Information Technology Ethics Report: Ken's Dilemma and ACS Code

This report examines the ethical dilemmas faced by Ken, an ICT professional, as depicted in three YouTube videos. The assignment requires an analysis of Ken's actions, focusing on the ethical implications of his decisions within the context of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Professional Conduct. The report identifies the primary ethical issues, such as the premature release of a video without proper testing, and evaluates Ken's conduct against the ACS guidelines. It explores the consequences of his actions, highlighting the importance of adhering to ethical standards in the IT industry. The analysis includes a review of relevant literature and academic references to support the arguments. Finally, the report offers recommendations on how Ken could have acted more ethically and professionally, emphasizing the significance of integrity, honesty, and public interest in professional practice.

Running Head: Ethics
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ETHICS
8/15/2019

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Ethical dilemma faced by Ken.........................................................................................................2
Action taken by Ken........................................................................................................................2
Recommendation.............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
References........................................................................................................................................6

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Introduction
Professionals have to follow professional ethics as they are important for taking the
useful decisions. In this report, the ethical dilemmas are evaluated which helps in evaluating the
issues raised due to the unethical professional manner (Hill and Rapp, 2014). With the help of
the video, the case of the Ken is evaluated and in this report, the dilemma faced by Ken will be
discussed. As per the code of conduct of the professional, there are several actions which have to
be taken by Ken so that relevancy can be maintained which will be discussed in this report.
Ethical dilemma faced by Ken
Ken is a professional person who is working in the information and communication
technology. He will be publishing the video soon on he is working. The testing of the system has
not been done by him on time even the deadline of the project has arrived. Before uploading any
video, it is important to test the matter so that if there were any issues it can be faced before only.
The main ethical issue which has been faced in this report is that without being testing the video
it was published (Dyrbye, et al., 2010). As per the professional ethic, the person who is working
should follow the professionalism so that the company does not have to face other issues and
even the task can be completed on time. Without being informed to other members he has
extended the deadline of the project by contacting the contractor. He has revised the deadline for
the one month so it is not professional and will complete the project in next one month shows the
delay in his duty (Al-Saggaf, et al., 2017).
The action was taken by Ken
Ken has broken the rules and laws of professionalism. He has extended the deadline of
the project for the one month from the related parties which are not showing the ethical manner.
As making the contract with the related parties is not complying with the law so it is also not
showing the ethical thing. So the Ken should follow the ethics properly and has to consider all
the rules and regulations ethically (Rogerson, et al., 2010). Ken has acted very unprofessionally
as per the given case as he has uploaded the video without being the proper testing and also not

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comply with the ethical requirements which were shocking for all. The way he acts was very
unprofessional and strict actions are taken against him. As per the professional code of ethics, the
professional can take that action which is not harming other public and it is in public interest. But
Ken has taken the actions which were harming the people and was against the public interest.
Ethics is all about dignity and honesty so Ken has broken the trust by issuing the video without
being tested. Being a professional person should act with honesty and should act diligently in a
professional manner (Youtube, 2016). Ken has to provide his services in an honest manner. Any
decision taken by him should be taken with good intention and should not neglect anything. If
something is there to disclose then it should be informed to the stakeholders on time. There
should be nothing to hide in good professionalism. The skills which are there in a professional
manner should be applied diligently and effectively. All the action taken by Ken should be in a
professional manner with proper integrity.
In this report, the action taken by Ken is unethical as without going the process of the
testing he has uploaded and published the video. The person who will watch the video has to go
with certain issues as it was uploaded without the testing. He has not followed the rules of the
ethics as he has taken certain actions which were against the interest of the public. In the video
there were certain viruses which were affecting the system and the video was not operating
properly and it results in the creating various issues (Chron. 2018). The video has certain viruses
which were impacting the accessibility and creating many problems for the person who is
interested in the video. He has made the deal with the party that video was required to be tested
and then he has published the video without being tested so it is against the law and honesty and
integrity. Being the professional Ken behavior was very unethical and it was against the
standards as he does not intimate the parties and take some actions. The actions taken by the
professional should consider the benefits of everyone and should make any decision by taking
the consultants of another person too. But the Ken has taken the actions which are based on his
personal view and this act is not professional and not justified. The work performed by Ken
should be of competence and in the interest of the public by the actions taken by him is no
professional care and it is not performed as per the competence. He has misused his skills and
does not take his profession in an ethical manner (Boland and Mogk, 2017). As per the
professional code of conduct, he should be responsible for testing accurately whether the video is

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free from the viruses or not whether it is operating properly or not. But he does not consider it
effective and uploaded the video and misused it. If Ken has tested the video properly and
examine it in an effective manner than the issues which have arrived in this case can be
eliminated (Carr, 2014). Ken does not have good professional terms and the decision made by
him is in an inappropriate manner. Ken has to follow the professionalism in a good manner by
taking all the actions and consideration in an ethical manner. He does not follow the ethical
standards so he has to follow the same to act professionally.
Recommendation
As per the ACS code of professional ethics, every action taken by the professions should
be in an ethical manner and it should be in the public interest. The professional has to comply
with the ethical manner so that the fraud, error and any unethical action can be removed or
eliminated. Ken has to comply with the ethical standards and he has to complete his task within
the given timeframe (Youtube, 2016). Even after the one year also the parties had given him the
opportunity to complete this task but he still not completed that task within the extended one
month period. He should not have released the video without being tested so it is recommended
that the good professional is one who complete all his task on time and before taking any action
firstly ensure whether it is correct or not. Ken has to maintain professional behavior in the
company and should comply with honesty and dignity instead of incompetent behavior and
negligence.
Any action taken by Ken should be in regards to the professional development and it
should be taken in the interest of the public. It is recommended that actions should be taken for
the development of the enterprise and for the members of it. The negative impact has been in the
employees so to motivate them some actions have to be taken (Levitt and Moorhead, 2013). The
task is not completed on time so Ken also obliged to the bank and has the liability to pay to them
on time. The negligence was demanded by the bank so Ken has to fulfill his liabilities on time.

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Conclusion
From the above report, it is evaluated that Ken has made some unethical behavior and has
made the professional misconduct which was not relevant. In this report, the dilemma faced by
Ken was properly explained. In this report, the explanation of the video has been done in which
Ken has uploaded the video without being tested. There were many issues has to face for this and
it resulted in an unprofessional manner. Ken has not followed the professional ethics and it
creates many issues for the other people. In this report, the understanding has been gained in
relation to the ACS code of professional conduct and their ethical requirements. The
recommendation has been done above to improve the performance of Ken. Several actions have
been taken in this report so that Ken can act professionally and maintain the trust, dignity, and
integrity in professionalism. In this report, it is evaluated that the professional primary
consideration is the interest of the public good and the actions were taken by the professional
should be effective and in the public interest.

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References
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O. K., & Schwartz, M. (2017). Qualifications and ethics education:
the views of ICT professionals. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21.
Board, B. A. C. (2014). Professional and ethical compliance code for behavior analysts.
Boland, M. A., & Mogk, D. (2017). The American Geosciences Institute guidelines for ethical
professional conduct. Scientific Integrity and Ethics: With Applications to the
Geosciences, 55-66.
Carr, D. (2014). Professionalism, profession and professional conduct: Towards a basic logical
and ethical geography. In International handbook of research in professional and
practice-based learning (pp. 5-27). Springer, Dordrecht.
Chron. (2018). Ethical Dilemma in the Use of Information Technology. Retrieved from:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/ethical-dilemma-use-information-technology-
18366.html
Dyrbye, L. N., Massie, F. S., Eacker, A., Harper, W., Power, D., Durning, S. J., ... & Shanafelt,
T. D. (2010). Relationship between burnout and professional conduct and attitudes
among US medical students. Jama, 304(11), 1173-1180.
Hill, R. P., & Rapp, J. M. (2014). Codes of ethical conduct: A bottom-up approach. Journal of
Business Ethics, 123(4), 621-630.
Levitt, D. H., & Moorhead, H. J. H. (2013). Values and ethics in counseling: Real-life ethical
decision making. Routledge.
Rogerson, S., Weckert, J., & Simpson, C. (2010). An ethical review of information systems
development–The Australian Computer Society’s code of ethics and
SSADM. Information technology & people, 13(2), 121-136.
Youtube. (2016). Ken fights back. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=EhkoGQNuCNE

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Youtube. (2016). Ken lets the system go-live. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=MVpQ7OwPmK0
Youtube. (2016). Ken resigns. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TxHeH86HVeY