A written analysis (3410ICT 2000 words; 7101ICT 2500 words) of complex ethical problems similar to those which you might encounter in the IT industry.

Professional Issues Assignment Introduction

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Contents

1. Introduction 2

2. Analysis 2

2.1. Legal factors ............................................................................. 2

Factor 1 – Database vulnerability ....................................... 2 2.1.1.

Factor 2 – Fraudulent falsification of records ...................... 2 2.1.2.

Factor 3 – Constructive dismissal ....................................... 3 2.1.3.

Factor 4 – Spent conviction ................................................ 3 2.1.4.

2.2. Professional factors .................................................................. 3

Factor 5 – Public interest .................................................... 3 2.2.1.

Factor 6 – Inappropriate behaviour ..................................... 3 2.2.2.

Factor 7 – Clouded objectivity ............................................. 3 2.2.3.

Factor 8 – Duty of disclosure .............................................. 4 2.2.4.

Factor 9 – Competence ...................................................... 4 2.2.5.

Factor 10 – Inaction ............................................................ 4 2.2.6.

Factor 11 – Whistleblowing ................................................. 4 2.2.7.

Factor 12 – Unfairly reprimanded ....................................... 5 2.2.8.

Factor 13 – Fairness ........................................................... 5 2.2.9.

Employment and Social factors ........................................................... 5

Factor 14 – Organisational values and policy ................... 5 2.2.10.

Factor 15 – Scapegoats .................................................... 5 2.2.11.

Factor 16 – Silo mentality ................................................. 6 2.2.12.

Factor 17 – Malicious gossip ............................................ 6 2.2.13.

2.3. Personal factors ........................................................................ 6

Factor 18 – Retribution ....................................................... 6 2.3.1.

Factor 19 – Misleading statement ....................................... 6 2.3.2.

2.4. Intrinsic factors .......................................................................... 6

Factor 20 – Upbringing ....................................................... 6 2.4.1.

Factor 21 – Education ......................................................... 6 2.4.2.

2.5. Prioritisation .............................................................................. 6

2.6. Decision .................................................................................... 8

2.7. Discussion ................................................................................. 8

3. Conclusion 9

4. References 1

Professional Issues Assignment Introduction

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1. Introduction

The case study presented will outline the career path of Bridget Donovan. It comprises some ethically and questionable moral events that combined pose a series of ethical dilemmas. This report uses the ethical decision model (EDM) proposed by David Tuffley (2012).

Bridget had a tough upbringing. In her early childhood, she suffered several tragic family events, followed by brushes with the law that saw her arrested and charged on several occasions. Bridget went on to complete IT qualifications at university and then acquired her first job with an insurance company. She moved up to middle management within ten years and later moved into a Government role.

During Bridget's career, she is subjected to some ethically challenging events. This report examines those events and provides a decision with the intent of resolving the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion.

The main stakeholders to be considered when making decisions are the public, clients, vendors, staff and the companies.

2. Analysis

2.1. Legal factors

Factor 1 – Database vulnerability 2.1.1.

Jason tells Bridget that he has discovered a vulnerability in the other department's database. Bridget is working for a government department, and the ramifications are potentially embarrassing if not dangerous. The data almost certainly contained private and personal information which could constitute a breach of the Privacy Act 1988 if security was breached. Australian Privacy Principles (APP), state that “An APP entity must take reasonable steps to protect personal information it holds from misuse” (OAIC 2014).

Factor 2 – Fraudulent falsification of records 2.1.2.

Elizabeth’s department routinely and fraudulently invoices customers for development work that should come from the maintenance budget. Elizabeth and her project manager subordinates have broken the law. The crime is ‘fraudulent falsification of records’ in accordance with chapter 40, section 430 of the Queensland criminal code which states, “any person who with intent to defraud (a) makes a false entry in any record” (Queensland Legislation, 1899). The inference is that it is a routinely accepted practice and most likely known about and tolerated by the senior staff in the department which could breach corporate fraud laws.

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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Factor 3 – Constructive dismissal 2.1.3.

Bridget was convinced to resign and received a favourable reference because her juvenile convictions came to light. The insurance company said because Bridget was not honest it breached her contract.

There was no legal requirement for Bridget to tell her employer about her juvenile offences. They have constructively dismissed her, thereby breaching the Fair Work Act 2009. According to section 386, the ‘meaning of dismissed…a person has been dismissed if…the person has resigned from his or her employment, but was forced to do so because of conduct, or a course of conduct, engaged in by his or her employer (Commonwealth Consolidated Acts 2009).

Factor 4 – Spent conviction 2.1.4.

Bridget was accused of breaching the dishonesty clause of her employment contract due to her juvenile convictions. Bridget was not legally compelled to inform her employer.

According to Queensland criminal law, ‘criminal records don’t necessarily last forever. You can say you have no convictions if you meet all the following criteria…for nationwide offences…5 years if you were convicted as a child’ (Queensland Government n.d.), therefore legally, she did not breach her employment contract. There are only a select few cases where this rule does not apply such as working with children or high-level government security roles.

2.2. Professional factors

Factor 5 – Public interest 2.2.1.

Bridget did not inform the other department of the security vulnerability which is not only a breach of the Privacy Act 1988 but also contravenes the Australian Computer Society (ACS) code of professional conduct. She was aware that there was a potential risk of embarrassment for both departments but chose to take the path of inaction. The relevant ACS code of conduct value is The Primacy of the Public Interest which states ‘identify those potentially impacted by your work and explicitly consider their interests’ (ACS 2014).

Factor 6 – Inappropriate behaviour 2.2.2.

Roger, one of the sales representatives, is a contender for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) contract and tries to develop a personal relationship with Bridget to gain her favour which is unethical behavior on behalf of the salesperson.

Factor 7 – Clouded objectivity 2.2.3.

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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Bridget did decline the advances of the salesperson once she became aware of the situation, but there is no indication that she reported the inappropriate behavior to her superiors. This may indicate that her objectivity was clouded by the situation as she may have had some anxiety. It also contravenes the professionalism value in the ACS Code of Conduct.

Factor 8 – Duty of disclosure 2.2.4.

As earlier discussed, Bridget had some juvenile convictions which she legally did not have to report. However, as she was working in a security role, it may have been prudent for her to divulge her past transgressions to avoid the exact situation she found herself in. Though this is a double-edged sword, does one do what is legal to get the job or what is professionally prudent and risk not getting the job?

Factor 9 – Competence 2.2.5.

The ERP was a government implementation of a large system that required high levels of experience in this type of project. There were two other contenders that were smaller companies with little reputation, indicating that they likely did not have the required skills. The ACS value of competence states, ‘not misrepresent your skills or knowledge (ACS 2014)’

Factor 10 – Inaction 2.2.6.

Jason reported the database vulnerability to both Bridget and Elizabeth. Elizabeth listened to Bridget’s reasoning and agreed that this was the other department's problem. Both decided to deal with the problem by doing nothing, in other words, inaction. There was potential for private data to be leaked, which would contravene the ACS code of conduct value, ‘The Primacy of the Public Interest’ and goes against one of the primary rules of ‘do no harm’.

Given the gravity of the potential breach and the possible harm, the most appropriate course of action would have been to inform the other department even though there may have been some political fallout. This would have fixed the problem, appeased Jason and most importantly protected the public.

Factor 11 – Whistleblowing 2.2.7.

After Jason reported the database vulnerability to Bridget and then to Elizabeth and felt like he had not been heard, he decided to ‘Whistleblow’ and told the story to a journalist.

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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Whistleblowing never ends well, as was the case in this situation. The reputation of government departments was sullied, several employees suffered the consequences, including Jason, and most would never likely get another job in IT at any organisation. For these very reasons whistleblowing is classed as an unprofessional act and frowned upon by ACS. Jason should have either gone to the next person in the chain of command or, could have contacted the ACS to discuss the dilemma.

Factor 12 – Unfairly reprimanded 2.2.8.

Jason initially did the right thing and reported the database vulnerability to Bridget, when there was no action he reported it to Elizabeth. Bridget reprimanded Jason for going over her head and not using the chain of command. Jason did use the chain of command and should not have been chastised.

This was unprofessional behaviour on Bridget’s behalf which not only made Jason feel like he has not been heard but has also influenced his decision to whistle blow.

Factor 13 – Fairness 2.2.9.

The journalist that Jason gave his story to indicated he could portray the story in a scandalous light for the public. This indicated that the journalist intended to embellish the facts which would be unprofessional behaviour and against the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) Journalist Code of Ethics.

MEAA states a journalist should ‘report and interpret honestly, striving for accuracy, fairness, and disclosure of all essential facts. Do not suppress relevant available facts, or give distorting emphasis’ (MEAA, n.d.).

The media are sometimes referred to as the fourth estate, the other 3 estates being religion, senior figures and parliament. The term fourth estate is used to describe that the press working as members of the fourth estate as an acknowledgment of their influence and status among the greatest powers of a nation (Australian Politics n.d.).

Employment and Social factors

Factor 14 – Organisational values and policy 2.2.10.

Elizabeth’s department has a common practice of charging incorrectly. They routinely massage the figures as getting funding for projects can be difficult, which indicates that the department does not have ethical practices in place and that their values are questionable and unprofessional.

Factor 15 – Scapegoats 2.2.11.

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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After the story was printed, there was a public outcry, and scapegoats wore the consequences. A scapegoat is a person or persons that is blamed for the wrongdoing of others, which is unprofessional and unethical behaviour.

Factor 16 – Silo mentality 2.2.12.

There is a silo mentality between departments, the outcome being that departments do not share information with leads to bad decision making and an unproductive environment.

Factor 17 – Malicious gossip 2.2.13.

Jamie joined the company and knew Bridget; he spread the news that Bridget had a criminal past. Malicious gossip is unprofessional behaviour, unethical and goes against ACS rules of conduct.

2.3. Personal factors

Factor 18 – Retribution 2.3.1.

Jason was incorrectly reprimanded for not using the chain of command and feeling discouraged at the inaction of his managers, his act of retribution was to contact the media.

Factor 19 – Misleading statement 2.3.2.

Bridget misled Jason to believe that she would act on the report of the database vulnerabilities.

2.4. Intrinsic factors

Factor 20 – Upbringing 2.4.1.

Bridget had a tough upbringing; she was raised by an alcoholic father and her mother died when she was three. She was arrested several times in her teens.

Factor 21 – Education 2.4.2.

Thanks to a favourable influence from her high school, Bridget went on to university and graduated with honours, specialising in cybersecurity.

2.5. Prioritisation

Prio rity

Factor Area Related Issue

1 Legal Database vulnerability The database security issue may have had severe implications for the public’s privacy.

2 Legal Fraudulent Maintenance charges are funded

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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falsification of records under development code. Elizabeth routinely authorises such billings.

3 Legal Constructive Dismissal

Employee persuaded Bridget to resign in return for a favourable reference.

4 Legal Spent conviction Bridget convicted as a minor had no obligation to disclose spent convictions.

5 Professional Public interest Bridget did not inform the other department of the database security issue.

6 Professional Inappropriate behaviour

Roger contacting Bridget in a manner that would suggest undue influence.

7 Professional Clouded objectivity Bridget did not report the undue influence on her superiors.

8 Professional Duty of disclosure Professionally prudent to disclose Bridget’s juvenile conviction.

9 Professional Competence Did Smaller companies with little reputation have the skills required?

10 Professional Inaction Elizabeth agreed with Bridget and left the matter as it is.

11 Professional Whistleblowing Jason went to the media. (Whistleblowing)

12 Professional Unfairly reprimanded Bridget reprimanded Jason for misusing the chain of command.

13 Professional Fairness Journalist casts a scandalous light on the story.

14 Employment Organisational values It is common practice (not spoken about) to put work on other cost codes.

15 Employment Scapegoats Scapegoats are thrown under the bus.

16 Employment Values and policy Silo mentality that exists in most organisations

17 Social Malicious gossip Jamie is discussing Bridget’s private history with staff.

18 Personal Retribution Jason is upset and feeling dismissed.

19 Personal Misleading statement Bridget told Jason she would deal with it.

20 Intrinsic Upbringing Bridget had a hard life.

21 Intrinsic Education Bridget graduated with honors.

Table 1: Priority List

Professional Issues Assignment Analysis

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2.6. Decision

The decision should be prioritised around the significant factors that produce a result in the interest of the public. As legal factors always take priority over everything, they must rectify them first where possible, and consider the other factors in order of importance.

The first legal issue is that the database vulnerability had the potential to impact the public’s privacy. As the issue was leaked to the media by Jason, it has now become an actual legal issue, although the problem should have been rectified, it is now a priority. The department needs to take responsibility for the issue and rectify the problem ensuring that it does not happen again. Therefore, they should first fix the issue immediately and put new measures in place; these might include resolving the silo mentality by encouraging interdepartmental meetings, appropriate management, policies, and procedures. The staff should also receive training on ethical behaviour and the importance of the mission, vision, and values.

The next legal issue is a fraudulent falsification of records, such as incorrect billing. This practice should cease immediately. The billing practices should be brought to the attention of the executive if they are not already complicit. Policy and procedural changes should be made to ensure that the appropriate budgets are funded and supported by the executive. It would also be prudent to meet with clients and explain the changes to the billing practices to ensure an honest and open win-win relationship.

The other legal issues are about Bridget’s constructive dismissal and the spent conviction. Bridget may have some legal recourse for the way in which she was dismissed. However, the complicating factors are, how long it has been since the dismissal and what the likely ramifications could be.

In relation to some of the other factors, Bridget should inform management that there has been inappropriate behaviour on behalf of the salesman.

As Bridget did not afford the proper respect to Jason when he used the chain of command she may benefit from further management training.

Jason may consider changing jobs as the report he made was not acted upon, and his reputation may well have been tarnished amongst his peers by whistleblowing. It is most likely that the company and some staff routinely act unethically.

2.7. Discussion

When analysing Bridget’s behaviour, her early life and upbringing have had a significant impact on her ethical judgement. In the moral foundation's theory developed by Jonathan Haig and colleagues, he theorises the six innate moral perspectives. Bridget has been on the negative side of many of these perspectives.

Professional Issues Assignment Conclusion

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In her first role with the insurance company, she chose not to tell them about her criminal past; she was not legally obliged to, and this left her in an ethically compromised situation.

When it came to the billing issue, it seems Bridget had chosen to follow the unethical common practice possibly believing she was doing the right thing. As Elizabeth and other project managers were also involved in the practice, there is evidence that they may be mindlessly following the group think rather than challenging unethical behaviour.

Several factors combined brought Jason to the point where he became disgruntled and felt disregarded by his superiors. He then made some irrational decisions which would indicate that there was a systemic lack of support in the department. It is a fundamental need of a human being to feel supported and wanted.

3. Conclusion

Using the EDM has enabled the ethical dilemma to be broken down and prioritised to ensure that factors are considered in order of priority and that the public interest is always put first. It has also allowed the nature of the issues to be analysed providing insight as to how the issues happened. The goal of the EDM is to analyse the situation, rectify it quickly and within the best interest of all stakeholders with minimal impact, and then to learn from the situation and put measures into place to reduce the chance of the same or similar situations reoccurring.

Professional Issues Assignment References

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4. References

ACS 2014, Code of Professional Conduct, Australian Computer Society, viewed 26 March 2018, https://www.acs.org.au/content/dam/acs/rules-and- regulations/Code-of-Professional-Conduct_v2.1.pdf

Australian Politics n.d., The Fourth Estate, AustralianPolitics.com, viewed 2 March 2018, http://australianpolitics.com/topics/media/the-fourth-estate.

Commonwealth Consolidated Acts (2009)., Fair Work ACT 2009 SECT 386 Meaning of dismissed. Commonwealth Government, viewed 26 March 2018, http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi- bin/viewdoc/au/legis/cth/consol_act/fwa2009114/s386.html.

MEAA n.d. MEAA Journalist Code of Ethics, Media, Entertainment, and the Arts Alliance, accessed 26 March 2108 https://www.meaa.org/meaa- media/code-of-ethics/.

Moral Foundations n.d., Moral Foundations Theory, Moralfoundations.org, viewed 26 March 2018 http://moralfoundations.org.

OAIC 2014, Australian Privacy Principles — a summary for APP entities, Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, viewed 26 March 2018, https://www.oaic.gov.au/agencies-and-organisations/guides/app-quick- reference-tool#app-11-security-of-personal-information.

Queensland Legislation 1899, Criminal Code Act 1899, Queensland Government, viewed 26 March 2018, https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1899-009.

Queensland Government n.d., Criminal records, Queensland Government, viewed 26 March 2018, https://www.qld.gov.au/law/crime-and- police/criminal-records-and-history-checks/criminal-records.

Tuffley D 2012, The ethical technologist, Altiora Publications.

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