Professional Ethics, Managing Ethical Dilemmas

This case study explores the ethical dilemma faced by Juan, the IT Production Manager at U-wear, and provides recommendations for making an ethical decision that aligns with the organization's values and protects the workers' interests.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Executive summary
This case study about the company U-wear, where the CEO is considering to make a decision
that violates the safety laws set by the government of Australia and emphasizes on what
decision Juan needs to make in order to make sure that the organization continues their
operation and at the same time make an ethical decision that looks at the interest of both the
organization and their stakeholder. This paper will provide the ethical dilemma that Juan is
facing because of the unreasonable decision considered by the CEO of the company U-wear. In
order to come to a fruitful and ethical decision the Chris MacDonald methodology will be used.
Recommendation will be provided for a positive conclusion which see to the interest of the
workers and will help in saving the workers from the unsafe work conditions aligning with
positive values like being fair, respectful, loyal and many more

2PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................3
Brief overview of the case study.............................................................................................3
Ethical dilemma faced by Juan, IT Production Manager....................................................4
Utilizing Chris MacDonald methodology to resolve ethical dilemma................................4
Recommendation......................................................................................................................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................6

3PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Introduction
Ethical dilemma is said to be the conflict that arises between alternatives especially in
terms of decision making where no matter what an individual does, there are some ethical
principles which will be compromised (Nayak 2017). This paper focuses on a case study about
the ethical dilemma of an IT Production Manager, Juan and provides probable recommendation
for making a concrete decision for the betterment of the organization aligning with code of
ethics.
Brief overview of the case study
This case study focuses on the organization U-wear who manufactures tiny processors
that help in the processing of wearable watches. During the manufacturing of the product
around 64 gold wires needed to be soldered from the chips to the pins of the processor that
were precise and considered to be finer than the hair of human beings. In order to get this job
done the company considered robots to do the jobs however, it has been seen that the rate of
error was high and a small mistake would ruin the chip. Moreover, the maintenance cost of
robots was expensive. On the other hand Juan, IT Production Manager was given the
responsibility to carry out the work with human technicians where they saw that they were more
suitable for the jobs however, he received many complaints from the technicians about how this
work strained their eyes and caused headache. This issue was escalated to the CEO of the
company which made him furious and for proof he asked Juan to get an opinion from the
doctors. According to doctors, this work was not safe for people as it could damage the eyesight
of a person and could also lead to permanent blindness. According to the legal advisors of the
company continuing this process could breach the Work Health and Safety Act in Australia and
could result in the company being in trouble. The CEO of the company, on the next day
proposed a plan of calling people from islands of the Indian Ocean where they do not have any

4PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
safety act and it would be legal to call them and make them do this dangerous job at one tenth
of the wages provided to the Australian workers.
Ethical dilemma faced by Juan, IT Production Manager
In the case study, Juan faces an ethical dilemma as he in a situation where his moral
values and ethics do not align with the decision that the CEO of the company, U-wear is
planning and pressurizing him to take. According to scholars, ethics is an important element in
business and ethical laws have been made in countries in order to protect the stakeholders of
an organization. Graham et al (2016) opines decision making is hugely influenced by the
individual values and morals. On the other hand, the decision considered by the CEO is not only
unethical morally but also violates the laws implemented by the government of Australia to
protect employees from untoward situations. According to the Safe Work Act 2008, it is the
responsibility of the organization to provide a safe working place for employees
(Legislation.gov.au 2019).. The Work, Health and Safety Act 2011 were introduced to protect
the health, welfare and safety of the workers and others that are affected by the work (WorkSafe
Queensland 2019). Thus Juan faces an ethical dilemma as to whether he should work
according to the CEO or make an ethical decision to make sure the laws are not violated and
satisfies himself by following essential corporate values.
Utilizing Chris MacDonald methodology to resolve ethical dilemma
Chris MacDonald methodology provides certain steps in order to make ethical and moral
decisions (Zabala, Sandbrook and Mukherjee 2018). The first step is to recognize a decision
and according to the case study it is important for Juan to make an ethical decision and ensure
safety of the workers. Thus Juan needs to reject this idea and make strategies to develop new
ideas to solve the issue of the organization. This decision may contradict with the core value of
commitment which one employee should have for the organization they are working for.

5PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
The second step is to analyze the interested parties. The people associated with the
decision are going to be the employees from the Indian Ocean and the CEO. The decision may
strain the relationship with the CEO of the company because of the difference in opinion and
may be difficult to take due to the obligation Juan has as the CEO is his senior and has the
capacity to terminate Juan. The third step is to analyze the decision and the decision is fair to
the stakeholders of the company. Following the methodology, the fourth step is to consider
options two options are considered to ethical which is reject the idea or to speak to someone
else who can help to make sure the decision considered by the CEO is not implemented. The
fifth step is evaluate benefits or the burdens, in this case he benefits of the decision will be it
will align with values and morals that is being fair and protect them from unsafe work condition.
The sixth step is to talk to others and communicate about the opinions. Opinions need to be
taken from other employees and friends to ensure the decision considered will be right or wrong
for the organization as well as ethically. The seventh step is to understand whether the
decision violates any laws or not. The decision of being fair and just towards the employees who
are looking forward to work in the position aligns with the laws implemented by the government
however may have negative impacts on the organization. However, the last step suggests
whether the person is comfortable with the decision or not. Juan needs to make an ethical
decision that will not violate laws and code of ethics and will be true to himself and others.
Recommendation
The three ACS Code of Ethics that needs to be considered to make an ethical decision
in the situation are the following
 Honesty
 Competence

6PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
 Enhancement of quality of life
Juan needs to make an ethical decisions as an ACS and needs to make sure the code
of ethics are maintained in the decision making process. One of the ethics encourages the
enhancement of quality of life where one needs to enhance the quality of life of the workers
affected by an organization (Acs.org.au 2019). Juan needs to consider values, ethics, morals
and laws and thus needs to escalate the matter to higher authorities and make them understand
the consequences of the issue and how it violates laws and also is unfair treatment for the
workers. According to scholars it is important to focus on core values while decision making in
an organization and while pave way for positive corporate governance (Sørensen and Torfing
2017). The other is competence where the duty is to look after the stakeholders of the company.
Thus Juan needs to make a decision aligning with the code of ethics and make the decision t0
see to the employees. Honesty is one of the key aspects that facilitates the performance of the
employees and it is wrong to bring employees This will help in Juan making a positive decision
and also help the organization from violating any laws and see to the interest and protect the
workers at the same time.
According to the ethical code of professional conduct, it is important for an employee to
uphold and advance the effectiveness, honor and dignity of being an employee or a
professional. Using the ones that align with the case study are the primacy of the public interest
where it is important to safeguard and protect the interest of the stakeholders. Thus it will be
advisable for Juan to maintain this and identify the issues that may impact the stakeholders. It is
important to understand that the profession of one may traverse other professions. Thus Juan
should make. The other ethical code of professional conduct that can be aligned to this case is
the quality of life. According to this code, technology has its pros and cons. It has been mostly
labeled as being positive and helpful in the workplace however have negative effects. It is the
duty of a professional to make an ethical approach in order to minimize negative effects. Thus

7PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Juan here needs to protect safety in the workplace and health. They need to increase their
feelings competence, personal satisfaction and control situation in which people get affected by
the work. Thus Juan needs to be ethical and make sure he saves the employees who are being
considered to work for U-wear.
Juan in order to do this needs to speak to the management and higher authority and
discuss about the considerations made by the CEO, explain the laws that will be breached and
which may affect the organization in the long run. In this way Juan might make a valuable and
ethical decision aligning ethical codes of conducts in mind.
Conclusion
Ethical decision in organizations is necessary to protect their stakeholders and see to
their interests and to work efficiently in order to generate profits. Ethical dilemmas often arise in
organization however it best to make ethical decisions aligning with moral values and the laws
which help in making a fruitful decision and helps in creating positive corporate value.

8PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Reference
Acs.org.au (2019). [online] Acs.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].
Graham, J., Meindl, P., Beall, E., Johnson, K.M. and Zhang, L., 2016. Cultural differences in
moral judgment and behavior, across and within societies. Current Opinion in Psychology, 8,
pp.125-130.
Legislation.gov.au (2019). Safe Work Australia Act 2008. [online] Legislation.gov.au. Available
at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2009A00084 [Accessed 28 Aug. 2019].
Nayak, S.V., 2017. Ethical Dilemma at Workplace-A Case Study. DHARANA-Bhavan's
International Journal of Business, 10(2), pp.18-20.
Sørensen, E. and Torfing, J., 2017. Metagoverning collaborative innovation in governance
networks. The American Review of Public Administration, 47(7), pp.826-839.
WorkSafe Queensland (2019). Work Health and Safety Act 2011. [online] WorkSafe
Queensland. Available at: https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/laws-and-compliance/workplace-
health-and-safety-laws/laws-and-legislation/work-health-and-safety-act-2011 [Accessed 28 Aug.
2019].
Zabala, A., Sandbrook, C. and Mukherjee, N., 2018. When and how to use Q methodology to
understand perspectives in conservation research. Conservation biology, 32(5), pp.1185-1194.

9PROFESSIONAL ETHICS, MANAGING ETHICAL DILEMMAS