1. Write a brief explanation of the relationship between ethics and professional responsibility. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
2. Write a summary of the way that Claude Ferguson chose to balance his objective, subjective, and ethical responsibilities as a public administrator. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
3. Explain why you either agree or disagree with the way Claude Ferguson chose to balance his objectiveresponsibilities as a public administrator given the personal and professional risks. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
4. Explain why you either agree or disagree with the way Claude Ferguson chose to balance his subjectiveresponsibilities as a public administrator given the personal and professional risks. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
5. Explain why you either agree or disagree with the way Claude Ferguson chose to balance his ethicalresponsibilities as a public administrator given the personal and professional risks. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
6. Offer an alternative strategy that Claude Ferguson could have taken to balance responsibilities and ethics. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)
7. Explain why the alternative strategy you discussed in Paragraph 6 might help Claude Ferguson balance responsibilities and ethics. (Be sure to use in text citations from this week’s readings and any supplemental readings)

For the above paragraphs be sure to provide specific examples and support your postings and responses with specific references to the Learning Resources. 

1. References

 Ethics & Responsibility

1. There is a strong bond that unites ethics and professional responsibilities since professionals are expected to show professional conducts and reflect a professional public image.   In professional responsibility, ethics is a fundamental element where behaviors are governed by moral principles in order to produce positive results. Professionals are expected to follow the principles of moral conduct for them to distinguish between the right and wrong actions (Cooper, 2012).  Other important point is that professionals have a moral obligation to adhere to the codes of ethics which comprise aspirational and mandatory standards. According to Cooper, in professional responsibility, administrators should be guided by their inner convictions and should follow objective and subjective accountability in serving and fulfilling the public interest (Cooper, 2012). In addition, administrators should have an ethical commitment and ensure integrity, competence, diligence, confidentiality and fairness. In professional and social responsibility, professionals are expected to show high moral standards, act in a moral way, demonstrate commitment and solve problems morally (Cooper, 2012).  
2.   From the Claude Ferguson’s story, I do not agree with his decision. First, Ferguson failed to follow the norms of the organization and as a public servant; he has an ethical obligation and was expected to follow moral standards. The decision on prohibiting trail bikes is rooted from personal convictions and individual interest (O'Leary, 2009). His decision is contradictory to the formal policy and this action is unethical and unconscionable. The Guerrilla Government is associated with ethical issues which affect the public organization. The problem with his decision is that he failed to act as a governmental agency and consider taxpaying citizens but rather used personal conflicting opinions and created a conflict of interest. There is a public policy paradox which creates tensions and issues in organization structures (O'Leary, 2009).

      Ferguson could take an alternative course of action in addressing responsibility and ethics.  First, Freguson could develop an organization culture where organization members would participate in dialogue and debate for the purpose of generating multiple options, innovation and creativity (O'Leary, 2009). In ethical decision making, Ferguson would use formal and informal perception and these would help comply with informal and formal norms. On the same note, Freguson could respect the voice of the people, deal with the process affecting the people and avoid being too personal. He could value the dissenting opinions and allow the flow of ideas in solving the problem (O'Leary, 2009).

                                                                             References

Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role. San

              Francisco:Jossey-Bass.

O'Leary, R. (2009). When a Career Public Servant Sues the Agency He Loves: Claude Ferguson, the Forest Service, and

              Off-Road Vehicles in the Hoosier National Forest. Public Administration Review, 69(6), 1068-1076.

Ethics of Dissent. Guerrilla Government & Waldo's map of Ethical obligations of a public servant

 With regard to the Waldo’s map, Nevada Four guerillas have an obligation of creating a long-term vision of achieving goals. In ethical obligation, the Nevada four are accountable to the public in form of the interest group, the consumer, the elected representatives and the citizens (O'Leary, 2013). The goals were based on setting irrigation projects to serve the community. However, scientists said that the project would affect the environment but the group said that they were compelled by personal and spiritual matters and the need to change the nature. Other action in the competing obligation was changing the bureaucracies from the outside, for the purpose of creating a freedom of expression to the public. Nevada four have the obligation of taking risk. This is because; they face some threats from superiors especially when they fail to adhere to DOI policies (O'Leary, 2013). The Nevada four also agreed to put bridges in the government levels for the purpose of achieving their goals and secure the Wetlands. They were also interested in establishing public-private partnerships who would act as powerful allies in supporting water rights for the wetlands (O'Leary, 2013).

 The Guerillas’ actions have a big impact on the organization and public policy in that it creates tension on the Wildlife Service, in the organization structure and in the hierarchy. An important point to note that their actions are derived from self-interest and this will raise chaos in the organization. Even though the driving force is not disobedience, they are compelled by moral outrage, and personal and spiritual sense. Note that the government guerillas’ creates a problem of ambiguity since their competing ethical obligation is associated with deviant behavior rooted from personal interest (Cooper, 2012). I disagree with the Nevada Four guerillas’ action in that they have an irresponsible conduct which has already created tension on internal and external controls. The group ignores the fundamental reality and violates the normal ways, thus discouraging divergent thinking. It is not possible to bring changes and address the wicked problems since they do not employ network structures which would foster a ‘reality check’ (O'Leary, 2013).

Reference

O'Leary, R. (2013). The ethics of dissent: Managing guerrilla government. Washington DC : CQ Press, 2013.

Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Comparative Ethics. Ethical Codes across Cultures

Ethical codes across different cultures varies, depending on the societal dictates of people from different parts or even regions (Transparency International, (n.d.)). This consequently results in different ethical values in different parts, hence certain states may allow its people to do one thing, while another state might oppose it. Due to that reason, this paper will give a comparison of legal codes the gift giving culture in the state of Alaska and Alabama, before going ahead to explain how the culture affects gift giving practices, and also provide ways of resolving conflicts emanating from legal, professional or personal ethical codes related to the acceptance of gifts (Gilman, 2005).

Alabama  

In this state, nobody is allowed to either offer or give either public officer or a member of a public staff anything inform of a bribe (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2013). Nobody is supposed to receive gifts in order to affect his or her judgement, thus bribing and corruption in not in any way tolerated. In addition, no public employee or officer is supposed to ask for a bribe from anyone, in order to offer any form of favor. Even though whatever might be offered might be of a very high value, no one is supposed to accept that form of bribe (Transparency International, (n.d.)). Thirdly, nobody is allowed to offer a family member of a public officer any money or otherwise gift, in order to affect the decisions of the public employee, regarding lobbying of a legislative body or any commission under the legislature.

A person will therefore be termed as corrupt if he or she is acts voluntarily, and dishonestly in order to perform an unlawful act against the dictates of the law. No petitioner, or the representative of a petitioner is allowed to offer a valuable thing to a public employee. A public officer is not also allowed to receive whether knowingly or unknowingly a gift either in form of money or inform of valuable products from a petitioner or from his/her client (Gilman, 2005).

            Alaska

In as much as the ethical codes of gift giving are very strict, Alaska is a bit different, whereby public employees are allowed to receive gifts, guaranteed they do not reach a maximum of $250, whether they are in form of money or in form of entertainment, loans, services, travel or even a mortgage (Transparency International, (n.d.)). This consequently means that the public employee may receive any form of gift from anybody as long as it does not exceed the stipulated amount of money. However, a legislative employee in this state is not allowed to receive a gift from his or her immediate family if its net value is in excess of $250. Furthermore, a legislative employee is not allowed to accept any forms of gifts from petitioners, even though it might not exceed the required amount. There are also other exceptions such as food and beverage for consumption are not allowed, or should not be offered to legislative employees.

Legislative employees may on the other hand, enjoy gifts such as free rides, nonetheless a vacation outside Alaska is not permitted, thus limiting the legislative employee (Transparency International, (n.d.)). Discounts to the public or a large group of people are also legal, thus a legislative employee may benefit from this type of gifts. In addition, when in a public state or function, a legislative employee may receive the gifts guaranteed a reason for being given such a gift or gifts should be stipulated in a receipt. Contributions to charity events are also allowed, thus giving the public employees the chance to be able to carry out different activities such as helping the needy. Legislators who receive gifts of more than $250 from must present a reason from as to why he or she defied or went against the rule of law and took the gift (Gilman, 2005).

Influence of Culture on the Ethics of Gift giving    

The culture acts as a cornerstone of each and everything which takes place within the society. In other words, the society shapes the dictates of the society (Schultz, 2010). The ethics of gift giving is based on the general principles of the culture, whereby people are not supposed to be in any way corrupt. In the case of Alabama and Alaska, the culture of these states does not allow or even tolerate corruption and bribery. This has therefore allowed the state to be able to protect its public offices from any form of corruption (Transparency International, (n.d.)). On the other hand, in order for an organization to be able come up with a set of rules, the culture of the given geographic area is usually used. This therefore means that the state of Alaska and Alabama used these principles based on the dictates of the culture within the region.

Resolving Conflicts arising from the acceptance of Gifts

Code of ethics are supposed to be the guiding principles and standards of operations, thus allowing the employees to uphold a high degree of honesty, competent and accountability (Transparency International, (n.d.)). Due to that reason, each and every employee within a public sector will consequently be required to understand the code of ethics, and to also exercise it. If a person fails to do so then this could lead to misunderstanding or dishonesty. All public employee will consequently be required to the dictates of the code of ethics, thus streamlining the flow of work, a move which reduces the chances of conflicts within a public sector. Understanding the code of ethics will therefore be the best way of avoiding any conflicts within a public sector (Gilman, 2005).  

Reference

Gilman, S. C. (2005). Ethics codes and codes of conduct as tools for promoting an ethical and professional public service: Comparative successes and lessons. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/35521418.pdf

National Conference of State Legislatures. (2013). Ethics: Legislator gift restrictions overview. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.ncsl.org/research/ethics/50-state-table-gift-laws.aspx

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). (n.d.). Ethics codes and codes of conduct in OECD countries. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.oecd.org/gov/ethics/ethicscodesandcodesofconductinoecdcountries.htm

Schultz, D. (2010). Ethics regulation across professions: The problem of gifting. Public Integrity, 12(2), 161–172.

Note: Retrieved from Walden Library databases.

Transparency International. (n.d.). Research. Retrieved November 19, 2013, from http://www.transparency.org/research

Ethics of Dissent: Applying Ethical Decision Making Models to Guerrilla Government

Introduction

Guerilla administration can best be described as a governmental resistance system that is conducted by dissatisfied workers and administrators with the assistance of public organizations operations, initiatives or individuals with the intention of operating against the set standards (Bredeson & Goree, 2012). In other words, guerilla administration is related to the utilization of power and the existence of pressure amid what those that are involved believe to be ethical.

Ethical Issues Description

Ethics can best be defined as the manner in which people account for the acceptable and wrong deeds (Bredeson & Goree, 2012). From the case study, the established ethical issue involves the utilization of power which is the strategic utilization of tactics that are objected at avoiding the acceptable activities established within an organization as well as wrongly allocating funds. The administrators seem to be stifling and ignoring proficiency, knowledge as well as the workers. In addition, they react negatively against the staffs who tend to object the choices and the objective of the leaders. In addition, those experts that attempt to follow the set laws are mistreatment as a form of punishment (O'Leary, 2014). More so, this resulted in the wrongful handling of confidential details while still disregarding the set policies and the considered obligation of the whole administration and intervention.

In other words, the ethical issue mainly entails the scenario where the workers were circumvented something that fueled their disrespect for the set policies (O'Leary, 2014). In addition, based on the operations there are strategic and organized embattled assaults that seek to affect the workers who fail to be compliant. Simultaneously, the administration as the utmost authority that was necessitated to regulate the organization failed to guard the workers against unethical conduct from the managers in the organization (O'Leary, 2014).

Description of the Issues Faced by Political Appointees, Federal Ethics Policies Violation and the Effects on the Organization and public policy

One of the major issues that the political appointees faced was in developing and identifying the rate of trust from the workers. In that for example, Spencer’s strategies led to the development of a surrounding that is full of uncertainty. In this context, most of the federal ethical policies were dishonored (O'Leary, 2014). He was involved in overuse of his authority as he participated in modified travels and funds misuse and made predetermined agreements that were aimed at advancing him unswervingly. In short, the power was being utilized for individual’s assistances. The actions affected the general productivity of the organization as well as ethical operations. Mistrust was also generated and this might be grounded on the fact that administration is primarily fueled by an organizational culture (O'Leary, 2014). The disapproval that was generated in regard to the investigation resulted in the establishment of illegal silent laws.

Why the Career Employees Were Motivated To Use Guerrilla Tactics

The workers made the decision of utilizing the guerilla strategies as an attempt to change the existing scenario given that it had touched a stage that would not be easily accomplished. To start with the workers were mainly disappointed by power wrong utilization for individual gains by the managers (O'Leary, 2014). This, therefore, seemed as if the company’s workers were irrelevant and they were ignored while making decisions that were particularly developed at the high standards. However, the utilization of these guerilla strategies cannot be categorized as immoral given that they were aimed at guarding the company.

How These Actions Affected the Organization and Public Policy

The worker's efforts resulted in developing a more stable surrounding that supported adherence to the policies as well as productivity. Given that the managers are responsible for controlling operations and ensuring that activities are conducted in responsible ways the tactics led to the development of ethics (Cooper, 2012). This, in turn, led to an investigation which found that the administrator’s actions were unethical thus upholding public policies.

Actions Leaders within the EPA Might Have Taken To Manage Guerrilla Government

The EPA leaders should have applied a variety of options in managing the guerilla administration. For example, they should have worked in collaboration with the employees in order to gain an understanding of their issues and motives (O'Leary, 2014). In that employees are an essential business part and should, therefore, be respected. The strategies would have altered the general results of the situation by generating strategic opportunities for communication and integration.

Potential Lessons for Public Administrators and Their Significance

From the case, it is apparent that one of the important lessons is that authoritative alliances can exist among employees which can, in turn, change the working surrounding. The unity among employees can be utilized to generate a transformation in instances when the administration fails to uphold policies and ignore the wellness of the company at its staffs (Martin, 2001). Another lesson is that an organization is bound to collapse if its administration fails to uphold policies and control operations. Unethical operations can be avoided by having an authoritative administration and therefore, its failure will result in unacceptable behaviors (Cooper, 2012). More so, the case study shows that an association amid the administrators and the workers can result in the development of favorable surroundings without the involvement of retaliation. The lessons, therefore, demonstrates that it is through strong relationships that relevant decisions and desirable behaviors can be developed.

Conclusion

The guerilla case study shows that administrators are required to uphold positive values to be adopted by the workers in the company. The failure to being objective might result in the use of guerilla strategies as solutions to the existing issues. In this context, administrators play a critical role in shaping culture and behaviors that can be utilized in restricting unethical conducts.

References

Bredeson, D., & Goree, K. (2012). Ethics in the workplace. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Carroll, A. B. (2017). Business & society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Cengage Learning.

Cooper, T. L. (2012). The responsible administrator: An approach to ethics for the administrative role. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Martin, G. (2001). Human values and ethics in the workplace. Cherrybrook, N.S.W.: Glenn Martin.

O'Leary, R. (2014). The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerrilla Government. Washington, DC: CQ Press.

The Ethics and Legalities of Medication Error Disclosure

Administering medications is a basic and essential skill of practicing nurses but the errors in prescription may have serious legal implications for nurses and health effects for the patients. Medical errors are not unusual in the health care systems and at times, they are responsible for delayed patient’s recovery and causing harm to the patient.  However, when such errors occur, it is necessary for health care professionals to observe the established code of ethics and legal provisions to ensure that patients are not harmed. Disclosing a medication error is not easy, but legally and ethically, it is the appropriate thing to do. The patients who are affected deserve to be told and be involved with any health issues or concerns that relates to them.

 The health practitioner is required to disclose the personal harmful errors, explain the reason for such errors and how their effects can be minimized and even ensure that such errors are eliminated or minimized in future (Bernat, 2008).  Just a simple acknowledgement of such mistakes and offering apologies can go a long way in dealing with arising issues. Deciding whether to the error should be reported depends on the kind and seriousness of the error, the evidence about the issue and the potential impacts and costs. It is therefore, necessary to have an effective reporting procedure and a conducive environment that encourages reporting, especially one that is anonymous and secure. An important point that should be considered in health care actions such as drug prescription, every situation is serious and any health practitioner is capable of making mistakes (Mazor, Simon & Gurwitz, 2004). There are also effects relating to whether the personal errors committed will be disclosed or not.  

Errors in medication may not cause permanent problems in the health of patients, but in small number of cases the errors may lead to serious health effects or even death. Disclosing such errors to the patients holds both ethical and legal implications on the part of the health practitioner. Ethical professional code may require the disclosure of personal errors to the client but the consequences cannot be anticipated. Disclosure of the personal error is important since it preserves the trust existing between a health care provider and the patient. Especially in cases where more treatment is needed so as to counter the effect of errors such as in prescription, disclosure will be very important in securing the consent that is informed (Edwin, 2009). In addition, disclosure can assist physicians in introducing various constructive changes in their practices with an aim of ensuring that the errors are minimized as much as possible or eliminated altogether (Bernat, 2008). By doing this , the practitioner will have abided by the Code of Ethics and the various professional practice guidelines that obligates a physician to inform a patient about their personal errors. This is to assist the patient in understanding what has happened especially if they experience a considerable medical complication from the aforementioned mistakes. If such information is essential for the well-being of the patient or is important for their future treatment, it has to be disclosed.

  In addition, the patient is likely to be accommodative and trust the genuineness of the mistakes made by the healthcare provider and as being human errors. In this case, the patient reactions may not be negative like a situation where they find out about the mistakes themselves and hence press legal charges (Bernat, 2008).  There are some consequences that may drive the desire by medical professionals to hide personal errors which relate their image. The professionals in the medical filed values perfection and may feel that their reputation will be tainted once they reveal the error (Bernat, 2008). The destroyed reputation also means that referrals to their practice will reduce which can lead to a huge loss of their income. This can be attributed to the fact that anxiety may increase among some patients and thereby eroding their trust for the medical professional on future health care. It also possible that disclosing the errors can affect the other stakeholders in the health industry such as the health insures where the affected patients can lead to poor outcome in lawsuits against professionals that is can affect these organizations.  

The disclosure is, however, important for the sake of the patients’ safety since the primary ideas is to offer health solutions to the patients.  This means that disclosing personal errors will be of great assistance to the well-being of the patient and it is ethically and morally right to do so.  It is not justifiable to hide a personal prescription or medical error with an aim of preventing malpractice lawsuit if the error presents health problem to the patient (Guillod, 2013). Ethics should provide guidance to the medical professional so that they disclose the truth if a patient suffer poor outcome because of a human error. It is also to not that even if the ethical code is not observed and information disclosed, the truth will eventually come out. Disclosure will go a long way in ensuring the safety of the patients and less cases of malpractice lawsuit since the patients will be aware of the cause of the mistake (Guillod, 2013).  

 On the other hand, failure to disclose personal medical and medication errors can have profound ethical and legal consequence for the health care providers. The dilemma presented to the clinicians is one of which attitude they should embrace, whether to withhold or to honestly sharing the information with the patients. Ideally, disclosure is appropriate since it makes it easy to take measures that can redress and prevent future personal errors (Chamberlain, Koniaris & Pawlik, 2012). Failure to disclose such information will erode the trust and confidence the patient had with the health practitioner and this opens the door for malpractice lawsuits. The attitude of non-disclosure tantamount to deception and it violates the moral ethical rule of not deceiving. The violation of the ethical code cannot be justified unless everybody agrees that the violations are such that if they can be justified for any individual, they can be justified for everyone when every morally relevant aspect is the same as others. The failure to disclose may also be justified if it is rational in favoring the violation even if it is known by everybody that the violation is allowed. However, failure to disclosures doesn’t satisfy such conditions and hence, it adds up as a violation of the ethical code (Chamberlain, Koniaris & Pawlik, 2012). The perception by the patients that a health practitioner does not observe ethical codes in their work leads to loss of trust if the patient find by himself or herself that the errors were committed and such errors can affect their health and well-being.

 It is evident that the risk of legal liability is present in health or medical practice, and this is true when things do not turn out as expected by the patients or their family. The health professionals will face lawsuits when personal errors are detected by patients especially if they affect the outcome of the health care services. It is also evident that ineffective communication between the practitioner and the patient after an error has happened is a major contributing aspect in malpractice lawsuits (Guillod, 2013). The patient becomes dissatisfied if the health practitioner holds an attitude of denial than they would because of negligence itself. This means that many malpractice litigations could be avoided if there was enough disclosure followed by an apology on the same. What most patients want is just a simple explanation by the health practitioner of what transpired and where necessary an apology. Where neither is adequately offered, the patients will feel deeply wronged and thus seek legal counsel on the same.  The various litigations by the patients will aim at obtaining compensation especially if their health has been affected by the personal errors by the practitioners. This concept is based on the principle of justice and if the human errors are portrayed as negligence damages will have to be paid to the patients (Guillod, 2013). The litigations will also have the opposite effect of inhibiting further medical and prescription disclosure out of fear of such lawsuits.

 In conclusion, disclosure and non-disclosure can have both desirable and non-desirable legal and ethical implications. Even if disclosure of personal errors may expose health practitioners to litigations, reduced reputation and penalties, patients mostly react positive and participate in addressing the effects of the errors. Non-disclosure on the other hand has been shown to lead to litigation since patients feel that they have been deceived.

References

Bernat, J. L. (2008). Ethical issues in neurology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.67-69

Chamberlain, C. J., Koniaris, L. G., Wu, A. W., & Pawlik, T. M. (2012). Disclosure of “nonharmful” medical errors and other events: duty to disclose. Archives of Surgery, 147(3), 282-286.

Mazor, K. M., Simon, S. R., & Gurwitz, J. H. (2004). Communicating with patients about medical errors: a review of the literature. Archives of internal medicine, 164(15), 1690-1697.

Guillod, O. (2013). Medical error disclosure and patient safety: legal aspects. Journal of public health research, 2(3).

Edwin, A. K. (2009). Non-disclosure of medical errors an egregious violation of ethical principles. Ghana medical journal, 43(1), 34.

Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Online Learning

            Introduction

Online Learning has emerged as a transfiguring concept in the contemporary society today. It has offered an undoubted range of opportunities to all the learning institutions as well as for learners in regard to flexibility, knowledge development, convenience and availability of information which is shared via electronic media (Bedford et al., 2011). Present services are mainly in the need of online learning facilities particularly for the educational based institutions that seeks mainly to provide elasticity and opportuneness to their learners with more enhanced access to learning content and materials. Online learning websites have acquired intense and speedy acceptance because of the massive benefits to those involved. However, despite the advantages, online learning has raised numerous legal, communal and ethical difficulties that necessitate immediate solutions (Bedford et al., 2011). The general online learning growth has mainly been fueled by technology advancement which supports the integration of supportive procedures which created an open opportunity for the learning facilities to accommodate the E-learning demands. Following a case study strategy, the paper will analyze both legal and ethical issues with respect to Online learning by evaluating the viability and functionality of such matters. These concerns, therefore, places several probable considerations on organizations and information developers to ensure that the system’s effectiveness is restrained from potent threats linked with these issues.

Online Learning Conceptual Basics

Online learning has acquired a leading position based on its speedy and desirable growth in the previous decade. While in general the graduate enrollment in particular for the undergraduate level is said to have increased by at least 3 percent, it is accounted that a 10 percent increase in regard to online learning admission has been achieved as well (Spain and Robles, 2011). As a result, above 70 percent of the graduate population, every year has at least engaged in a single online class. Online teaching and learning can best be described as a strategic plan that seeks to create flexibility in the acquisition of knowledge and skills development as necessitated socio-economically. Besides the intensifying online learning demands, there are concerns which had been raised in regard to online learning quality an issue that remains amongst institution’s administrators, students and the society in general (Spain and Robles, 2011). There are several legal and ethical forces that affect online teaching’s superiority one being the learning environment which plays a vital responsibility in regard to learning efficiency.

Ethics and Legal Terms Descriptions In Relation To Online Learning

Online learning environments necessitate a balancing of dissimilar anticipations of those that are involved as well as considering how ethics is perceived by users while learning on the online platform. To commence with, ethics involves what individuals are supposed to fulfill (Spain and Robles, 2011). Some ethical concerns, therefore arise where different individual’s interests collide thus requiring the application of principles that provides adequate considerations to all. The fairness of these principles is derived by acceptance and obedience by the society in general. On the other hand, the illegalness of the set policies determines whether the conduct is right or not. These create social, ethical as well as legal standards and expectations in regard to every interaction. In this regard, ethical and legal principles can be utilized to refer to rational and cooperative standards that hold higher aims when equated to member’s self-interests. This is the reason as to why legal and ethical principles signify courteousness and tolerance (Liu et al., 2014). Both ethical and legal online learning is acquired from both instructional and information sharing rules and morals.

Ethical Issues Concerning Online Learning

The ethical concerns in relation to online learning mostly begin from the inappropriate utilization of the popular reserve which is the internet. With the internet which offers more information as compared to physical classrooms learning it is very easy for students to cheat (Liu et al., 2014). In that online learning provides the opportunity to acquire fraudulent information or knowledge and directly apply it in their respective course assignments and projects. In this context, it is important for the software developers specifically for the online learning systems to formulate cautious designs that can be managed at ease in the quest of reducing unethical practices by learners which affect efficiency (Liu et al., 2014). Academic dishonesty cannot be encouraged at any given period given that it affects the integrity of education while increasing moral truancy.

Based on the difficulties experienced by online learners and teaching in passing and acquiring the needed skills in succeeding in today’s labor market as well as the challenges that are experienced by both parties while trying to communicate within the online platform, online learning, particularly for higher education, is faced by significant ethical barriers in regard to its general implementation (Cole, Swartz and Shelley, 2014). Based on universal knowledge it is apparent that acquiring career success necessitates having authoritative working ethics career responsibility and the general capability to interact and relate with others with integrity. Most of these aspects are affected by online learning because most learners take advantage by trying to venture in academic success shortcuts. Besides the prevailing academic dishonesty which is mainly fueled by the availability and easy access of immeasurable information online learning can restrain learners from acquiring soft and individual skills that are required for career success (Cole, Swartz and Shelley, 2014).

Learning efficiency is not achieved by the capability to acquire knowledge rather it is determined by the individual’s capability to transit by applying and translating knowledge to the real working demands (Spain and Robles, 2011). It is rather unfortunate that online learning particularly the programs that prepare learners to participate in the public facility industry makes the challenging to make the transition in the working world. These limitations that learners acquire from the online teaching create unethical scenarios, where the institutions provide its students with impractical anticipations and fail to provide them with the necessitated skills in achieving the objectives (Liu et al., 2014). 

More so, in a typical context, online classes usually assign continuous discussion queries as a major assessment approach that should be returned in a written format which differs from the video based learning (Liu et al., 2014). In this context, the written responsibilities normally limit the learner’s opportunities to having verbal clarification or in arguing their thought in a confident, ordinary and proficient way. This signifies that there is a need for the institutions offering online learning to consider the manner in which the teaching approach within the online setting fails to inspire and support learners in developing suitable public participation skills. Based on the lack of such necessities in the sector, online learning places little or zero assertion in regard to the negative implications that every student might come across in the respective future expertise due to the inadequate experience acquired from online courses (Spain and Robles, 2011). In this context, learning institutes should be focused on evaluating the manner in which they implement online programs in the quest of achieving a curriculum that necessitates learners to similarly complete spoken as well as written tasks.

Instructional and video recordings in regard to compound and dynamic courses are some of the recommendations that learning institutions can utilize in creating interactive and vibrant online classes (Cole, Swartz and Shelley, 2014). The low assertion of oral communication and discussions is a noticeable scenario of the manner in which online learning is unprincipled. In public services and psychological fields, expertise should possess the capability to read individual’s body language as well as psychological wellness. The capability to read expression and body responses can hypothetically result in these expertise saving thousands of lives. Thus, these specialists eventually need to own the capability to establish whether their services are appreciated and valued by consumers (Cole, Swartz and Shelley, 2014). Based on research learners who acquire online educated cannot sincerely succeed in the application of public servicing or psychological therapy theories given that all they understand is to limitlessly respond to work demands via objective and written tasks.

In this context, it can be argued that it is unethical that online learning limits certain courses and curriculums to online teaching which raises a decency concern. In addition, the online platform can at times be utilized by instructors with unethical standards or principles as the means of inconspicuously striking their personal philosophies onto the learners (Bedford et al., 2011). Despite the fact that this can as well occur in physical classes, the potential of instructors presenting immoral beliefs upsurges within the online platforms given that the morality of the standards cannot be argued verbally and adequately. This scenario is known as having would ensure source commentary, where online learners only acquire instructions and details from one resource which is the instructor of media details thus creating limited chances for thoughts and information sharing with other learners (Bedford et al., 2011). For instance, a professor might pose certain theoretical or partisan agendas which are then applied to learnings descriptions. In such courses, there might be some learners with a different view or those that might require some interpretation in regard to why the philosophies were utilized but online platform denies such opportunities thus offering more authority to the instructors. Contrarily within the physical classes, such matters are solved immediately which offers some form of autonomy. Online learnings, however, forces learners to wait for the instructor’s authored reports after the next logging in which is controlled by their willingness and commitment (Bedford et al., 2011). Such status can in addition, negatively affect the relationship amid the students and professors, in that the interpretation of the reports differs based on the attitude and perception of the diverse learner's population.

In general online learning raises ethical issues from both the learner’s and the instructor’s perspective. In this context, instructors and the education facilities should engage in accurate evaluation of the associated benefits and well as outcomes in regard to online learning (Ostlund, Panchenko, and Engel, 2013). Success in education cannot be achieved without accounting for ethics given that the socially accepted standards fulfill. Online learnings limit the general student’s capability to perform as well equipped professional given that they are not equipped adequately in regard to applying the acquired learnings in real operations that necessitate cognitive as well as practical skills. Ultimately, these learners necessitate personal learning relations throughout the learnings process which seeks to ensure a thriving professional career (Ostlund, Panchenko, and Engel, 2013). The world today is changing rather rapidly and in meeting the socio-economic demands diverse professionals in regard to experience, knowledge, skills, and capabilities are highly necessitated.

Legal Issues Concerning Online Learning

There are several legal concerns that surrounding the development of the performance of online learning which affects the society in general.  The most challenging and pressing issues which overlap in most cases are established in subjects of licensing, infringement, copyright, and data safety. Subjects related to intellectual property privileges as the major legal issues that are linked with online learning along with academic liberty, integrity, honesty have created increased attention to the manner in which such matters affect online learning with respect to legal principles. As noted by Akcapinar (2015) the effect of technology in regard to teaching is essential given that it has revealed concerns which were not in existence previously in regard to ethical and legal disputes. Defensibly, it is important to explore both sets of major issues in regard to machinery and computer based learning as an increasing concept today.

Intellectual Property Law in Protecting Personal Rights

In reference to law based assertions, intellectual property is described as imaginative, discovery, encounters or even inventive work that holds a value that is generated via human based activities by organizations of persons (Akcapinar, 2015). With respect to the education field, intellectual property can be defined as certified, copyrighted or patent pieces that involve any capacity effort like books, journals, and notes. Ownership presents many controversies in regard to education given that despite the fact that the laws allow the institutions to utilize the materials while acknowledging the actual authors most of these principles are breached in teaching deliveries as well as in learning given that most individuals prefer to duplicate. Personal data involves both opinions and facts in regard to an individual which can be termed as personal rights. Data Protection Act can be utilized in reference to any personal information. This means that the rights to guarding authors work should be protected and the processing should be done while observing personal rights security, accuracy and limited utilization (Akcapinar, 2015). Licensing refers to the legal principle of the manner in which one can utilize online learning protected materials. In educative platforms, licensing normally states the terms of software use such as a number of users and these terms are to be respected.

Copyright Infringement and Fair Use Problems in Online Learning

Copyright infringement can best be described as the utilization of work that is guarded by the law regarding copyright without acquiring for permission, infringing certain exclusive privileges that are given to the owner such as the reproduction privilege, transfer or display (Akcapinar, 2015). There should be a fair use understanding unless given other specifications that permits sensible utilization of materials for private investigation. The general tendency of making several resources copies without the direct authorization by the copyright possessor that recognizes fair use is not tolerable. The major legal subjects that result in problems in regard to online learning includes possession, copyright, denouncement and harassment issues. Each of these concerns, in addition, relates to the physical classes setting but also necessitates a fresh view in regard to online learning application (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010).

Acquiring articles of materials from the internet in order to assist students with learning is in most cases a form of copyright infringement given that there is no fair use. This is a major issue from most institutions globally given that the instructors tend to believe that everything performed within the set classrooms is relevant to fair use given that it only seeks to fulfil educational goals (Bedford et al., 2011). This perspective has stretched to the online field which exposes the unsuspecting users to major issues. In avoiding copyright infringement in the online platform the delivery practices should only focus on fair use directive. To most individuals copyright to the protection of individual’s thoughts, it that copyright law only protects thoughts expression as held in physical work. However, it should be noted that the copyright law in America permits authors to quote as well as paraphrase the original expressions without acquiring for the author's authority which falls under fair use principles. Therefore, in order to avoid the infringement of the copyright privileges, the users are required to acknowledge the actual authors (Bedford et al., 2011).

Today, students are more focused towards understanding the short strategies for achieving academic success particularly for the online assignments (Bedford et al., 2011). Given that the internet offers unlimited content, they prefer to copy the answers directly from the sources which are not exposed online and therefore making it hard to be detected by plagiarism tools. In inclusion to this tendency, the available materials on the online learning platforms can be modified and uploaded on a different online learning website without the authority of the real teacher mainly for the exhibition documents. This is an intrusion of intellectual property.  In order to avoid the associated liabilities, online instructors should understand copyright laws source and their suggestions, given that this can effectively endorse productive online education and learning involvement (Bedford et al., 2011).

Fair Use

Despite the fact that copyright regulations are not a fresh concept in the education field, their consequences should be reviewed constantly given that the learning and instructional settings have changed due to digitalization. Fair use can best be described as a doctrine that originates from the American law that allows the utilization of copyrighted work without the acquisition of authorization from the copyright proprietor (Akcapinar, 2015). However, the use must be modest which means that one can either use direct quotes to rephrase the materials while recognizing the owners. The utilization of copyright directs as a means of stimulating information distribution should be a collaborative and imaginative venture. Fair use theories can be utilized to the copyright principles while setting specific restrictions in regard to copyright possessor’s privileges (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010).

Technology Tools That Protect Academic Integrity

Academic integrity can be termed as an essential aspect in regard to learning. Academic integrity can best be described as the honesty in which learners are oriented on doing their academic tasks by performing individualized work without copying (Liu et al., 2014). On the other hand, academic dishonesty is the utilization of unjustified assistance whether the learners are receiving or giving it. This might incorporate the creation of false information, misreporting findings duplication. In other words, it is untruthful and deceptive behavior. Based on the recent studies technology has developed drastically in regard to both learning and teaching. In this context, it offers fresh and more simplified strategies through which learners can cheat (Liu et al., 2014). The utilization of technological apparatus is essential in erecting as a while as preventing such kind of cheating which can also guard technology paybacks thus resulting in learning expansion. This can be performed by a review of the given work by the plagiarism tools which determine the originality of the work. Rather than focusing on the manner in which the effort to prevent cheating can be viewed by the student's institutions should work to ensure that cheating becomes intolerable. This is the major duty of protecting academic integrity while labeling the outstanding learners (Liu et al., 2014). 

Works in the public domain and Works from the Creative Commons

Public domain is a term that is utilized to refer to create content that does not have intellectual property’s protection like patent or copyright. The materials are owned by the public in general and not any personal ownership (Ostlund, Panchenko, and Engel, 2013). The materials can be utilized by anyone but no one has ownership rights. In this context, online learning should mainly promote the use of materials from these specific sites in ensuring that no infringement is conducted. However, the utilized materials should be rewarded or well acknowledged to protect the domains rights. On the other hand, creative commons provides a variety of licenses where each of them is associated with differing privileges. Some of the rights include the ability to utilize the work, information use freedom for any objective, sharing freedom, and the permission to edit. This, therefore, provides learning institutions with the general capability to utilize transfer the materials freely without breaking any privilege (Liu et al., 2014).

Considerations for E-Learning Environments

Physical and online learning as dissimilarities in some aspects particularly with respect to the learning environments. In that online professors hold limited authority over the learner’s physical environment when equated to physical teachings (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010). Social, ethnic, spiritual, legal and ethical forces in regard to the learning environment have immeasurable effects on learning. It is, therefore, hard for effective learning to take place without having an appropriate environment. It is vital for learners to be provided with well-designed instructions in the quest of achieving learning effectiveness. The purpose is however reliant on environmental factors. To begin with, the first consideration is safety. In that, learning is effective if implemented in a reassuring and harmless environment (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010). Learners should at all times sense physical as well as spiritual wellness which in turn increases productivity. Professors should, therefore, establish safe virtual teaching surroundings for the respective learners. With the absence of physical communication, students fail to understand those contributing in the discussions.

For consistent participation, learners need to feel acknowledged and appreciated by the instructors as well as other learners. Offering online guidelines as well as specified requirements can be useful in establishing online safety that is free from individual attacks and adequate in significant and informative participations (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010). A safe online learning environment enhances learning and also the participants are obligated to develop a balance amid professional, social and learning responsibilities. The other consideration is that it is essential to create supportive surroundings for online learners. In that support comes from encouraging learner’s to propose their thoughts, queries and participate in helping each other by actively engaging in virtual discussions. When learner’s participation is beneath anticipations instructors should offer active support (Spain and Robles, 2011). Being supportive creates a huge distinction given that it creates clarity and learning commitment which ultimately leads to online learning success. Interactive is another aspect that is to be accounted.

Online learner’s, in general, lacks the opportunity to effectively communicator with professors and peers directly (Spain and Robles, 2011). However, in order to achieve learning efficiency, it is vital to ensure that E-learning is interactive and lively to ensure that the learner’s do not feel isolated. The possibilities of increasing online interactions are growing rather rapidly with the advancement of technology tools such as Synchronous. There are three distinct learning interactions that are crucial for online general learning which are learner’s interaction with content, learners with other learner’s and student-instructors interaction. Amongst the interactions, the most significant one is amid the instructor and learners in regard to changing learning perception and enhancing effectiveness (Spain and Robles, 2011). Offering spiritual and content support can be useful in helping learner’s to overcome challenges and maintain their online learning enrollments.

Flexibility and engagement are another consideration for both the institution's administrators and website developers. Online learning normally permits learner’s to study at any given period, any location and their given speed. This provides students with a general control sense over learning. In addition, it is vital to permit learner’s to pursue their subjects of interest or individualized projects to be expressive of their thoughts and arguments. This would ensure that learning becomes more relevant to learners on the basis of their professional and individual’s anticipations and experiences. This is a suitable way of instilling motivation given that permitting students to share their individualized thoughts with each other, exposes them to wider ranges of subjects which permit them to learn extensively (Toprak, Ozkanal, Aydin, & Kaya, 2010). 

Conclusion

Online learning setting, content and the application of technology has transformed the manner in which teaching and learning are conducted today which has also created fresh issues in regard to legal and ethical accountability. The edge outcome of online has created both professionals and distractors. Based on most findings it is perceived that the success of online learning is mainly acquired with the presence of honesty and trust amid the targeted students. Despite the fact that integrity has risen to be among the major pressing issues, teaching mode, learning environment, control and evaluation strategies have grown to be major issues. Along with, focusing on modifying the online learning environment much attention should also be paid to things such as content superiority, design, provision practices and administration. This will seek to deal with issues such as privacy, data protection, copy right, license and infringement thus enhancing learning.

References

Akcapinar, G. (2015). How automated feedback through text mining changes plagiaristic             behavior in online assignments. Computers & Education, 87 Pp. 123-130.

Bedford, D. Wayne, Gregg, Janie R., & Clinton, Suzanne M. (2011). Preventing online cheating with technology: A pilot study of remote proctor and an update of its use. Journal of     Higher Education Theory and Practice 11(2), 41-58.

Judith W. Spain and Marcel M. Robles. (2011). Academic Integrity Policy: The Journey. Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 2, June 2011 151-159 DOI:             10.1177/1080569911404407.

Liu, C.-C., Lin, C.-C., Chang, C.-Y., & Chao, P.-Y. (2014). Knowledge Sharing among    University Students Facilitated with a Creative Commons Licensing Mechanism: A Case          Study in a Programming Course. Educational Technology & Society, 17 (3), 154–167.

Mitchele T. Cole, Louis B. Swartz and Daniel J. Shelley. (2014). Student’s Use of Technology in             Learning Course Material: Is It Cheating? International Journal of Information and             Communication Technology Education. 10 (1), 35 -48.

Ostlund, S., Panchenko, A., and Engel, T. (2013). A study on ethical aspects and legal issues in   e-learning. International Conference on e-Learning’15.

Toprak, E., Ozkanal, B, Aydin, S & Kaya, S. (2010). Ethics in E-Learning. The Turkish Online   Journal of Educational Technology. (2), 1-9.

Annotated Bibliography

Akcapinar, G. (2015). How automated feedback through text mining changes plagiaristic        behavior in online assignments. Computers & Education, 87 Pp. 123-130.

            The article holds that despite technological advancement which has established rather simpler ways to cheat academically automation tool can be utilized in handling the tendency. Academic plagiarism is not acceptable given that it affects learning integrity thus acquiring automated responses can help in transforming the plagiaristic conduct in regard to online tasks.

Bedford, D. Wayne, Gregg, Janie R., & Clinton, Suzanne M. (2011). Preventing online         cheating with technology: A pilot study of remote proctor and an update of its   use. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice 11(2), 41-58.

            The article discusses the major reasons as to why online learners cheat and several ways through which the academic dishonesty can be resolved. Based on technological advancement online learners in particular establish fresh and innovative cheating ways.

Judith W. Spain and Marcel M. Robles. (2011). Academic Integrity Policy: The Journey.     Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 2, June 2011 151-159 DOI:             10.1177/1080569911404407.

            The article asserts that academic integrity is to be maintained at all times. This cannot however be made without modifying the online learning surrounding. In that the environment should be coordinated to ensure that online platforms are only utilized in gathering data and not cheating.

Liu, C.-C., Lin, C.-C., Chang, C.-Y., & Chao, P.-Y. (2014). Knowledge Sharing among         University Students Facilitated with a Creative Commons Licensing Mechanism: A         Case Study in a Programming Course. Educational Technology & Society, 17 (3),           154–167.

            Knowledge sharing should be encouraged as a form of interaction. This tends to ensure that learning becomes lively at all times. This is easier to implement given that technology allows anonymous and direct interaction amid the participants.

Mitchele T. Cole, Louis B. Swartz and Daniel J. Shelley. (2014). Student’s Use of       Technology in Learning Course Material: Is It Cheating? International            Journal of Information and             Communication Technology Education. 10 (1), 35 -48.

            The article seeks to establish whether the use of technology to access learning materials is a form of cheating. It is apparent that online classes offer limited time for discussions and therefore, pressures individuals to acquire the content online.

Ostlund, S., Panchenko, A., and Engel, T. (2013). A study on ethical aspects and legal issues            in e-learning. International Conference on e-Learning’15.

            According to the article despite the many benefits associated with online learning such as convenience, cost efficiency and flexibility the setting raises several ethical and legal concerns. These issues might include privacy, infringement, licensing, and copyright and so on. These issues are to be addressed sooner in enhancing learning.

Toprak, E., Ozkanal, B, Aydin, S & Kaya, S. (2010). Ethics in E-Learning. The Turkish       Online Journal of Educational Technology. (2), 1-9.

            Ethics is a thing that applies in every sector according to the article and should not therefore, be ignored in the education field. Online learning raises several ethical concerns such as privacy and academic dishonesty something that is against the today’s ethical standards.

Please answer the following 2 questions with one half page for each, the topic of study is advanced program management. APA format please.

1. Review the PMP Code of Ethics and Professional. Then address the scenario below.

You are managing an internal R & D project. The initial test results are very poor. You are afraid your management might cancel the project, and this could reflect poorly upon you. Verification testing could be done quickly and inexpensively. What should you do?

The four main values of project managers are: respect, responsibility, honesty and fairness. In order to uphold these four values, I would verify the test. This is one of the best ways, as a project manager, which I will be able to uphold honesty. As a project manager, I am required to be honest with whatever I do, in order to make sure I achieve nothing but the best within the right means (Whitaker, 2016). In addition, as a team leader, I need to foster respect, of the position which I hold and I must make sure that I encourage the team members to exercise honesty, respect responsibility and fairness.     

Applying honesty to work enables one to be able to maintain a high level of respect, since it creates room for accountability, hence leading to creativity (Whitaker, 2016).  Furthermore, fairness and responsibility allows one to be able to focus on achieving what is right. In this case, I would therefore verify the tests thus ensuring that I come up with good results on time.    

2. Chapter 7 of our PMI Standard Portfolio text looks at the communication management knowledge area and the processes to develop the plans required to align the company with the strategic, governance, performance, and risk management processes. 
   
   What are the components required to complete a communications plan?

The following are the components of completing a communication plan:

Corresponding Work Style to Work Flow

Communication plans should provide team members with ways of communicating with each other, at the same time focusing on the significance of centralized documentation and more solemn processes for reaching out to the leaders and stakeholders of the company (Project Management Institute, 2013).

Creating momentum as an alternative of Response Loops

Allowing the employees to get access to too much information may otherwise affect the performance of the company. It is therefore required by the managers to control the type of information reaching the employees, to make sure they do not get information which might affect their performance at the company (Project Management Institute, 2013). In order to deal with this, the management of the company therefore provides information inform of threads to the employees, making sure that the provided information is useful to them.  

Directing Ideas into Information

In order to foster effective communication, information should be filtered in the right way, thus making sure that the key information is not lost, and it is therefore passed to the employees in the right form (Project Management Institute, 2013). The management should pass the information regularly to the employees, to make sure they stay informed. In case of any issues arising, the employees should be alerted in the right way. Furthermore, the requests of the audience should also be met, through passing the right information to them in the right form. Finally, before passing an information to the public, it should be edited to make sure it is passed in the right way.    

Reference

Whitaker, S. (2016). Pass the PMP® Exam: Tools, Tips and Tricks to Succeed.

Project Management Institute. (2013). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide).

Ethical dilemma and ethical lapse

An ethical dilemma refers to where there is an ethical issue that attracts two valid or contradicting perceptions or views. It results from an understanding of an ethical issue that remains to be unsolved, so that it leads to false or misleading information about the issue (Parthasarathy & Satya, 2010). For instance, an ethical dilemma may be the case of whether a tobacco firm should be allowed to market its products or not. Giving the license to advertise tobacco is like encouraging an unhealthy behavior while disallowing the advertisement can be taken to mean a violation of the freedom of speech while hindering the firm’s ability to carry out their business activities.  There may be no law prohibiting the advertisement but being morally and socially responsible calls for one to refrain from such behavior and hence this presents an ethical dilemma. Ethical dilemma, therefore, represents situations whereby the decision maker has two options from which a choice has to be made and neither of the choices provides a solution that is totally acceptable (Parthasarathy & Satya, 2010). The guidelines provided by the society and the personal sense of ethics cannot allow an outcome that is appropriate for the society.

An ethical lapse is a result of a mistake or unethical decisions made, and hence any action that fails to follow the established ethical guidelines is a lapse. An ethical lapse can also results from illegal behavior or action that is not allowed by the law or existing policies (Thill, J. V., & Bovée, 2006). For instance, if a manager takes an action that contravenes the existing policy on business ethics, this can be termed as an ethical lapse.  The ethical lapse may not show a total dearth of integrity but an oversight blind sport on ethics.

References

Parthasarathy, A., & Satya, R. R. (2010). Management: Text and cases. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India.

Thill, J. V., & Bovée, C. L. (2006). Business communication: Activebook version 2.0. Upper Saddle, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. 17-20

Taking a Stand: Ethical Construct and Leadership Style

            Introduction

In every day’s operation particularly in the working environment, individuals are subjected to a moral, legal and ethical problem. In the health care sector, healthcare professionals are attacked with differentiated dilemmas in regard to medical technologies that facilitate and prolong patient’s life, patients’ rights and leader’s role in different scenarios (Walker, 2011). These are some of the issues that nag the professionals and in most cases bid them a lovely night on every day’s bulletin. In some of the severe cases, these issues have compromised healthcare and individual’s careers. In addition, handling the moral and ethical issues is usually difficult. However, there are several issues and forces that drive the general capability of such issues and the most certain thing is that the issues need to be resolved. As a moral leader and an agent, one should own profound acquaintance in the ethical and the moral surrounding of these considerations (Walker, 2011). Thus, it is without a doubt that most corporations hold their ethical, legal as well as moral standards that are objected at preventing and also regulating the general occurrence of such issues. This paper provides a description of leadership style and ethical construct within a healthcare setting, an encountered ethical dilemma and the advocated role as a moral leader.

Moral can best be described as those values that are linked to a belief’s organization which might be a religious, social or political base. On the other hand, ethics refers to the application of these beliefs while making organizational related decisions. Ethics can best be described as behavioral standards that guide individuals on how they are expected to act in regard to many scenarios (Agarwal, 2017). Decisions regarding choosing the right as well as the immoral things are present in every day’s operations. In that ethics is based on all the life’s stages which necessitate behaving well around others, the creation of favorable organizations and creating a more ethical modern society. It is apparent that making choices in regard to the desirable and wrong things proves to be quite challenges given that it necessitates the capability of creating a balance amid losses, consequences and the actions associated benefits. Setting for positive decisions necessitates a knowledge and well-trained sensitivity in regard to ethical issues while weighing aspects and accounts that affect the different choices of such actions course. Owning a strategy that seeks to make ethical decisions is fundamental given that the familiarity of the method one is able to work through the approach without the consultation of any given criteria’s (Agarwal, 2017).

In ethics, the conceptual ethical framework holds its primary step in the assessment of ethical issues, particularly within organizations. Despite the fact that it is not usually an easy task, the objective is mainly to gain all the facts regarding the situation in a rightful manner. The procedures and the performances necessitate a consistent reconsideration and monitoring whether the conduct, as well as organizational operations, are ethical (Agarwal, 2017). The conceptual framework holds continuity given that a sequence of consecutive institutions particularly in the healthcare sector is interrelated. Therefore, there should be consistent attention in regard to ethical problems, some of the problems that generate disagreements given that the involved parties ignore the consideration of facts (Reamer, 2013). These facts are only intended for the identification of the situation and the drives without proposing any possible solutions which turn to be inadequate. This implies that the resolution of any kind of moral as well as ethical problems requires the appealing of different values in handling the dynamic of the issues (Reamer, 2013).

The three major frameworks related to ethical decisions include duty, consequentialism and virtue frameworks. The consequentialist framework is oriented on the future implications of the potent actions in consideration of those be affected either directly or indirectly (Reamer, 2013). This framework is beneficial given that it results in sound decisions that seek to enhance wellness given that results can easily be predicted. However, the approach only benefits some while others are excluded. On the other hand, the duty framework mainly focuses on responsibly and duties that individuals have in a given scenario in consideration of what should be conducted or not (Agarwal, 2017). In this context ethical conduct is described as the duty of an individual as well as focusing on doing the desirable thing by basing the actions on the appropriate moves. This approach promotes equity and quality treatment particularly in the healthcare sector given that it suits everyone. However, it increases the possibility of negative results despite the fact that one might have acted ethically. Virtue is a framework that attempts to identify the skills of an individual that motivates an individual in given situations and permits a wider range of alternatives (Reamer, 2013).

Ethical Dilemma

The biggest clinical dilemma that is in relation to patient’s autonomy. There was this patient that had brought her step child for treatment and after several examinations, it was established that the child was suffering from severe pneumonia that required immediate treatment otherwise the child would not survive being only 6 years old. After indicating that the child was to be hospitalized given that her blood level was below average and would thus acquire some transfusion along with the necessary treatment the mother refused on the ground that it was against their religious belief. In this context, the permission of the mother was a necessity in treating the patient given that she was far below the standard age to make decisions regarding her health. Her father was out of the country and therefore reaching him by phone only proved impossible after several attempts with no success. As a professional, despite the religious resistance the child had to be given the treatment against the wish of the mother on the ground that it was only right to save her rather than allow her to die. Medical professions are mainly responsible for saving individual’s life and thus the most ethical action that led to positive outcomes was to offer the treatment.

In the situation as a moral agent, my obligation was to ensure that ethical decisions that would lead to desirable outcomes are settled for. This, therefore, necessitates the creation of a balance between the life of the patient, healthcare obligations, and ethical standards. It is never easy to persuade patients on the best medical options particularly where religion or ethnic beliefs are involved and therefore the outcomes of the potent action must be accounted for (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2013). In this context, a consequentialist framework was utilized that was more objected at the end results following ethical conduct.

Based on the assessment my leadership style is a guardian or a democratic one.  This is a form of a participating leading approach where all the members that exist within a given group are highly engaged in the making of decisions. I am an individual that allows others to air their thoughts of opinions in an easier way and discussions are encouraged in ensuring that only the most suitable decisions are settled for. Democrats serve an integral role in management given that their skills are utilized in creating smooth through the development of authoritative relationships (Devettere, 2016). This kind of leaders creates a rather favorable working surrounding where expressions are accepted but they are primarily objected in regard to their responsibilities of creating wellness. However, they take pride based on the reliability that they create and trustworthiness given that they do not only participate in the giving of orders rather they play part in ensuring that the set objectives are achieved (Devettere, 2016). My leadership style serves as a facilitation while solving dilemma given that all the aspects regarding the issues are thoroughly considered which incorporates parties and the anticipated results.

Conclusion

In healthcare making ethical decisions necessitates compassion in regard to the ethical outcomes of the issues and the present condition. This additionally obliges practice given that practical exposure is a major source of knowledge and skills which help in developing strategic solutions and enhance one’s capabilities. Ethical dilemmas are a common occurrence in everybody’s life given that individuals are required to make choices on the right and the undesirable things. However, ethical decisions mainly involve the attempt to create a favorable surrounding that is based on appropriate actions as well as potent and positive outcomes. Ethics creates behavioral standards or guidelines through which individuals are required to utilize in the development of an ethical society. Ethical decisions are never self-based but they are grounded in the existing situations and seek to promote wellness.

References

Agarwal, A. K. (2017). Business Leadership and Law. Place of publication not identified: SPRINGER.

Devettere, R. J. (2016). Practical decision making in health care ethics: Cases, concepts, and virtue of prudence. Georgetown University Press.

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2013). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Reamer, F. G. (2013). Social work values and ethics. New York: Columbia University Press.

Walker, A. (2011). Organizational behaviour in construction. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

Part 1

 Clinical, counseling and community psychology are areas of ethical concern since they all involve interaction with society and individuals. These fields require ethics which are expressed through moral and social standards. Counselors, clinicians and community psychologists are expected to maintain a healthy relationship with clients, and to achieve this, trust is the key element as it helps the psychologists to respect and maintain privacy and confidentiality (American council association, 2014). In order to have an effective interaction with clients, psychologists need to have a comprehensive knowledge on diverse cultures as well as own cultural identity. Clinicians, counselors and community psychologists face different ethical issues which need to be considered in order to work effectively with people and community. Before introducing the ethical issues, it is important to understand that there are codes of conducts and ethical standards which assist in solving challenges and making ethical decisions. Before taking course of action, it is advisable to follow the guiding principles (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996). The ethical issues which are found in the field are;

 Confidentiality

 Confidentiality is an ethical issue which is violated by clinicians, counselors and psychologists.  Confidentiality plays a fundamental role in protecting invasion of privacy and strengthens trust between clients and organization (American council association, 2014). Health care providers have an obligation to maintain confidential information of a patient. To enhance this, heath care providers should employ a cultural competent approach which will assist in maintaining and respecting clients’ views. Healthcare providers are faced with legal consequences for the failure of maintain confidentiality. They are allowed to disclose the information with appropriate consent or ethical justification. In addition, information can be shared with staff members for consultation and better services (American council association, 2014).

 Human relations

 Under human relations, ethical issues which need to be considered are unfair discrimination, sexual harassment, informed consent, harm, conflict of interest among other issues. Health care providers are not supported to practice unfair discrimination with respect to gender, age, culture, religion, disability among other status (American council association, 2014).  In addition, health care provider should avoid sexual harassment or any other type of harassment to patients. All offensive acts toward complainants and respondents should never be committed. They should also use the possible measures to avoid harm to clients or patients.   Health care providers should be not controlled by the conflict of interest as this behavior will affect decision-making and justice to clients and patients. Last but not least, health care providers should obtain an informed consent from the patients (American council association, 2014). Besides, government regulation or codes of ethics should be followed before conducting a particular activity. Before taking the consent, there should be a clear language, appropriate explanation and best interest from the patient.

 Competence

Under competence, health care providers should be competent –training and experience- in order to provide quality services to the entire population. Note that scientific and professional knowledge is the key element required in order to enter in the medical field (American council association, 2014). In conducting different activities, health care professionals should show   a high level of understanding on issues related with gender identity, ethnicity, and disability among other issues. Relevant education, training and experience are needed in order to conduct research and serve the community (American council association, 2014). They also need to engage in further training to maintain competency. Competency is not only applied to health care but it should also be applied in task delegation. When delegating task, psychologist should consider issues like multiple relations-will cause exploitation, personal problem-will interfere with duties and level of education-competency is required.

Part 2

Scenario 1

 In this scenario, the ethical issue is privacy and confidentiality. The psychologists have decided to seek for ethics consult and this is one way of disclosing the information without appropriate consent from the client. I did not see anywhere they discuss on finding consultation and   this is not a professional service. Since the matter at hand is based on relationship, the psychologist will be forced to disclose the information so that the ethics consult can know individuals involved in the relationship. Thus, the disclosure of confidential information will make the ethics consult to identify the client (American Psychology Association, 2010). On the same note, there is an ethical issue of informed consent. This happens because the psychologist does not   apply informed consent in the counseling process. The second ethical issue is that there is a suspected violation. This has occurred at the step of consultation. The course of action which the psychologist has undertaken has violated the codes of ethics. Instead, the psychologist is supposed to seek consultation from colleagues or appropriate authority who understands ACA (American Psychology Association, 2010).

 As an ethics consult, I would advise her to adhere to moral principles in order to make ethical decisions. First, she should refer to the principle of autonomy. In this scenario, the patient has suffered from loneliness and depression and has managed this situation by engaging in a relationship. Up to that point, it is the role of the psychologist to allow the client has a freedom of choice and more importantly make rational decisions (Forester-Miller& Davis, 1996). For example, the patient has made a competent choice that does not harm anyone but rather helps him create a meaningful life. Second, I would advise her to adhere to the principles namely; nonmaleficence and beneficence. Both will guide her in maintaining confidential information and avoid doing actions which may bring harm. In this scenario, the psychologist is not supposed to disclose the information but rather she should   maintain trust and faithfulness in order to keep the therapeutic relationship (Forester-Miller & Davis, 1996).

Scenario 2

 In this scenario, the major ethical issue is informed consent. In fact, the ethical issue plays an important role in this dilemma. First, in research ethics, there should be an informed consent from the two students on whether to report the matter or not.  In fact, there should a discussion of risks and benefits of disclosing the information (American council association, 2014). The students in this case should be asked on whether to report their names to the school principle. Apart from the informed consent, it is important to consider privacy in this scenario. This is because, the codes of ethics states that is always good to respect difference views and discuss with the students on disclosing their names or not (American council association, 2014).

  By understanding the role of informed consent and privacy, I would not say the names to the principle. I would follow the ethical standards and seek the assent from the students since I am concerned with their rights and welfare. In addition, it is always good to maintain relationship and boundaries through adhering to professional precautions such as informed consent (American council association, 2014). I would also apply the moral principles and in particular the nonmaleficence which states that people should try all the best to avoid harm. In this case, I am interested in avoiding the unanticipated harm which may occur afterwards. Note that the principle may develop more unfair feeling to the two students and deny equal opportunities (American council association, 2014).

Reference

American council association. (2014). ACA Codes of Ethics. ACA Governing Council

American Psychology Association. (2010). Ethical principles  of psychologists and code of

conduct.

Forester-Miller,.H & Davis Thomas.(1996). A Practitioner's Guide to Ethical Decision Making

Week 8 - Project Management

Executive summary

As a highly qualified and experienced engineer, Gary Allison deserved to be given the opportunity to head a project at SEC Company. The contracting partner STI puts a lot pressure on Gary after he questions the unethical tactics applied by his manager through falsifying on specification data for the project and is compelled to accept it. Gary experiences trouble in the entire project, as he strives to balance technical responsibilities and administrative role and end up mishandling his team. By undermining the project manager role bestowed on Gary, Henry Larsen demands to be provided with information about the project by Paula Arnold and goes ahead to initiate his own activities using the project’s budget without Gary’s knowledge. After being misled throughout the project, Gary lacks the capability to address the arising issues and correct the problems. The lack of sufficient support and communication makes Gary to uptake more tasks by himself and fails to perform the primary duties he is assigned.  While it is necessary to provide a final project with highest quality and to specification, one should balance such a goal with available budget. Lack of knowledge on project specification, project and work plane leads to failed project management.

Introduction

A successful project completion requires various important aspects with the most important being constant communication on the progress on the project. The communication process should specifically focus customer, so that they are up to date on progress of the project and the extent to which their specifications are being met. A lack of communication between the management of Orien Shield Project and the owners brought about the poorly developed and managed project. Failure to adhere to ethical code is also a major drawback on this project and Gary failed to address the issue on false data on specification from the beginning and allowed Henry to arm-twist him into accepting this dishonesty towards the client. The failure to exhibit management skills in terms of team management eventually resulted to various problems including technical, contractual, ethical and legal issues. Due to lack of staffing skills, the relationship between Gary and his team worsened, and this also led to poor relationship with management and STI .Even after working for long hours with Arnold, the job could not be completed in the right manner. Lack of support from the top management can result to failure at every step in project management. An understanding of interpersonal skills and recognition of the interest of the employees is an important ingredient in project management and success in development. As a multidimensional construct, success in project requires the involvement of people at all levels in management, and working in conjunction with employees carrying out assigned responsibility, a major quality that Henry lacked. He failed to provide support for the Gary and the management responsibility he offered him while expecting success in the project which was his baby. The final results were that Gary was overwhelmed by these responsibilities and wasn’t accountable for the position that he gladly accepted.

Ethical issues

Ethics plays an essential role in success of project and are informed by decisions made by the relevant managers (Schwalbe, 2009). The decisions are related to the cultural structure of an organization and a culture that ensures that ethical standards are maintained provided the best environment for project success (Jónasson & Ingason, 2012). Decisions should therefore be made on the basis of available information, facts and a decision making approach that has been will thought through (Scott, 2016).  The culture in this organization seems to accord little ethical standards to the process of decision making, and this is seen where Henry reasons with Gary that being truthful will not win a contract but at this juncture, dishonesty on project specification would ensure a successful bidding. Management in the case of Orion Shield project is a major component in ethical issues surrounding it. The fact that Henry Larsen, as the director of engineering, had little regard for honesty while dealing with customers and goes ahead to entice Gary into accepting his proposal shows an organizational structure that pays little attention to how ethics would affect overall performance. As long as the customer does not finds out the shortcomings in the project’s failure to meet the required specifications shows s culture where ethical standards are not adhered to and a lack of organizational structure to address the challenge.

Before the listing of the RFP projection by STI, Henry fixed Gary into an ethical dilemma by instructing him to dive false data on project proposal to serve his own interest while disregarding those of the customers.  Even the questioning of integrity by Gary does not concern him arguing that he was not looking for an ethical manager. Gary has his sight on excelling career wise and being truthful to the customer, he thought, would give him approval and a path for personal growth. By being forced by falsify on project material and other relevant information, his career and personal growth are jeopardized as the project fails to deliver customer standards. Lack of good structures in the organization that would support ethical values and standards affects may aspects of the organization including teamwork interpersonal relations, breakdown of communication process and overall failure in providing quality results. In successful corporations, a foundation of ethical standards and values offers a guidance system that is well understood and thereby ensuring that operations are effective and enable a decision making process that is appropriate to the company’s goals (Dinsmore & Cabanis-Brewin, 2011). Given that organization are social communities with a specific goal and purpose, an organizational culture that upholds ethics and values is a very powerful enabler in project success. 

As social communities, bad decisions made at the top level are bound to affect all other sections in the organization. The direction by Henry as a director forces Gary to falsify on crucial information on the project as he complies with unethical instruction on the project.  Gary was at fault for bending the truth so that the continuation of the project by the company would assured and therefore, save his job. Another case regarding lack of ethics unfolds when the project is being finished, when new testing presented to Gary indicates that the age life of the new material is less than expected. He perceives that it best for such findings not to be communicated to STI or even to his seniors until after the signing of the contract. While he had the opportunity to show that the results were not acceptable, in terms of a true indicator of the performance of the product, he decided to hoodwink the customer and management by failing to share the findings. Values in project management act as a barometer that guides thoughts and actions of individuals while working in a team. The behavior is internal to both an individual, team and the overall organization and its basis is personal values or organizational values that are embedded in the organizational culture. All leaders including project managers should work within values that have been set in an organization and should be held to established ethical standards even if an ethical code has not been laid down (Jónasson & Ingason, 2012). Lack of adherence to ethical values in the company led to the overall failure by the project management to provide high quality results. Decisions made and actions taken by Henry and Gary in terms involving project specifications and allocations of the budgeted resources was not in the best interest of the customer but mostly suited their desire for performance recognition.  Gary should have accepted only technical task since these are consistent with his background of technological experience and qualifications. The project management team leaders did not consider the standards and norms of the client and therefore engaged in actions that could be considered disrespectful and failing to consider the interest of others. Project managers must demonstrate accountability and transparency in the decision making and actions taken while at the same time considering objectivity and impartibility and on that basis take appropriate action. 

Legal and Contractual Issues

The contractual issues involved in project management can result to legal issues if the performance of a completed product fails to meet the requirements in the contract. The fact that contractual relationships are legal in nature calls for project team and team leaders to be fully aware of the risk of litigations that may be sought in the process of contract administration. This is a major issue that Henry as a director and Gary as the project manager failed to consider in the process of winning and administering the project. Gary Allison the major culprit in this case due to failure to ensure Orion Shield Project delivers the requirements of the contract and the customer can take legal action against him. He chose to follow the demands of the company’s management and in the process filled a falsified proposal and submitting it to STI so that the contract could be rewarded. Being the project manager, he bore the responsibility of communicating the appropriate costs that are associated with this project. When requested to provide information on the costs associated to the project, he gave false information to Sarah Wilson. He therefore stands at an inevitable risk of being charged with perjury, where a person intentionally presents false information as about the material as being true.  He can absolve himself from the risk of such litigation given the trust that the customer placed on him to be truthful in delivering the needed results and specification.  

There were also contractual issues that arose from failure of to honor the contracts requirements and misrepresentation of information by Gary who allowed Henry to hoodwink him into violating the contract for personal gain. The fact that Henry used all the money that was supposed for the project for other purposes indicates that there was little regard for the contract as a whole. The contract highlighted that this was a FPI fee that would give the project a basic fee and such a fee had to be reasonable for the customer. Delivering the project that was surpassed the stated requirements; a performance profit could have been received by SEC. This contract was actually FFP where extra incentives are not awarded, SEC as the contractor was to be liable for the extra cost.

Technical issues

The condition for the project required that for a contractor to be awarded the contract, they had to ensure that material to be used in the labs had to withstand 145 degrees in temperature. SEC was aware of such conditions even before the accepting STI and RFP. However, at the request of Henry Larson, his director indicated that the materials used in the project could withstand   a maximum of 150 degrees. These requirements were met after the JXB3 was included for replacement. STI had to accept additional material and present it to NASA even if such material was new and had not been tested at all. The structures of Scientific Engineering Corporation had a poor staffing approach especially in regard to technical skills required in the process of project completion. Human resource management in project planning is important in filling the technical skills required (Walker & Rowlinson, 2007). There were major issues that affected Orient Shield project where lack of inclusions of necessary competences made Gary to bear majority of technical responsibilities. He spent a lot of time performing various task and had little time for personal activities leading to overworking and frustration at the workplace. In the staffing process the organizational culture for SEC lacked good interpersonal relationship that could have allowed Gary to seek more technical skills to share the huge tasks.

Project management issues

Communication in project management helps in providing the link among the various aspect of the organization that includes ideas, people and information which is very important for success. Communication planning appreciates the needs of the project’s stakeholders who are in need of information, providing it when needed and determining the best way it will be provided. The communication process is therefore a life blood of the entire project and its success depends on how effective the process is (Roudias, 2015). The communication requirements for stakeholders are determined by stakeholders or customers of the project and on that basis a project manager selects the content and details of information required. The communication plan must also address the expectations or standards that must be complied with and especially as deemed important by the customer (Dunne & Dunne, 2011). Had he been aware of these principles Gary would have planned on how to keep the stakeholders of Orient Shield Project informed on the progress of the project and provided the information as required by them. The information that should have been provided by Gary’s team did not have to contain information that could serve Henry’s interest. Rather, it should have involved the client’s need of whether the expectations have been met as outlined in the contract.

According to Henry, Gary had to be a good communicator and know how to motivate his people to qualify as a good manager. The two aspects are in line with principles of effective project management since good communication help in creating interpersonal relationships within project teamwork. An effective interpersonal relationship assist in creation of a working environment that is motivating to the team members seen they can raise issues affecting them while rewards can given easily due to effective performance (Pm,  2000). However, the advice that Gary should work at the expense of other aspects of personal life does not guarantee one to be a good manager. Despite the role of project manager being fastidious, the healthiest attitude should involve managing fatigue ,  not losing one’s social life and having reasonable expectations both personal from the organization. The constitute a major aspect of good project planning involving allowing managers and staff to rejuvenate both physically and mentally so not to let fatigue interfere with quality of the work . Project leadership should involve defining and setting roles, planning for these roles and delegating to ensure that all team members are involved and thus reduced pressure on the manager (Schwalbe, 2015). These are important aspects that should have been included in advice offered to Gary. However, on the first two criteria, Gary was unable to communicate well and motivate his people and this made him to performance many tasks and finally his frustration.

There were two majors departments involved in carrying out the Orient Shield Project included the project development departments and testing department in which Henry and Gary were involved. The coordination of activities in these departments would have ensured that all activities were carried out in accordance with specifications offered by the customer. A major issue that affected these departments was staffing, as shown by lack of enough staff to assist Gary in carrying out the various tasks involved in the project. The departments should have come up with a staffing plan that would ensure that enough engineers and allocating them tasks in the departments according to their skills. Communication is important for coordination of activities in the different teams in the departments involved in a project. Project management involves collaboration and obtaining synergy among the various parties involved and having them to commit to the same goal. It involves having them to recognize the need for adequate support in improving the overall performance of the project (Binder, 2009).

 For Gary to have achieved different results, he should have adhered to personal values and ethics and develop a project plan that is based on the best interest of the customer.  Having an ethical decision making process is an important aspect that helps in generating respect and trust with stakeholders of the project including customers, top management and team members. Many of the mistakes that arose in the process could be attributed to wrong advice offered by Henry. Moreover, he could have made independent decision as the manager to avoid miscommunication. Moreover, Gary did not really fail in this project and the only problem was the increased cost of the project so his performance was fair but credit went only to Henry. The failure to meet all contract terms could be attributed to any failure in the project. The awarding of the contract to SEC for the new material is due to the positive aspect of the project.

Recommendation

There are various management issues that relates to this case which borders on organizational culture, ethical standards and staffing. An organization should develop values and ethical codes to guide decision making and reducing risks associated with legal issues that may arise (Schwalbe, 2015). If such a culture is developed, managers the decisions made by management can be put under check and managers called to account for them. Culture is normally defined by the communication process of n organization. SEC management should ensure that culture incorporates communication planning and which should be extending in looking for right competences.

Conclusion

There are valuable and vital lessons provided in the Orion Shield project especially to any project manager. A project that is developed on dishonesty end up failing and such failure is perpetrated by incompetent managers like Henry who deceive people and cover their tracks. Sticking to ethical behavior while dealing with customers and serving their interest first will not only lead to organization growth but personal growth also.

References

Pm, I. (2000). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide). Project Management Institute.

  Schwalbe, B., (2015).An Introduction to Project Management. Ed.5.

Scott, L. (2016). Gower handbook of people in project management. Routledge. 335-336

Jónasson, H. I., & Ingason, H. T. (2012). Project ethics. Farnham: Gower.

Dinsmore, P. C., & Cabanis-Brewin, J. (2011). The AMA handbook of project management. New York: American Management Association. 258-259

Schwalbe, K. (2009). Introduction to project management. Boston, Mass: Course Technology. 22-24

Walker, D., & Rowlinson, S. (2007). Procurement systems: a cross-industry project management perspective. Routledge.

Roudias, J. (2015). Mastering principles and practices in PMBOK, PRINCE2, and Scrum: Using essential project management methods to deliver effective and efficient projects. 10-11

Dunne, K. J., & Dunne, E. S. (2011). Translation and localization project management: The art of the possible. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Pub. Co.  302-307

Binder, J. (2009). Global project management: communication, collaboration and management across borders. Strategic Direction, 25(9). 44-46

Ethical and Legal issue

The ethical issue described is an act where individuals risked their businesses to ensure that the organization they work for does the right thing. The various unethical issues and acts that took place in their offices created a chance for the departments to cover their mistakes and this leads to being implicated negatively by the outcomes (De Graaf, 2011). Reporting such issues such as corruption or taking bribery is very important to ensure that the organization or the department involved does not suffer losses. Many public organizations suffer the losses which are brought about by the effect of corruption which is a big problem in the current world.

One way to help the organizations move on is to engage the various individuals involved in a talk that will make them understand that everyone is responsible for their actions and also that there are a purpose and value for the growth of the organization. Engaging the participants increases the chances of reducing such acts in the future (May, 2013). This is a strategy to make sure that the value of the production increases significantly. Improving the culture of an organization can help reduce the effects of employees and staff members acting against the rules.

Many organizations suffer from individuals and new employees adopting the behaviors of the previous or retired employees who might have used the wrong methodologies to conduct their duties. Such methods affect the productivity and they cause the change of the environment to a corrupt field of individuals (May, 2013). Engaging the employees within the organization helps reduce any chances of such acts ever being repeated in the organization. Employees tend to act according to their wants once they feel they have been segregated and therefore developing a close relationship can help prevent such acts.

References

De Graaf, G. (2011). The loyalties of top public administrators. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 21(2), 285–306.

May, S. (2013). Case studies in organizational communication: Ethical perspectives and practices. Los Angeles [etc.: Sage.