Does your organisation have a vision statement? Does it have a list of values that it shares with staff and on its website? The answer is almost certainly “yes” and yet, have you ever wondered what difference these make?
Vision and values can be directed internally, externally, or both. Internally, they tend to direct staff towards desired behaviours and outcomes. Externally, they give an impression of how the organisation would like its stakeholders to see it (a perception which may be more or less accurate). But how do vision and values flow down through an organisation, and particularly through its technology?
The need to align vision and values with business strategy
From my own experience, and working with numerous clients over the years, these issues fall under HR/staff motivation for internal matters, and marketing if external. What I have rarely seen is examples of vision and values permeating an entire organisation. By this, I mean tying in with an organisation’s business strategy and its use of technology.
As an example, all organisations will (by law) have an anti-discrimination stance, which is typically outlined through HR policy. However, does it inform the purchase, development and use of technology? Clearly not when Uber Eats introduced a verification app which has been found to be biased against black people or when the UK government introduced a biased algorithm check A-level grades during the pandemic.
These cases, and many more like them, are wrong and should not have occurred on a straightforward common-sense basis. However, they also should not have happened because Uber and the UK government both have policies against discrimination. These policies should have prevented the technology from being deployed in the first place, and yet they did not. Why is this?
The reason would appear to be that anti-discrimination policies were seen as directed at staff alone and not technology. Yet we know that technology can be discriminatory, as the above cases demonstrate and has been amply demonstrated in academic research, including my own, over the last 12 years.
A similar point can be made around business strategy. There are so many cases coming to light of Artificial Intelligence (AI) being biased that it seems an obvious opportunity for companies to differentiate themselves through promoting AI that is not biased by design and addressing these problems before their products or services go to market.
The need for organisations to govern AI use
Research has shown that while 84% of companies think that responsible AI (a reflection of organisational values such as inclusivity, transparency and accountability in the use of AI) should be a top management priority, only 19% have a mature responsible AI programme. 80% of organisations have high-level declarations for responsible AI but no clear breakdown of the principles into easy-to-follow requirements for developers. Finally, 89% of companies that are investing in AI ethics standards and training are seeing ROI of 5%.
Addressing responsible AI is likely to have a direct impact on employee wellbeing and customer retention. In recent research carried out by Sopra Steria, 53% expressed concerns that AI would negatively affect privacy and jobs, and 37% that it would reinforce bias in society. This led to just 29% believing that industry could be trusted to self-regulate, compared with 63% calling for government regulation. This is significant in governing behaviour as 45% of consumers say they would never trust a brand again after it displayed unethical behaviour or was involved in a scandal, and 40% say they’d stop buying from that brand altogether.
It is therefore a point of common agreement between organisational leadership and the public that AI and technology needs to be adequately governed to maximise profit and minimise harm. These should be the catalysts to take digital ethics programmes from a list of ineffective principles to a full, embedded digital ethics strategy.
Embedding vision and values
Indeed.com list the following as examples of organisational values:
- Communicate often and well.
- Listen to ideas and opinions.
- Find balance.
- Have high standards.
- Put the customer first.
- Show gratitude.
- Be bold.
- Take ownership.
- Have fun.
- Celebrate diversity.
- Build trust.
These are reasonable starting points, and I’m sure that many are recognisable from experience. However, if they were used to inform decisions around technology and business strategies, rather than just motivation for staff or marketing for customers, then many of the ethical problems we have encountered in technology, and particularly AI, would not have seen the light of day.
It’s essential that organisations look to incorporate their vision and values beyond HR and marketing. They should build these values into procurement, development and use of technology, and using them as a significant part of their business strategy.
A critical step is developing a digital ethics strategy, a straightforward document that encompasses vision and values and ensures that these permeate throughout an organisation. This involves strategy, governance, policy and procedure to cover all areas of the organisation, including procurement and tech development.
To find out more about digital ethics strategies, contact Kevin Macnish, Head of Ethics and Sustainability Consulting at Sopra Steria kevin.macnish@soprasteria.com