Legislation for IT Professionals - Assignment Example

? Test Questions Question Legislation for IT Professionals. 8 Marks During week four (4) of ITB6210 the following legislation, relevant to IT professionals was briefly covered: The Fair Trading Act (1986). The Consumer Guarantees Act (1993). The Privacy Act (1993). The Copyright Act (1994). (a) For either the Fair Trading Act (1986), Consumer Guarantees Act (1993) or Copyright Act (1994) briefly describe the main intention behind this legislation? CHOOSE ONE ONLY Answer: The Fair Trading Act (1986) has the intentions of prohibiting people in trade from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct. [1 Mark] (b) For the legislation that you selected for 1(a) briefly describe what this legislation covers? Answer: The legislation covers false or misleading advertising, false or misleading representations about price and false or misleading sales techniques, finance agreements, and unfair prices. In basic terms, consumers cannot be pressured or misled and must be respected. As such, sales techniques must be upfront with no hidden fish hooks. [4 Marks] (c) For the legislation that you selected for 1(a) briefly why and for what reasons this legislation is relevant to IT Professionals? Answer: This legislation is relevant to IT professionals. Being professionals, it means that they have an in-depth knowledge on IT-related matters including products. Therefore, at times they might be tempted to mislead the customers who might not be so aware of these products. This legislation prohibits such a practice. [3 Marks] P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R A D D I T I O N A L S P A C E Question 2 Ethical Theory including the New Zealand Computer Society Code of Ethics 13 Marks Fill In the Gaps in the sentences below: [1 Mark per word] The New Zealand Computer Society Code of Ethics is based upon the principles of: interests of the community Respect_____________ for the individual interests of the client and supported by the values of: _________Competence_____________________________ ________Truth______________________________ social justice and _______________Ethical______________________ behaviour Members shall act in the execution of their profession with________integrity_____________, ___dignity_______________and _____honour_______________to merit the trust of the community and the profession, and apply honesty, ______skill_________________, judgement and initiative to contribute positively to the well-being of society; Members shall not__________misrepresent__________________ the qualifications and ______competencies______________ of themselves or those in their employ or under their supervision; P L E A S E T U R N O V E R The capabilities of the computer often lend a special character to problems of computer ethics, however. For instance, the computer often allows people to perform unethical actions_____faster_____________ or to perform actions that were too ____difficult___________ or impossible using manual methods. Now that computers are so common, organisations and individuals are increasingly ____vulnerable_______________ to their unethical use. Question 3 Treaty of Waitangi 13 Marks During ITB6210, the background and the current relevance of the Treaty of Waitangi was discussed (a) Summarise the British Crown’s reasons for entering into the Treaty of Waitangi Answer: The treaty of Watangi was an agreement between the British Crown and 540 Maori chiefs. It was a political statement of principles to found a nation state and build a government. There was an exchange of promises. The Maori conceded the sovereignty of New Zealand to British. In return, they were guaranteed rights of land, forests, fisheries and other undisturbed possessions. the crown agreed to protect the ordinary people of New Zealand. [4 Marks] (b) Summarise the reasons New Zealand Maori entered into the Treaty. of Waitangi Answer: Sovereignty was translated to governance or Kawanatanga. They were guaranteed rights of land, forests, fisheries and other undisturbed possessions. Undisturbed possessions were translated ti rangatiratanga (full authority) over taonga (treasures, not necessarily tangible). [4 Marks] (c) Discuss the consequences the Treaty of Waitangi has for business at the present time. Answer: Any business in New Zealand that comes into contact with Maori must align with the policies set by government regarding the Treaty of Waitangi. Businesses implement their own company policies to coincide with TOW issues and government policies. Claims and issues concerning the Maori are handled by the government sector. These claims can prolong and sometimes stop business plans and propositions. They can also force businesses to enter agreements with Maori, and can allow Maori to seek compensations and reparations from business. [5 Marks] P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R Q U E S T I O N F O U R Question 4 Human Resource Management. 10 Marks The objective of Human Resources (HR) is to maximize the return on investment from an organization's human capital and to minimize financial risk. It is therefore the responsibility of HR managers to conduct these activities in an, effective, legal, fair and consistent manner. (a) What are five (5) of the typical functions provided by a HR department with a typical modern business organisation? Answer: Position management, job design, vacancy, recruitment and selection, remuneration management, performance management. [5 Marks] (b) For one (1) of the typical functions provided by a HR department that you gave in part (a) briefly provide some of the processes that are undertaken by that function. Answer: Position management deals with organizational charting which involves the organization structure and reporting lines. Job design involves the scoping of boundaries of responsibilities and tasks in any one role. Remuneration management involves decisions on payroll, pasy scales and steps within scales. Vacancy and recruitment involves posting notices and deciding whether to fill vacancy. Performance management involves the definition of expectations, monitoring and improving skills and performance. [5 Marks] (Note: You may not use Health & Safety as one of your functions, as this topic is covered elsewhere within this test). P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R A D D I T I O N A L S P A C E Question 5 Employment Agreements. 5 Marks In New Zealand, the main legislation relating to employment agreements is the NZ Employment Relations Act 2000. The Employment Relations Act 2000 has “good faith” as its central principle. This means that employers, employees and unions must deal with one another honestly and openly. The Act states that certain parts of employment agreements are mandatory (M) and other parts are optional (O). In Table 1, there are 10 criteria that will be either mandatory (M) or optional (O) as parts of employment agreements as stated in the NZ Employment Relations Act 2000. If you think a particular criterion is mandatory as part of an employment agreement as stated in the NZ Employment Relations Act 2000, then please record a (M) in the column marked mandatory/optional for that particular criterion. If you think a particular criterion is optional as part of an employment agreement as stated in the NZ Employment Relations Act 2000, then please record a (O) in the column marked mandatory/optional for that particular criterion. Each correct completed criterion is worth one half (1/2) mark each. The total marks available for this question is five (5) marks. Criterion Mandatory/Optional 1 Hours of employment. M 2 After six months' employment, five days of sick leave for the next year. M 3 Pay day. O 4 Four weeks paid annual leave after 12 months in the job. M 5 The same rate for the same job for male and female employees. M 6 Redundancy conditions. O 7 Restraint of trade conditions. O 8 Staff training arrangements O 9 Holidays and other leave entitlements. O 10 Bereavement leave – three days on the death of a close family member, or one day for another person where your employer agrees. M Table 1 – (Question 5) Mandatory/Optional Criterion in NZ Employment Relations Act 2000. P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R Q U E S T I O N S I X Question 6 Occupational Health & Safety. 6 MARKS Occupational Health & Safety legislation varies from one part of the world to another. In New Zealand the legislation in this area are the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 (HSE Act) and the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996 (HSNO). Whilst the legislation, and sometimes terminology, varies between different countries there is always mention of hazards, outcomes and risks. (a) Provide a brief nonspecific written description of; 1) a hazard, 2) an outcome and 3) a risk, when applied to the area of Occupational Health & Safety? Answer: A hazard is something that can cause harm if not controlled. An outcome is the harm that results from an uncontrolled hazard. A risk is a combination of the probability that a particular outcome will occur and the severity of the harm involved. [3 Marks] (b) Provide a brief example of a hazard, outcome and risk, when applied to an Information Technology related area of Occupational Health & Safety. Answer: For example, a hazard can be repetitively carrying out manual handling of heavy objects. The outcome would be a musculoskeletal disorder (MSD). The risk can be numerically expressed e.g. 0.5 or 50/50 chance of the outcome occurring during a year. It can also be expressed qualitatively as high, medium or low. [3 Marks] P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R A D D I T I O N A L S P A C E Question 7 Management. 5 MARKS Generally there are considered to be four (4) main functions of management: planning, organising, leading and control. Select one (1) of these four (4) functions and describe how a manager (either strategic, tactical or operational) uses this function in their day-to-day role within a typical business organisation? Answer: Managers are always using the management function of control in their organizations. The control cycle allows managers to monitor the progress in the organization, and to take action where necessary. In short, controlling ensures that the right things happen, in the right way and at the right time. In an organization, the planning stage will set the goals, directions and allocate resources. However, managers will constantly measure performance, compare it with the desired results and then take action where necessary so as to meet the set goals. This is how managers use the function of control in their organizations. P L E A S E T U R N O V E R F O R A D D I T I O N A L S P A C E Question 2: Employment Agreements One of the major changes in the amendment made on the Employee Relations Act of 2000 in 2011 is the extension of trial periods to all employers. This change provided that employers can make an offer of employment to a prospective employee that includes a trial period of up to 90 days. This amendment has a positive impact on employers in the information technology industry. This is because the 90 day trial period provided enables employers to keep track of the character, work attitudes and performance of the prospective employee. This enables employers to be able to retain only the best suited candidates for the employment opportunities in their companies. This translates to increased performance for these companies. Question 4: Management First is the feed forward or preliminary controls. These controls anticipate potential problems to ensure that production runs smoothly. For example, in a company that uses computers and network resources including the internet, the IT department can install antivirus or firewalls in the computers in the network to ensure that they are not affected by viruses and malware, because viruses and malware can disrupt operations on a computer or network. Second are concurrent controls which are put in place during the production process. These controls ensure that standards and/or performance are maintained. For example, the IT manager of a company might make regular reviews of the kind of internet activity taking place in the company’s computers in order to identify if there could be potential threats of attacks by intruders or any illegal activity that might negatively impact on the company. Third are feedback controls which review the outputs once production is complete. For example, after new recruits in the IT department have undergone a training program, they can be evaluated to establish if they have attained the required competencies. Question 5: Personal Profiling The first concept is called extroversion (E) or introversion (I). If you prefer to focus on the outer world, this is extroversion. If you prefer to focus on your own inner world, this is introversion. The second concept is sensing (S) or intuition (N). If you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in, this is sensing. If you prefer to interpret and add meaning, this is intuition. The third concept is thinking (T) or feeling (F). When making decisions, if you prefer to first look at logic and consistency, this is thinking. If you prefer to first look at the people and the special circumstances, this is feeling. The fourth concept is judging (J) or perceiving (P). In dealing with the outside world, if you prefer to get things decided, this is judging. If you prefer to stay open to new information and options, this is perceiving. Therefore, according to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, there are 16 personality types. They can be shown as below. ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ ISTP ISFP INFP INTP ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ Each of the personality types has their own characteristics. Therefore, by indicating the four-letter type, one is able to identify their personality types. Employers in the IT industry can use this MBTI in their recruitment processes. By people showing their four-letter codes, then the recruiters are capable of identifying their traits and comparing them with the desired to see if they meet the criteria for recruitment. Question 6: Ethics and Legality Ethical and Legal Ethical and legal means that the particular action is morally right and at the same time accepted by law. An example of such an action is the use of the internet for surfing, sending of emails and messages, as well as buying things online such as books and music. This action is both morally right and is accepted in law. Not Ethical and Legal An example of such an action is access to private data, including electronic communications by state security agencies. Such data can include emails, phone conversations and text messages. This is not ethical since it violates one’s privacy. However, there are some laws that allow for such agencies to access private information for issues of national security. Ethical and Not Legal Take a scenario where there is widespread corruption and embezzlement of funds in a government office or a corporation. If one hacker decides to hack the systems with the aim of exposing such a scandal or scam, this can be considered to be morally right. Therefore, it is ethical. However, this is not legal. Not Ethical and Not Legal One such example that is prevalent in the IT world is the use of pirated software. The purchase, sale, and use of pirated software, as well as other pirated content such as music, movies or books is both morally wrong and illegal. Question 7: ITTP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct The most appropriate course of action for me would to turn down the attractive offer and inform the relevant parties of the matter arising. Going by the rules of the code means respecting the principles on which it is based including the interests of the community, respect for the individual, interests of the client, professional integrity, as well as the values of competence, truth, social justice and ethical behavior. Accepting this offer would mean breaching all these mentioned aspects. Accepting this offer is not professional since it does not observe professional. In arriving at this decision, I used Tenets 2, 6, 7, and 8 Question 8: Ethical Decision Making Utilitarianism is a theory of normative ethics that holds that the appropriate course of action is the one that ensures maximum overall happiness. A moral action is that which makes many people happy. However, Kant’s categorical imperatives are about an individual. According to Kant, human beings have an essential worth that is qualified by dignity. He also notes human beings should be considered as ends themselves, and never as means to an end. This means that people should be treated with value and respect. Based on these comparisons on both theories, then one can derive differences in the ethical perspectives behind the decisions to be made. For example, if the hiring of application developers from other countries would maximize the happiness of the majority as a result of the increased profits and reduced costs, then this is an ethical decision. However, Kant’s absolutism would strongly disagree with this decision. This is because the human being is merely being used as a means to the end. The end is to develop a database system. The means is to higher software developers. Therefore, as long as the software is developed, it does not matter where the developers come from. According to Kant, this does not place value or respect on an individual. An individual should be treated with respect because they have an intrinsic worth. Therefore, hiring developers from other countries would be an unethical decision since it does not place value, worth or respect on that particular person. Read More