Ethical Decision Making in Business

This assignment requires students to analyze a given business case study involving an ethical dilemma. Using the DET (Describe, Evaluate, Select & Justify) model, students must identify relevant facts, stakeholders, non-ethical issues, and ethical issues. They then need to evaluate alternative solutions and select the most appropriate one, justifying their decision with supporting arguments drawn from academic literature. The assignment assesses critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and effective communication skills.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND MATHS, Charles Sturt University
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Assignment 1: Doing Ethics Technique
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Word Count: 1071

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Q1. What's going on?
The video is all about the tension swirling in to the office. The CEO of the company is
worried about the deadline of submitting a particular project as the project worth three
million dollars. CIA wants an urgent delivery of Willis project without encryption. In terms of
delivering the project early, the company has agreed to deliver it without encryption. The
project was assigned to Greg, the project manager. Gregg seemed a little reluctant in
delivering the project a month early without encryption. According to Greg, if the software
is delivered without necessary encryption then there will be a chance of being hacked which
may lead a breach in a millions of people`s personal information. The video showed that
Greg was informing his boss about the possible risks but his boss tried to persuade him with
the assurance of lesser chance of hacking. The supervisor seemed allure him with lucrative
bonus for him and his team. Lastly, he tried to assure him that he would be able to work on
the project once it is delivered (YouTube, 2017).
Q2. What are the facts?
The facts are the Willis project, which is to be delivered early needs encryption to protect
the information of common people. The encryption is vital and it is difficult to finish the whole
project with encryption a month prior to the original delivery date. The software is vulnerable
without any security implications (YouTube, 2017).
Q3. What are the issues(non-ethical)?
The non-ethical issue defines an unfavourable situation where the hierarchy of any
organization has to come to a decision order to reach to a solution without thinking about the
external public (Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths, 2014). Here, the main issue is time. From the conversation
in the video, it is clear that CIA requires the project as soon as possible, and for that, they asked the
software without encryption. CIA is demanding the project without considering the possible risks the
common people may face if the system is hacked. In terms of urgency, the company CEO is creating
pressure on the employees as the Willis project worth three million dollars. The CEO is intended to
overlook the possible risks to get the next project for the company even faster. The more projects
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the company gets the more revenue the company earns. The company is ready to pay bonus to the
employees for completing the project a month prior to its original delivery date. The company is
encouraging its employees to take a shortcut to finish the project (YouTube. 2017).
Q4. Who is affected?
After completion and delivering, the Willis project to CIA the system is hacked as the project
manager predicted. Firstly, the primary affected is the people whose personal information was
breached. Secondly, the employees of the company, who are responsible for developing the
software, this resulted the degradation of the company`s goodwill (YouTube, 2017).
Q5. What are the ethical issues and their implications?
According to the classical ethical theory, one should have the insight to judge a possible
consequence (Ford & Richardson, 2013). In case of a corporate organization a company head and the
employees should follow the code of conduct to approach to a project as it holds up the company`s
value (Crane & Matten, 2016). Here, the project manager is reluctant to deliver the project without
encryption. He has the insight of the possible risks that may occur if the system is hacked. After
being offered a lucrative bonus from the organization, he is in denial to take up the short cut route
to develop a vital project, which deals with the personal information of millions of common people.
The encryption is vital than the extra revenue earning by submitting the current project before
deadline and taking up a new project. If the breach happens, the company good will degrade and the
employees who are involved in developing the software will lose their credibility.
Q6. What can be done about it?
An organization like CIA who deals the security of United States of America and maintain a
basic secrecy, it should not propone the submission date of any vital project. On the other hand, the
company, which is responsible for developing an important project like Willis, should not
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compromise in case of finishing it accurately. If any negotiation happens regarding the quality of the
project, the respective organizations should not take any step, which may put the common people at
risk. Here, even if the CIA demands the project prior to the actual delivery date, the CEO of the
company should not pressurize or allure the employees when the encryption is required. The
supervisor should take a strong position before the CEO after learning that the encryption is vital
from the project manager Greg, it is his responsibility to make the CEO understand what risks are
there and refrain the employees from performing shot cuts (Ford & Richardson, 2013).
Q7. What are the options?
There are three options stated in the video footage. First, the project manager Greg takes up
the job as he was instructed to skip the encryption and develop the Willis project for CIA by the
supervisor Don. A few weeks later when the breach happens eventually the respective project
manager and the team was blamed for developing a system which put the a millions of customers at
risk (YouTube. 2017). The second option was the project manager Greg denied the project as the
supervisor is reluctant to consider the possible risks. The consequence was that, the project manger
was removed, as both of the supervisor and the project manager were stubborn (YouTube, 2017).
The third option was the project manager Greg ask his boss to consider the risk factor if the
encryption is skipped. Then the supervisor had a discussion with the CEO about the risks factors. In
the third option, both of the employees maintain a code of ethics rather being stubborn (YouTube,
2017).
Q8. Which option is the best and why?
The third option is the best because in the third option the proper code of ethics is
maintained (Crane & Matten, 2016). In the option both of the employees, the project manager and
the supervisor discussed on the project and outlined the pros and cons of the advance delivery. The
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supervisor without being bossy tried to understand the sensitivity of the risk factors if the encryption
is skipped. On the other hand, the project manager showed his interest to the task along with the
responsibility towards the company good will. The consequence was that the supervisor promised to
persuade the CEO. In the last option, an appropriate employee communication is maintained
(YouTube, 2017).
References
Benn, S., Dunphy, D., & Griffiths, A. (2014). Organizational change for corporate
sustainability. Routledge.
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Ford, R. C., & Richardson, W. D. (2013). Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical
literature. In Citation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 19-44).
Springer Netherlands.
YouTube. (2017). Scenario 3: Early Launch. [online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
YouTube. (2017). Scenario III 1 Project Manager surrenders to pressure. [online] Available
at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
annotation_id=annotation_3047542647&feature=iv&src_vid=v5M7ohdZ6qA&v=UfG
eK08y10o [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
YouTube. (2017). Scenario III 2 Program Director ignores Project Manager’s
recommendation. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=m4LoEdnw7iA [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
YouTube. (2017). Scenario III 3 Program Director Listens to team. [online] Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
annotation_id=annotation_726259537&feature=iv&src_vid=BEtvmNou7r8&v=JjLK_Jj
Au48 [Accessed 11 Aug. 2017].
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Do not remove the following marking sheet.
Marking Sheet
Criteria Standards
Marks
award
ed
Analysis
of the
ethical
dilemma
using the
Doing
Ethics
Technique
(DET)
(Value
70%)
HD: Answers all DET questions, lists all the facts, identifies all the non-
ethical issues, lists all the stakeholders, identifies all the ethical issues,
evaluates OTHER options can resolve them and selects the best option
from these and the already given and justifies why this option is the best
using supporting arguments based on the literature.(59.5-70)
DI: Answers all DET questions, lists all the facts, identifies all the non-
ethical issues, lists all the stakeholders, lists all the ethical issues and the
OTHER options can resolve them and selects the best option from these
and explains why this option is the best.(52.5-58.8)
CR: Answers all DET questions, lists most of the facts, identifies most of
the non-ethical issues, lists most of the stakeholders, lists most of the
ethical issues and OTHER options can resolve them and selects the best
option from these and makes an attempt to explain why this option is the
best.(45.5-51.8)
PS: Answers some of the DET questions, lists a few facts, identifies a few
non-ethical issues, lists a few stakeholders, lists a few ethical issues and
OTHER options can resolve them and selects the best option from these
but without explaining why this option is the best.(35-44.8)
FL: Answers a few DET questions but fails to list important facts, fails to
identify relevant non-ethical issues, fails to list important stakeholders,
fails to identify the ethical issues and evaluates the OTHER options can
resolve them and does not select the best option or does not explain why
the option selected is the best.(0-34.3)
Writing &
structure
(Value
20%)
HD: Language features and structures are used to convey meaning
effectively, concisely, unambiguously, and in a tone appropriate to the
audience and purpose with no spelling, grammatical, or punctuation
errors.(17-20)
DI: Well developed skills in expression & presentation of ideas.Fluent
writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type.Grammar &
spelling accurate.(15-16.8)
CR: Good skills in expression & clear presentation of ideas.Mostly fluent
writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type. Grammar &
spelling contains a few minor errors.(13-14.8)
PS: The text contains frequent errors in spelling, grammar, word choice,
and structure, lacks clarity, and is not concise, but the meaning is
apparent to the reader with some effort.(10-12.8)
FL: Rudimentary skills in expression & presentation of ideas.Not all
material is relevant &/or is presented in a disorganised manner.Meaning
apparent, but writing style not fluent or well organised.Grammar &
spelling contains many errors.(0-9.8)
Referenci
ng
(Value
10%)
HD: Referencing is comprehensive, demonstrates academic integrity, and
conforms exactly to APA style conventions.(8.5-10)
DI: Very good referencing, including reference list and citations.High
quality references.(7.5-8.4)
CR:Good referencing, including reference list and citations. Good quality
references.(6.5-7.4)
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PS:Referencing is comprehensive, mostly accurate according to APA style
conventions, and demonstrates academic integrity. Some minor errors or
omissions in style and formatting choices (e.g. italics, punctuation, etc)
don’t impact on the transparency and traceability of the source, or
demonstration of academic integrity.(5-6.4)
FL: Sub-standard (or no) referencing. Poor quality (or no) references.(0-
4.9)
Total
Marks
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