ICT Professional Practice & Ethics: Westfield Case Study Report

This report examines ICT professional practice and ethics through a case study of Westfield's digital innovation. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the importance of digital innovation for customer satisfaction and organizational improvement. The report then delves into the ethical and IT governance frameworks relevant to the case, including consequentialist ethical frameworks and the COBIT IT governance framework. It assesses the ethical consequences of moving to a digital firm, particularly concerning diversity and inclusion, and identifies key IT governance issues such as value delivery, governance framework establishment, and data security. The analysis includes recommendations for Westfield, supported by proper justification, and concludes with a summary of the key findings and their implications for the organization's digital transformation journey. The report is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the ethical and practical considerations involved in integrating digital technologies within a business context.

Running head: ICT PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND ETHICS
ICT Professional Practice & Ethics: Westfield
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ICT PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND ETHICS
Executive Summary
The main aim of this report developed is to understand case study of digital innovation in
Westfield. Digital innovation is extremely important for motivating the users so that
customers are satisfied completely. It could easily stave off the distinctive threat towards
digital disruption by making major improvements to the organizational services. Digital
innovation is completely relevant to the well established organizations as well as ahead of
competition. After creation of the ground breaking new experiences at speed, there could be a
dramatic improvement in digital arena. The distinctive power of disruptive force is
responsible for transformation of every single industry. This report has clearly outlined the
ethical consequences of digital innovation and movement to digital firm effectively.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................3
2.1 Ethical and IT Governance Frameworks for Analyses....................................................3
2.2 Assessment of the Ethical Consequences to move to a Digital Firm on Diversity and
Inclusion.................................................................................................................................7
2.3 Suitable Recommendations for Westfield with Proper Justification...............................9
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................12

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1. Introduction
Information technology is referred to as the effective utilization and use of several
systems for improved storage, better transmission, retrieval and even manipulation of
information or confidential data within a proper context of business and any other enterprise.
Information technology is often known as a subset of information and communications
technology or ICT (Vaishnavi and Kuechler 2015). The Australian searchable mail of
Westfield has several distinctive 100000 products online like group of Westfield has
harnessed the bang with a proper realization of a successful model, used for building larger
and long lasting malls, across the globe, being challenged by the difference in shopper’s
behaviour that is influenced by technological connectivity (Bilbao-Osorio, Dutta and Lanvin
2013). Westfield Labs were also set up for leveraging retail ecosystem and the learnings
involved being curious regarding technology, including several features. The report that is
being written analyses and outlines a critical discussion related to ICT professional practice
and ethics for the case study of Westfield. Proper frameworks for analyses and assessment of
ethical consequences to move to a digital firm would be provided in this report. Suitable
recommendations will also be provided here.
2. Discussion
2.1 Ethical and IT Governance Frameworks for Analyses
The Australian searchable mail of Westfield features 100000 products online. They
have realized that due to technology advancement and higher technological efficiency, the
tendency of shopper behaviours has been changed and have also become connected (Dutta,
Geiger and Lanvin 2015). The shopping experiences could be improvised with transformative
opportunity for connection of digital shopper with shopping centres. In 2012, they have set up
Westfield Labs for the core purpose of leveraging retail ecosystems with better innovative

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social, digital or mobile marketing opportunities, which can converge digital shopper with
physical world (Bloom et al. 2014). Moreover, the learnings of this particular organization
included getting extremely curious for technology after considering the scenarios within
journey of shopper for supporting them with a wider range of new digital enabled
innovations.
Digital innovation refers to make some of the most rapid changes by simply utilizing
digital technologies for the core purpose of enhancing traditional models, processes and
products or services. It refers to making of few rapid changes after utilization of digital
technology and also finding some of the latest solutions, so that creative concepts are being
iterated in an efficient manner (Wildevuur and Simonse 2015). In the case study of Westfield,
digital innovation has taken the entire shopping experience of customers or shoppers and they
have been digitally driven for becoming more efficient and popular amongst their customers.
i) Ethical Framework: Ethical framework is required to be analysed for
understanding correct or incorrect decisions in the organization. It provides a distinctive
summary of the most significant sources regarding ethical thinking, before presenting the
framework for effective decision making (Jones et al. 2014). The entire situation is being
judged on the basis of this framework and hence providing major benefits to the
organizational decisions. It is of significant importance and needs, to maintain ethical
scenario when Westfield will be involving digital innovation within their business.
Along with the other predictions of technological development, Westfield would be
able to employ few important and significant advantages within the business. Moreover, they
would be able to involve digital ethics within their business so that they are able to shape
their social, moral and political existence. Since they are involving few important digitally
enabled innovations like digital store fronts, digitalized in centre signage, clicking and

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collecting hubs, networks of wireless fidelity, car parking service for friction less cars, mobile
applications for food service as well as web platform for searchable mall so that the retailers
of Westfield shopping mall get major opportunity towards integration and helping the
customers in finding whatever they want to buy from the local shopping centre (Teipel et al.
2016). The ethical framework is needed for this case study so that every added variable to
assess the ethical implications of products and services in a better manner. These products
and services would be having significant effects and impacts over the customers, so that they
are able to gain more efficiency.
The ethical framework of Consequentialist framework is extremely important and
noteworthy so that future effects of all possible action courses are possible to consider
people, directly and indirectly impacted. The most significant advantages of this particular
framework is to focus on the outcomes of an action, therefore helping others to get involved
in the situation (Lee, Lee and Hwang 2015). Moreover, as per this framework, the
consequences should be good and should provide utility to the consumers or users. In this
particular case study of Westfield, digital innovation would be bringing some of the most
basic and important advantages in business, hence resolving all types of moral dilemmas. The
customers would be extremely happy and complexities for retailers would be resolved.
Moreover, such consequences might even reduce time consumption for both retailers and
shoppers to a high level.
ii) IT Governance Framework: The next significant framework that would be able to
analyse the case study of Westfield is IT or information technology governance framework
(Stahl, Eden and Jirotka 2013). This particular framework is a kind of framework, which
describes the several methodologies and ways by which the organization could implement,
manage as well as monitor the entire governance of information technology in any company.
IT governance framework provides few guidelines or measures for efficiently use the IT

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related resources or processes in the company. Such framework is also effective for providing
major insight into the overall performances of IT department, hence achieving regulatory as
well as legal compliance in respect to information technology. The IT governance framework
is responsible for providing distinctive reference models like IT processes, key process
objectives, input or output of the processes and even performance measuring techniques. The
most common types of IT governance framework include COBIT, ISO/ IEC 38500: 2008 and
AS8015 – 2005 (Talebian, Mohammadi and Rezvanfar 2014). Amongst these above
mentioned IT governance frameworks, the most suitable framework for the case study of
Westfield is COBIT or Control Objectives for Information and related Technologies. It is a
good practice framework that is generated by organization and it provides an area of effective
control in information technology that is being used in organization of the logical framework
that is associated with the different IT processes and enablers of IT.
The main drivers of COBIT involve need for a more effective understanding of all
standards that already exists, other tools and the best practices can relate with one another.
An effective need of improving the end to end scope of business so that all IT functions and
business functions are fulfilled. Moreover, the requirement of effective integration with
different external standards or recommendations or frameworks is also fulfilled with COBIT.
Since Westfield is involved with supermarket and they have implemented digital innovation
for better effectiveness and efficiency, it is highly mandatory to maintain a proper
improvement in information arrangement or even information dissemination (Katz 2017).
COBIT framework provides a significant method to integrate all of their external standards or
frameworks so that a better effectiveness is being achieved. They would be able to gain high
popularity as well with the implementation of digital innovation and thus COBIT framework
would be useful. They would be able to manage and control their information without
involving any kind of complexity or issue.

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2.2 Assessment of the Ethical Consequences to move to a Digital Firm on Diversity and
Inclusion
Moving to a digital firm is important for higher diversity and inclusion of
diversification within the business. Better distribution of cabling and management of signals
is possible with the involvement of ICT (Limbu, Jayachandran and Babin 2014). Moreover,
information storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission and receiving is also easily done
with this technology. It even involves antiquated technologies like radio broadcast, landline
telephones and television broadcast and these are being utilized with other technology and
pieces of ICT like robotics and artificial intelligence. Information and communication
technology is being utilized for entertainment and personal technologies and the commercial
use of this technology is responsible for telephony and computer technology (Qureshi 2015).
For making a distinctive between machines which are purpose built that are designed for
performing a limited scope of functionalities as well as general purpose computing
machineries, which could be performed for several tasks.
This technology includes all types of hardware, software, and peripheral equipment
that are being operated by users that are limited in number. It is responsible for reducing all
types of complexities in a better level, hence encompassing information distribution
technology like telephones and television (Liu and Yuan 2015). Various services and
products in an economy are mainly associated with this technology like electronic commerce,
telecom equipment, semi conductors, electronics, computer software or hardware. ICT, on the
other hand, is responsible for integrating telecommunication and required software, storage,
middleware and audio visual system, which can enable the users in accessing, storage,
transmission or manipulation of business related information (Von Solms and Van Niekerk
2013).

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It is extremely ethical to move to a digital firm for bringing more efficiency and
effectiveness in the organization. It can evaluate the core impact of contemporary information
systems as well as the Internet for better protection of intellectual property and individual
privacy. The principal management challenges could be easily identified, hence ethical
consequences are being met to obtain some of the significant advantages in business (Haddon
2016). In spite of having such distinctive advantages, few significant IT governance issues
are also extremely common that might be faced by Westfield. The main IT governance issues
that can bring unethical consequences are as follows:
i) Value Delivery through IT: It is one of the most common types of IT governance
issue that occur during movement to a digital firm. The value delivery is quite complicated
through information technology and thus the respective organization might face IT risks and
threats (Garvey 2014). Hackers get scope to extract organizational values, thus there always
prevails a high risk of lost value.
ii) Establishment of Governance Framework: The establishment of a governance
framework is the second distinctive IT governance issue that occur during movement to a
digital firm. The governance framework is extremely complex, hence simplification of IT
infrastructure after elimination of redundant or duplicative applications or data repositories is
mandatory so that decisions are reliable and inconsistent (ACS Code of Ethics. 2019).
Moreover, this issue even increases the cost to a high level.
iii) Data Security: Lack of data security is the next distinctive IT governance issue
that might be faced by Westfield. There is always a high chance of data loss by the hackers as
they might allow hackers or intruders to get into the system and hack data eventually.
The most common technologies that could be used for moving to the digital firm are
as follows:

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i) Artificial Intelligence: It the most common technology, which is referred to as
problem solving technology and is being utilized for describing the machines, which mimic
cognitive functionalities, which human beings associate with other human minds like learning
(ACS Code of Professional Conduct. 2019). Since, it eradicates, the need for human
involvement, movement to digital firm would be quite easier. Moreover, it is also responsible
for providing ethical advantages in work.
ii) Big Data: Since, big data can easily provide advantages to manage large data sets,
it is termed as another effective method for movement to digital firm. There is less chance of
data loss with this technology, hence big data is ethical.
iii) Cloud Computing: The third effective technology for digital firm movement is
cloud computing (Summers and Smith 2014). It can easily transfer large sets of data through
Internet by using this technology and hence cloud is termed as extremely ethical.
2.3 Suitable Recommendations for Westfield with Proper Justification
The most suitable and effective recommendations for Westfield regarding digital
innovation are as follows:
i) Finding and Evaluation of Capacity and Resources: The first and the foremost
suitable recommendation for Westfield organization regarding digital innovation for
maintenance of ethics in ICT is finding, evaluation as well as testing of new ideas and
innovations. For the main purpose of keeping the entire cycle to generate fresh ideas, these
distinctive innovations would eventually find new home outside of the innovation lab as well
as thriving there for making room for newer things. Since, Westfield is involved in shopping
industry, it is extremely important for them to bring out new innovations and creativity in
products and services so that all types of complexities related to these products would be

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lowered. Moreover, they would be able to maintain high competition with other supermarkets
of Australia such as Coles or Woolworths.
ii) Development of Data Driven Business Models: The second important and
significant recommendation for Westfield for digital innovation in business is development of
data driven business model. Since, the customers or shoppers of this organization have a
tendency towards digital products, it is required to bring digital innovation in the business.
The data driven business models would be effectively developed after physical products
would expand in inclusion of more digital features. The innovation labs should emphasize
more on monetization, usage and data mining so that more efficiency and effectiveness is
being gained without much complexity.
iii) Innovation Lab Methods suitable for Process Innovations: Another distinctive
and important recommendation for this organization of Westfield regarding digital innovation
is implementation of innovation lab methodologies, which could be absolutely suitable for
process innovations. The business processes such as finance and controlling or human
resources are responsible to bring these better influential effectiveness Moreover, artificial
intelligence would even be appropriate for the organization and hence there could be a
separate unit and portfolio for an expanded or existing innovation lab. Westfield would be
able to bring more creativity and innovativeness in the business, hence enhancing competitive
advantages to an extreme level. These types of labs have can ignite a proper rethinking within
the core organization through their significant activates. The newly acquired skills even can
become the most integral part of corporation before penetrating into the existing
organizational structures by changing their business processes in Westfield.

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3. Conclusion
Therefore, from the discussion above, it can be said that a proper convergence of
telephone networks and computer networks is possible with the help of a single cabling or
link system. The computing capability that is extremely advanced for device expenses before
reducing energy consumption so that technological cycle would continue during emergence
of technologies. It even refers to regulations, methodologies and architectures for governing
the overall storage and utilization of data. The applications related to business will eventually
involve several databases including transactional systems or SQL server like real time order
entry and email servers such as web servers or exchange systems. All the applications can
execute programmed instructions for dispersing, consolidating and manipulating so that data
is affected. The above report has properly provided a detailed analysis on Westfield case
study with involvement of several devices and computer servers. They have been providing
100000 products online to their customers. The ethical implications of these changes, which
have eventually occurred within the business for digital innovation are provided in this report.
Moreover, process of maintenance of competitive advantages within Westfield is
demonstrated in the report as well.