Business Ethics Assignment: Ethical Dilemmas & Actions Taken by ICT Professionals

Question

Task: BUSINESS ETHICS ASSIGNMENT TASK
In the following YouTube videos, consequences of different actions taken by an ICT professional have been depicted, when faced with an ethical dilemma. Watch the videos and then proceed as per the instructions given below, to prepare your report.

1. Video1: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=0npm9cEJBWY
2. Video2: https://www.youtube.com/watch=4kuUDCfd0Lw
3. Video3: https://www.youtube.com/watch=TGWD4HNBd80
4. Video4: https://www.youtube.com/watch=S0lgCfsVeOM

• Identify the main ethical dilemma involved in this case and undertake further research about it.
• Analyze the ethical dilemma, considering the different actions by the ICT professionals (as suggested in the videos or you can think about other possible actions), from the perspective of the Australian Computer Society Code of Professional Conduct.
• Make a recommendation on the basis of your analysis providing reasons for this recommendation.

Answer

Introduction
This report on business ethics assignmentwill be based on ethical dilemmas that one can expect at the workplace. The report is based on four different situations or scenarios at a software development company, and the scenarios will be revolving around the project manager, the low-ranking developer, and the boss. All of the situations will be assessed, and ethical dilemmas will be identified in all situations. Ethical dilemmas can be defined as the situations or scenarios in which there are choices to be made between two or more options given at a particular time. But all the options given in the scenario must not resolve the situation in an ethically acceptable way. In a situation like this, the societal and ethical guidelines do not give any satisfactory result to the person going through an ethical dilemma.(ANNE, 2017) After the identification of the ethical dilemmas, there will be further discussions and research carried out about the situation. Additionally, the consequences of the different actions carried out by the ICT professionals will be discussed alongside their effects on the involved people. All of the points made in the report will be cited for reference purposes, and eventually, everything will be summed up in conclusion.

Video 1:
The scenario in the video (Al-Saggaf, Scenario 2: Development Methodology, 2016)is focused around a low-ranking developer who receives a call from the customer , who then requests the low-ranking developer to make certain modifications in the project. The low-ranking developer agreed and promises to make the particular modifications that the customer requested without getting any consent from the project manager. The modifications that the customer is requesting are violating the original contract that both the parties agreed upon, but still, the developer agreed to make those modifications before the deadline. Now the project manager is inquiring about the modifications that the customer has requested. In this scenario, the ethical dilemma that is taking place is to make the customer happy without having any proper dialogue. (Abongo, Mutinda, Senaji, & Rintari, 2019) As situations or scenarios in which there are choices to be made between two or more options given at a particular time, this is a dangerous situation, especially in the case of already having a contract. In the scenario, the modifications that are being requested are against the contract, and the developer agreed to carry out those modifications without discussing with the project manager. This can be problematic and may come with things like miscommunications, exceeded budgets, and unmet expectations because of things not being discussed in the contract. The solution to the problem would be to refute the claim made by the low-ranking developer and try to communicate with the customer regarding the modifications that can or cannot be made as per the appealof the customer. Another thing could be offering an alternative while keeping in the limits of the contract. Professionalism is a part of the ACS code of conduct and professionalism includes sticking to the contract and entertaining customer s only if there is mutual consent by the organizational representative and the customer himself.

Video 2:
The second video (Al-Saggaf, Scenario II 1 project manager requests developer to forward such calls to him, 2016)is about the next situation in which the project manager acknowledges that the customer has indeed made some interesting requests. Still, all the modifications would go through him first, and then they will decide if the modifications needed to be made should be added in the contract or not. The low-ranking developer acknowledges this and agrees to consult with the project manager before confirming any requests for modifications. The project manager pauses the project and meets with the customer to reach a common ground over the requests, and eventually, modifications are made in the contract as per the demands of the customer. (de Heer, de Groot, Hrynkiewicz, Oortwijn, & Porskamp, 2019)

The situation complies with the ACS code of professional code of conduct, which emphasizes the primacy of the public interest, which means that the interest of the public or the customer will be given priority over personal interests. The ethical dilemma, in this case, is about making the customer happy while sacrificing the success of the project. This issue can cause some serious problems for the company because it would decrease the days available for the project to complete, and it would also increase the chances of increasing the overall budget of the project. Now, as the contract is updated, all of the discussed factors should be kept in mind; otherwise, the company will be in a serious problem. If the contract is discussed with the boss and is updated according to the factors which would affect the project, then the project is good to proceed. But still, the customer 's demand should be given top priority if all the necessary conditions are being fulfilled, and if not, then the customer should be offered other alternatives to the plan until both the parties reach a win-win situation.

Video 3:
In the third video(Al-Saggaf, Scenario II 3 Project manager encourages the action of Developer, 2016), we can see that the developer is telling the details about the project to the project manager and tells him about him agreeing to make the necessary modifications in the project to make the customer happy. The project manager acknowledges the developer's effort to keep the customer happy and proceeds with the project. After two weeks, the project manager is called into the boss's office, where the boss discusses why he was not informed about the modifications being made in the software. Now, the customer is unhappy, and basically, the entire project is turning into a failure. The ethical dilemma, in this case, is of disagreeing with the company decision. (Vejmelka & Švenda-Radeljak, 2016)

We can see that the project manager ignored the contract of the company and decided to carry on the project without even informing his boss about the modifications made in the contract. This is now creating some serious problems. Now that the damage has already been done and the company is in serious trouble, the best thing to do would be to use the value theory approach, which is focused on choosing an alternative way of providing value to the customer. In this case, offering some other services that can add value to the project can be useful. Another thing that can be beneficial can be of reminding the customer about the details of the original contract. This might resolve the issue to some extent. This solution complies with the ACS, which also emphasizes professionalism and the increasing integrity of the company while dealing with each customer.

Video 4:
The 4th video(Al-Saggaf, Scenario II 2 project manager screams at junior developer, 2016) is about the developer telling the details about the modifications that are called of by the customer . Upon hearing about the details, the project manager scolds and yells at the low-ranking developer. As aoutcome of this, the developer is stressed out and takes leave from work for three weeks, which is affecting the project and its overall success. The ethical dilemma that takes place in this scenario is workplace harassment because we can see that the project manager yelled at the developed for not discussing withwith him about the modifications that were made in the project. If we look at it from the standpoint of the Australian Computer Society Code of Professional Conduct, then we can see that the codes being violated in this scenario are of the improvement of quality of life of the people at the workplace and the professional development of individuals at the workplace. (Al Gibali, 2017) To resolve this issue at the workplace, the colleagues of the low-ranking developer need to report this harassment event to the human resource department and inform the human resource department about the damages that the harassment has done to the mental health of the low-ranking developer. One thing that needs to be kept in mind is to ensure that the complaint is anonymous so that there are no chances of being harassed further because of the issue.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, we can say that ethical dilemmas are common in the workplace, and one needs to always lookout for ways to remove these ethical dilemmas from the workplace. Although they cannot be completely ignored or eliminated in the workplace, they surely can be reduced at the workplace by using certain strategies. Additionally, there are no global strategies in this scenario because every ethical dilemma is different from the other one. So, one has to use certain custom made strategies at the workplace to eliminate the ethical dilemma and propose a logical and rational solution to the problem.

References
Abongo, B., Mutinda, R., Senaji, T., & Rintari, N. (2019). Employee Work Ethics and Organization Performance: Reviewing the Relationship in the Kenyan Insurance Industry. Journal of Human Resource & Leadership, 55-80.

Al Gibali, O. (2017). The challenges and ethical dillema in operating CHD in developing countries.

International Journal of Growth and Development, S38-S38.

Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016). Scenario 2: Development Methodology. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npm9cEJBWY

Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016). Scenario II 1 project manager requests developer to forward such calls to him. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch=4kuUDCfd0Lw Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016). Scenario II 2 project manager screams at low-ranking developer. Youtube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0lgCfsVeOM

Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016). Scenario II 3 Project manager encourages the action of Developer.

Youtube.Business ethics assignment Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch=TGWD4HNBd80 ANNE, O. C. (2017). An Evaluation of The Impact of Business Ethics on Organizational Profitability. A Case Study of Uchumi Chain of Supermarkets Limited.

de Heer, J., de Groot, T., Hrynkiewicz, R., Oortwijn, T., & Porskamp, P. (2019). Devilish Dilemma Games: Narrative Game Engine and Accompanying Authoring Tool. In International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics, 169-178.

Vejmelka, L., & Švenda-Radeljak, K. (2016). Human-Computer Interaction in Social Work Profession: Ethical Dillemas of Online. In PubMet 2016.