertinent stakeholders. As such, it is assumed that the organization will make better ethical decisions with this type of framework in place. The process of creating transparency in the organization has had a positive impact on the organization overall. The company was voted one of Business Ethics magazine's 100 best corporate citizens in 2004. What this award signifies is that the AT&T organization has taken the necessary steps to create a strong commitment to ethics. Without this program in place, the organization would not be able to effectively demonstrate its commitment to ethical behavior. Clearly, the transparency created in the organization has enabled outsiders to examine the ethics programs and policies utilized. This in turn has led to positive response to the programs undertaken by the organization. AT&T has gained the respect of both the larger business