Professional IT Culture: Ethical Decision-Making and Career Development

This report focuses on ethical decision-making in a software development organization and career development in ICT using the SFIA 6 framework. It discusses the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, ethical dilemmas, and the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. The report also includes a career development timeline with milestones.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
Professional IT culture
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
Executive Summary
The foremost purpose of subtask 1 is to focus on a case study which involves around a
software company which released their product instead of knowing that there was a bug with
it, that bug caused great damage after the first slots were released in the markets. The roles
and responsibilities of all the stakeholders regarding this case is discussed in details
according to the different ethical codes and their unethical activities were analysed using the
ACS Code of Professional Conduct.
The foremost purpose of subtask 2 is to focus on a career plan with the help of the SFIA
framework which is the globally accepted framework. All the different professional
approaches which a candidate must have and implement those in order to have a successful
stint are discussed in the paper. There a career development timeline with milestones which
helps in understanding the project in a more detailed manner.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Subtask 1....................................................................................................................................3
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Ethical decision-making approaches of stakeholders................................................................3
Ethical Dilemma.........................................................................................................................4
Ethical response to the dilemma................................................................................................4
ACS Code of Professional Conduct relevant to this case study.................................................4
Analysis......................................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
Subtask 2....................................................................................................................................7
Introduction................................................................................................................................7
Analysis......................................................................................................................................7
Career development timeline with milestones...........................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Reference..................................................................................................................................10

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Subtask 1
Introduction
The foremost purpose of this business report is to focus on the ethical issue of a
software development organisation. This paper will be focussing on all the stakeholders
associated with this case study. The prime determination of this report will be helping the
readers to know about different kinds of ethics related to decision making in an organisation,
the roles and responsibilities of an experienced employee of an organisation (Burmeister,
2017). The main feature of this business report is the application of the ACS Code of
Professional Conduct in this case study. The report concludes with an ethical philosophy
which will be analysing this case study.
Ethical decision-making approaches of stakeholders
This case study involves stakeholders such as Mr. McBright who is an employer of a
software development organisation known as NewAge Pty Ltd, Mrs McDonald who is a 5-
year-old inefficient professional in the same company, Joseph Luck who is the mayor of
Living City. The activity of Mr. McBright states that he was completely wrong in his
decision making by accepting the proposal of Mrs McDonald by keeping the issue of bugged
OS a secret. Being an experienced employee Mrs McDonald also failed in her decision-
making skills as her approach resulted in a huge loss for the company. The responsibility of
the mayor cannot be questioned as he focussed on the job opportunities of the civilians rather
than supporting such a decision which will create more problems for him.

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Ethical Dilemma
This case study involves different kinds of dilemmas between its stakeholders, such as
the mutual decision taken by Mr. McBright and Mrs McDonald which resulted in a severe
business loss for the organisation and also the interference of the mayor Joseph Luck who
exonerated the company using his position.
Ethical response to the dilemma
The mutual decision taken by Mr. McBright and Mrs McDonald should have been
made in such a way so that they find an effective solution to their problem instead of keeping
it a secret (American Library Association, 2016). The mayor also failed in his certain aspects
as he influenced the case in the court, he could have set an example for the other inefficient
companies by supporting the companies who sued NewAge Pvt Ltd such as Tasty Burger Pvt
Ltd and Bad luck bank.
ACS Code of Professional Conduct relevant to this case study
Serial
number
Codes Mutual
Decision taken
by Mr.
McBright and
Mrs
McDonald
Application Role of mayor
Joseph Luck in
exonerating
NewAge PvT
Ltd company
from being
sued
Application
01 The primacy of
public interest
Their decision
was based on
their personal
benefits rather
the benefit of
the company.
The decision
should have
been done in
such a way so
that it can
work as an
added
advantage for
the company.
The mayor work
on the basis of
his personal
benefit.
He should
have taken a
bold decision
by supporting
the companies
who sued
NewAge Pvt
Ltd
02 Enhancement
of quality of
The quality of
the services
The quality of
services
His efficiency is
questionable due
He should
have ensured

5PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
life provided by
them was not
up to the mark
should be
more
enhanced as it
will have a
positive direct
impact on the
company.
to his unethical
act.
the security of
the civilians
rather than
thinking of his
own benefit.
03 Honesty Their honesty
is questionable.
Both the
employee
should have
set an example
for the other
employees of
that
organisation.
Mayor was
honest and but
he exonerated
NewAge Pvt Ltd
using his
influence.
He should
have taken the
decision by
thinking about
the security of
other civilians
(Durkheim,
2018).
04 Competence Their unethical
activity was a
source of
anxiety of the
other
employers.
The other
employees
should be
looking
forward to
them
regarding any
issue in the
organisation.
Mayor took the
decision in order
to maintain his
good reputation
in the city
He should
have thought
about the
impact his
decision,
issues related
to it should
have been
thought (Dann,
2015).
05 Professional
development
Their activity
was not at all
good for the
development of
the
organisation.
They should
have stopped
the further
production of
the
organisation
so that the
margin of loss
can be limited.
The decision
was taken for his
professional
development.
The decision
should have
been taken in
such a way so
that it
promotes
growth in al
respect rather
than his own
benefit (Costa
& Santos,
2017).
06 Professionalism The integrity of
NewAge Pvt
Ltd was
dismantled as
their decision
may create
insecurity
between the
other workers
of the
company.
The
stakeholders
should have
been more
professional
by postmining
the
distribution of
the second set
of tablets.
The role of
mayor is truly
unprofessional.
He should
have taken a
more efficient
decision which
might have
helped him in
future also.

6PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
Table 1: Created by the author
ACS Code of Professional Conduct
Analysis
The case study is analysed on the basis of ethical philosophies which focus the right
and wrong approach of Mr. McBright and Mrs McDonald in passing the buggy operating
system. Their mutual decision was right from their perspective but from the perspective of
the users of those systems, it is very much disappointing as they are not getting the services
for which they paid a huge amount of money.
Conclusion
From this case study it can be concluded that considering both the ICT code of
professional perspectives and ACS code of conduct all the stakeholders of this case are wrong
by thinking only about their personal benefits, and due to their unethical act many people
suffered. It states that they fail to maintain the professional and ethical codes of conduct.
Subtask 2
Introduction
This task will be focussing on a career in ICT following the guidelines of SFIA 6. The
different stages of the framework related with each module of an ICT project is discussed in
details in this paper which helps in understanding the role of responsibilities of a student who
is aspiring to get into a new set of system in an ICT organisation (Díaz-Campo & Segado-
Boj, 2015). Detailed analysis is conducted based on the roles which a new employee has to
work (Weerakkody, 2016).

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Analysis: The SFIA 6 is a globally accepted framework designed and developed for the
purpose of serving career plans for student after the completion of their degree. This paper
will be focussing on the level 1 responsibility of the SFIA foundation. The level 1 is selected
in contrast with the career plan in ICT as the specifications of the level is the most element
and most easy to apply for any student who is about to start his professional career. The
different phases of level 1 are autonomy, influence, complexity and business skills.
Autonomy: The first task of a graduate is to work under the supervision of highly skilled
technicians of an ICT industry. As the training which he will receive will be helping in
developing a perfect approach about how to face hostile situations in the ICT industry (Topi,
2015).
Influence: The next step is to have minimum influence of the other employees of a new
organisation, sometimes it is important to work in a team which will be helping the student to
face certain new situations which he is not aware of.
Complexity: All the work that a new employee does in a new organisation should be based
on a structured environment (von Konsky, Miller & Jones, 2016). Candidates should be able
to solve complex problems using all their skills and knowledge according to what he learned
from his senior or colleagues.
Business skills: Using all the available technology and applications work should be
progressed. Tasks should be done by following the professional code of conduct and
organisation standards.
Career development timeline with milestones
Skills Milestone Task Description Time line
Strategy and Concept Development plan 1 week

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architecture approval of the system.
Development and
implementation
Test plan
review
Detailed
development of
the proposed
systems
8 weeks
Delivery and
operation
Operational
readiness
review
User acceptance
test signifies the
quality of the
product and its
maintenance
(Dann, 2015).
1 week
Relationship and
engagement
Product
operational
Service and
maintenance after
the product
delivery.
1 year
Table 2: Created by the author
Conclusion
From the above report it can be concluded that following the professional code of conduct
and using the SFIA 6 framework would help a student to plan his career in any kind of
industry such as ICT industry. The guidelines will help them to develop a professional
approach to solve their problems and help them to shape their career in such a way so that it

9PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
will guide them to shape up their career on a well-structured way which will lead them to
accomplish their career goals.

10PROFESSIONAL IT CULTURE
Reference
American Library Association. (2016). ALA code of ethics.
Burmeister, O. K. (2017). Professional ethics in the information age. Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society, 15(4), 348-356.
Costa, C., & Santos, M. Y. (2017). The data scientist profile and its representativeness in the
European e-Competence framework and the skills framework for the information
age. International Journal of Information Management, 37(6), 726-734.
Dann, J. (2015). Mismatching?. ITNOW, 57(4), 12-13.
Díaz-Campo, J., & Segado-Boj, F. (2015). Journalism ethics in a digital environment: How
journalistic codes of ethics have been adapted to the Internet and ICTs in countries
around the world. Telematics and Informatics, 32(4), 735-744.
Durkheim, E. (2018). The division of labor in society. In Inequality (pp. 55-64). Routledge.
Topi, H. (2015). Using ICT competence frameworks to support curriculum
development. ACM Inroads, 6(3), 36-37.
von Konsky, B., Miller, C., & Jones, A. (2016). The Skills Framework for the Information
Age: Engaging Stakeholders in ICT Curriculum Design. Journal of Information
Systems Education, 27(1), 37-50.
Weerakkody, V. (2016). Identifying the critical success factors for major government projects
that incorporate IT or “digital” developments.