Professional Business Issues: ICT Cases

There are lots of ethical issues in the area of the professional works of the Information Technology. In this paper, five different case studies in the area of the Information technology have been analyzed to understand the professional and ethical issues associated with the cases. The study of these case studies would provide the knowledge of the proper use of the ethics in the fields of ICT professional.

Case scenario 1: The first case is about the incident of a software development company, which have developed a software package for calculating the tax of a business organization according to the new tax law. The systems have some bugs, due to which many of the users of the software packages faced wrong tax calculation. The company was aware about the bugs and the probability of wrong results due to the bugs of the system, but they did not disclose this information to the users. Therefore, the professional issues in the area of the Liability and unreliability.

Legal factors of Scenario 1:

 It is a well-known fact that product or manufacturing organizations are allowed to make disclaimers regarding the quality of their products only when they have a “good conscience”.  However, in the scenarios under consideration, the president of the   software companies is well aware of the fact that there exist several bugs in the software being launched: thus, the legal declaration does not hold true in this case.

Professional factors of Scenario 1:

 The faulty product developed by the software company has actually been financially unrewarding to several users. The president of the company was aware of the fact that such might be the outcomes: yet he encouraged the launching of the product thus depicting unprofessional behaviour. The scenario has shown use of unprofessional behaviour for the personal gain.

Employment and Social factors of Scenario 1:

The president of the software company has discouraged the employees of his organization from  taking the responsibilities towards their clients by releasing  software  tool that  was far away from  being perfect and by making advantage of the ‘legal disclaimer’ so as save themselves from any legal charges  pressed  by the clients.

Personal factors of Scenario 1: 

The president of  the  software company   feels    that   releasing   the   product in the  market (even with bugs)  before  any   other organization does the same would facilitate  the   process  of  making  huge  financial   gains. It would provide them with competitive advantage from their rivals and increase the market capture.

Intrinsic factors of Scenario 1:

 The software development company has designed a unique product for tax calculations, and the president of the organization launched it in the market despite    of being aware that the program is erroneous. The president wants to make a great impression on the customers by providing the facility of tax calculation in their developed software.

Table 1: Priority List

In the light of the discussions made in the sections above, the following decisions are being made on the behalf   of   the main characters depicted in the scenarios:

Decision for case study 1: The president of the software organization in question should make their clients aware of the bugs present in the program. The decisions taken in this case study are useful for solving the issues found in the case studies. In the first case study, liability and unreliability issues found. The software developer company violated the trustworthiness. Whenever a company uses the services of a software developer company, the decision making criteria of the company becomes dependent on the efficiency of the system provided by the developer company. In this case, the system had some bugs in the calculating system. This is a major fault of the system, which resulted in appropriate calculation of taxes. The company faced legal steps taken by its consumers and government for violating government tax laws, though the fault was actually from the system developer end. The developer company knew about the problem, but they did not inform the users about this. The developer company should have informed the users and modify the program as for fixing the bugs.

Case scenario 2: The second case is about a small software development company, which has developed an integral inventory control system. A quality affirmation engineer with the product organization, associates that the stock capacities with the framework are not adequately tried, in spite of the fact that they have breezed through all their contracted tests. She is being forced by her bosses to close down the product. Lawfully she is just required to play out those tests, which had been consented to in the first contract.

Legal factors of Scenario 2:

 Jane, as a quality assurance engineer, has legal contracts with a software company   to conduct certain tests on the integrated inventory system designed by them. Her   contract requires her to certify the system one it passes all the test that she conducts (it it has), she feels that there lies certain other issues with the system that might hamper the operational activities   of the shoe company.  Thus, refusing to sign off the product would incur financial losses to her company, while signing it off would eventually harm the client. However, the mentioned tests in the contract have been performed by her company and there is no issue in the provided system.

Professional factors of Scenario 2:

Due to her vast experience in the domain of software testing, Jane is sure of the fact that certain issues does exist in the system, which despite not being revealed  in  the test phase, would indeed hamper the operational activities of the client. On the other had her boss warns her that her reluctance to sign off the product might eventually make them loose business. Professionally she is not liable for any misconduct as the tests that were mentioned to her client had been done by them.

Employment and Social factors of Scenario 2:

Jane’s boss is creating peer pressure on her, such that she signs off the inferior system, as any late delivery   would cost immense financial loss to the organization. The company might even lose their business and run into financial crisis if they missed the deadline of the system delivery.

Personal factors of Scenario 2:  

Jane’s boss is more concerned   with saving his  own business than  realizing  the   fact  that  signing off a  less than perfect  software  product   would be  harmful for  their clients.

Intrinsic factors of Scenario 2:  

 Jane has been capable of identifying several such issues in the inventory control system that she was testing, despite the fact that no issue was in the test cases that she conducted. Her personal experience has made her realized that the system would create problem in future run.

Table 2: Priority List

Decision for case study 2:  Jane should at least inform the client organization about   the inadequacy of the inventory management system. The software risk was found as an ethical issue in the second case. It was found in the section of the testing phase of the inventory system developed by the software developer company. They did not use all types of testing cases for the inventory management software. In this case also, the negligence found from the end of the developing authority. One of the analysts of the company found the inefficiency of the testing system, but the managing authority of the company did not follow the proper way due to urgency of delivering the system. As a result, the user company may face serious difficulties. The social ethical issues found in this case. The developer company has social responsibilities for the client company. Therefore, the company should deliver the inefficient system without testing all types of cases of the developed system.

Case scenario 3: The third case is about the traffic controlling system developed for a town. The company for developing the system was recommended by the consultant who was a major stockholder of the recommended company. This information was hidden form the stakeholders.

Legal factors of Scenario 3:

The software consultant recommended his client to use an ICT system designed by a particular manufacturer, without mentioning the fact that he himself was associated with it. Thus, there exists a conflict of interest.

Professional factors of Scenario 3:

 The software consultant in question actually made such professional recommendation that   would be beneficial to him.

Employment and Social factors of Scenario 3:

 The software consultant in question   provides specific recommendation to his client, without making them aware of the other options they have. Besides this, the consultant took such recourse just as to make personal benefits.

Personal factors of Scenario 3:   

 The  software consultant,  driven by  his   own interest  in making   profit,  recommends    the client   to  use  the  Traffic  Control  System designed by the very  same  organization  with whom he is  associated.

Intrinsic factors of Scenario 3:

The software consultant did not mention to the client he was one of the primary stakeholders of the company that develops the Traffic Control System being recommended to him.

Table 3: Priority List

Decision for case study 3: The consultant should make his clients aware of the other options. The issues regarding the fairness and discrimination have been found. As per the general good basic on decency, an ACM part will be "reasonable and make a move not to separate." For this situation the framework originator is being requested that manufacture a framework that, it shows up, will be utilized to support white guys and oppress nonwhites and females. No doubt the framework architect ought not just do what he or she is told yet ought to call attention to the tricky way of what is being asked for and ask the customer for what good reason this is being finished.

Case scenario 4: In the fourth case, the information system does not maintain the gender equality at the time of recruitment and selection in the user organizations.

Legal factors of Scenario 4:

 The system being designed by the  employment  agency  would display the names  of job   candidates  who have registered  themselves  with   them ,   in an preferential  order  dictated by their  citizenships, marital status, etc.  This order clearly defies the  work place  equality  laws  of  the  country.

Professional factors of Scenario 4:

The ICT professional  in charge  of  designing the employment  system  is being  instructed  to develop the  system in a manner such  that it provides additional benefits   to white males in   comparison to females and non  white males. Needless to   say, the development of such a discriminatory   system would   be against his professional   ethics.

Employment and Social factors of Scenario 4:

The authorities of the employment agency have  instructed  the ICT professional   to  develop  the employment  system  in such  a  way  that   it  priorities  white men over women and non white  men. Thus, implementation of such a system would essentially encourage social discrimination.

Personal factors of Scenario 4:  

The client directs the ICT   consultant to design and develop   the employment system according   to his own preferences.

Intrinsic factors of Scenario 4:

The administrative authorities of the employment agency are interested in developing an ICT system that would demonstrate their own preferential choices.

Table 4: Priority List

Decision for case study 4: The ICT consultant should decline the offer of developing the employment system. The consultant made an ethical issue by hiding the information about is stockholding of the recommended company. According to the ICT code of ethics, the professionals should be honest at every moment of the professional life. It is not a crime or ethical issue to recommend a company to which the consultant is associated with, but the ethical issues were the information hiding for personal gain. The conflicts of interests were found in the section of the decision making process of the company, but the consultant did not change the decision because of the personal profit.

Case scenario 5: The fifth case study was about the misuse of master account in the workplace. Joe was unable to complete the assigned task within the allocated time, so he accessed the master account and take some extra time.

Legal factors of Scenario 5:

Joe unethically increases   the time that was provided   to him to complete his project:  thus it can be said that he is guilty of making unauthorized access to enterprise ICT systems.

Professional factors of Scenario 5:

 Joe, being unable to complete his assignment in time has made unethical access to the master account of the   ICT system used by his instructor. 

Employment and Social factors of Scenario 5:

 Joe has   unethically increased  the time allocated   to him for  completing  his project,  thus  gaining   undue  advantage in  comparison  to  the other members of his class.

Personal factors of Scenario 5:  

Joe   utilizes his previous experience of working with the campus computer centre   to unethically increase the time allocated to him.

Intrinsic factors of Scenario 5:

Joe had previously worked at the campus computer centre ad had the knowledge of    procedures that are utilized for setting time to student accounts.   He utilized the   same for his own benefit.

Table 5: Priority List

Decision for case study 5: Joe should   immediately inform   his instructor   about the unethical access that he has committed. The unauthorized access is called hacking, which is a crime. Joe knew how to access the master system of the company he was working for, from the knowledge gained from the computer science course he had done earlier. The skill should not be used for the unauthorized access of the system, it was true that stress and short deadline of the works too hectic for him, but the unauthorized access to the master account was against the ethical considerations associated with the professional conduct of the ICT professionals. He should not use the ability of accessing the master account for his own need. He should try to finish the work as per the deadline by efficient scheduling of the time and activities. If that was not possible then he should try to consult with his superior or upload the partial work.  

The course was about the professional ethics and issues associated with the working field of the information technology. In this course, the ethical standards associated with the field of the information technology have been discussed and analyzed in different types of real life examples. The course helped me to understand the different aspects of the ethical issues that can hamper the works of the ICT professionals. This understanding will help me in future to follow the right oath  in the working life as a ICT professional.

After completing the studies of this course I have understood that the ICT professionals have to maintain all the legal and ethical issues while performing the activities of their professional life. Different types of issues may be found in different types of cases in the area of Information Technology. In order to solve the ethical dilemmas in the practical field the course contents of this course are very helpful. I have learned the right way of analyzing a practical ethical dilemma situation and solve the issue with effective decisions. The ethical dilemmas that can be raised in the area of the professional works of the information technology are very difficult to be solved. These are not like just other workplace problems. Taking proper decisions in these situations is very difficult. The decision makers need to know the exact ethical code against the situation and the possible solutions for the situation. The course contents helped me to develop the right idea about the ethical codes and developing alternative solutions for the ethical dilemmas.

The different aspects of the ethical issues in the professional filed of the information technology, which I have understood through this course, are discussed in the given section of this report. There are five major factors that needed to be considered when analyze an ethical dilemma regarding the professional ethics of the information and communication technology. These factors are legal, professional, employment and social, personal and intrinsic factors. In some of the ethical dilemmas in the ICT professional fields, there are some legal factors or violation of laws. There are some government rules and regulations or laws that needed to be maintained while perform the professional works of the ICT professionals. In this context, which laws are associated with the event have to be understood first. Then the how the laws were violated in the event have to be analyzed.

All the cases represent the wide scope of issues a PC researcher may experience in expert practice. While the ACM Code does not unequivocally recommend what an individual must do in the circumstances depicted, it identifies a few choices as inadmissible. Regularly in moral basic leadership numerous variables must be adjusted. In such circumstances PC experts need to pick among clashing standards holding fast to the soul of the Code as much with regards to the letter.

The ethical code of conduct for the ICT professional’s sorts out moral standards into the four classes: general good objectives; more particular expert obligations, authoritative initiative goals, and consistence. Some may think that its accommodating to deal with the moral issues required in different ways. For instance, the connection of practice is applicable. Those in industry may en-counter diverse issues from those in government or instruction. The individuals who are utilized in vast partnerships may encounter distinctive pressures than the individuals who work in little firms or who are independently employed. Be that as it may, whether working in private practice or in huge associations, PC experts must adjust obligations to businesses, to customers, to different experts, and to society, and these obligations can clash. Our scope of cases shows how one can utilize the general standards of the Code to manage these different sorts of circumstances.

In the greater part of the cases introduced, we depicted people acting in obliged circumstances. Moral choices rely on upon one's institutional connection. These situations can encourage or oblige moral conduct. Administration parts can set the tone and make workplaces in which PC experts can express their moral concerns. It is noteworthy that authority obligations were shown in almost the majority of our nine cases. In a few occurrences, the issue could be determined by taking after the goals in the Code that apply to pioneers. In different cases, the issue was made by an absence of moral authority, and the individual expert needed to settle on a personal choice on the best way to continue.

A few moral subjects were not particularly translated in either the Guidelines or in our cases. Case in point, particular necessities of honesty for exploration in registering and software engineering were not itemized. Nor were particular proposals offered for keeping up proficient advancement. These ought to be among the undertakings of the ACM initiative to deliver with future expansion to the Guidelines.

Every country has some professional code of contacts with the ICT professional filed. In order to analyze the ethical dilemma and solve the problem, a decision maker have to use the critical thinking and find an efficient solution for the situation. These types of ethical issues are mainly associated with the obligations against the employers. The ICT professionals have to be honest enough at the time of performing an act at their workplace. To be more specific, they have to provide proper information to the users of the developed system by them. If any type of side-effect exists in the system, they should inform about this to the users. Some time it is found that the bugs of the software system developed an IT company causes inappropriate information handling of the user companies, which is the reason of a big loss of the user company. This is a big ethical issues in the field of the professional ethics of the ICT professionals.

 In some cases, the employment rules or some social factors are hampered due to the works of the ICT professionals. In these types of issues, the impact of the event and way of violating the employment principles have to be analyzed. The social and environmental impact of the activities of the ICT professionals should be assessed by them at the preliminary level of working. There should not be any major negative impact of the developed systems or any other solution developed by the ICT professionals. If such things exist, then the professionals should consult it with the government or other regulating bodies and give sufficient information and justification to all the stakeholders with proper justifications. In the area of the honesty, the ICT professionals should try to minimize the negative impact and if not possible, they have to give all the details regarding the development of the system and the potential impact of the system on the users, environment and social cultures.

The personal factors of the ethical issues are associated with the priority or negligence of the ICT professionals due to the personal relationship with their co-workers. The professionals should not give any extra facility or priority to any other employee due their close personal relationship. They should not neglect anybody due to their personal dislikes. In this context, they need to be highly professional regarding their workplace responsibilities. They need to consider the benefits of all the stakeholders of every single activities of their professional filed. The personal property of any individual should not be hampered by the activities of the ICT professionals.

After analyzing the different types of ethical issues and the factors associated with the ethical dilemmas, the most important task is to arrange the factors according the priority. The priorities are required for taking proper decision for solving the issues in ethical dilemmas. This helps to identify, which of the factors are more important for the ethical dilemmas. Sometimes all the ethical issue related factors are not possible to be removed and take a proper decision for solving the critical situation. In these types of situations, the decision makers are required to minimize the reasons behind the factors by following the analyzed priorities of the factors.

At last, I have realized that this course was a very good step towards my professional development. I will utilize the learning outcomes of this course in my future professional fields for taking proper decisions and solving critical situation associated with ethical dilemmas. I would like to mention about the effectiveness of the case studies used for the analysis of the ethical issues in the practical life. The case studies were very good examples of the real life scenario. The theories of the ethical issues were not sufficient for providing the effective level of help in the future professional filed, but the use of the theories ion the case studies have fulfilled this expectation.