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Code of ethics is basically a set of rules regarding good and bad behaviors. It is necessary for maintaining stability as an organization moves forward. An organization can be a corporation, a professional community, or any other group entities. When studying professional ethic codes and corporate ethic codes (Somers, 2001), it was found that: 1. Employees notice less ethic violations when there is an official corporate ethic code in place; 2. The existence of an organization’s ethic code contributes to higher level of members’ commitment; 3. Neither professional ethic code nor organizational ethic code seems to have concrete effects on whistle-blowing. More research efforts should be invested in confirming those results, especially when there are many different organizations operating in all kinds of diverse industries. In that spirit, this short paper compares the ACA Code of Ethics (ACA code) with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Code of Conduct (FRB code) and ends with a discussion on Cybersecurity professional code of ethics.
The American Counseling Association’s Code of ethics (Herlihy & Corey, 2014) was designed to promote and advance the field of professional counseling as the profession contributes to human’s quality of life. The main sections are: Counseling Relationship; Confidentiality and Privacy; Professional Responsibility; Relationships with Other Professionals; Evaluation, Assessment, and Interpretation; Supervision, Training, and Teaching; Research and Publication; Distance Counseling, Technology, and Social Media; and Resolving Ethical Issues. The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Code of Conduct (FRB of Cleveland, 2017) was designed to secure the proper functioning of the bank as well as maintaining the public confidence in the Federal Reserve System. It is important to note that the daily business of the Federal Reserve Bank has great influence on the US economy (FRB, n.d.). The main sections are: Basic Obligation; Employee Conduct; Bank Property and Information; Use of Position; Conflicts of Interest; Seeking other Employment; Outside Activities; Post-employment Activities; Disclosure Statements; and Violations.
The two ethic codes share the same high-level structure while differ on lower level details. Both codes started out by discussing basic proper behaviors of the professional or the employee. Maintaining boundaries is at the core. For example, a counselor must not go beyond counselor-client relationship and acts as a friend or a lover; an FRB employee must not participate in any kind of money gambling on the bank’s premises. The second section involves proper handling of information and protecting privacy. The ACA code focuses more on protecting the client’s information while the FRB code focuses more on protecting the Bank’s information. Both codes also share the same theme for the third section – the responsibilities and duties associated with the job position. For example, a counselor must not abuse the clients for private gains such as false advertisement, or continuous ineffective counseling. An FRB employee must not abuse the privileged banking industry insights, unique connections, etc. for private gains. Later sections dive deep into the more specific nature of each profession. For example, section H of the ACA Code talks about Distance counseling and the impacts of new technology and social media while section 6 of the FRB Code discusses solely issues with seeking other employment. The last section of each code wraps things up by presenting recommended solutions/mitigating actions. While the ACA code is being diplomatic, the FRB code is very straight forward with the mentioning of “Disciplinary action” (FRB of Cleveland, 2017, pg 15). Overall, both codes share the same general topic structure, page length, development committee as well as other support methods such as annual training, online resources, and so on. The FRB of Cleveland Code of Conduct has been updated more frequently than the ACA’s and are much more specific in describing the consequences of code violations.
Due to similarities in core ethic topics, it is very possible that an FRB member who is also an ACA member may have a more reinforced ethic foundation than a regular FRB member. Also, the differences between ethic codes may complement each other and give the person a more complete, more diverse view when assessing ethical situations. A good research direction could be about mapping the similarities, conflicts, and complementary non-overlaps among common ethic codes in order to identify amplification and/or cancellation factors in the economy of ethic codes. The cybersecurity profession can be a good place to start.
Currently, there is no universal, robust code of ethics for cybersecurity professionals. Cybersecurity certifying authorities such as the ISC2 has a code of ethics (ISC2, n.d.) but it is very lean. In comparison with others, cybersecurity is a very broad field dealing with the “security” of anything “cyber”. That “anything” can be Information Technology (IT), software development, cyber-physical security, cyber-insurance, and so on. Therefore, cybersecurity professionals may follow other directly-related and/or parent ethic codes. For example, cybersecurity professionals who work as a software vulnerability tester for a psychology counseling software company may need to follow two or more sets of professional codes. It may make more sense to have a light cybersecurity code of ethics in order to avoid collisions and duplications in such context. The rapid changing of domain knowledge is another challenge. The grey area in cybersecurity is huge while the boundaries change along with cutting-edge technology developments in tandem with the modifications and additions of related laws. For instance, US Senators are now more agile in proposing new cyber-privacy legislations (Deahl, 2018).
The money power may play a significant role in promoting the range and reach of ethics in work settings. With money, organizations will first be able to secure the ethic baseline through robust recruiting campaigns with effective talent acquisition rates, through in-depth background investigations and through attractive `incentives. With money, organizations will be able to maintain or even sharpen employees’ ethical awareness with quality trainings. For example, the FRB of Cleveland has ethic officers that are always available for one-on-one consultation. I consulted one when I first started my job. In the session, I made sure my financial posture does not pose any risk to the work I have with the FRB. Whenever there is a significant life event such as getting married, having a kid, buying a house, members are also encouraged to have a consultation session with the ethic officer. Such coverage and dedication is not available in a regular professional organization where resources are limited.
In conclusion, there are many factors contributing to expanding as well as limiting the reach of ethic codes. There are similarities as well as differences between organizational and professional ethic codes. Some similarities and differences may enhance a member’s ethical decision quality. Some differences may cause conflicts or cancelling effects. Studying ethical philosophies in individuals who belong to different organizational and/or professional groups can be an interesting research direction. Another research direction is studying various ways to outsource ethical re-enforcement/enhancement activities to assist professional groups with limited resources.
References
Somers, M.J. (2001). Ethical codes of conduct and organizational context: A study of the relationship between codes of conduct, employee behavior and organizational values. Journal of Business Ethics, 30, 185-195Herlihy, B., & Corey, G. (2014). ACA Ethical standards casebook (7th ed.). Alexandria, VA, USA: American Counseling Association.
FRB of Cleveland. (2017, November 30). Code of Conduct. Retrieved April 11, 2019, from https://www.clevelandfed.org/~/media/files/corporate%20governance/codeofconduct.pdf?la=en
FRB. (n.d.). Federal Reserve Board - Purposes & Functions. Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://www.federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/pf.htm
ISC2. (n.d.). Code of ethics. Retrieved April 12, 2019, from https://www.isc2.org/Ethics
Deahl, D. (2018, April 13). Senators propose legislation to protect the privacy of users’ online data after Facebook hearing. Retrieved April 13, 2019, from https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/12/17231718/facebook-data-privacy-law-klobuchar-kennedy-mark-zuckerberg
