COURSE UNIT:ETHICS AND LEGAL ISSUES IN

COMPUTING

COURSE CODE:BCE4221

ASSIGNMENT TWO

STUDENT NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER

KIBUUKA JOSHUA 2017/PEM/024/PS
Case Study 1

John Mubiru is an engineer employed by a computer manufacturer. He is responsible

for the design of some computer equipment and signs off on the drawings. Although his
design has been properly prepared, the manufacturing process is faulty, drives up cost,
and suffers a mechanical breakdown. The manufacturing division suggests modifications
to bring down costs, but Mubiru analyzes the recommendations and finds that they
would reduce the reliability of the product that would likely cost the company more
through warranty claims. Mubiru's supervisor asks him to sign off on the changes
anyway. Although there is nothing to suggest that there is a product safety problem,
Mubiru raises reliability concerns to his supervisor.
Questions
(i)What are Mubiru's Professional Responsibilities in this case?

(ii)What are the supervisor's responsibilities?

(iii)What should Mubiru do?

 CASE STUDY 1
(i) What are Mubiru’s Professional Responsibilities in this case?
•To raise the reliability concerns to his supervisor and emphasize to him/her that the company
will face more costs through warranty claims which is bad for business.
•To re-design the initial computer equipment design with more consideration to the

modifications of the manufacturing division while sticking to reliability standards.

•To only approve computer equipment drawings that are in conformity with applicable

standards.
•To accept assignments from his supervisor such as making improvements to the initial design

or making a new design.

•To acknowledge the challenges faced by the manufacturing division and do adequate research

how he can better his design to meet the challenge at hand.

•To adhere to the principles of quality and developing sustainable/reliable computer

equipment.
(ii) What are the supervisor’s responsibilities?
•To address the head of the manufacturing division to work with his/her team in doing repair of
the manufacturing equipment.
•Toaddress the head of the manufacturing division to assign his/her team a task of doing
regular servicing of the manufacturing equipment.
•To assign a task to Eng. Mubiru and the head of the manufacturing division plus his/her team
to work together and come up with a design that will favor quality, smooth production and
reliability of the product.
•To accept personal responsibility to adhere to the required standards to be met while producing
the computer equipment.
•To report to the senior management and seek further guidance on issues of warranty claims
that would result from reduced reliability.
•To manage the workflow/team (Eng. Mubiru and the manufacturing division).
•To create and manage team schedules so as to deliver the product on time.
•Evaluate performance of the team and provide truthful feedback to the senior management.
(iii) What should Mubiru do?
•Mubiru should not sign off on the changes in the design.
 CASE STUDY 2
What is your response to the minister?
•I humbly decline the minister’s request.
•I kindly remind the minister of the professional code of conduct to be followed.

•I softly fore-warn the minister that I will report him/her to authorities that deal with corrupt

officials.
•On second attempt of his/her request, I strongly warn the minister that I will contact the

authorities that deal with corrupt civil servants.

•I clearly let the minister know that I value my job and do not accept unprofessionalism.

•I gather relevant and adequate evidence of the minister’s cash request.

•In case he/she persists on the request, I then report him to the authorities in charge of

handling corrupt government officials.

•After reporting the minister, I present the evidence I gathered on his/her cash request.

•I consult my board members on how best to professionally and legally approach the

minister’s request.
•I follow the right government policy required on getting the permit.
 CASE STUDY 3
What should you do?
•Have a meeting with the engineer and notify him/her of their unprofessionalism.
•Kindly warn the engineer of the consequences of plagiarism.

•Tell the engineer to follow the professional code of ethics and not plagiarize.

•Tell the engineer to write an authentic/original report for his/her client.

•On a strong note, warn the engineer not to repeat the same act.

•Consult higher authorities on how to best handle the situation with the engineer.

•After several strong warnings, report the engineer to higher authorities in the

company/organization so as to be dealt with accordingly.

•Follow the rules and regulations of professional engineering bodies and the company in

regards to plagiarism cases.

•Decline the supervision role of the engineer, incase he/she persists with the act after serious

warnings.
•Notify the appropriate authorities incase the engineer persists with the act and makes it a habit.

•Tell the engineer to notify his/her client of the act and let the client decide what he/she will

want the engineer to do there after.

References.
1.NSPE Code of Ethics.
2.The NSPE Ethics Reference Guide.

3.Code of Professional Ethics and Disciplinary Procedures 2011.

4.Code of Professional Ethics for Compliance and Ethics Professionals by the Society of
Corporate Compliance and Ethics.