A Solved college Case Study Assignment on ACS Code of Ethics

Case Study Assignment on ACS Code of Ethics

Introduction

In the current scenario, professional societies and government are highly concerned about ethical issues associated with the use of Information and Communication Technology. Ethical issues related to use and implementation of ICT are important to consider because these constitutes the conditions for human values and attitudes that specifying human behavior and action. The main purpose of this report is to analyze the chosen case study with the use of ACS code of conduct. Six principles of ACS code of conduct are used in order to find and analyze ethical values that are being violated by the company in the chosen case study.

Overview of case study

Smart software is an IT company which offers software services to its valuable clients in Australia. In the current scenario, senior developer and project manager are communicating with each other regarding on-going project. During this interaction, the project is asking about project status from senior developer. The senior developer has replied that software development team is working on three versions of project so they are under tight schedule. In the conversation, project manager shows concerns regarding software testing. The senior developer has suggested to project manager that they are looking for overseas software testing because deadlines are quite near.

ACS Code of Professional Conduct

The regulations of ACS code of professional conduct apply to any member who works in the field of ICT (Information and Communication Technology). In the following section, the chosen case study has been analyzed on the basis of six ethical core values of ACS code of conduct to find ethical issues:

The Primacy of Public Interest

This code provides preference to public interest over sectional, private and personal interest. According to this code, Smart Software organization must discuss with their client before sending software for overseas code testing. As they are not following the code of “Primacy of Public Interest” which shows their unethical behavior towards their clients. They can play emotions of client by sending software for overseas testing. Therefore, it has been concluded that practices of Smart Software organization are unethical as per Primacy of Public Interest.

The Enhancement of Quality of Life

The negative challenges that arise during development of ICT solutions can overcome effectively by using this code of conduct. According to “The Enhancement of Quality of Life” core value of ACS, professional must understand and respect the perception of all stakeholders who can be affected by the work. In the chosen case study, the senior developer does not try to understand the perception of software development team members who are working in tight schedules. The personal satisfaction of client can be affected adversely if the software can be sent to third party for code overseas testing. Thus, the practices of Smart Software are unethical.

Honesty

According to this core value, it is unethical to breach trust of stakeholder in profession. The senior developer does not consult with client about overseas code testing that can affect the trust of client on the company.

Competence

According to this code, professionals must not misrepresent their knowledge or skills, but in the chosen case study, senior developer decides to work on three different versions of software product without discussing with the client which shows unethical behavior of senior developer towards the client.

Professionalism

According to this code, one must take appropriate actions against professionals who abide the code of professionalism. In the given case, project manager abides the code of professionalism because he does not stop senior developer for sending software code to third party for overseas testing. Hence, the practices of project manager and senior developer are against the professional code of conduct.

Professional development

According to this code of conduct, professionals must keep themselves informed about new practices, standards and technologies which are related to work. It is essential for professionals to spread awareness about the issues that can affect the profession. In the given case study, senior developer does not follow this code of conduct because he does not try to discuss the whole matter with the client which shows his unethical behavior.

Recommendations

1. It has been recommended to Smart Software organization to hire more human resources so that software product can be tested in the company without sending code to third party.
2. Along with this, it has been recommended to project manager to discuss the complete matter with client in order to take some more time for software development.

Conclusion

This report concluded that according to ACS code of conduct, the practices of Smart Software organization are against to the ethics. Senior developer has violated all six core principles of ACS code of conduct as described in this report. In this report, appropriate recommendations have been provided to Smart Software organization that could restrict organization to perform unethical practices.