Professional Issues Case Study

This case study analyzes the professional issues faced by Jimmy, an IT graduate from Griffith University, as he navigates conflicts in the workplace, ethical dilemmas, and the implications of working for a controversial online news firm. It discusses the impact of native advertising, database security, and the importance of ethical conduct in the IT industry. Through Jimmy's experiences, the study highlights the challenges of maintaining professional integrity while pursuing career advancement.

Student Name
Student No.
Course code
Semester n, 201n
Professional Issues Assignment: Part 2
Executive Summary
The following case study is all about an IT professional Jimmy who is
a recent graduate from Griffith University. Fortunately gets a job as a website
developer in hullaballoo.com which a news firm. Hullaballoo’s parent company
has designed a database known as the reaper which is mainly used by business
firm to conduct targeted campaigns in different zones. Jimmy has a conflict with
his boss on the database topic.
Later in the same year the database was hacked and a ransom equating
to 20,000 dollars was demanded. After that, Jimmy jumped from one job to another
for his freedom in workplace, as he wanted to avoid conflict with his boss.
Due Date: time, dd/mm/yy
Lecturer: David Tuffley
Campus (NA, LG, GC):

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
Contents
1. Introduction 2
2. Analysis 3
2.1. Legal factors..............................................................................3
2.2. Professional factors...................................................................3
2.3. Employment and Social factors.................................................3
2.4. Personal factors.........................................................................3
2.5. Intrinsic factors...........................................................................4
2.6. Prioritisation...............................................................................5
2.7. Decision.....................................................................................5
3. Discussion 7
4. Conclusions on Analysis 7
5. What I have learned from this course 7
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
1. Introduction
The following case study is all about Hullaballo.com which is a new
arrival in the online news business industry. This business is setup in a
country that overlook laws stated by international bodies governing various
subjects like protection of privacy and censorship. A recent graduate Jimmy
Olsen form the IT department off Griffith University is looking for a job. By
somehow he come across an ad for web developer by Hullaballoo.com. Jimmy
is successful in securing a job as a web developer in the firm and the pay is
quite enough for the job. Hullaballoo has a bad image in front of its clients. Jimmy
needed the job so he swallow his concern and carried on developing websites
for this fake news service firm.
As jimmy is a tech guy, he decided to check the background of this
website. On checking he found that this website is paid a good amount of
money for spreading false new stories. This news firm is gets money to spread
positive news for the client and negative news for the competitors of the client.
This particular business firm introduced the concept of Native Advertising.
After that Jimmy left the job and joined an ecommerce firm where he
has a conflict with his boss Alec on judging the performance of his two
developers. After that Jimmy again left the job and joined a competitor firm
where he is treated with expensive meal and fine wine.
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
2. Analysis
2.1. Legal factors
Factor 1 Unethical news in the following case study, the online news firm
Hullaballoo.com gets money to spread positive publicity for their client and
negative publicity for the competitor of the client. The term Native Advertising
is introduced to Jimmy which focuses to create false advertisement as a news.
Native Advertising is nothing but a response to large number of people using
ad blockers on their web browsers. This is a legal factor as per the
Broadcasting Services Act 1992 which govern working of news channel.
Factor 2, Confidentiality and Privacy in the case study, Jimmy decided to
do some digging into the background of this online news firm Hullaballoo.com.
During his digging he found that one his employer has connection with a
marketing firm with various clients ranging from political parties to advertising
firms. These advertising agencies and political parties has the business of
selling consumer service and goods. This is a legal factor as per the federal
Privacy Act 1988 of Australia which govern the confidentiality and privacy of
different firms.
Factor 3, Code of Ethical Conduct in the case study, Hullaballoo.com parent
firm has created a database that receive required data from its surroundings. This
database is known as The Reaper. This new database system is quite helpful as it
allow advertisers and marketers to conduct campaigns as per the requirement. Jimmy
suggested his boss that his database is not safe for the people across the globe
as it stores important information. Any hacker can demand a ransom against this
information. This is a legal factor as per the federal Privacy Act 1988 of
Australia.
2.2. Professional factors
Factor 4, Misconduct in the following case study, Jimmy who is an IT
graduate from Griffith University suggested his boss that The Reaper is not a good
idea. Jimmy refuses to work on the terms and condition of his boss from
Hullaballo.com. This is a professional factor as per the sections 68 and 69 of the
Legal Practitioner’s Act 1981 of Australia.
Factor 5, Freedom in Workplace in the case study, Jimmy is abandoned
from placing his thought in the organization like Hullaballoo.com. Jimmy
suggested his boss that the information entered by the user might help the
organisation in offering deals and offers to them. His boss did not agree with
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
him. This is a professional factor as per the Workplace Relations Act 1996 of
Australia.
Factor 6, Conflict in the case study, after getting a job in an ecommerce
firm Jimmy has a conflict with his boss Alec. The issue was judging the
performance of a developer name Dev A. This is a professional factor as he has a
conflict with his boss.
2.3. Employment and Social factors
Factor 6, Work experience in the following case study, Jimmy work
experience from the reaper data collection project has qualified him for the job
in the new ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor because Jimmy is
connected to the notorious reaper incident.
Factor 7, Getting ahead in the case study, Jimmy has a conflict with
his previous boss from online news firm. After that, he left the firm and
joined a full- time position in an ecommerce firm located in his home
city. This is an employment factor as he left one firm and joined another.
Factor 8, Stepping out of comfort zone, in the new ecommerce firm Jimmy
decided to prove his worth by taking the place of his boss Alec until and
unless the director of the organization has made a decision. This is a
employment factor as the Jimmy took up the responsibility at right time.
Factor 9, Hacking of database in the case study, The database named
Reaper was hacked and downloaded which has 129 million records of people
from 53 countries. After that ransom of 20,000 US Dollars is demanded by the
hacker. This is a social factor as important information of thousands of people
is on hold.
2.4. Personal factors
Factor 10, Securing his first job in the case study, Jimmy is a fresh
graduate from the IT department of Griffith University. He applies for a job,
after seeing an advertisement for an web developer in newspaper. Finally
jimmy gets a job . The pay is quite enough for a 25 hour per week job.
2.5. Intrinsic factors
Factor 11, Co-developer in the case study, Jimmy notices two of this
developer (Dev A and Dev B) were not competent to perform the work. Dev A
of this ecommerce still works for the previous firm and is only a paid
contractor here. Dev B a new arrival from overseas is technically sound on the
contrary he is facing problem in settling in the new environment. This is a
intrinsic factor because Jimmy’s own experience helped has helped him to
judge the performance of the developers.
Factor 12, Payback time in the case study, Jimmy is offered a job by
senior developer manager Ben to work for him. Alec took revenge by cancelling
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
his job interview. This is an intrinsic factor as Alec took revenge and it is his payback
time now.
Prioritisation
Factor 13, Stepping up in critical situation in the case study, after the sudden
leave of his boss Alec, Jimmy decided to took up the responsibility of his
boss on his own shoulder. This is a prioritisation factor as Jimmy took up
responsibility to satisfy the need of the organisation.
Factor Related Issue
1 Unethical News
(Legal)
The term native advertisement is
practiced by the firm to make profit for
some companies who buy advertisement
for them.
2 Confidentiality
(Legal)
Digging into the background of online news
business website like Hullaballo.com.
3 Privacy (Legal) Digging into the background of online news
business website like Hullaballo.com.
4 Code of Ethical Conduct
(Legal)
Jimmy is connected to the notorious
incident like Reaper as reported in the
news.
5 Misconduct
(Professional and social
factor)
When Jimmy rejected to work on the
terms and condition of the boss from
hullaballo.com.
6 Work Experience
(Employment & Social)
Jimmy’s work experience from reaper is
highly valuable for the forthcoming
ecommerce firm .
7 Hacking of database
( Professional and social
Factor)
Reaper database is hacked and
downloaded by a hacker and a ransom
of 20,000 US dollar is demanded.
8 Freedom in Workplace
(Professional and social factor)
Jimmy freedom is abandoned
from placing his thought in front of his
boss from news firm.
9 Get ahead (Employment and
social factor)
Jimmy has a conflict with his boss so
he left the firm and joined an
ecommerce company.
10 Securing his first job
(personal factor)
Jimmy is successful in securing a job
where the pays was good .
11 Better Work place
( Employment and social
Factor)
The ecommerce gave him a full time
position with work location varying
from main office to various client sites.
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
12 Stepping out of comfort
( Employment and social
Factor)
After the sudden leave of Alec, Jimmy
decided to prove his worth by stepping
into his boss position.
13 Co-developer
(Intrinsic factor)
Both dev A and B developer of this
ecommerce firm are not competent to
perform the work assign to them.
14 Conflict
( professional and social factor)
Jimmy has a conflict with his former
boss Alec on the performance review
of Dev A.
15 Payback Time
(Intrinsic factor)
A new job is offered to jimmy by Ben
(a senior manager) later on it is cancelled
by Alec to take a revenge.
16 Expensive meal
(Intrinsic factor)
During his new job at a competitor
firm he was offered an expensive dinner
by the CEO.
17 Stepping up in critical
Situation (Prioritisation)
After the sudden leave of his boss
Alec, Jimmy took up the responsibility
of the firm.
2.6. Decision
Decision taken by Jimmy like leaving the online news firm and joining
an ecommerce firm is excellent on his part. This decision helped Jimmy in
securing a successful future where he is promoted from a web developer to
team leader. Jimmy decides to check the background of Hullaballo.com before
joining it. It helped him getting in a brief idea about the working of the organization.
After completing several months in the ecommerce , his boss Alec suddenly
left the organization without any explanation. Jimmy then decides to prove his
worth by stepping on his boss position and taking the full responsibility of the
ongoing projects. This is a wonderful decision on his part as it saved the
ecommerce organization from a huge loss. Jimmy do not wait for the approval
of his directors from the ecommerce firm.
In this new ecommerce firm Jimmy decided to replace two developers
named Dev A and dev B as they are not adjustable with the work. Dev B is
technically sound but is facing difficulties in setting in new environment. After
having several months of conflict between Dev A and Jimmy on the matter of
work performance, Jimmy decided to replace Dev A with someone better.
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
3. Discussion
Some news companies like Hullaballoo.com use the term native advertisement
to gain profit for some organization. Spreading unethical news among the public is a
legal factor. Digging into the background of the online business is a legal factor as it
compromises with the privacy and confidentiality of the firm. Jimmy has been
connected to a notorious incident like reaper which is a matter of ethical
conduct. Due to this incident, Jimmy’s image is spoiled in front of the whole
industry.
Jimmy’s experience from the reaper database is highly valuable for the
forth coming ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor as it is related to
the work experience. Jimmy’s freedom has been chopped as he is detained from
placing his thoughts in front of his boss. This is a professional and social factor
as his freedom in workplace is compromised. The new ecommerce gave Jimmy a full
time position with varying work location. During the absence of his boss Alec,
Jimmy took his boss position in this way his worth in the organization is
proved.
Getting ahead in career life is a professional and social factor. Jimmy has a
conflict with his former boss from the news firm and after that he decided to
leave it and join an ecommerce firm. This is an employment factor as he got a
better job than the previous one.
Both Dev A and Dev B developer of this ecommerce firm are not
capable of working with the task provided to them. This is an intrinsic factor
as the capability of both the developers are judged. During Jimmy’s new job
in the new ecommerce firm he has been offered an expensive dinner by the
CEO.
In the new ecommerce firm after the sudden leave of his boss Alec,
Jimmy decided to take up the responsibility of the firm. This is a prioritization
factor as he gave priority to work over everything.
All the factors like professional, Employment and social, personal and
intrinsic factor has been discussed.
4. Conclusions on Analysis
From this discussion it is concluded that in business domain, making
money is on the top. In this case study Jimmy Olsen a recent IT graduate from
Griffith University gets a job of web-developer in an online news firm. The pay
was quite good for him. This company has created an online database known as the
Reaper. Intention behind the creation of this database was to store demographic
information of various people. This information is again used by advertisers and
marketers to conduct campaigns in different zones for their promotion and
making money. In the same the database is hacked by a hacker and a ransom
of 20,000 US dollars is demanded against the vital information. Leaving the
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
news company is a smart decision of Jimmy’s part. After that he joined an
ecommerce firm where he had a conflict with boss Alec. Due to this conflict,
certain company projects are hampered.
After that he joined a competitor firm where he is treated very well by
the CEO. He is offered an expensive meal with fine wine. The main intention behind
the party is to informal business with senior businessman and government official
in an armchair. Jimmy could not escape from his boss Alec, he followed Jimmy
till the new firm.
5. What I have learned from this course
From the course it can be stated that in business world making money is
on top of the priority list. Ethics comes after money in the business domain.
In this case study Jimmy Olsen the IT graduate from the Griffith University
wants a job in his domain. Fortunately he gets a job as a web-developer in an
online business firm. This online news firm promotes the concept of native
advertising. Hullaballoo is paid to spread positive news for the client and
negative news for the competitors of the client. The term native advertising
focuses an advertisement as a news story for driving attention of the crowd. Native
advertising is used to attract the attention of people who uses ad blockers on
their web browser.
Now Hullabaloo has the intention of creating an integrated database
that receives demographic information from all across the globe. The database is
known as The Reaper. The collected information is very useful as well as
valuable as it allow businessman from various domain to conduct high
campaigns. Jimmy has the work of attracting more people on the website. The sign
up form of the news firm ask more detail information of user. Apart from email
id it also ask for age, gender, marital status, family members, post card and
annual income. On the website the subscription cannot proceed until and unless
all the detail information of the user are provided. This online database The
reaper is not fully secure as the news firm has the right to sell information to
third parties. Jimmy suggested his boss that the entered information can be used
to offer deals to various people. Jimmy had a conflict with his boss on this topic.
From this incident I have learned that boss is boss, the employees cannot disobey
the orders of boss. Placing ones thoughts and ideas over the orders of boss
might result in losing his job. Jimmy worked on the terms and condition of his
boss which helped in surviving his job in the organization. Now comes the
globe impact of the decision taken by an organization. The Reaper database was
hacked by a hacker. After that a ransom equating to 20,000 dollars is demanded
against the database.
The future security professional must understand the need various legal and
ethical responsibilities of an organizations. The professionals play a key role in
managing liabilities like security and privacy risk for different organization. To
minimize liability and reduce risk like Reaper incident in this case study from
various threats, professional must have an idea about the present condition of
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
various laws and regulation. It is the duty of the professionals to teach the
employees of various organization about their legal and ethical rights.
In an organization, the IT experts help to build security through various
policies. There are certain policies and guidelines that describe acceptable and
unacceptable employee behaviour in an organization. Care should be taken that
these policies functioning as law must implemented on everyone on the
workplace.
Privacy is one of the important and hot matter of discussion in
information technology. Nowadays many firms are storing and selling valuable
information for money .People from all across the globe are depending on
government for protecting their privacy. The Privacy of Customer Information
Section of the common carrier regulation states that any important information can
be used to provide services, on the contrary these information cannot be used
for marketing purpose. The business firm cannot disclose personal information to
anyone until and unless it is important for providing their services. A business firm
can only disclose the information only when it is necessary for them.
IT professional must understand that business firms do business globally. As a
result these professional must be aware of laws and ethical values of different
culture and society. Because of difference in political views among various
countries there are certain international laws which govern the privacy and
information security.
Ethics in computer world are mainly affected by many factors expect
from nationality. Employees must be trained and they must be aware of the
recent and emerging topics related to information technology. This topic is vital
in information technology as many employees are not aware of the various
technical training used to judge whether the behaviour. Proper training must be
provided to employees for building a well prepared and low risk system user.
Codes of Ethics: Each member of Professional organization is expected
to follow the codes of conduct or codes of ethics. Many employers do not
encourage or initiate their employees to take part in these professional firms. Many
employees who have gained certain certification and expert accreditation can
lose their accreditation and certification if they disobey the codes of conduct.
Loss of certification or accreditation will ultimately effect the marketability and
earning of the employees. It is the duty of IT professional to follow the policies and
procedure of the organization. The organizations must follow the different laws of
society.
From this course I have learnt about the International Information systems
security certification consortium that mainly focuses on its working. (ISC)2 is a
body of knowledge and information security which conduct examination for
information security. The code of Ethics designed by (ISC)2 is mainly used by
information security experts. System Administration, network security and
security institute is another organization which is a professional research and
education cooperative organization with lot of members. All these members
have certain certification and value that follow the codes of ethics. Certification
holders may lose their certification if they are disobey the laws. Information
System Audit and Control Association is professional body which mainly
focuses on auditing, control, and security of various organization. Its membership
is open to both technical and managerial professional. It has certain codes of ethics,
which must be followed by its professionals. Information system security
Association(ISSA) is a non-profit body of information security which has a
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Professional Issues Assignment Analysis
primary function of bringing technical sound professional for education
development. The working principle of various international bodies has been
discussed in the above paragraph.
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