Assignment 1: Ethical Dilemma of Christina's Software Testing, ACS

This case study examines the ethical dilemma faced by Christina, a software tester, who discovers minor bugs in programs slated for release. Management pressures her to sign off on the software's completion despite the unresolved bugs, creating a conflict with her professional responsibilities and the ACS code of conduct. The assignment analyzes this conflict of interest, exploring the ethical implications of prioritizing deadlines over quality and adherence to professional standards. It applies Chris McDonald's methodology to demonstrate how Christina can navigate this dilemma, considering the values of fairness, trust, and competence. The analysis emphasizes the importance of addressing the ethical environment within the organization, involving stakeholders, and seeking a middle ground to uphold both professional ethics and the interests of all parties involved, including the client and the company. The solution highlights the importance of open communication, timely action, and the delivery of the best possible product, even when faced with time constraints.

1

The Ethical Dilemma of an Oversight
The case of the “Conflicts of the interest” from the perspective of Chris McDonald
In the case of Christina, she is facing a dilemma associated with the oversight of certain bugs that
can serve as a technical glitch in the near future. From the point of view of the Christina this case
can be considered as the case of the “conflicts of the interests.” We can explain the problem
under the light of the codes of conducts, in order to do that we can take the support of code as it
is defined in the code of ACS. The rule book of ACS defines the “The code honesty.” This code
implies the responsibility of a programmer toward the end-user or the client. According to this
code a programmer is duty-bound to deliver, “industry best solution” or the “agreed-upon
solution” to the client. Since the client is a non-technical entity, it is the duty of a programmer to
deliver the available best product that serves compatibility with the latest solutions that are
prevailing in the market place (Gotterbarn, 2007).
In the present case, situations are forcing Christina to oversight the underdeveloped nature of the
product and it is a breach of the code of honesty.
The conflict of the identification of the values and the dilemma associated with the code of
competence
Researcher Chris McDonald developed a mechanism to identify certain regular ethical values
under special cases. The present case invites the values of “fairness and trust.” The ACS code of
competency makes it a complex case for Christina. The code of competency demands the
deliverance of an optimal product with an intention to serve the monetary interests of the parties
involved, in the present case, the deliverance of an underprepared software can save the
2

professional reputation of the employer. Christina’s negative remark on the program can
introduce a delay in the delivery and it can incur losses to the supplier and the final customer
(ACS Code of Professional Conduct, 2014). The case of Christina presents a clash of the values
of “fairness and trust” while abiding by the code of competence. Ethical values of fairness and
trust demand a programmer or a quality checker to diagnose a program on honest merits under
the benchmarks set by the industry. Code of competence, on the other hand, forces her to show
her loyalty with the profits made by the company (Mcdonald, 2006).
A solution with the help of “The involvement of the values” clause
Christina’s oversight can also be considered as a breach of good faith set by the ACS code of
professionalism. The code of professionalism sets some unwritten duties and standards for
various professionals. It can be compared with the case of the medical diagnostic systems. Most
of the diagnostic report writer follows a format to write the reports; this format finds
synchronization with the observed patterns of a specialist. In the present case Christina is also
duty-bound with an unwritten code, her post as a software tester gives her a designation
dependent on the specialist nature of her job. Let’s assume that someone else in her capacity
checks the same software and presents a report, then will the outcome of both the programs will
be the same? This variance in the answers will reflect poorly on Christina’s performance. Her
capacity as a professional will come under a scanner (Gunz, 2014).”
“Discussion of the dilemma with the relevant others” can figure out a middle path
In the present case, we can identify three parties, Christina, her organization and the client who is
receiving faulty software. The ACS code of professionalism recommends that ideally a
programmer or an expert working in the chain of the development of a software should identify
3

the stakeholders in the process, if something is wrong with the regular course then all the
stakeholders can sit across the table and solve the problem by acquiring a middle path (Heath,
2018).
In the case of Christina, she can consult the problem with her senior and a beta version of the
software can be delivered to the customer to serve his immediate needs. The bug developer can
take his time to solve the problem and deliver the main software later on. The ACS code of
professionalism promotes the culture of integrity between the expert professionals and clients,
this integrity should serve the incremental nature of the industry where the evolution of the
services and tricks are endless. As a professional, it is the duty of Christina and her employer that
they should deliver the best product to the client, in case there are a shortcoming and the concept
of “time-bound creativity” is applicable then a negotiation can be done and the date of the final
delivery can be fixed again. The code of professionalism clearly dictates the condition of the
“timely action to serve the available best solution to the client (Ferguson, 2005)”.
Christina can address the ethical environment of the organization
Various case studies done by the ACS experts and the evaluators of the Chris McDonald
framework suggests that in most of the cases the employees face an ethical dilemma because
they fail in addressing the ethical environment associated with their task. A delay in the delivery
is not the fault of Christina; however, if she is over sighting the fault because of the code of
competence then it is wrong again because it is a breach of good faith and the code of honesty.
Experts believe that ideally, in this case, an ethical environment can be developed where
stakeholders can sit and understand each other’s point of view. It is impossible for a person to
practice ethical codes singularly because programming is teamwork, sharing of the credits and
4

failures with our teammates and improving their performance is a duty for every professional.
Christiana can take all her workmates in confidence and find a solution to serve the professional
ethics while delivering a solution.
5

References
ACS Code of Professional Conduct. (2014). ACS |Code of Professional Conduct Volume 2,
(Online) Retrieved from https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and-regulations/Code-of-
Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf. Accessed 4-9-2019
Ferguson, S. (2005). Case studies and codes of ethics: the relevance of the ACS experience to
ALIA. The Australian Library Journal, (Online ) Retrieved from
http://www.canberra.edu.au/researchrepository/file/e4e124f4-b65b-1813-688a-8787cb3cf95d/1/
fulltext_published.pdf. Accessed 4-9-2019
Gotterbarn, D. (2007). ICT Integrity: bringing the ACS code of ethics up to date. Australian
Journal of Information System, (Online) Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/30063242_ICT_Integrity_bringing_the_ACS_code_of
_ethics_up_to_date. Accessed 4-9-2019.
Gunz, S. (2014). Introduction to the Special Issue on Tone at the Top. Journal of Business
Ethics, (Online) Retrieved form:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-014-2096-
9. Accessed 4-9-2019.
Heath, E. (2018). The Routledge Companion to Business Ethics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Mcdonald, C. (2006). What Causes Unethical (corporate) Behaviour? The business ethics blog,
(Online) Retrieved from https://businessethicsblog.com/2006/01/20/what-causes-unethical-
corporate-behaviour/. Accessed 4-9-2014.
6