Ethical Dilemma Case Study: ACS Code of Professional Conduct

This case study analyzes an ethical dilemma faced by an ICT professional, 'Ken,' as depicted in three YouTube videos. The assignment requires an examination of the ethical challenges presented, focusing on the actions taken by Ken in different scenarios. The analysis is conducted through the lens of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Professional Conduct, identifying violations and adherence to the code's principles. The study examines Ken's decisions regarding the launch of untested systems, delaying product releases, and handling financial difficulties, evaluating their ethical implications. The analysis also includes a recommendation based on the findings and incorporates at least five academic references, supporting the arguments and conclusions presented. The study aims to understand the complexities of ethical decision-making in the ICT field, providing insights into the importance of professional conduct and ethical considerations within the industry.

Running head: CASE STUDY OF ETHICAL DILLEMMA
CASE STUDY OF ETHICAL DILLEMMA
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Table of Contents
1.0 Video 1 Analysis..................................................................................................................2
2.0 Video 2 Analysis..................................................................................................................3
3.0 Video 3 Analysis..................................................................................................................5
4.0 References............................................................................................................................7

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1.0 Video 1 Analysis
The first significant video deals with the untested system going live by the project
manager of the particular project stated in the video (Ken, 2019). The video states the
particular action that is being taken by the ICT Professional in regards to the situation that he
faces in the stated video. Moreover, the ACS Code of Professional Conduct that is being
significantly hampered within this video is stated as follows:
Public Interest: The overall preservation of the integrity, continuity, security as well as the
utility of the ICT was hampered in accordance to the video as analysed in this case.
Honesty: This is one of the significant issue that is hampered in accordance to the ACS Code
of Professional Conduct. This is very relevant to the case that Ken allowed the system that
was developed to go live without being tested. This situation breaks the rule of the Honesty in
accordance to the clients that the organization is serving. If an Information system goes live
without being tested then they may face issues after the system has gone live. This is a
situation that the organization is knowingly misleading the client in regards to the product
that the organization is providing. The professional opinions from the potential managers is
also not adhered, as without testing a system cannot be depicted with the relevant flaws
within the product (Burmeister, 2017). This may also lead the organization to lose their
reputation in accordance to the industrial reputation within the other industries or competitors
in this field.
Competence: The other significant ACS Code of Professional Conduct that is identified to be
hampered is depicted as the competence. In this context the operational as well as the
financial needs related to the different stakeholders of the project tends to lower down of the
organization. This also adheres the potential loss of the responsibility that is significant in the
workplace. This situation tends to lose the respect of its clients as well as its customers in

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regards to their professional expertise in this field (Burmeister, 2017). Without testing, if a
system goes live it may also lead to the misrepresentation of the potential skills as well as the
knowledge possessed by the organization thus leading to the loss in the competencies of the
organization.
Professional Development: This situation may also lead the organization to loose trust as
well as demotivate their colleagues as well as the clients that are associated with the
organization (Theodossopoulos, 2016). They may also hamper the support that the
organization provides to their clients with respect to their potential services as well as the
products.
Professionalism: This situation significantly hampers the overall diversity of the workplace,
as this situation tends to ensure the loss of the reputation among the clients as well as the
customers that they are serving with their products (McNamara, Smith & Murphy-Hill,
2018). If the customers are not satisfied with the product then the organization will face a
severe damage towards their loss of reputation and professional image.
Thus from this case it can be said that the organizational trust is in a great danger as
respect to the fact that the organization cannot pursue the product launch without getting it
tested. The test of the software is certainly necessary as this can analyse the overall flaws
within the structured system. Moreover the significant phases that are necessary for the
overall successful delivery of the project needs to be carried out before it is to be deployed or
launched in the market. This will sustain the reputation as well as the significant functioning
of the overall project associated in the videos.
2.0 Video 2 Analysis
The second video that is provided to be analysed significantly depicts the situation
that Ken fights back for not letting the untested system to go live rather for which they delay

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the launch by 1 month (Ken, 2019). This is a probable situation where the significant ACS
Code of Professional Conduct is depicted to be analysed in regards to the situation of the
ethical dilemma. The significant Professional conduct is depicted to be provided in this
section.
Public Interest: The public interest of the organization will be lost in regards to the fact of
the delay that is done by the organization for their product launch (Bjelica et al., 2016). The
significant phases of the overall product needs to be completed within the stipulated time
provided by the client. In this context the time provided by the client was sufficient but the
organization could not manage to deliver the significant product by completing the overall
phases within the organization. This will lead the organizational interest to be lost among the
customers.
Professionalism: The significant fact that persists within the situation is depicted to the fact
of the loss of the professional behaviour in respect to the miss of the deadline of the product
launch. This will mislead the customers of the organization with the probable fact the
organization will hamper their potential reputation within the field of the software
development as well as the organizations potential reputation of the organization.
Competence: The significant competencies in regards to the launch of the project will be
hampered as the overall procedure is hampered due to the delay in the testing procedure. This
will hamper the potential reputation as well as extend the protect time thus leading to the fact
that the organization will face financial loss of the project (Welland & Pugsley, 2019).
Moreover, the organizational heads cannot launch the product without getting it tested, as
they will face sever competencies if the product is not effective after it is being launched.
Thus, the miss of the deadline will also hamper the overall project requirements of the clients
as well as the customers who were waiting for the product launch.

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Thus, it can be depicted that the organization is set to loss the reputational damage
that is significant in this case, further which will lose the operational point off the
organization. Moreover, the ACS code of professional ethics is also hampered in regards to
the fact that Ken is restricting the product launch for the betterment of the project thus
adhering the overall constraints and the most important part that is testing. Without testing
the software should not have been launched in respect to the fact that the organization could
face severe damage in the future endeavours.
3.0 Video 3 Analysis
The third video depicts the loss of the financial approchh in regards to the videos as
stated above (Ken, 2019). The significant ACS Code of Professional Conduct will be stated
in this section. As for the third case, where Ken had been asked to meet the executive of the
bank regarding the missed and delayed payment issue that he had, there was also issue in
ethical dilemma that both the bank and Ken faced. However, the actions Ken followed would
be analysed as per the ACS codes of conduct. Ken was associated with the organization that
he faced several difficulties with for the decision-making purposed followed by ethical
dilemma situations. This is why, Ken resigned from the organization. However, at the same
time, he had payments to be made with the bank as well. Since he had already resigned from
his job, he fell short of money leading to the missed or delayed payment of the same with the
bank (Silva & Iqbal, 2018). The bank executive scheduled a meeting with him to make him
understand that this could lead to further non-payment of the bills due to which he might face
several penalties (Jerolmack & Murphy, 2017). It was at that point of time when Ken
confided in them about the monetary position he was in as he had resigned from his job a
month back and that he was partially working for a less-paying job.

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This is the only incidence where the actions of Ken cannot be justified as ethical. He was in
an ethical dilemma situation since the actions that his executives forced him to take up was
leading him to severe ethical dilemma situations where he was torn between what would be
the right thing to do and what not be morally correct. Ken resigned, but according to the ACS
code of conduct, he should have followed the code of “Honesty” that would have let the bank
know what situation he was in. However, it is believed that according to the ACS codes of
Honesty, he did not maintain the integrity of honesty and morality on maybe because of his
inability to cope up with the situation and the dilemma for not developing professionally and
demoting himself.

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4.0 References
Ken. K. (2019). KEN FIGHTS BACK. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EhkoGQNuCNE.
Ken. K. (2019). Ken lets the system go live. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MVpQ7OwPmK0
Ken. K. (2019). Ken resigns. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TxHeH86HVeY
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Professional Standards Board Australian Computer
Society. (2014). [Ebook]. Retrieved from
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf
Bjelica, D., Gardašević, J., Vasiljević, I., & Popović, S. (2016). Ethical dilemmas of sport
advertising. Sport Mont, 14(3), 41-43.
Burmeister, O. K. (2017). Professional ethics in the information age. Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society, 15(4), 348-356.
Jerolmack, C., & Murphy, A. K. (2017). The ethical dilemmas and social scientific trade-offs
of masking in ethnography. Sociological Methods & Research, 0049124117701483.
McNamara, A., Smith, J., & Murphy-Hill, E. (2018, October). Does ACM’s code of ethics
change ethical decision making in software development?. In Proceedings of the 2018
26th ACM Joint Meeting on European Software Engineering Conference and
Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (pp. 729-733). ACM.

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Silva, R., & Iqbal, R. (2018). Ethical implications of social internet of vehicles systems.
IEEE Internet of Things Journal, 6(1), 517-531.
Theodossopoulos, D. (2016). Philanthropy or solidarity? Ethical dilemmas about
humanitarianism in crisis‐afflicted Greece. Social Anthropology, 24(2), 167-184.
Welland, T., & Pugsley, L. (2019). Ethical dilemmas in qualitative research. Routledge.