Systems Design Ethical Tools for Ethical Change
This book examines the changes in the work environment that have occurred in recent years. It defines management-employee relationships as a series of contracts which a good systems designer must understand and provide if systems are to be acceptable and
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Information Systems Series Series Editor: Professor I. 0. Angell
Computer Security Within Organizations Adrian R. Warman Developing Information Systems Concepts, Issues and Practice Chrisanthi Avgerou and Tony Cornford Effective Systems Design and Requirements Analysis The ETHICS Approach Enid Mumford General Systems Theory An Introduction Lars Skyttner Information in Action Soft Systems Methodology Lynda Davies and Paul Ledington Information Systems Management Opportunities and Risks Ian 0. Angell and Steve Smithson Ourselves and Computers Difference in Minds and Machines Aart Bijl Systems Design Ethical Tools for Ethical Change Enid Mumford Understanding Information An Introduction Jonathan Liebenau and James Backhouse
Systems Design Ethical Tools for Ethical Change Enid Mumford
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MACMILLAN
© Enid Mumford 1996 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published 1996 by MACMll..LAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world ISBN 978-0-333-66946-4
ISBN 978-1-349-14199-9 (eBook)
OOI 10.1007/978-1-349-14199-9
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Contents Preface
vi
1 The past and the present 2 Systems designers and the ethics of design
15
3 Systems design in an unstable environment
30
4 An ethical pioneer: Mary Parker Follett
46
5 An ethical approach: socio-technical design
64
6 Designing for freedom in the ethical company
79
7 Designing for the future
99
Introduction to the appendices
108
Appendix A
The ETmCS method
110
Appendix B
Exercise in socio-technical design
117
165
Index
v
Preface This book is about making choices that take account of the needs and interests of a particular group of people, namely the employees of companies. The 'choice' situation that is discussed is when firms are making system changes, particularly changes that include technology. The author hopes that interested readers of the book will include systems designers, and other change agents, whose decisions can influence what is changed and how it is changed. When major change is being introduced by a company there are usually a number of stakeholders. These include the shareholders who hope for increased profits, the senior managers who hope for performance awards and promotion, the customers who hope for better and cheaper products, the suppliers who hope that their business will increase as th