BN201 - IT Ethics: Case Study Analysis of Professional Conduct

This assignment presents two case studies related to professional issues in IT. The first case study involves a programmer, Jean, who uses code from a friend's source without permission to meet a deadline, raising ethical concerns. The analysis focuses on whether Jean's actions are ethical and how they relate to the ACS code of professional conduct, including primacy of public interest, enhancement of quality of life, honesty, competence, professional development, and professionalism. The second case study discusses Max, who works with sensitive patient data and makes a mistake that could compromise patient confidentiality. The analysis explores the ethical implications of Max's actions and how the ACS code of ethics could help resolve the ethical dilemma. The document concludes by referencing various articles related to ethics in the IT profession.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ISSUES OF IT
Professional Issues of IT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Case Study 1:..............................................................................................................................2
Answer to question number 1................................................................................................2
Answer to question number 2................................................................................................2
Case Study 2:..............................................................................................................................4
Answer to question number 1................................................................................................4
Answer to question number 2................................................................................................5
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................7

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Case Study 1:
Answer to question number 1
Jean who was the statistical database programmer generally engages in writing
statistical programs which is generally required by the organization. It is found that the
programmers who are mainly associated with the organization generally writes regarding
their work and generally publishes the algorithms within the journals. It is analyzed after
working hard for several months on the programs, Jean get stuck within several parts of the
programming. Without knowing the complexity of the program, the manager of the
organization asked Jean to finish the entire work within few days. As Jean does not know
how to resolve the difficulties that are associated with programming she remembers the
source listings that is mainly shared by one of her friends. She uses two parts of coding from
that source listings and completes the entire work within 1 day. However, Jean does not tell
this matter to anyone.
It is found that using someone else working within their own program without taking
permission is considered as one of the ethical issues [2]. It is found that the act that is mainly
undertaken by Jean is unethical as she uses the code of her friend and utilizes it within her
program in order to finish the work of programming within the time that is provided by the
managers and does not informs about this matter to anyone. It is found that using someone
else work without taking permission for them is one of the ethical issues which should not
have undertaken by Jean.
Answer to question number 2
The ACS code of professional conduct is considered as one of the important as well
as essential characteristics of a profession that is generally needed for the members in order

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to abide by the code of ethics. The ACS professional code of conduct that is required in every
organization are mainly elaborated below:
Primacy of the public interest: As per this ACS professional code of conduct, one
needs to place the interests of the public above business, personal as well as other sectional
interests [4]. It is found that the acts of both the manager and Jean is against this ACS code of
conduct.
Enhancement of quality of life: This professional code of conduct states that it quite
necessary to improve the quality of life who are generally affected due to the work pressure
[1].Thus, the managers of the organization must take the responsibility of improving the life
of Jean including all the staffs of the organizations so that they can feel better instead of the
pressure that they are facing for completing the programming within a short period of time.
Honesty: This code of professional conduct states that one need to be very much
honest while representing their skills, services as well as knowledge. It is found that Jean,
who was one of the statistical database programmers utilizes the code from her friend’s
source listing and utilizes this within the programs in order to complete it on time. While
representing her program, Jean does not inform that some codes are copied from her friends
file which is against the ACS professional code of conduct.
Competence: It is the responsibility to work diligently as well as competently with
the stakeholders of the organization [7]. However, it is identified from the case study that
Jean does not work efficiently for its team members as she uses code from another friends file
in order to complete the programming is unethical as well as against the professional code of
conduct.
Professional development: It is quite necessary to enhance own professional
development as well as of its staffs. However, from the case study, it is found that the

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manager of the organization does not involves within the professional development of its
workers rather pressurizes Jean to complete the work that is associated with programming
within few days without knowing the complexity of the work.
Professionalism: As per the ACS professional code of conduct, it is very much
necessary to enhance integrity of the ACS as well as the respect of its members [3]. However,
it is analyzed that Jean does not follow this professional code of conduct and the activities
that are undertaken by Jean is against the ACS professional code of conduct.
The various types of clauses that generally helps in highlighting the responsibilities of
Jean towards other stakeholders of the organizations are mainly listed below:
Be honest: It is the responsibility of Jean to handle the work of the organization
honestly in order to avoid unethical issues as well as challenges within the organizations.
Be fair while taking actions: It is one of the important responsibilities of Jean to take
fair actions so that no ethical issues within the organization will occur [5].
Respecting work: Jean should respect the work that she is doing. It is her
responsibility to complete the work by her own without undertaking some unethical
activities.
Respect privacy: It is the responsibility of Jean to respect the privacy of the work and
in order to achieve this, it is the task of Jean to use her own coding in order to complete the
work without copying code from friend’s file which is unethical [10].
Case Study 2:
Answer to question number 1
It is found that Max, generally works within the state department of an organization
that treats people who faces issues problems due to alcoholism and drug abuse. It is found

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that Max undertakes all the responsibilities and tries to complete in creating the report that
generally contains information as well as details about the various treatment of the patients in
five years including their names and other personal details. It is found that for putting
together all the information, Max provides access of all the files within the mainframe
computer of the agency and after assembling it, the information is kept in a CD so that the
remaining work can be completed on time. After completing the work Max forgets the CD ta
home and leaves it there.
It is analyzed that Max undertakes all the actions in order to fulfil the duties in order
to finish the work that is assigned to him. However, it is analyzed that all the actions that are
taken by Max does not result in to positive consequences for the stakeholders [11]. It is found
that Max, leaves the CD at home and forgets about it and thus the data and information that is
present within the CD can be used by someone else which further can cause negative
consequences. In addition to this, it is found that that as Max has provided access of the
confidential information of the patients who are facing problem due to drug abuse as well as
alcoholism are provided within the mainframe computer from whether the information and
data can be misused by the stakeholders of the organization [7]. This act can further cause
number of ethical issues within the entire organization.
Answer to question number 2
It is found that ACS code of ethics are quite helpful in resolving the issues and
challenges that are generally occurred due to the activities of Max. The ACS code of ethics
are generally elaborated below:
Primacy of public interest: As per the ACS code of conduct, it is quite necessary
for Max to put the interests of the public those above the business, sectional as well as

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personal interest. Thus, in order to resolve the ethical dilemma, it is necessary to follow this
code of ethics while undertaking the work of the organization [2].
Enhancement of quality of life: It is the responsibility of the organization to increase
the quality of life by so that the workers including Max will not get pressurized by the work
activities and thus the chances of ethical issues will generally get reduced.
Honesty: It is the responsibility of Max to be honest while finishing the work so that
the chances of occurring ethical issues gets reduced. Thus, it is found that the ethical dilemma
that are associated with the organization can get resolved due to the issues and challenges [4].
Competence: Max must work competently as well as diligently in order to finish the
work of the organization so that no ethical issue can occur within the organization. In
addition to this, it is found that working competently within the organization manages the
ethical dilemma.
Professional development: Personal development of Max as well as other staffs of
the organization will be helpful in minimizing the chances of ethical dilemma. Thus, it is
quite important to develop professionalism within the staffs of the organization for mitigating
the ethical dilemma that is mainly associated with the organization [3].
Professionalism: It is very much necessary to increase the integrity of the entire
society by taking proper actions so that ethical dilemma or issues that are associated with the
organization will not occur and it will not create any negative impact on the operation of the
organization.

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Bibliography
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[3].Bielefeldt, A.R. Professional social responsibility in engineering. Social
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N.N. Navigating Statistical Uncertainty: How Urban and Regional Planners
Understand and Work With American Community Survey (ACS) Data for Guiding
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[6].Hollingworth, D. and Valentine, S. The moderating effect of perceived organizational
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[7].Parviainen, J. and Pirhonen, J. Vulnerable Bodies in Human–Robot Interactions:
Embodiment as Ethical Issue in Robot Care for the Elderly, 2017.
[8].Kim, H., Lethem, F.J. and Lee, C.W. The Ethical Issue of Contemporary
Philanthropy: Uintended Negative Consequences of Philanthropy. Management
Review: An International Journal, 12(1), p.4, 2017.

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[9].Nelkin, M.B. How Do I Know Whether It Is an Ethical Issue? Helping Registered
Dietitian Nutritionists Identify Ethical Issues in Practice. Journal of the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics, 118(3), pp.481-485, 2018.
[10]. Shams Moattar, A., Asghari, F. and Majdzadeh, R. Do ethical considerations
influence any in HTA reports? A review of reports. Medical Journal of The Islamic
Republic of Iran (MJIRI), 30(1), pp.426-431, 2016.
[11]. Moor, J.H. What is computer ethics?. In Computer Ethics (pp. 31-40).
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[12]. Eleni, P., Paparoidamis, N.G. and Chumpitaz, R. Understanding Ethical
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