Through the evolution of business and social changes, it is important more than ever to successfully combine profit and principles of a company. Many large companies in Silicon Valley are placing people in positions to regulate and maintain their reputation when it comes to ethical decisions. It could be that the larger issue surrounding the poor ethics of companies is the lack of diversity in their employees.
Role of Diversity in Tech Companies
More tech companies are experiencing a crisis related to data and privacy breaches, disinformation, questionable investors, and fake profiles on their platforms that spread hate and division between different groups. If the group that makes decisions is more diverse, the ethical issues can be identified in the boardroom. When the company has representatives of various marginalized groups they would have a clear viewpoint on how those groups would react to their decisions and would be impacted by them.
While the main focus of companies is improving speed and ease of access, there are also important issues arising with users and in particular with minority groups. Decision making groups often lack people that represent minorities. No matter the expertise of the chief ethics officer, only a true representative of the situation can give a correct way to act that would benefit smaller groups of people.
Diversity and Funding
Not all money is the same. People are more and more repulsed by businesses that startup and are funded by money that is won by violence and intrigue. With transparency of the dealings of investors, it is good to have diverse opinions about the money with which tech industries are funded and how that impacts their ethics policies and the social image of the company.
Diversity and Changing Communities
With the expansion of tech companies, local communities are changing, and the diversity of small businesses and towns are also disappearing. When the different cultural demographics change in an area, the costs of living and rents rise.
It is vital for companies that displace some at the expense of others to provide assistance to those living in poverty. Another ethical solution for tech companies is to work with the citizens and businesses that are already present in a newly entered community. This will assist already existing businesses and create sustainable employment to its own residents.