Ethical Dilemma Report: Employee Analysis in Web Design Company

This report presents an analysis of an ethical dilemma encountered by James, who is tasked with evaluating employees at a web design consultancy to plan training programs. The core issue revolves around the conflict between the vice president's request for the names of the best-performing interviewees and James's commitment to ethical conduct and fairness. The report utilizes the Thomas White framework to address the dilemma, analyzing the consequences of various actions and guiding James toward a decision that balances professional obligations with ethical considerations. It also incorporates relevant ACS codes of ethics and professional conduct, along with recommendations and Australian legislation pertaining to fair treatment. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of the framework in navigating such ethical challenges and making informed decisions to benefit both the company and the employees.

Running Head: ETHICAL DILEMMA
Ethical dilemma faced while analysing employees in a Web Design Consultancy Company
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................. 2
Thomas White Framework........................................................................................................................... 2
Analysing the consequences................................................................................................................... 2
Analysing the problem.......................................................................................................................... 2
Required action.................................................................................................................................... 2
Final decision........................................................................................................................................ 2
Three ACS codes of ethics and five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct related to the case
study............................................................................................................................................................ 2
Three ACS code of ethics........................................................................................................................ 2
Five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct..................................................................................2
Future Recommendations........................................................................................................................... 3
Australian Legislation................................................................................................................................... 3
Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 3
References.................................................................................................................................................. 4

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Introduction:
This report deals with the ethical dilemmas faced by James, who has been hired by a Web
Design Consultancy company to analyse the knowledge of its employees and accordingly plan training
programmes. James has been given the responsibility to interview them and identify their weaknesses.
James is required to develop individual report that should be kept private. The vice president of the
company wants to know the names of the interviewees who has performed best in the interviews. The
following paragraphs in the report will deal with ethical dilemmas that James will face while suggesting the
names of the best interviewees. Thomas White framework will be used to address the same. The report
will also deal with three ACS code of ethics, five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct and
legislation.
According to the case study, James faces moral ethical dilemma where he will have to choose
between his morals, honesty and professionalism. Thomas White framework will be used to solve this
ethical dilemma.
Thomas White Framework:
The framework consists of three steps that are interdependable. Therefore, the steps should be
carefully dealt with.
Analysing the consequences:
Analysing the problem: The first step according to Thomas White framework is analysing the problem.
The difficulties that are faced should be identified first and then the consequences. In this case, James
will face a problem while telling the names of best performers to the Vice President. The situation of
dilemma will be created when more than three interviewees will perform well however, only one has to be
selected from them. James will have to treat all the employees fairly.
Required action: After the situation and the consequences has been analysed, James will have to take
the required actions that will be in favour of the organisation along with fair treatment towards the
interviewees.
Final decision: After the completion of the above two steps, comes the time to take final decision. The
decision made should be such that it does not harm other (Low, 2018). According to the situation, James
should give more priority to his profession and accordingly take the decisions. This will help him take the
decisions easily.
Three ACS codes of ethics and five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct related
to the case study:
Three ACS code of ethics:
The three ACS code of ethics that are related to this case study are:
 Honesty: This code of ethics requires James to maintain difference between personal and
professional opinion (Australian Computer Society, 2014). He should choose the candidate who
is most deserving so that he will be able to do justification with the interviewees.
 Professionalism: This code of conduct requires James to choose the best candidate who is
deserving based on the skills and performance of the employees (Thomas, 2013). All the
interviewees should be treated fairly and the decision taken should respect all of them. No
discrimination should be made among the employees.
 Competence: This code of ethics requires that James should choose the most competent
candidate among all other candidates. The interviewees should take the decision sportingly. They
should have a competent nature.
Five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct:
The five clauses of ACS code of professional conduct that will help James to solve the ethical
dilemma are:

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 Make difference between the personal and professional opinions of a person. All the decisions
taken should be professional. (Code of professional conduct 1.2.3.c)
 Attempt should not be made to enhance ones reputation at the cost of another person’s opinion.
(Code of professional conduct 1.2.3.g)
 The responsibilities at work should be accepted and accordingly decisions should be made.
(Code of professional conduct 1.2.4.f)
 While taking decisions if any difficulty is faced then help should be taken from the stakeholders
with professional expertise. (Code of professional conduct 1.2.4.g)
 Appropriate action should be taken against those who refuse to abide by the code (Code of
professional conduct 1.2.6.b)
Future Recommendations:
 At first, the company should take some test to examine the knowledge of the employees.
 When the loopholes in knowledge are identified then necessary training programmes should be
implemented before the start of actual work.
Australian Legislation:
Fair work regulation 2009: The employees and interviewees should receive fair and equal
treatment (Adams, 2013). James should treat the employees equally and then take the decision of
choosing the best among them.
Conclusion:
From the above discussions, it can be concluded that if James follow Thomas White framework
then the ethical dilemmas can be solved. He will be able to take the right decision by keeping the
difference between his personal and professional opinions. This will benefit the company to analyse the
individual reports and implement the necessary training programmes.

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References:
Adams, R. (2013). Moral autonomy in Australian legislation and military doctrine. Ethics & Global Politics,
6(3), pp.135-154.
Australian Computer Society. (2014). ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Retrieved 2014, from
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/ACS%20Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf
[Accessed 13 September 2018].
Ferguson, S., Thornley, C. and 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), pp.543-556.
Low, G. (2018). ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Australian Computer Society, [online] V.2.1, pp.1-8.
Available at: https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf [Accessed 13 September 2018].
Thomas, E.E., 2013. Dilemmatic conversations: Some challenges of culturally responsive discourse in a
high school English classroom. Linguistics and Education, 24(3), pp.328-347.
Trevisan, F. and Reilly, P., 2014. Ethical dilemmas in researching sensitive issues online: lessons from
the study of British disability dissent networks. Information, Communication & Society, 17(9), pp.1131-
1146.
Truog, R.D., Cohen, I.G. and Rockoff, M.A., 2014. Physicians, medical ethics, and execution by lethal
injection. Jama, 311(23), pp.2375-2376.
White, T (Unknown). "Resolving an Ethical Dilemma", African Sisters Education Collaborative.
http://www.asec-sldi.org/dotAsset/292830.pdf.