Business Law Assignment: Ethical Dilemma Analysis - Case Study 2

This assignment presents a case study analysis of an ethical dilemma in a business law context. The student analyzes a scenario where a programmer, Christina, faces pressure to release software before it is fully tested. The analysis employs Chris MacDonald's methodology for ethical decision-making, considering interested parties like the programmer, the company, and consumers. The assignment references the ACS Code of Ethics and the ACS Code of Professional Conduct, highlighting values such as honesty, competence, and public interest. It explores relevant legislation, particularly the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), and discusses the potential consequences of releasing faulty software. The student concludes that Christina should communicate her concerns to management and advocate for delaying the software release to ensure ethical and legal compliance. The assignment underscores the importance of ethical conduct in the IT industry and its impact on consumers and the company's reputation.

Running head: BUSINESS LAW
BUSINESS LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Christina’s ethical dilemma
Christina, a programmer, would be requiring three weeks to complete the testing a
software and confirm it to be bug-free; yet the management is pressurizing her to sign the
documents in order to release the software to the public. This puts Christina in an ethical
dilemma as to whether to sign the papers of the test of the software as complete as asked
by the management, even though the software is not complete yet. She as a tester knows
that it is ethically incorrect and thus faces ethical dilemma.
Chris MacDonald’s methodology of analyzing ethical dilemma
For the purpose of analysing and resolving the ethical dilemma of the action of
Christina, the moral decision making methodology of Chris MacDonald has been followed. A
process of eight questions has been followed by this guide for identifying the moral or ethical
dilemmas and for analysing the dilemmas (MacDonald 2002).
 Recognizing the Moral Dimension
In this case, the moral dimension is the publicly release of the software containing minor
bugs and Christina signing the document of software confirming that the test has been
conducted properly even after knowing it to be untrue.
 Interested parties and their relationship
The interested parties in this case are Christina who works for the software development
company as a programmer, the company and the consumers of that softwares manufactured
by the company. The consumers are the individuals who would buy the product from the
company that intends to sell the software containing bugs.
 Values involved
In this case, the values involved are the ACS Code of Ethics and ACS Code of
Professional Conduct
 Analogous case
An ethical dilemma of similar nature can be seen in the case of One.Tel Limited,
which is an Australian telecommunication company. In this case the company became
insolvent due to their deviant behaviour towards the Code of Ethics laid down by Australian
Computer Society.
 Discussion with relevant others
According to the values of ACS Code of Professional Conduct Christine must consult
with the stakeholders regarding the dilemma as quickly as possible.
 Decision According to Legal and Organizational Rules
Christina’s signing on the test paper confirming all tests have been made properly
even after knowing it to be untrue, would violate the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is
set out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 as the software is
made for the common people, who are the consumers. They deserve a bug-free software
which the company is compromising in this case. The release of the software would also
violate the ACS Codes of Ethics and the ACS Code of Professional Conduct, for which
Christina might be held responsible later for not valuing public interest (Acs.org.au. 2019).
 Whether the decision is comfortable
It is evidently uncomfortable for Christina to sign the paper knowing that the software
is not bug-free yet.
 Discussion with relevant others

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Christina must communicate her issues with the higher authority of the company
management.
List of ACS Code of Ethics:
1. Honesty
2. Competence
3. Professional development
List of ACS Code of Professional Conduct:
1. Honesty
2. Competence
3. Professional development
4. Professionalism
5. Public interest
Christina must ensure that she follows the above mentioned ethical code of conduct
in order to be ethically right in the course of her profession. Honesty, Competence and
professionalism would help her improve in her job and be ethically correct while taking any
professional decision. Adhering to public policy is extremely critical for her as she delivers
softwares that are meant for public use and thus it be good enough to serve the consumers
to the fullest (Acs.org.au. 2019).
Relevant legislation
The entire process must comply with the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is set
out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 for the software are made
for the use of the public, who would purchase it for certain purpose. Therefore, the software
must perform as per the description, as otherwise it would lead to deception of the
consumers and a breach of the consumer law.
Conclusion
Therefore, to conclude, following the ethical framework of Chris MacDonald and the
ethical regulation of laid down under ACS Code of Ethics and ACS Code of Professional
Conduct, Christina needs to convey her discomfort regarding passing the incomplete
software as complete, for public release. She needs to discuss the fact with the
management that it would be ethically wrong to release the incomplete software as it will not
only constitute violation of consumer law, it would also lead the consumers drop negative
review for the software even before the software was fully ready. This will most definitely
harm the company’s goodwill as well.
Christina needs to make the management understand the vicious effect that the
release of the incomplete software could lead to. In this way, she could resolve her ethical
dilemma as to signing the documents to release the software when it is the testing stage.
She needs to convince the management for delaying the public release for another three
weeks so that the testing could be completed successfully. In this regard, Christina is duty-
bound to communicate with the appropriate authority in the company who would take the
final call for releasing the software.

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References
Acs.org.au (2019). ACS Code of Ethics. [Online] Acs.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/Code-of-Ethics.pdf [Accessed 2
Sep. 2019].
Acs.org.au (2019). ACS Code Of Professional Conduct. [online] Acs.org.au. Available at:
https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf [Accessed 2 Sep. 2019].
Competition and Consumer Act 2010
MacDonald, C., 2002. A guide to moral decision making. Everyday Ethics: Putting the code
into practice.