IBM's Virtual World Employee Guidelines

IBM released its employee guidelines for virtual worlds today. The seven-page PDF outlines basic principles governing how to represent IBM in the virtual arena. Some, myself included, wondered about the need to codify what, in many cases, is common sense. IBM Developer Jo Grant explains that "Down the road the virtual world guidelines will probably be folded into our normal business conduct guidelines. But for now publishing them explicitly and prominently also draws attention to the fact that business can and is conducted in these environments. It gives a model for other companies to consider following." The 11-point summary is below.

1. Engage. IBM encourages its employees to explore responsibly – indeed, to further
the development of – new spaces of relationship-building, learning and collaboration.

2. Use your good judgment. As in physical communities, good and bad will be found
in virtual worlds. You will need to exercise good judgment as to how to react in these
situations – including whether to opt out or proceed.

3. Protect your – and IBM’s – good name. At this point in time, assume that
activities in virtual worlds and/or the 3D Internet are public – much as is participation
in public chat rooms or blogs. Be mindful that your actions may be visible for a long
time. If you conduct business for IBM in a virtual world or if you are or may appear
to be speaking for or on behalf of IBM, make sure you are explicitly authorized to do
so by your management.

4. Protect others’ privacy. It is inappropriate to disclose or use IBM’s or our clients’
confidential or proprietary information – or any personal information of any other
person or company (including their real name) – within a virtual world.

5. Make the right impression. Your avatar’s appearance should be reasonable and
fitting for the activities in which you engage (especially if conducting IBM business).
If you are engaged in a virtual world primarily for IBM business purposes, we
strongly encourage you to identify your avatar as affiliated with IBM. If you are
engaged primarily for personal uses, consider using a different avatar.

6. Protect IBM’s and others’ intellectual property. IBM has a long-established policy
of respecting the intellectual property of others, and of protecting its own intellectual
property. Just as we take care in our physical-world activities to avoid infringement
of intellectual property rights and to provide proper attribution of such rights, so we
∗ IBM’s Virtual Universe Community is a growing internal organization to which IBMers
exploring virtual worlds can contribute as we refine these guidelines and deal with new
challenges as they emerge. See: IBM forums : virtual-universe-community
must in our activities in virtual worlds – in particular with regard to the creation of
rich content.

7. IBM business should be conducted in virtual environments only with
authorization. You should not make commitments or engage in activities on behalf
of IBM unless you are explicitly authorized to do so and have management approval
and delegations. If you are authorized, you may be asked by IBM management to
conduct IBM business through a separate avatar or persona reserved for business use.
You should certainly decide to use a separate avatar or persona if you think your use
of an existing one might compromise your ability to represent IBM appropriately.

8. Be truthful and consistent. Building a reputation of trust within a virtual world
represents a commitment to be truthful and accountable with fellow digital citizens.
You may be violating such trust by dramatically altering your digital persona's
behavior or abandoning your digital persona to another operator who changes its
behavior. If you are the original creator or launcher of a digital persona, you have a
higher level of responsibility for its behavior.

9. Dealing with inappropriate behavior. IBM strives to create a workplace that is free
from discrimination or harassment, and the company takes steps to remedy any
problems. However, IBM cannot control and is not responsible for the activity inside
virtual worlds. If you are in a virtual environment in conjunction with your work at
IBM and you encounter behavior that would not be acceptable inside IBM, you
should “walk away” or even sign out of the virtual world. You should report abuse to
the service provider. And as always, if you encounter an inappropriate situation in a
virtual world which you believe to be work-related, you should bring this to the
attention of IBM, either through your manager or through an IBM internal appeal
channel.

10. Be a good 3D Netizen. IBMers should be thoughtful, collaborative and innovative in
their participation in virtual world communities – including in deliberations over
behavioral/social norms and rules of thumb.

11. Live our values and follow IBM’s Business Conduct Guidelines. As a general
rule, your private life is your own. You must, however, be sensitive to avoid activities
in a virtual world that reflect negatively on IBM. Therefore, you must follow and be
guided by IBM’s values and Business Conduct Guidelines in virtual worlds just as in
the physical world, including by complying with the Agreement Regarding
Confidentiality and Intellectual Property that you signed when you became an IBM
employee. It is obviously most important to do so whenever you identify yourself as
an IBMer and engage in any discussions or activities that relate to IBM or its
business, or use any of IBM’s communications systems or other assets to participate
in a virtual world.

Comments

[Employment Finder]

IBM has been one of the favourite employeer of times and there guidelince are too good for the people woring under them