Application of ACS Codes of Ethics

The content discusses the application of the ACS codes of ethics in addressing an ethical dilemma regarding the awarding of a scholarship to an unqualified student. It emphasizes the importance of integrity, honesty, and public interest in professional conduct. The author reflects on the implications of management decisions and the necessity of reporting unethical practices to ensure fairness and uphold professional standards.

Application of ACS Codes of Ethics (Ethical Dilemma)
Some ethical dilemma in organization need analysis before application especially when the
situation can be contradicting. In this situation presented by portfolio 3 it is hard to decide what
to do. In my opinion, telling the other students will not be an option because this can cause
unnecessary tension in the organization and after investigation, I will be the root cause. Also in
case I keep the information to myself, it will not help because I need the answers as to why the
management made the decision to award the scholarship to unqualified student. Though it may
look it is not my business to know, I need to know since it is affecting the rest of the students
also. Therefore the only valid answers can come from my supervisor who may have knowledge
on management decisions (Australian Computer Society, 2016).
The decision to tell the supervisor is based on two codes of ethics on the primary of the public
interest and the professionalism. First, the ACS code of ethics state that you should ensure
integrity with ACs members and respect each other. To ensure that you respect the ACS
members you should make sure a stance action is taken to any member who does not follow this
code. This code is already breached in my institution since the management made decision in
favor of a student who is not qualified. By telling the supervisor what happened, I will be
ensuring that any misconduct by the management is corrected before it becomes a norm in the
organization (Australian Computer Society, 2014).
The other element of the ACS code of ethics to stand with is Honesty. Based on the ACS code of
ethics, there should be honesty among the members and there should be no single time where
they try to breach public trust in the profession. As a matter of fact, the trust which existed before
finding out the scholarship has been destroyed since they did not follow the right procedure to
award the scholarships. Any member of the ACS is not supposed to accept any inducement or
bribery to favor someone. The attempt to offer the scholarship to unqualified student was
therefore not good and it is a breach of the professional code of ethics. Trusting the manager on
any other decision that involves the other people will be very difficult since he is able to give
judgements based on his/her personal interests (Australian Computer Society, 2016).
According to NR4.3.4, The ACS derived the code for social implications. One of the elements in
this code implies that every member must respect their employees and refrain from treating the
unfairly. The other reason why I will tell the supervisor is because the supervisor has the ability

to advise me on things that are truly unfair and those I may take as unfair even when it is for my
good (Ferguson, Salmond, YeslamAI-Saggaf, Bowern, & Weckert, 2010).
References
Australian Computer Society, 2014. ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Inspiring success.
Australian Computer Society, 2016. ACS Code Of Ethics. ACS.
Australian Computer Society, 2016. Values and Ideals subscribed to by Society Members. s.l., s.n.
Ferguson, S. et al., 2010. Case Studies And Codes of Ethics:the Relevance of the ACS Experience to ALIA.
The Australian Library Journal.