ACS Code of Professional Conduct: Ethical Dilemma Analysis and Report

This report analyzes an ethical dilemma faced by an ICT professional, Ken, in relation to the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. It identifies the ethical dilemma, which involves the decision of whether to release a video project before it has been fully tested. The report examines Ken's actions, which include releasing the video without testing. The analysis considers the ACS Code of Professional Conduct, including principles like public interest, honesty, competence, diligence, and integrity. The report provides recommendations for how Ken should have handled the situation, emphasizing the importance of adhering to ethical standards, proper testing, and considering the interests of all parties involved. The report concludes by summarizing the key elements of the case and reinforcing the significance of ethical conduct in the ICT field. It references several academic sources to support the analysis and recommendations.

1
ACS Code of Professional Conduct

2
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Ethical dilemma...............................................................................................................................3
Ken’s actions...................................................................................................................................3
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................7

3
Introduction
Professionalism is the main requirement which is required to be maintained by all the
professionals and in that process, there is the need to follow the ethics. The report will be
considering a case in relation to the ethical dilemma which is faced by a professional. The
dilemma will be identified and then the decisions which were taken by ken will also be
considered. There will be complete analyzation which will be made and recommendations will
also be provided for the same.
Ethical dilemma
An ethical dilemma is a situation in which the professional is not able to decide whether
to perform the task ethically or not (Wright et al., 2014). The given case is in relation to the ICT
professional ken who is preparing a video that is to be published live in the coming period. The
deadline is approaching but the video has not been completed in technical terms as the testing of
the project is still due. If the video will be released in this manner then it will be raising issues
and so ken is in dilemma as to what needs to be done (Youtube, 2016). There is the need that the
completion of the action should have been done on time as that is the requirement of ethics but
the same is not made and not the situation of ethical dilemma has arisen.
The contract is made and the other parties are raising questions on his performance and to
carry them in an ethical manner he has requested the party to provide him with the additional
time of one month. In both the situation there will be unethical measures which will be involved
and so this is the situation of an ethical dilemma.
Ken’s actions
Ken was in the situation of ethical dilemma and in that he has taken certain actions in
relation to the video. He has not complied with the laws and has made the video live on the
deadline without getting it tested. This is unethical behavior in which the quality is not taken into
consideration and the codes of professional conduct have been not complied with (ACS, 2014).
The extra time has been demanded by him but he has taken the decision by himself and has made
the video to be published online.

4
There are various ethics which are established in the ACS code of professional ethics and
it is required that they shall be understood in an effective manner. The main ethics is to keep the
public interest in mind and then take all the decisions. It is required that public benefit shall be
kept on priority and it shall be considered that people will be benefitting from all the decisions
which have been taken (Ferguson et al., 2016). Honesty is another ethics and according to it a
professional shall be honest and carry on the operations in a similar manner. They shall maintain
the honesty in the complete system and there shall be no breach of the same. It will have to be
maintained in all the processes which are involved and no negligence shall be made in it.
Competence will be required to be managed and the professional shall perform by using all the
skills and competencies (Boland & Mogk, 2017).
The diligence shall be maintained and effective undertaking of all the action shall be
managed so that there are no unethical behaviors in the business. The process shall be performed
in such a manner that it leads to the professional development of the person involved together
with the other fellow members. The growth will have to be made in all terms by the undertaking
of the actions and this will also be beneficial for the coming periods. Integrity shall be
considered and all the tasks shall be performed in accordance with that (Youtube, 2016). All the
ethics which are established in the code shall be followed and for that proper understanding of
the same shall be obtained. All the persons who will be affected by the actions taken will have to
be identified so that designing of the process is made in a manner that no issues arise in the
coming period.
Ken has taken the action by making the video live and in that the testing is not made. The
information about the same is not provided to any party and has taken the decision individually.
It is an unethical behavior which is made by him and it was required that he should have made
the video live once the testing was performed. There is the contract which is involved and all the
terms of the same shall be complied with (Youtube, 2016). It is required to be ensured that all the
processes are completed on time and the project is delivered on the deadline. It has not taken
place and the video was not tested till the deadline. Due to the same ken has interacted with the
contractors and has asked for the extension of deadline so that the testing can be performed in an
effective manner and no further issues are faced (Gotterbarn, 2013).

5
All the loopholes which are present in the system are identified by the testing which is
now not possible. All of the inbuilt issues remained in it and that will also be faced by all the
users.
There is the negligence which is involved and it is unprofessional behavior in which risk
is involved. There is the penalty which is imposed in such cases and the person is required to
make the complete payment (Al-Saggaf et al., 2017). It was the responsibility of ken that the
service shall be provided in the best manner by complying with all the requirements of the
contract. He has not followed the same and has also not performed his task in a competent
manner. There is a negative influence which will be made on the remaining staff due to this
which will affect their performance also. It is, therefore, necessary that interest of all shall be
considered and the actions shall be taken in such manner that all the people involved will be
benefited by the same. Compliance with the ethical requirements is required to be made in a
compulsory manner as otherwise actions are taken against the person breaching the same.
Recommendations
Ethics which are required to be followed are specified in the ACS code of professional
ethics and all of them are required to be taken into consideration. The performance will be made
by taking them in use and the actions will be performed that no breach is made. Ken should have
timely completed the requirements and the testing should also have to be performed in the given
time duration. This is not done and the circumstances of the same have been faced by him. There
is no scope for the mistakes and after that, he has demanded the extra time so should have
consulted with all before taking any action. He has taken the decision all by himself and that was
also not in the interest of all.
The testing should have been performed before making the video live and that would
have been a competent decision taken by any professional. There should be negligence on the
part of professional as the same is not acceptable and they shall perform by using all their skills
and competencies. There shall be the focus on the professional development of oneself and also
the related parties who are involved in the process. This will be making the process to run in
such a manner that all the compliances will be made and further the same issues will not be
faced.

6
Conclusion
The report elucidates all the important elements which are required to be taken into
account by the professional. The ethics which are involved in the ACS code of professional
ethics have been identified and the provided case is analysed in accordance with that. The ethical
dilemma which is faced by ken is identified and proper description of the complete situation has
been provided. There is the consideration of all the ethics and detailed description of them is
given by which the complete case is understood in an appropriate manner. The actions which
have been taken by ken in the given situation have been determined and they have been
evaluated on the basis of the available ethics. There are certain recommendations which have
been provided in respect of the manner in which actions should be taken and that will help in
improving the situation in the coming period.

7
References
ACS. (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian
Computer Society. Retrieved from: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-
regulations/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O. K., & Schwartz, M. (2017). Qualifications and ethics education:
the views of ICT professionals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Boland, M. A., & Mogk, D. (2017). The American Geosciences Institute guidelines for ethical
professional conduct. Scientific Integrity and Ethics: With Applications to the
Geosciences, 55-66.
Ferguson, S., Thornley, C., & Gibb, F. (2016). Beyond codes of ethics: how library and
information professionals navigate ethical dilemmas in a complex and dynamic
information environment. International Journal of Information Management, 36(4), 543-
556.
Gotterbarn, D. (2013). 13. ICT governance and what to do about the toothless tiger (s):
Professional organizations and codes of ethics1. Professionalism in the Information and
Communication Technology Industry, 3, 267.
Wright, D., Finn, R., Gellert, R., Gutwirth, S., Schütz, P., Friedewald, M., ... & Mordini, E.
(2014). Ethical dilemma scenarios and emerging technologies. Technological
Forecasting and Social Change, 87, 325-336.
Youtube. (2016). Ken fights back. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EhkoGQNuCNE
Youtube. (2016). Ken lets the system go-live. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MVpQ7OwPmK0
Youtube. (2016). Ken resigns. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TxHeH86HVeY