Professional Year Program: Ethics Case Study Analysis and Discussion

This case study analyzes an ethical dilemma faced by James, a consultant hired by a web design company to assess employee skills. James is tasked with maintaining the privacy of individual employee data. However, a senior executive asks James to reveal individual performance. The analysis applies the ACS Code of Ethics, relevant Australian legislation (Privacy Act 1988), and McDonald's framework for ethical decision-making. The solution explores the importance of competency, professional development, and professionalism in the ICT industry. The case study provides a detailed evaluation of the ethical issues, including breaches of privacy and confidentiality, along with recommendations for how James should respond to the executive's request, emphasizing the need to respect employee privacy and professional standards. The conclusion highlights the need for maintaining a trustworthy environment for employees.

CASE STUDY 1

Contents
Introduction........................................................................................................................2
ACS Code of Ethics...........................................................................................................2
Australian Legislation Applicable.......................................................................................2
McDonald’s framework for ethical decision.......................................................................2
Conclusion.........................................................................................................................3
References.........................................................................................................................4

Introduction
The case highlights about the ethical issue in the company, where James is contracted
by the Web Designing consultancy company to check on the efficiency of working skills of the
employees. The data collected, thereby, needs to remain private and then it will help in
understanding the weakness of the individual.
ACS Code of Ethics
The three Code of Ethics applicable to the scenario are:
a. Competency: Jane needs to endeavor to produce the products and the services which
are able to match to the operational and the financial needs. They are highlighting the
clients and employers.
b. Professional Development: The employees need to be informed about the weakness
and encourage the staff to keep the knowledge up-to-date. This will help in increasing
awareness of the issues that affect profession and its relationship with the pubic.
c. Professionalism: The ICT industry have been set by ACS to improve the public
confidence and maintaining professional standards. In accordance, the informed and
knowledgeable stance on the professional work helps the employees to be engaged
more in work (Al-Saggaf et al., 2017).
Australian Legislation Applicable
The Privacy Act 1988 of Australian law regulates the handling of personal information about the
individuals. This also set out the standard, rights and the obligations for holding, using and
accessing the personal information.
McDonald’s framework for ethical decision
· Information collection and issue identification
The informed consent clearly states about the comments which needs to be made at the time of
interview which have to be private. The case here, highlights about the privacy issue which
concerns about the library and information professionals (Resnik et al., 2016).
· Finding feasible alternatives
The people’s privacy needs to be respected and there should be a proper discussion with the
employees, so that they know about their weakness and improve on them. This is an act for
breaching the privacy, confidentiality and refrain the, from being treated unfairly.
· Measuring all possible solution by appropriate ethical standards.
According to ACS, the possible solution highlight on taking appropriate actions to engage in
behaviors which will ensure that there are opportunities for employment, advancement and
remuneration. Jane, who came for the quality check of employees, can help them to give some
advices

· Proposing and testing the possible resolution
The company should work on striving for the enhancement of quality of life and working on
supporting the training and professional development in ICT. It will reflect on the needs for the
individual professionals and their career paths.
· Making final decision
The simple circumstance breaches the privacy, and the confidentiality of the employees. Hence,
the company should make sure that they respect the employees and their work. They should be
refrained from being treated in an unfair manner (Ferguson et al., 2016). The advice is for the
clients and employers to handle the conflict of interest or the objectives.
Conclusion
According to the analysis, the company is breaching the laws and is not trusting the
employees in work (Cook et al., 2017). They should try to maintain a friendly
environment for the employees so that they are able to communication and be creative
at work.

References
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O.K. and Schwartz, M., 2017. Qualifications and ethics education:
the views of ICT professionals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Cook, C., Schouten, V., Henrickson, M. and McDonald, S., 2017. Ethics, intimacy and sexuality
in aged care. Journal of advanced nursing, 73(12), pp.3017-3027.
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.
Resnik, D.B. and Elliott, K.C., 2016. The ethical challenges of socially responsible
science. Accountability in research, 23(1), pp.31-46.