Task Solutions Of Code Of Professional Conduct Values:EV1010

Preview text

Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
ACS Assignment Cover Sheet
Subject Name : Professional Environments (Module 1–Assignment 1)
Assignment
Name/Number : Assignment 1–Professionalism, Ethics and Governance
Date of Submission :
Case Study Name/No.
Participant Name :
ACS Member Number:
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Declaration: ☒ Check this box
Ideclare that the assignment is based on my own work and that all material previously written or published in any source by any
other person has been duly acknowledged in the assignment. Ihave not submitted this work, or asignificant part thereof, previously
as part of any academic program. In submitting this assignment, Igive ACS permission to copy for assessment purposes only.
6D Ricardo
Ricardo, astatistical database programmer, is trying to write alarge statistical program needed by his company.
Programmers in this company are encouraged to write their own work and to publish their algorithms in professional
journals. After months of tedious programming, Ricardo has found himself stuck on several parts of the program. His
manager, Beth not recognising the complexity of the problem, wants the job completed in the next few days. Not knowing
how to solve the problems, Ricardo remembers that a co-worker had given him source listings from his current work and
from an earlier version of acommercial software package developed by another company. On studying these programs,
Ricardo sees two areas of code which could be directly incorporated into his own program. He uses segments of code
from both his co-worker and the commercial software but does not tell Beth or mention itin the documentation. He
completes the project and turns itin a day ahead of time.
What professional ethical dilemmas are Ricardo and Beth dealing with here? (e.g. Should we allow or sanction Ricardo’s
behaviour? Is there apublic interest question raised by this scenario? What actions do everyone involved need to take to
ensure that this kind of situation does not occur again?)
Section 1 – The White Framework
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Student Instructions: Fill in the Table below using short sentences or dot points to make alist in each section. You must fill out all
three table cells under Issues/Results prior to marking itas complete. You should input 350-500 words into this section.
Case Study
Name & Number:
Step Process/Step Issues/Results
Step 1: Analyze -The
Consequences
Developers on copy-pasting codes from someone or some open-source code software program put the
company they are working for in situations of serious risk. Firstly, Ricardo â€saction to meet the deadline has
put the company in aposition where they are violating intellectual property rights. Employees in the
company are allowed to publish their work as per their will, and hence they are not direct properties of the
company itself. Thus, the code from the co-worker isan intellectual property of the company he isworking
for that isRicardo â€scompany .Therefore, copying even small parts of itand using itprofessionally puts
both Ricardo and the company in aposition where they have violated the intellectual property rights (1). If
the company and the manager deploy the program without rectifying the issue, itwould cause both legal
cost and even cost Ricardo his job.
On the other hand, copying from other source codes or even open-source code software brings certain key
issues. This isinvolved with the aspect that even ifthe codes are open source, there islicensing involved
with any open source packages. Though some of these licenses are permissive, most are critically
restrictive, bringing the company into another state of intellectual property rights violations. Furthermore,
even in small segments, open-source codes would automatically apply the copyleft licensing criteria. As per
this, they would need to make their code open source. Above all, revealing such acase in the market costs
the company brand value and face loss, as seen in asimilar case of Nissan. When averbatim stack overflow
response message appeared in an update of the mobile app of Nissan Connect EV, itraised adoubt
regarding quality assurance in the consumer market (2). Therefore, in no condition the action by Ricardo
be allowed or sanctioned by the company, and disciplinary actions (as per the company â€sstandard
compliance) are needed to be taken against him.
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Step 2: Analyze -The
Actions However, as observed in this case study of the company, the situation has raised due to achain of
improper actions and not only an issue from Ricardo only. Therefore, the key actions that each person
involved in the context needs to take into consideration are:
ï‚· In any situation or under pressure, employees must not copy and paste even asmall segment of
codes from any sources even ifthey are given access.
ï‚· Managers and the quality assurance team need to keep aclose focus on the context that the
source codes and their functionality are thoroughly checked for any such cases
ï‚· Each subordinate need to keep aclear communication with the management and all other
colleagues
ï‚· Also, authorities must keep aregular progress monitoring to assure that the project isgoing as
planned and required (1)
Step 3: Make A Decision
Two critical decisions are to be made in this context of the case scenario:
ï‚· Companies must have stricter guidelines for workplace pressure
ï‚· Disciplinary actions must be taken against Ricardo and Beth
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Section 2 – The Governance and Regulatory Environment
Part 1-ACS Code of Professional Conduct Analysis
Identify the appropriate ACS Code of Professional Conduct values along with the relevant sub-paragraph topics by number and sub-paragraph
(e.g. 1.2.6 (g) –endeavour to extend public knowledge and understanding of ICT). Group each by value and appropriate corresponding sub-
paragraphs relevant to your case study.
Case Study:
(Name &Number )
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Value & Section: 1.2.?
Sub-paragraph 1.2.3 (f) -give credit for work done by others where credit isdue. ”
This comes under the honesty (1.2.3) paragraph in the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. Itaims to target the key factors associated with
what honesty means in the professional field of ICT. As per paragraph 1.2.3 of the ACS Code of Professional Conduct, both trusts of the public
and the stakeholders are crucial to be respected by any professional during their professional actions. This requires observing the utmost
amount of honesty and integrity to be maintained while taking any professional actions and/or decisions. Time may come when such cases
arrive when deceptive actions seem more viable and beneficial. However, the ACS professional community istolerable under no concern for
such attitude or professional behavior. This critical factor addresses the first issue involved in the case of Ricardo. Seeing copying and pasting
codes time saving and complying with the tight schedule allocated by his supervisor (manager), Ricardo attempted adeceptive action. He has
not given any credit to the co-worker or the company (that owns the other software package) instead of copying their codes (in segments).
This violates the Sub-paragraph 1.2.3 (f) of the ACS Code of Professional Conduct (3).
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Section: 1.2.?
Sub-paragraph 1.2.4 (c) –“make yourself aware of relevant standards and legislation, and act accordingly ”;Sub-paragraph 1.2.4 (d) –“respect
and protect your stakeholders â€proprietary interests ”;Sub-paragraph 1.2.4 (g) -“respect and protect your stakeholders â€proprietary interests. ”
These three comes under the paragraph of competence (1.2.4) in the ACS Code of Professional Conduct. As per this paragraph, under the ACS
code 1.2.4, one must be aware of the limitations of their professional competence. Under any circumstance, itisnot acceptable to violate the
legislation or standards of the stakeholders involved in aproject or business action. Even the proprietary interests of the stakeholders must
need to be respected by all means. There may arise circumstances when the self-competence may not be sufficient to complete an action.
ACS well addresses this as anatural case of human limitations as not everyone can be competent in all virtues of their field. However, the
code of competence also addresses the need to seek necessary help from others instead of taking illegal or unauthorized actions that
jeopardize the stakeholder â€sstandards and proprietary interests. In the case of Ricardo, he has firstly neglected his level of competency as a
statistical database programmer to complete the programming project assigned to him. He has not sought necessary professional help from
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
the co-worker who has already shown him some relevant source codes related to the problem. Instead of seeking help from the co-worker
regarding solving the problem, he copied his codes (in segments) without giving due credit. Furthermore, he has also copied from external
sources, putting the company â€sproprietary rights and legal rights at due risk. Thus he has directly violated the codes 1.2.4 (c), (d) &(g) of the
ACS Code of Professional Conduct (3).
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Section: 1.2.?
Sub-paragraph 1.2.6 (a) –“take acalm, objective, informed and knowledgeable stance on your professional work, complementing your
enthusiasm and engagement in it”;Sub-paragraph 1.2.6 (b) –“take appropriate action against members who engage in behaviors contrary to
this Code;. ”
These two come under the ACS Code of professionalism (1.2.6) in the Professional Conduct paragraph. This part of the ACS Code addresses
how important itisto maintain proper professionalism by each ICT professional. The two sub-paragraphs addressed in the current context
directly address the requirement of workplace professionalism to be maintained by the ICT professionals. As per this context, one must
remain well informed, knowledgeable, objective, and calm while taking stance and decisions in aprofessional workplace environment. This
must complement one â€sengagement and enthusiasm in such workplace conditions.
Furthermore, in case of any violation, appropriate actions are necessary to be taken against the individual violating it. Now, Ricardo has not
given respect to code 1.2.6 (a) by not making himself aware of the complexity of the programming project that his subordinate istaking
responsibility for. He has not remained calm or taken aknowledgeable stance while pressuring himself to complete itwithin atight schedule
instead of making the manager realise the actual scenario of the complexity of the project in hand .Ricardo should have taken aproper action
to mitigate the issue instead of doing unethical and illegal actions violating the code 1.2.6 (b) (3).
ACS Code of Professional Conduct Section: 1.2.?
Sub-paragraph 1.2.6 (f) –“refrain from any conduct or action in your professional role which may tarnish the image of the profession or
detract from the good name of the ACS. ”
This sub-paragraph also comes under the ACS Code of the paragraph of professionalism (1.2.6) in the Professional Conduct. Itiscritical to be
addressed how this paragraph has addressed akey challenge that the ICT field and profession are subjected to as awhole. The field of ICT is
much new compared to many years or even centuries field of professional fields. Thus, itcould not develop its professionals and standard
codes over many years. Therefore, maintaining the trust and confidence of the public on itisthe direct responsibility of the ICT professionals
themselves. Therefore, code 1.2.6 (f) requires ICT professionals to refrain from taking any action that may jeopardize the profession â€s
reputation and the community. The actions of Ricardo has risked this reputation and violated code 1.2.6 (f) directly (3).
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Section 2 – The Governance and Regulatory Environment
Part 2–Legislative and International Standards Analysis
Identify the appropriate Australian Legislation (e.g. Fair Work Act; Privacy Act). Identify and list relevant Australian/International Organization
for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (AS ISO/IEC) (e.g. AS ISO/IEC 38500:2016). Provide at least four items in each
category in the boxes below.
Case Study:
Australian Legislation
Australian Intellectual Property Laws –This law directly addreseses the context of protection of intellectual property (IP) rights of both
businesses and individuals and encourges innovation and protects businesses and indivual their own IP. The current case of copying the
source code has violated this act directly (4).
Fair Work Legislation –this act directly entitles an organisation to maintain the fairness of its workplace for the employees working for it.
Whereas, in the current case Ricardo as an employee disrespected the co-worker, standards of the company and the industry as awhole .This
has hampered the respect for the workplace in the organisation regarding fairness and issubjected to the Fair Work Legislation hence (5).
Legal Profession Act –as the company in aposition where they might need to take disciplinary action against the staff (Ricardo) there are
needs of considering the legal context of disciplinary action. The section 447 of Legal Profession Act in particular addresses the definition and
meaning of disciplinary action in alegal sense and the company must maintain the compliance with this act while taking such disciplinary
action (6).
Australian Consumer Law (ACL) –itaddresses the need of maintaining astandard for the goods or services that acompany ispaid for. The
program the company has developed or Ricardo has developed for the company has to maintain this standard for the customer(s) of the
company. In this context itiscrucial to understood that on violating acritical quality context the product isnow subjected to ACL as well (7).
AS/ISO/IEC Standards
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
AS ISO/IEC 25000:2019 –considers the aspect of quality requirements of asoftware product being deployed by an organisation in
particular and the evaluation of various contexts associated with the guidance of such aproject
AS ISO/IEC 25001:2019 –considers the aspect of quality requirements of asoftware product being deployed by an organisation in
particular and the evaluation of planning and mamagement process and standards associated with such an ICT project associated
with the guidance of such aproject
AS ISO/IEC 25001:2019 –considers the aspect of quality requirements of asoftware product being deployed by an organisation in
particular and the measures to be maintained while measuring the quaity of aproduct in use associated with the quality and
monitoring guidance of such aproject (8)
AS ISO/IEC 38500:2016 –provides adetailed principle of guiding an ICT project organization (that includes time and quality of
work in this case) for governing bodies like executive managers, monitoring professionals, auditors and so on (9).
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
Section 3 – Justifying a Decision and Recommending Appropriate Action
Make short text responses to the five (5) questions in the spaces provided. Each response should be between 50 -80 words (Total not to exceed
400 words).
1. What were the most important professional ethics issues/dilemmas for you in your scenario? (Reference at least two core issues)
The key dilemma involved in this case study isof Ricardo:
Whether he should have communicated effectively regarding the complexity of the project or focus more on the time schedule as bound by
the management; this isthe key dilemma that lead to the current issue raised in the case study.
2. What do you believe are the most appropriate decisions to be made here for management, organisation and employees?
Beth -develop aproper workplace and quality assurance guidance so that no work or individual can violate the standards of work needed (10)
Ricardo –must not adopt any unethical action or disrespect the company and industry standards under any circumstance as an unethical
action isnot justifiable under any scenario.
3. Who isresponsible for taking what action here and why? (Name names!)
Beth & Company administrative –maintain atransparent workplace and quality guidance;
Quality Auditor –needs to strengthen the quality auditing process and monitoring process to rectify such issue at much early stage
Ricardo (Employee) –must always avoid any unethical action even ifitseems to be beneficial or necessary; also itisthe sole responsibility as
aprofessional to maintain aclear line of communication both horizontally (with colleagues) and vertically (with management) regarding any
issue or complexity
4. What can be done, or what strategies can be implemented to ensure that asimilar situation does not occur again?
As discussed already, primarily the company must have stricter guidelines for workplace pressure and take disciplinary actions must be taken
against Ricardo. Furthermore, proper management guidelines for project scope and constraint management like time and communication
management needs to be there from the end of both the administrative and the management level (like Beth) .Moreover, employee must
maintain an effective communication with the management and colleagues regarding any workplace issue.
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
5. What did you learn from reading this scenario?
There are many learning that are achieved through this reading such as:
ï‚· Even ifseems necessary or beneficial unethical actions are by no means appropriate or acceptable
ï‚· Aclear communication objective must be maintained by each and every staff in the organisation to maintain asmooth workplace
management (11)
ï‚· Respect to others â€work isamust for each and every professional to be maintained (12)
ï‚· One must respect her or his own profession and must not take any action that jeopardize it
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
References
(1) Kim, S.Y. and Kim, E., 2018. How intellectual property management capability and network strategy affect
open technological innovation in the Korean new information communications technology
industry. Sustainability ,10 (8), p.2600.
(2) Meldrum, S., Licorish, S.A. and Savarimuthu, B.T.R., 2020. Exploring Research Interest in Stack Overflow–A
Systematic Mapping Study and Quality Evaluation. arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.12282 .
(3) ACS. https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/acs-documents/ACS%20Code-of-Professional-
Conduct_v2.1.pdf (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
(4) Austrade.gov.au. Australian Intellectual Property laws.
https://www.austrade.gov.au/international/invest/guide-to-investing/running-a-business/understanding-
australian-business-regulation/australian-intellectual-property-
laws#:~:text=Trade%20mark%20protection,others%20from%20using%20your%20brand. (accessed Apr 24,
2022).
(5) fairwork.gov.au. Fair Work Act Australia. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-
us/legislation#:~:text=Fair%20Work%20Legislation,-
The%20Fair%20Work&text=They%20govern%20the%20employee%20%2F%20employer,and%20prevent%
20discrimination%20against%20employees. (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
(6) Actlawsociety.asn.au. Register of Disciplinary Action. https://www.actlawsociety.asn.au/practising-
law/discipline-complaints/disciplinary-action (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
(7) Business.gov.au. Legal essentials for business |business.gov.au. https://business.gov.au/planning/new-
businesses/legal-essentials-for-business (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
Module 1 -Assignment 1 – Case Study (Response Template)
(8) Standards Australia. Software and Systems Engineering -Standards Australia.
https://www.standards.org.au/standards-catalogue/sa-snz/communication/it-015 (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
(9) ISO. ISO/IEC 38500:2015. https://www.iso.org/standard/62816.html (accessed Apr 24, 2022).
(10) Haeridistia, N. and Fadjarenie, A., 2019. The effect of independence, professional ethics and auditor
experience on audit quality. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research ,8(2), pp.24-27.
(11) Dungan, J.A., Young, L. and Waytz, A., 2019. The power of moral concerns in predicting
whistleblowing decisions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology ,85 ,p.103848.
(12) De Cremer, D. and Moore, C., 2020. Toward abetter understanding of behavioral ethics in the
workplace. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior ,7,pp.369-393.