Ethical Dilemma of the Stakeholders - Assignment Example

Course Title] [Professor’s Name] [Date] Ethical Dilemma Scenario 1 The Stakeholders The people directly involved in this scenario are the customers (particularly the very customer who complained about the faulty software), my boss and I, along with the other workers as well. The customer who complained is obviously concerned. There are several ways in which an online shopping cart can fail (Copeland, 231) and in this case it was his details that were exposed to others and could be abused. He naturally placed a complaint on finding this out. The boss decided to solve the problem just for this customer. Therefore, the customer is one of the stakeholders here. The boss is also one of the stakeholders because he is responsible for his company wherein there has been found a fault. If somehow the other customers also find out about the fault and it becomes a common complaint, much would be at stake since the boss had the responsibility of giving security to the customers. I am a stakeholder as well and so are my colleagues. My being a stakeholder arises from the fact that I am an employee at this company and whatever concerns the company would ultimately concern us. This reason goes for the other workers as well. An additional reason for me is that I had been asked by the boss to promote a software and not reveal the security problems of the previous version. Thus, I am concerned in double ways in this scenario. General Obligations Herein we have certain obligations that should be followed appropriately. The obligations are for the boss and I. This is because we are the two persons having knowledge about the security problem in the current software. It has been seen that the boss did not went ahead to fix the problem for each of the customer but only did so for one of them and who complained about it. He has certain obligations and he is required to get rid of the security issue in this context and provide a better software to his customers. Secondly, he should not be hiding the fact about the security when asking me to promote the other version. My obligation arises because of me having the knowledge about the security problems. I am required to talk the boss into fixing the problem of security for every customer and not just the one who complained about it. I should also discuss with the boss the issue regarding advertising without revealing complete facts. I am obliged to not hide anything from the customers and this becomes all the more important where their privacy and security is concerned. Best Consequences In this case there is the problem that the organisation and its workers would suffer whatever choice the boss takes. If the boss explains to its customers about the faulty software which has led to their privacy being intruded upon and their details being distributed, he would face a huge number of customers leaving the service. On the other hand if he chooses not to reveal the faults to the customers he would be committing fraud (Great Britain: National Audit Office, 39). It may happen that later on the people get to know about it and he may be sued for withholding this information from his customers and for being responsible for allowing the misuse of private details of his customers. Possibly the best action to take would be to fix the problem with the systems of all the customers and not just the one who had complained. The boss should present the new software and explain the improved features, showing them whatever testing has been done on the software for protecting their security. Issues in the Scenario In this scenario there are certain issues which need attention. There is the problem of the system of the company not being secure enough and this is caught the attention of one customer. The customer complained and the boss decided to fix the problem for him, but not for the rest of the customers. It is quite plain that the boss’s decision is unfair and unethical. Other than this boss has decided to launch an improved version of the software with enhanced security. The boss has asked me to advertise the software but not explain the problems with the previous software. A question to be raised here is whether the boss is doing the right thing or not. The new software would certainly take care of the security as has been proved through the testing. However, the question is whether the customers should be informed about the problems with the software that they had been using in the past, considering that now they would be changing the software anyway. Scenario 2 The Stakeholders In this scenario the stakeholders include John and his family, Jane, the boss, Michael, the whole team of employees and I. John is the one who has been dismissed from work and it was due to the suspicions that Jane has. The boss had dismissed John and thus he would be involved with whatever happens following the lawsuit. Michael had been the one setting up the rules regarding overwork and the pay for those extra hours. Now that the workers are required to work 80 hours per week they are being paid the extra wages for the previously decided 60 hours per week. Michael would be required to fix this else the workers could go on strike or take some similar action against him. I am also involved with this case greatly since it was me who planned the schedule and set 60 hours per week as the working hours for the employees. Another thing is the programming faults that John’s part of the code has. Jane was suspicious that this had been intentional and I forward this to the boss who, out of anger, dismisses John. Now John has placed a lawsuit in which I am very concerned as he says that it was me who did not put forward the pay conditions clearly and had a hand in dismissing him. General Obligations In this case what is required is that the attitude of the company should be appropriate. It is making the employees work 80 hours per week but is paying them salary for just 60 hours per week as this had been decided previously. Now it is not the fault of the employees that they are being required to work more for meeting the deadline and they should be getting their due money. Another obligation is on the part of the boss. He should not have dismissed John just like that. He should have investigated into the problem and attempted at finding out whether what Jane said was really the case or it was just her view. The boss is required to check into the issue and only dismiss John if he is really found to be at fault. Jane should not have suspected John just like that. She should also have checked it out thoroughly and then put forward her views but from the case given it seems that she was suspicious of John’s code and thus told me about it. Even I am at fault here as I could have attempted at investigating John’s case before reporting it to the boss. The case could have been made clearer. Another obligation that I have is to have an attempt at convincing the boss to pay for all the extra work that the employees are doing and not just the amount that had been decided upon previously. Best Consequences In the given scenario the best consequences would arise if each of the stakeholders carries out their obligations. The boss is required to increase the wages of the employees and fix them such that they are in accordance with 80 hours per week of work. This would be the ethical behaviour required of the boss and would also meet the demands of the employees along with avoiding dissent from them. The boss should also investigate into the case of John and attempt at finding out the extent to which Jane is right or wrong. I should be assisting the boss with John’s case and should plan everything once again in order to make sure that the current working hours would allow the workers to meet the deadline for whatever alterations are required in the software. Issues in the Scenario This scenario presents us with different questions. First of all the attitude of the boss and company is questionable. The boss is not behaving ethically nor is considering the hard work of his employees. The question raised here is whether the employees would tolerate such behaviour or not. Another question to be raised is whether what Jane did was appropriate or not. She might have had the best intentions when she reported to me about what she thought. However, whether it was ethical of her to suspect and then rumour about it or not is questionable. Work Cited Copeland, Lee. A practitioner's guide to software test design. Norwood, MA: Artech House, 2004. Great Britain: National Audit Office. International Benchmark of Fraud and Error in Social Security Systems. London: The Stationery Office, 2006. Read More