Report on Professional Ethics: ACM Code and Case Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of professional ethics, specifically focusing on the application of the ACM Code of Ethics to a case study involving the Iowa Democratic Party's caucus app, developed by Shadow, and the involvement of Acronym. The report evaluates potential ethical violations by Shadow, Acronym, and the Iowa Democratic Party, considering aspects like professional responsibilities and leadership principles. The analysis includes a discussion on the importance of testing and the consequences of releasing an untested application. The report also explores a hypothetical scenario where the student is an employee of Shadow, addressing the decision-making process of reporting concerns, and applying ethical theories, including De George's criteria, to justify actions. References to relevant literature are included.

Running head: REPORT ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
REPORT
ON
PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

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Question 1: Evaluate by applying the ACM Code of Ethics. Focus on Shadow,
but also discuss whether and to what extent there might be applicable
violations of the code by Acronym and the Iowa Democratic Party.
Answer:
Followed by a thorough analysis on the nominated case study it is identified that the Iowa
Democratic Party has applied the features and the functions of the DES MOINES app with the
purpose to tabulate the voting status and report from the caucus. However, while analysis the
effectiveness of this application it is observed that the application was not tested on the scale of
statewide. During the investigation on this aspect it is observed that the Iowa caucuses has
sketched a huge devotion by introducing the new application to the public which has developed
by the Shadow (Gilson 2016). The devotion was caused by the huge technical failure of the
application. Considering this aspect it is also observed that the scrutiny was also conducted on
Acronym which was one of the supporting group of Shadow. The democratic group Acronym
was not only a new but of the low experienced organization that has a complex structure and was
a nonprofit organization, collaborated with political committees. While analyzing the working
process of this organization it is observed that Acronym has also tried to maintain a decent
distance from the political operations however, this is one of the central unit of the Iowa
Democratic Party. While analyzing the nominated case study based on ACM code of ethics it is
observed that according to the professional responsibilities it is very essential to introduce and
product with high performance accuracy (Gotterbarn et al., 2018). Considering this aspect it is
observed that Shadow has allowed to launce the application to the Iowa Democratic Party
without even testing it at state level which is one of the unethical act that may rise significant
threat to Iowa Democratic Party. Followed by this consideration while analyzing the working

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process and ethical activities of the Acronym Company it is observed that the organization has
become one of the political strategy planner as the Shadow has collaborated with the company
(McNamara et al., 2018). Followed by the consideration as it is observed that Acronym has
always intended to separate them from the politics but Shadow being one of the company that is
collaborated with politics the policies of the company has been violated. Makin allowances to
this concern it is observed that both of these aspects are highly unethical as according to the
theories of professional responsibilities introducing an incomplete application is not all of
bearable as this may cause a huge blunder to its stakeholders. While analyzing these concern it is
also observed that after the downfall of the application of Shadow, Acronym has immediately
tried to separate themselves from the collaboration of Shadow which is one of the biggest
conflict raised by the Acronym (Gotterbarn et al., 2017).
Thus, it can be summarizes that Shadow has significantly violates the ethical policies as
well as the working procedure of Iowa Democratic Party. Along with this it is also identified that
violation of the organizational policy of Acronym is also one of the major ethical concern
according to the ACM codes of conduct (Wolf 2016). Whereas, the intention of Acronym has
also been considered as one of the major conflicts present in the nominated case scenario.
Question 2: Assume that you were an employee of Shadow. You know the
facts presented in the article. Its two weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Should
you report your concerns? To whom? In what order? Apply an ethical theory,
and apply De George’s criteria to your actions.
Answer:
Followed by the analysis of the nominated case scenario it has been identified that I were
an employ of the nominated organization Shadow I would have reacted in a different way. Based

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on this realization according to my view point if I were an employ of the organization and the
nominated incidence takes place where our company has released an untested, incomplete
product to public I would have raised my voice towards this unethical action . Followed by the
analysis of the ACM codes of the conducts it is observed that the being an employ of an
organization it is very important to protect against wrong deeds. Based on the principles of the
professional leadership and ethical theories it is identified that the employees are one of the
essential elements thus, it is very important to avoid the unethical activities with the purpose to
eliminate the professional conflicts within the nominated organization. Making allowance to this
concern it can be stated that I would have strictly protest the action to release the untested and
incomplete as this may effectively impact the performance of the application (Green 2020). As
resealing any application with the possibilities with technical failure may significantly harm the
people as well as the user that is using the application. Followed by this identification I would
definitely discuss this with the developer and later if the developer does not understand the
matter then I would definitely drag the matter to the CEO of Shadow and surely try to stop this
activity. While analyzing this accuracy of my action it is identified that according to the ACM
codes of ethics trying to stop ethical activities within the organization is one of the essential
element of professionalism. Hence, this action is ethically justified (Brinkman et al., 2016).
Followed by the above identification it is observed that in the nominated case scenario De
George’s theory is one of the most significant theory based on which the nominated case
scenario can be justified effectively. According to the De George’s theory that everyone needs to
belief in the moral values of the action. While analyzing the case scenario based on this concept
it is identified that the moral value of Shadow was good as it has intended to help the Iowa
Democratic Party to tabulate the election data. However, due to some technical failure the

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application has not performed as expected (Green 2020). If we consider the action of the
nominated case scenario it can be stated that no matter if the application has failed to deliver its
best but the intention behind this application was good as Shadow has intended to help the
political party. Apart from this activity the action of Acronym is also can be justified with this
theory as Acronym has tried to separate their collaboration from the Shadow as the Shadow has
faced a downfall, which cannot be justified as an ethical act. There is significant reason behind
this statement as in any professional field this is not at all ethical to disagree with the corporate
responsibilities.
After completion of this strategy it can be stated that this paper has effectively discussed
the case of Iowa Democratic Party and has also identified that ethical concern as well.

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Reference:
Brinkman, B., Gotterbarn, D., Miller, K., & Wolf, M. J. (2016). Making a positive impact:
updating the ACM code of ethics. Communications of the ACM, 59(12), 7-13.
Gilson, C. (2016). Trump’s debate boycott, the Democrats’ Iowa dead heat, and threeeasy ways
to dismantle Obamacare: US national blog roundup for 23–29 January. USApp–American
Politics and Policy Blog.
Gotterbarn, D. W., Brinkman, B., Flick, C., Kirkpatrick, M. S., Miller, K., Vazansky, K., &
Wolf, M. J. (2018). ACM Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct.
Gotterbarn, D., Bruckman, A., Flick, C., Miller, K., & Wolf, M. J. (2017). ACM code of ethics: a
guide for positive action. Communications of the ACM, 61(1), 121-128.
Green, A. D. (2020). The 2016 Election in Iowa: An Introduction. In From the Iowa Caucuses to
the White House (pp. 1-17). Palgrave Pivot, Cham.
Green, A. D. (2020). Viewing the 2016 Presidential Campaign Through the Lens of Iowa
Political Elites. In From the Iowa Caucuses to the White House (pp. 19-55). Palgrave
Pivot, Cham.
McNamara, A., Smith, J., & Murphy-Hill, E. (2018, October). Does ACM’s code of ethics
change ethical decision making in software development?. In Proceedings of the 2018
26th ACM Joint Meeting on European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium
on the Foundations of Software Engineering (pp. 729-733).
Wolf, M. J. (2016). The ACM code of ethics: a call to action. Communications of the
ACM, 59(12), 6-6.

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