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Question: Discuss about the Ethical Issues in Diane Company. Answer: Introduction Diane started her consulting business three years before; she became so successful that now she is having much staff working under her with a big client base. She has a business of giving consultation to companies about setting up corporate intranets, designing database management and advising about security. Currently, she is working for a mid-size company to design the database management system for the personnel office. She involved client in the designing process, the CEO and other top officials along with Diane had to decide the security level of the program, as this database included all the important information related to company and its employees, the security system has to be strong enough to protect the data from leaking but for creating this strong security network the companys budget was going above what was expected so the CEO and other officials decided to reduce the security level, but Diane was not in favor of this, because by doing this the important data can be acc essed by any of the companys employee or can be easily hacked by hackers. Now according to this case study should Diane continue to work for a client or should she stop? Lets correlate this case study with doing the ethic, technique, this technique is a process for analyzing ethical issue in any scenario although it does not ensure that the end result will be exactly what you wanted but it will help you think ethically (Derbyshire, 2008). In this case Diane has taken her business on top by building trust of clients and she has done this by overcoming the ethical issues, she has created a goodwill in the market and now, the client for which she is designing the software has put her in ethical dilemma, if she designs the software with less security then one day or the other it will be hacked and she will spoil her reputation and the trust which she has created amongst her clients (Derbyshire, 2008). This is the ethical issue which she is facing, is she designs the software for the com pany as per their demand there are chances that she can spoil her goodwill and if she doesnt build the software then she will lose one of her clients. Doing ethic technique deals with various aspects of the issue which we will be covering in this analysis. Analysis using doing ethic techniques Thinking ethically does not always work until and unless one has the experience in moral philosophy. This technique is not limited to only technological or cultural background; it can be used under any circumstances (Palidauskaite, 2011). Doing ethic technique mainly depends on asking questions, and the order in which these questions are asked is also important. Now one by one we will analyze the case study basis the questions: Whats going on? This is a case of a lady Diane who has started a consultation business three year before. She became successful and now she is having much staff working under her along with a huge client base. She is into the business of database designing and currently working for a mid-size company for which she has to design a DBMS. She has involved top management of the company in the process (Figar and ?or?evi?, 2016). As per Diane, the security system must be high but top officials are not in favor of this because it is increasing their cost so they do not want to spend much on security part. Now Diane is not sure whether she should continue designing the software or not (Figar and ?or?evi?, 2016). Because if strong security is not to build in the application then it can be easily hacked by hackers or employee of the company and it is containing some important information related to salary, insurance, and employee data. The ethical issue which is highlighted here is, Diane has to design softwa re which does not have a strong security system. Now if she does this and anything happens in near future then her goodwill will be spoiled in the market and if she denies and not completes the software then she will lose one of her important clients (Goyal and Chowhan, 2012). What are the facts? Diane is designing a database management system for a personnel office of a company (Goyal and Chowhan, 2012). The information which will be stored in the system is very sensitive like performance appraisal of employees, medical insurance, salary details and so on, so as per Diane the security system for this software must be strong enough. The CEO, the director of computing and director personnel shows a very lethargic approach towards this, according to the security does not matter they will do if the DBMS designed does not have a strong security system (Lee et al., 2017). If anything wrong happens in the near future then Diane would be held responsible for all such faults so if Diane wish to continue designing the software for the company then she should prepare a disclaimer under which it should be clearly mentioned that if anything happens to the software in near future because of security issues then neither she nor her company will be held responsible (Lee et al., 2017). What are the issues? If we go through the case then there are several issues which must be tackled with? Firstly, the software which Diane is designing is created to store sensitive information so it should have a strong security system. Secondly, the top officials are not so concerned about the security, so there are chances that they will face severe repercussion because of this lethargic approach (Fleischmann, 2006). Third, if Diane chose to continue designing the software with less security system then there are chances that it will negatively impact her and if she chose not to continue then she will lose one of her important clients. Fourth and the most important problem is that Diane is running a standalone business and has many employees working under her if due to this project anything bad happens in future then along with her, the several employees of the company will also suffer. Who is affected? There will be many people affected from this first the employees working in the company of Diane will be affected negatively because if anything wrong happens then her goodwill will be affected which will result in negative publicity due to which her business will be impacted along with her employees, and if she does not go with the company then her reputation will not be at stake (Fleischmann, 2006). Secondly, employees working in the company for whom the software is to be developed, as the top officials are aware that there is a loophole in the security system the employees who are working on this software will always be under vigilance, a small mistake and they will be penalized. Third comes the stakeholders who have invested money in both the companies will be affected (Fleischmann, 2006). Negative publicity of the companies will reduce the market shares which will affect the business. Last but not the least, due to the negative publicity the clients who are dealing with Diane wi ll lose their trust on her and in future will not deal with her company. What are the ethical issues and implications? The ethical issue in the case study is when Diane knows that the software which she is developing is designed to store sensitive information and it needs strong security system then how can she agree to the top officials of the company who says that their budget is exceeding and they will compromise on the security part. She has worked for many clients but just because of one mistake she does not want to lose her market reputation (Fleischmann, 2006). As per Virtue ethical theory, Diane is not of nature in which knowingly she will harm others, she knows that her decision will directly impact all the stakeholders and employees connected to her company. If she denies working for the company then also she will be in pressure. By correlating the other ethical problem with the consequentialist theory, it is observed that the client is running short of money for which they have to compromise the security of the software (Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009). They know that if they will increase their budget, then it will be compensated by doing cost cutting which will negatively impact their employees, but if they do not opt for strong security system then also they will have to face challenges in near future. What can be done about it? There are various alternatives to solve the problem, first one is to increase the budget of the project without affecting any of the person attached to it. This can be done by identifying the less important segment of the project and allocating its cost to the most important segment of security (Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009). Other option can be given access to the software only to the top officials of the company so that data cannot be misused by any of its employees. The last alternative could be doing not store any sensitive information in the system if the security cannot be strong. What are the options-? There is a cost constraint in designing a strong security system then the company should reallocate the cost of the various segments of the project by decreasing the cost allocation of the portions which are of less importance and increasing the cost for security, this way they can build a software with strong security without affecting any of the person attached to it. Another option could be Diane should provide alternatives to the client for designing strong security system like all the information which gets entered into the software directly get stored in the main server and the employees who are working on the system do not get any access to the information (Warren and Lucas, 2016). This way a DBMS can be designed within the budget of the company and with all the security parameters. The third alternative could be that the access to the DBMS remains only with the top officials or some of the employees who are trustworthy and only they will be held responsible if anything wrong happens in future. But there is a limitation to it that it will put a burden on the employees who are using the software and they will always work under pressure that the information should not be leaked under any circumstance. Which option is best and why? The best solution for this problem is that all the information which is entered into the system must be stored in the main server and no one accepts top management should have access to the server (Grniak?Kocikowska, 2007). By doing this way Diane will be able to design the software as per the requirement of the client and within the budget and secondly, the client will also be able to get the software as per their need. This will not impact anybody neither the employees of both the companies and nor the stakeholders associated with the company and all the information will be safely secured (Vaccaro and Madsen, 2009). From Diane point of view, she will also be able to satisfy her client by delivering the project as per the requirement of client. Other alternatives are also there but it will require time and end result will also be not the one which is expected for example reallocating cost will require manpower to again go through the project which will take time and en result will a lso not be desirable as some other parameter will then be affected (Warren and Lucas, 2016). Analysis using ACS code of ethics Public interest- Raise with stakeholders any potential conflicts between your professional activity and legal or other accepted public requirements, if we correlate this code with our case then it is mentioned that keeping the public interest whatever issue comes should be raised amongst stakeholders so that they are also aware of the fact and maybe their suggestions will come up with any possible solution (Bowern et al., 2006). Whatever may be the conflict must be resolved in the interest of the public endeavor to preserve the integrity, security, continuity, and utility of ICT (Fleischmann, 2006) Endeavour to preserve the confidentiality and privacy of the information of others this means that information which has to be stored in the DBMS must be secured and it is the prime responsibility of the company to protect the sensitive information of employees from leaking outside (Bruhn, 2004). Quality of life- ICT development had a significant impact on the way of our life and society and this impact has mostly been beneficial to a very great extent, but it also had negative effects which will continue further (Shockley, 2005). An ethical approach towards your work will minimise these negative impacts like in this case the ethical approach of not compromising the security of the system will lead to safely storing the data of the employees and building a trust amongst the employees (Shockley, 2005). Understand and give due respect to the perceptions of those affected by the decision- here in this case if the problem is discussed with the stakeholders then the suggestions given by them must be considered because as they will always think for the benefit of the company and people connected to the company (Shockley, 2005). Competence- it means that you should only accept the work for which you are competent enough to perform. You should not hesitate in taking expert advice as one cannot possibly be knowledgeable on all the facets of ICT, so you should know that at which point you require expert advice (Preda, 2015). Endeavour to provide products and services which match the operational and financial needs of your stakeholders, Diane took the project for the company to design DBMS but she was in a dilemma as the client wanted the project to be completed within the set cost but Diane was focusing on strong security system which needed additional cost (Barad and Patel, 2012). advise your stakeholders when you believe a proposed project, product or service is not in their best interest, she advised the top officials of the company that the DBMS which they want will store sensitive information, so it will require a strong security system, but company didnt want that, so it was not in the best interest of the company as well as the employees and stakeholders (Barad and Patel, 2012). Conclusion This case study has many ethical issues which must be taken into consideration by the both Diane and her client. On building, a system with less security will obviously affect the privacy of the employees whose data have been stored and company will play with their faith which they have shown by not protecting the data (Quinn, 2010). Whereas on the other hand Diane despite knowing that the system which she will be developing has a loophole insecurity and can affect her goodwill in future and will also impact her employees and stakeholders must not compromise with the company. Both should sit with their stakeholders and find a solution to the problem because they will give best of the solution by keeping in mind the public interest and employees associated with the companies (Quinn, 2010). It is the prime responsibility of the company to secure the data of their employees and it is the responsibility of Diane towards her employees that she should not accept any work which is not in fa vor of the company. References Barad, K. and Patel, S. (2012). Ethical Dilemma.SSRN Electronic Journal. Bowern, M., Burmeister, O., Gotterbarn, D. and Weckert, J. (2006). ICT Integrity: bringing the ACS code of ethics up to date.Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 13(2). Bruhn, J. (2004). The Ethic of "The Organizational Good."The Health Care Manager, 23(1), pp.4-10. Derbyshire, S. (2008). The Ethical Dilemma of Ethical Committees.Sociology Compass, 2(5), pp.1506-1522. Figar, N. and ?or?evi?, B. (2016). Managing an Ethical Dilemma.Economic Themes, 54(3). Fleischmann, S. (2006). Teaching ethics: More than an honor code.Science and Engineering Ethics, 12(2), pp.381-389. Grniak?Kocikowska, K. (2007). 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