Ethical Issues with Software Development Organization
The objective of this report is to analyse the ethical, professional and code of practice for information communication technology. In which there are two case studies will be discussed and identify the ethical issues related to these cases and the ACS code of professional conduct to these case studies. The first case study is based on the software development organization and second case study is based on information and communication technology.
This kind of ethical theory involves the rights of the rational agents and in the given scenario, the rational agents are the organization selling software packages to the consumers [3]. It is very reasonable for the consumer to expect the right to be informed all about the data and software package when they decide to purchase these packages [4]. Moreover, the organization did not explain their consumers about bugs in the software package which they may encounter. Since the organization’s decision to retail these software systems that have numbers of bugs was ethically wrong because it violated the consumer’s rights to be informed.
According to this evaluation process, an organization may provide products and items with some error to consumer [5]. If any consumer faced such kind of issue in the software’s then they can take action and stop using the products. Hence, the proposed rule is self-defeating and it would be wrong to act according to this rule and regulation. Due to selling wrong products consumer can suffer from any issue and problem by using bug software’s and the organization treated its consumers as a mean to an end. So, the action of the organization is wrong and consumers should ensure that they check the quality of the product before buying them.
In the given scenario, the moral rule might be “My organization is the first company that provides the software packages which incorporates the modern tax laws and fugues”. If consumers do not encounter and find-out any issue in the software data package they can save their time for determining the tax liability. Moreover, the organization should focus on the quality of the product by which they can increase their productivity and efficiency of their business. Due to bugs and error, it is the high chance that consumer will face few issues for determining the tax ability and they will be penalized by the taxation authority [9]. The company should identify the key factors associated with the bugs and solve such kind of problem immediately because of its impact on the trust or organization, market share and make a big loss [8].
There are major four ACS codes of ethics values and ideals which are the following:
- Competence
- Honesty
- Social implications
- Information technology profession
For a given scenario, there are following ACS code of ethical can be conducted:
- According to my opinion, I must give value for money and cost in the products that I supply which can help for growing businesses
- The company must accept the responsibility for consumer work and identify the issues and problem associated with the software package.
- Employees must not be associated with the fraud and dishonest practices
There are numerous key factors which are influencing decision making which are described below:
This state that if any action produces a better outcome which is morally right and it is completely based on the principle of consequence [2]. According to this principle, an action will be evaluated as the right action entirely that depend on the consequence process [7]. There are many factors which influence decision making which are the following:
- Because of the cost factors, the private office has decided to opt for the less privacy system. CEO, manager, and director of the organization agree that less security system will do because the company cannot afford the high level networks and computers.
- Diana knows which low security process consumers in client machines may be able to find out a way to access their personal data files and the possibility of online access from criminals that will make unhappy. Moreover, the organization of Diana will lose their trust in the market and they might compromise their future contract which is one of the common ethical issues faced by this company.
According to the principle of deontology, an action is morally true if employees follow their duties perfectly [1]. There are several factors involved in this case study which are the following:
- It is observed that it is her responsibility to design and implement a system as needed by the consumers. By which, Diana should design a process and system as per consumer request to improve the security of their data and information.
- Due to the cost factor, personnel organization has decided to opt for the less security system and it is the responsibility of the CEO and management team to develop and implement a system as per the demand of consumers.
According to this theory, the social contract is divided into major two kinds such as legal and moral contract [7]. Legal contracts are external but moral contracts are internal and the following factors are evaluated from the given scenario:
- Diana included in the design and implementation process of the network and she has a legal contract to design the process.
- She believes that the data and information which will be stored by the consumers on DBMS are extremely sensitive and they require high level security devices and networks. Her moral value cannot allow to design and implement the less security system because it can impact on consumer sensitive data.
The ACS code of professional conduct involves major four values for professional for example, approach, do to right, collaboration and goal high which can help to resolve the issue of dilemma [6]. There are following rules and regulation code involves in the ACS code:
Companies and professional should focus on public priority rather than personal, business and sectional interest. There are following points should do for addressing the primacy of the public interest:
- Evaluate the impact of consumer work
- Describe the conflict between social obligation and professional work
- Provide advice to stakeholders if ant conflict occurs in the business
- With respect to the given scenario, this code of conduct applies in the following way:
- She had advised few options to the consumer for making a decision on the degree of security to produce a better security system
- She believes the information of consumers is extremely sensitive for which they require a more secure system. She wants to preserve continuity, integrity, and utility of the ICT by advising the consumers
- For the security of the consumer data she wants to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of the stakeholder’s information
Conclusion
This report is completely based on the ethical issue and the ACS code of ethics and the reader can understand the concept of the ACS code of ethics in the workplace. In which there are two case studies discussed and identified the ethical issues associated with the organizations and relate ACS code of professional conduct to both given scenario. For finding ethical issues there are several theories are involved such as social contract theory, Kantian evaluation, deontology, and utilitarianism.
References
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- P., Landman, J., Shelton, R.M. Kauffmann and, J.B., Dattilo, “Guidelines for maintaining a professional compass in the era of social networking,” Journal of Surgical Education, vol. 67, no. 6, 2010, pp.381-386.
- K., Burmeister, “Professional ethics in the information age,” Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 15, 4, 2017, pp.348-356.
- , Schouten, “The materiality of state failure: Social contract theory, infrastructure and governmental power in Congo,” Millennium, vol. 41, no. 3, 2013, pp.553-574.
- Shafer-Landau, Ethical theory: an anthology(Vol. 13). John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
- M., Jones, W. Felps and, G.A., Bigley, “Ethical theory and stakeholder-related decisions: The role of stakeholder culture,” Academy of Management Review, vol. 32, no. 1, 2007, pp.137-155.
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