Professional Environments: Ethics, Professionalism & Governance

This assignment report provides an analysis of ethics, professionalism, and governance, focusing on the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. It identifies and applies these codes to a specific case study, further analyzing the situation using the Thomas White methodology. The analysis includes identifying who is helped and hurt by different actions, discussing the problematic aspects of the situation, and providing recommendations based on the analysis. The report also references relevant legislation, such as the Corporations Act 2001, and emphasizes the importance of addressing ethical issues within organizations to ensure a justified solution and a successful future.

Ethics, Professionalism and Governance 0
Title: Ethics, Professionalism and Governance
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Ethics, Professionalism and Governance 1
Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................ 2
ACS Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct..........................................................................2
Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct..............................................................................2
Legislations......................................................................................................................... 3
Analysis, Discussion & Recommendations.............................................................................3
Analysis.............................................................................................................................. 3
Discussion.......................................................................................................................... 3
Recommendations.............................................................................................................. 4
Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 4
References............................................................................................................................. 5

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Case Study 4- Brenda’s Inspection in an Accounting Firm.
Introduction
This assignment report is an attempt to, understand the code of ethics and the code
of professional conduct which have been stated by the Australian Computer Society. These
ethics have to be identified in a situation. The assignment also aims at providing knowledge
about the Thomas White methodology, which is taken into consideration in the process of -
analysis, discussion, and recommendation.
ACS Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct
Being a member of the Australian Computer Society, there are certain guidelines
which have to be followed by each member and these guidelines can be further divided into
the ACS Code of Ethics and the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. All the members of the
ACS should possess the qualities of being honorable, dignified and the quality of being an
effective professional. In addition to this, all the members of the ACS should possess all the
qualities of being a good citizen and should conduct all the activities, whether personal or
professional under the law imposed by the government. In case study four, a certain code of
ethics and code of professional conduct have been identified.
Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct
The following are the code of ethics identified, which were identified in the case study
four-
 The first code of ethics which is identified is “honesty”. According to this code of
ethics, the members cannot break the trust of the public or their any stakeholders.
The members cannot be deceptive in any way and will have to perform all their
activities under the set guidelines.
 The second code of ethics identified in this situation is the “enhancement of quality of
life”. According to this guideline, the members should recognize the utilization of ICT
in any working environment, which may help in the enhancement of the quality of life
and also facilitates the people with a protection who have been affected by certain
works.
 The third code of ethics identified is, “the primacy of the public interest”. According to
this ethic, this ethic is above all the ethic, which can be personal, sectional and
private interest, and all the conflicts if they arise in any organization, will be resolved
by giving the public interest the utmost priority.
The following are the codes of professional conduct, which were identified during
Brenda’s inspection in the accounting firm-
 Firstly, taking a calm, informed and a knowledge stands on all the professional work
which the member is conducting.
 The second approach is to initiate actions against those who do not abide by these
rules.
 The third professional code recognized is, the corporate actions which relate to the
society are also subjected to this code of professional conduct, and each member
should utilize in some efforts, making sure that the ACS and its officials are fulfilling
all the obligations.
 The fourth code recognized is that making sure that no member influences or
conducts under any circumstances, which breaches any other code of conduct.
 The fifth code of professional conduct identified is the responsibility of each member
to publicize and educate the public about the different advantages of ICT, by
providing them with a deeper understanding (Graham and Low, 2018).

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Legislations
Any member who abides by any of the code of ethics or the code of professional
conduct will have to bear the consequences in accordance with the Australian Laws, which
have been listed to support and punish the members who commit any unethical and
unprofessional deed. In the case of Brenda, the legislation which can be applied in this
situation is the Corporations Act 2001. This act regulates matters associated with the
operation and formation of companies, and also include the duties and responsibilities of the
officers. This act also includes the matters associated with the fundraising and takeovers
too.
Analysis, Discussion & Recommendations
The situation which Brenda is currently facing can be appropriately analyzed with the
help of the theory of Thomas White, which focuses on resolving issues which are associated
with an ethical dilemma. This methodology has three steps, through which an individual can
get the solution to its ethical dilemma.
Analysis
Step one - Overall analysis of the consequences.
Brenda is in a situation, where she has been given the responsibility of inspecting an
accounting system of a firm. She identifies that many of the junior management staff is
making a particular error while using the new accounting software. According to the Thomas
White methodology, there are two steps which should be taken into action, to analyze
Brenda’s situation.
 Who will be helped?
Brenda should inform the officials of the accounting firm, about the particular error
which the junior management staff is making. This error is reducing the profits of the
company too, which in case, considered in the long run is a huge loss.
 Who will be hurt?
In this particular situation, the junior management staff, who is making this error will
be most hurt. As per the firm’s guidelines, any individual who makes a mistake which
affects the profit of the firm, in such scenario the company will dock the salary of
those individuals who committed the mistake. The junior management staff will be
hurt, in this scenario.
Discussion
Step two – Analyze the Actions.
According to Thomas White methodology, it is very important to understand the most
problematic aspect of this complete situation. In case of Brenda, it can be seen that a
number of junior management staff is committing a particular problem. This highlights that
the junior staff has not been provided with complete knowledge about the new accounting
software. If the number of individuals who are committing the mistake was less, than it would
have been the mistake of the staff. But a lot of junior staff is committing the same mistake,
which showcases the mistake of the firm, who did not provide the staff with appropriate
knowledge, which mostly includes the practical knowledge (White, 2009).
Recommendations
Step three – Take a Decision.
According to Thomas White methodology, the recommendations should be made,
after analyzing both the analysis, which were conducted on the basis of the consequences
and the actions. After understanding the complete situation, this has been found that the
error which is eating the firm’s profit, is due to the lack of knowledge which is provided to the
junior staff. In such a scenario, the firm should not dock the salary of their workers and
should provide the junior staff with a training which will help them understand the new

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accounting software. Training will be beneficial for the firm in the long run and the proper
understanding of the new accounting software will help the staff to work more efficiently,
which will generate more profits.
Conclusion
The Australian Computer Society is an initiative which is taken to cover all the ethical
issues which are mostly seen in any organization. It is also due to these issues that the
company faces a lot of problems which hammers the company’s future. Companies should
make an attempt at addressing such problems which are associated with the code of ethics
and the code of professional conduct, by building or introducing a structure which will
provide with a justified solution.

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References
Graham, R. and Low, G. (2018). [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 1 Jun. 2018].
White, T. (2009). Business, Science and Ethics: A Case Study in the Necessary Evolution of
Methodology. Between the Species: An Online Journal for the Study of Philosophy and
Animals, 13(9).