ETHICS OF COLLABORATION - Collaborative Computational Technologies for Biomedical Research - page 127

collaborators. People will not be discounted for mission-irrelevant criteria. The
result is a higher level of procedural competence and the application of pro-
cedural knowledge.
Of course, most collective, organized activities do not reach the level of
collaboration or at least the most complex arrangements, that is, peer-similar
or peer-different, sustainable collaborations. Most organizations have ele-
ments of teamwork and are to some extent cooperative. Most organizations
produce coordinated action. However, most organizations do have hierarchi-
cal arrangements where power and authority are not nearly equal among the
organization's members. To that extent, the organizations may be dictatorial,
as Drake and Schacter [7] put it. Yet, collaborations, the most complex level
of collective activity, appear to be the most productive—or so Rozenberg and
Birdzell [1] suggest. For collaborations to exist, though, the laundry list of
virtues identifi ed by Raza [11] must be present in the character of the partici-
pants. Only then can the conditions allowing trust be possible. The “ground
fl oor” of the steps from teamwork to collaboration begins with some commit-
ment to cooperate with others.
While the reality of the typical organization is hierarchical, the literature
points to the necessity of shared power and authority where the members of
a potential collaboration have a strong voice in the guidelines governing the
group. It would seem, therefore, that organizational leaders would be wise to
share their power and authority. Raza [11] states that team leaders need to
build and maintain trust, promote respect, accommodate needs, respond to the
needs of the collaborators, empower team members to discharge responsibili-
ties, appreciate individuals at whatever level they might be, respect disagree-
ment, and considerately provide feedback when there is confl ict [11] . The
likely result, according to Raza, is that the team leader will elevate what might
only be coordinated activity to become a sustainable collaboration [11].
Raza's attributes of a team leader are, of course, the attributes of an ideal
“boss.” The ideal boss, or manager, is virtuous and respects the dignity and
person of his or her workers. Again, the character of the manager must be
virtuous in that the leader approaches others with good will, accords respect,
and is “ other - regarding ” and “ self - regarding ” as well as “ organization -
regarding.” Only then can trust fl ourish in a hierarchical organization and that
organization move toward a collaborative enterprise. The basic building block
of trust and the ensuing cooperation it enables lead to greater effi ciency and
productivity characteristic of collaborations.
Nonetheless, even with trust present, certain aspects of collaboration are
more prone to problems.
Any form of collaborative effort is faced with ethical issues. However, when
a collaborative effort involves the use of information systems and information
technologies, there are additional considerations that collaborators must
address. The following section outlines the issues that arise when using infor-
mation systems and information technologies.