Business IT Ethics Patent Trolls

Question: Discuss about the Business IT Ethics for Patent Trolls. Answer: Introduction The case is about the attempt of Google to fight the patent trolls. The article mentions the announcement of Google Inc. that it would buy as many patents as possible. The company wants to buy as many patents as possible as the company wants to remove any friction with the dubious practices of the company that would buy the patents just to sue the other companies. The article discusses the approach of Google Inc. to avoid this problem of patents troll. The objective of this paper is to analyze the article, Google Attempts to Fight Patent Trolls with a Pretty Dubious Strategy, from the perspective of two ethical theories. The two ethical theories that are used in this paper are utilitarianism theory of ethics and deontological theory of ethics. The paper also discusses few recommendations to avoid the ethical dilemmas of this nature. Analysis In this era of globalization, organizations have to overcome the ethical barriers to manage their operations. There was a time when the ethical barriers and issues were mainly internal in nature. However, today, the ethical barriers could also arise from external factors. The ethical issues of patent troll are one such ethical issue that drivers from external environment. It appears that Google Inc. has taken a good step to avoid this problem. However, it is possible that this problem is not sustainable in nature (Reidenbach, 2013). The field of technology is a growing field. Everyday, there could be number of new innovations and based on these innovations there could be a good scope of technology patents. Therefore, it is important that Google Inc. should find a sustainable solution to this problem of patent troll. This issue can be discussed from the perspective of the ethical theories of utilitarianism and deontological as below: Utilitarianism theory of ethics Utilitarianism is a theory in normative ethics holding that the best moral action is the one that maximizes utility. There could be various ways to define the utility. For some people, the profit could be utility and for some the reach could be utility. Utility is defined in various ways, but is usually related to the well being of sentient entities. The utilitarianism theory of ethics suggests that the action is right or ethical in nature if the stakeholders are able to achieve the utility. In this case, the utilitarianism theory of ethics could be applied from the perspective of the companies that uses patents troll. The use of patent trolls increases the utility of these companies and this can justify their action. Some of the challenges that could arise when using Utilitarianism Theory have mostly to do with the organizational leaders ability to adapt to changes in the environment that can essentially kill the organization. Utilitarianism Theory describes the organization as that of a living organism, which is exposed to the process of natural selection and evolution. Deontological theory of ethics Deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical position that judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule or rules. The advocates of this theory advocates that people should do the action as per their duty. This theory would suggest that the steps take by the companies that do patent troll is not justified. This is an ethical step as this should not be their duty to sue people and organization for the false patents. Birnbaum (2014) explained that large mechanistic highly formalized organizations have a hard time adapting in changing environments due to the many changes and horizontal communication that needs to take place within all of the intricate systems to accommodate the shift. Another challenge with using Deontological Theory is how leaders use shared information and if they consider how shared information will impact their organization or even be useful within the organization. The Deontological theory refers to the relationship that an organization has with the numerous entities that is must interact with on a daily basis (Dion, 2012). A successful organization takes its resources from the surrounding environment and turns them into productive products or services. In an open organizational system, the organization has fluid, ill-defined boundaries and draws from a diverse number of resources and environmental factors. Conclusion Recommendations Some organizations can successfully utilize a utilitarianism theory and some are more successful utilizing deontological ethical theory. An organization must be aware of both its own internal workings and of the changing environment, and be prepared to make adaptations as necessary. As the surrounding environment becomes more complex, the organization becomes more open. The analysis of the article from the perspective of utilitarianism theory suggests that the organization steps could be termed as ethical as they are just doing the things that maximize their utility. At the same time, the analysis of the article form the perspective of deontological ethical theory suggests that the action of organizations is not ethical in nature. It may not be easy to resolve the ethical dilemmas in business situations. Therefore, it is important that the organizations should take the decision based on the expectations of various stakeholders. According to Knutsen and Brock (2014) organizations, whi ch are open to the environment and stakeholders would often interact and adapt to the environment. These organizations would operate under an open systems view that would enable the organizations to overcome the ethical dilemmas. It is also recommended that the organizations environmental assessments and responsive outputs need to reflect the strategic direction of the organization. The ethical framework under which the external environment is assessed needs to be established and consistent so as to avoid any personal biases by leaders and managers. References Birnbaum, R. and Lach, L., 2014. Teaching About What Ethical Social Work Practice Means: Responsibility Starts With Schools of Social Work.Lencadrement juridique de la pratique professionnelle, p.37. Dion, M., 2012. Are ethical theories relevant for ethical leadership?.Leadership Organization Development Journal,33(1), pp.4-24. Knutsen, W., Brock, K. (2014). Introductory essay: From a closed system to an open system: A parallel critical review of the intellectual trajectories of publicness and nonprofitness.Voluntas: International Journal Of Voluntary Nonprofit Organizations, 25(5), 1113-1131 Newitz, A. (2015). Google Attempts to Fight Patent Trolls with a Pretty Dubious Strategy. Retrieved from: https://gizmodo.com/google-attempts-to-fight-patent-trolls-by-buying-pat-1700413270 Reidenbach, R.E. and Robin, D.P., 2013. Some Initial Steps Toward Improving the Measurement of Ethical Evaluations of Marketing Activities. InCitation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics(pp. 315-328). Springer Netherlands.