Information Technology Ethics: Case Study and Analysis Report

This report delves into the ethical considerations within information technology, focusing on a scenario involving a software development project. The analysis highlights ethical concerns arising from the premature launch of a software product lacking security features, driven by client demands. The report examines the perspectives of the project manager and director, the pressures of project deadlines, and potential impacts on product quality and organizational reputation. It applies the Australian Computer Society (ACS) Code of Professional Conduct to identify violations of honesty, competence, and professionalism. The report recommends against delivering incomplete projects and emphasizes the importance of ethical decision-making in IT project management, suggesting strategies for balancing client demands with ethical obligations. Furthermore, it underscores the need to prioritize security and ethical practices to minimize risks and maintain organizational integrity.

Running head: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ETHICS
Information Technology Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction:
In the current generation information technology has become very much important
due to several of reasons. The information technology has become very much important for a
proper functionality of society and economy (Schwalbe, 2015). Though the Information
Technology has become very much important it consist three type of issues which are social,
ethical and legal issues. Taking ethical decision is crucial in computer engineering and taking
such ethical decisions skill must be possessed by the project manager. Making improper
decisions that violate the ethical regulations can create problems in the business organisations
irrespective the reputation possessed by the business organization.
Issues represented in the YouTube video:
This report conducts a proper analysis of the provided YouTube video and from the
analysis it has been assessed that the video represents a technological sector which currently
develops software products for the other organization. From this video an ethical concern has
been observed which is regarding a software product launch which does not consists any type
of secure as the development of the software is not completed yet (YouTube, 2019). Due to
the demanding of the client the organization is preparing themselves for rolling out an
unfinished product which is the main ethical issue in this case.
Elaborating the video in a broad way it has been seen that the in this video two men
are having a short conversation regarding a software project. One of them is the project
manager and the other one is the project director. This video also elaborates that the
organization is currently working on software project which is under the development phase
(Youtube, 2019). The project manager got a request from the client of the project of
deploying the whole project one month earlier of the scheduled deadline without any type of
security encryption. As the software project will not have any type of encryption it will

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compromise with its security, thus the project will become vulnerable in front of the security
threats and hackers (Rhodes-Ousley, 2013). The project manager wants to deliver the project
as per the request of the client without any type of encryption, where the project director does
not want to deploy the project early as it create many security related issues (YouTube,
2019). Both the project manager and the project director is having different type of
perspective where the project director wants to deliver a complete project without any type of
project where the project manager wants to follow the customer requirement to get the next
tender of work.
The above scenario describes that the project manager wants the project director to
finish the project one month earlier as per the requirement of client (YouTube, 2019).
Changes in the project schedule creates a huge complex situation and this complexity
increases more when the deadline become shorter than the previous one which is the main
problem in this case. Due to this the software development team is currently facing high
pressure and it can create issues in the overall product quality (Haraldsen, 2013). This also
makes the output product vulnerable to security threats which is creating a huge ethical issue
in this case (Weiss, 2014). This not only creating an ethical issue but also due to that the
reputation of the organization might can be falls if somehow the product fails. Legal
obligations will also rise due to that which will negatively affect the project team, manager
and the director. Though the project manager knows all of these things still he wants to
deliver the project one month earlier and wants the project director to follow the same.
The project manager has shown a sensible approach in this case by denying the
project delivery one month earlier without any type of encryption and explained the
consequences of delivering the project without any type of encryption to the project manager.
Still the project manager determined to deliver the project without any type of security. As
the project manager knows he needs the help from the project director for delivering the

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project early a huge amount of bonus is offered by him to the project director (Youtube,
2019).
In this report this case from the YouTube video is analysed for determining the ethical
issues present on it and for that Australian Computer Society Code of Professional Conduct
has been utilized in this case. The six codes of the ACS values are the Primacy of the Public
Interest, the Enhancement of Quality of Life, Honesty, Competence, Professional
Development and Professionalism (McDermid, 2015). From the scenario it has been assessed
that the honesty has been violated in this case. Honesty is not maintained with the delivered
product as the product was not completed and delivered due to some urgency. Thus proper
service might not be gained from the product and it is against the ACS code. The ACS code
of competence is also violated in this scenario as proper rights of the stakeholder is
maintained. The rights of the stakeholder is not protected due to two reasons. First client will
receive an incomplete product and the employee will have to face a tremendous amount of
work pressure. Due to the delivery of the incomplete product ACS code of professionalism is
also violated in this scenario.
Recommendation and Conclusion:
Analysing the above scenario it is recommended to the project director and the project
manager to not to hand over any type of incomplete project to the client. Providing an
incomplete project is totally unethical and organizations must avoid it as this can lead to
some serious consequences. Meeting the demand of client is also very much important in any
type of project, thus in this case it is recommended to develop the encryption for the software
as fast as possible as the client need the project earlier. Also, in many cases it is not possible
to fulfil every demand of the clients in such cases the project manager should deny about the
demand of the client. Thus in this case if it not possible to create the encryption in small

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period of time, project manager must deny about it. Thus the overall discussion concludes
that ethical issues must be considered in every type of projects need to be minimised during
the project lifespan.

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References:
Haraldsen, G. (2013). Quality issues in business surveys. Designing and conducting business
surveys, 83-125.
McDermid, D. (2015). Ethics in ICT: an Australian perspective. Pearson Higher Education
AU.
Rhodes-Ousley, M. (2013). Information security: the complete reference. McGraw Hill
Education.
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Weiss, J. W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach.
Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
YouTube. (2019). Scenario 3: Early Launch. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA