It should be acknowledged that professional practice standards and regulations have played a big role in instilling ethics in all the undertaken practices by organizations and individuals. In this case, the absence of professional practice standards is likely to precipitate confusion and chaos, a phenomenon that will greatly distort many professions in any given jurisdiction. It is for this reason that the code of conduct as well as the ethics play a critical role in the whole course of guiding professionals in the routine execution of their routine roles and responsibilities. In most cases, this has been facilitated through the provision of relevant decision-making processes and general frameworks that should be considered by professional organization in the course of undertaking their routine market operations as well as when they are faced with dilemma in the course of undertaking their routine practices (Lewis and Westlund, 2015, p. 457). For instance, ethics have been the cornerstone of helping IT-oriented organizations and professionals to make relevant decisions as per the expectations of the existing guiding frameworks. This is attributed to the fact that the whole approach to professionalism is premised on the principle of doing the right things always even in scenarios where tough decisions have to be made for the purposes of navigating any presented problem. Considering that the undertaken decisions may have adverse impact on various stakeholders, prioritization of the expected code of conduct and ethics can be used as the basis for making such critical decisions without damaging the brand reputation of a given organization or profession.
However, it is imperative to note that the code of professional conduct and the ethics does not simply constrain professionals and organizations to their practice. It also provides concrete standards that have to be met by the respective organizations in the whole process of promoting professionalism in any given field. This is achieved by ethics and the code of conduct by outlining the expected professional quality and attributes that have to be met by the respective organizations in the whole process of undertaking their routine market operations. For instance, the professional attributes expected to be embraced and prioritized irrespective of the respective fields of profession include fairness, honesty, and respect. It is on this basis that many organization have embraced this approach by putting in place frameworks aimed at governing and regulating all their market practices (Burrough, Gallagher and Navas, 2014, p. 24). This has been a major consideration, especially with regard to organizations having many IT-oriented professionals.
It is for this reason that the Code of Ethics as well as the Professional Practice Code of Association has been adopted in many organizations to provide the necessary guiding frameworks regarding the expected professional conduct as well as the relevant considerations that need to be made during ethical uncertainties scenarios (Williams and Izaak, 2018, p. 1). This is because such adopted codes helps in providing processes as well as frameworks that can be adopted by individuals in a given profession to learn about the expected ethical standards and principles that should be embraced in the course of executing their routine roles and responsibilities.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the ASC Code of Ethics is a component of the Australian Computer Society outlining various codes of ethics that should strictly be followed by all its members. In this regard, ASC has outlined six major ethical and professional values that should be followed by all the organizations in the course of executing their routine market practices and operations. However, in this paper, Doing Ethics Technique outlining al the required nine aspects will be utilized to analyze and assess the ethical consequences arising following the decision of Telstra to move to a digital firm (Burrough, Gallagher and Navas, 2014, p. 26). This will be outlined in consideration of all the relevant IT governance issues and the appropriate technologies that can be adopted by Telstra to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in the market.
The assigned case study is on Telstra that has revolutionized into a digital firm by adopting a 24/7 operation modules as well as enhancing its relationship with the existing customers. In this case, the Doing Ethics Technique will be deployed to analyze the revolutionized Telstra into a modern digital firm (Whitaker, 2016, p 475). In this case, it should be noted that the deployed framework has been subdivided into several sections that will be utilized in the analysis of ethical issues arising from the conversion of Telstra into a modern digital firm through revamping of its routine operations.
It should be acknowledged that Doing Ethics Technique highlights specific procedures that can be utilized to analyze all relevant ethical scenarios that may arise in any professional situation or ethical dilemma scenarios (Neher, and Sandin, 2017, p. 45). However, it is important to note that the technique does not have a guarantee that the respective professional will at the end of the process come up with a workable solution to a presented ethical scenario (Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 2017, p. 237). Instead, it helps in ensuring that an organization or the professionals are able to think ethically when handling any presented scenario in the course of performing their routine duties and responsibilities.
It is for this reason that Doing Ethics technique has in many instances been associated with the lack of a clear guidance when it comes to handling any resultant ethical scenario in any organization or any professional level (Burrough, Gallagher and Navas, 2014, p. 34). Even though the technique has also been criticized for being vague in its approach to some ethical issues, understanding a series of questions guiding the Doing Ethics Technique can help in comprehension of the ethical analysis of any presented scenario, in this case, the revolutionalization of Telstra into a modern digital firm through its revamped routine operations.
In the assigned case study, it has been outlined that Telestra has digitized its IT governance and operations framework to become a fully-fledged modern firm operating 24/7 (Walsh and Miller, 2016, p. 345). In this case, it has been outlined that the firm has further revolutionized how it relates with its customers. However, it should be noted that the undertaken changes in the firm’s operational framework has been necessitated by the economic and societal change as well as the need for media and telecommunications companies to adapt to the resultant changes in the industry.
According to the case study, Telstra has been forced by the resultant market circumstances to change from its initial conservative engineering culture to a fast-paced digital company. In this case, it is as a result of such changes that the company revamped its operations to become a digital company, a phenomenon that enabled it to source some of the best digital talents in the market (Lewis and Westlund, 2015, p. 459). Arguably, it has been outlined that the decision by Telstra to adopt a digital framework of operation has enabled it to attract best digital teams in the country, thus leveraging its operations in the market. However, it has been stated that this was achieved following its decision to adopt a unified approach and one platform for information architecture.
The decision by Telstra to revamp its operations into a digital company has bared fruits considering that it has been able to routinely operate 24/7 via the smartphone and tablet apps that have played a major role in delivering the needed customer control to its 1.5 million regular users (Tan, Van der Molen and Schmidt, 2017, p. 15). Besides revamping its operations into a digital company, it has been outlined in the case study that Telstra has also revolutionized its CrowdSupport community, a phenomenon that has enabled it to improve on how it interacts and relate with its customers (Watts, Todd, Mulhearn, Medeiros, Mumford and Connelly, 2017, p. 225). Therefore, the major ethical issue in the case study is the decision by Telstra to revamp its operations into a fully-fledged digital company operating 24/7 with the enhanced relationship with its customers.
Telstra has been occasioned with the prevailing economic and societal changes among telecommunications and media companies to adopt 24/7 app and the crowdsupport platform. Considering that the company had initially been embracing a conservative engineering culture, it was forced by the resultant societal and economic changes to become a fast-paced digital company, thus capitalizing on the presented market opportunities and improving its relationship with its customers.
Arguably, the decision by Telstra to abandon its conservative engineering culture has been lauded since it has led to significant improvement in the company’s operation, a phenomenon that has been achieved by scaling up its operations 24/7 through the Telstra app. Prior to embracing such changes, Telstra had been confined to conservative engineering culture that had hampered its growth and leveraging on the presented market opportunities.
The formation of Telstra Digital has also been acknowledged to be the major achievement by the company (Cox, Bachkirova and Clutterbuck, 2014, p.45). As such, besides enhancing its 24/7 operations, Telstra has also been able to attract the best digital talent in the market, a phenomenon that greatly boosted its routine market operations. In this case, the sourced best digital talent played a critical role in spearheading the operations carried out by Telstra to remain competitive and adapt to all the emerging change, a phenomenon that would not have been achieved by the company continued embracing its conservative engineering culture.
The revamping of Telstra into a digital company has also revitalized its routine market operations. For instance, this has paved way for the development of smartphone and tablet apps, thus facilitating the routine delivery of all the necessary customer services on a 24/7 basis. Through such approaches, it has also been easier for Telstra to control its regular users effectively, a phenomenon that could not be achieved had the company been embracing its conservative engineering culture. Besides the improved customer control, crowdsupport has also been developed, thus enhancing the approaches used by Telstra to offer its services and relate with its customers.
There are several professional and ethical issues that can be denoted from the case study. Some of the identified issues can be highlighted as follows;
The issue of making relevant changes is evident in the case study. This has been evidenced by the decision of Telstra to revamp its operations from the conservative engineering culture to become a fast-paced digital organization (Lurie and Mark, 2016, p 417). In this case, such changes have been necessitated by the prevailing societal and economic changes that prompted the company to embrace them to capitalize on the presented opportunities.
There is also an issue of improved service delivery. This has been demonstrated through the efforts that have been undertaken by Telstra to embrace digital methodologies of operation, thus being able to provide its services around the clock 24/7 (Grimes, 2017, p. 111). Through such approach, Telstra has incredibly boosted the management of its existing customer base, a phenomenon that has been boosted through the implemented digital approach (Lewis and Westlund, 2015, p. 466). For instance, upon revamping into a digital company, Telstra app and the crowdsupport platform has developed with the aim of revolutionizing its relationship with its customers (Greenwood and Freeman, 2018, p. 4). Such approaches helped in ensuring that that the necessary services would be offered to the customers on a 24/7 basis.
Good IT code of conduct can also be evidenced from the case study. This has been demonstrated by Telstra following its decision to abandon the engineering conservative culture and become a digital company through revolutionized relationship with its customers (Jensen, and Delany, 2016, p. 73). In this case, the company has embraced the expected IT code of practice by developing Telstra app and the crowdsupport platform to enhance the delivery of its services to the customers on a 24/7 basis.
The issue of good professional practice can also be identified from the case study. In this case, Telstra has been able to source some of the best digital talents in the market upon revamping its operations into a digital company (Lustgarten, 2015, p. 154). In this case, the ability of the company to attract some of the most talented employees in the market is a demonstration of its commitment to professional practices and ethics that has made it to be attractive to many prospective employees.
It should be acknowledged that there are several stakeholders that have been affected by the digital transformation of Telstra. The list below outlines stakeholders affected by digitization of Telstra either indirectly or directly.
The digitization of the company has enhanced its service delivery to the customers. In this case, Telstra has been able to provide the needed customer services 24/7 around the clock. Furthermore, there has also been improved relationship between the company and its customers (Holden, 2017, p. 23). This has been demonstrated through the developed Telstra app and crowdsupport platform that has incredibly enhanced the company’s customer experiences.
The digitization of Telstra has made it to be attractive to many digital talents in the market. Unlike the case when the company was initially confined to conservative engineering culture, embracing digital operations have enabled it to be attractive to prospective digital talents in the market, thus sustaining its operations in the market.
Improving customer experiences has emerged as the major ethical issue in the case study. This has been demonstrated through the efforts that have been undertaken by Telstra to offer its services to its customers 24/7 (Carr, 2018, p. 54). Furthermore, this has also been enhanced by the crowdsupport platform that revolutionized how the company related to its customers.
Prioritization of customer needs is another ethical issue that has been outlined in the case study. In this case, it is clear that Telstra has been prioritizing all its customer needs through the adopted market approaches (Lewis and Westlund, 2015, p. 447). For instance, it is through such approach that the company has developed Telstra app and crowdsupport platform. As such, the customers can now access the needed services via the downloaded smartphone and tablet apps 24/7.
In the highlighted case study, it has been outlined that there are several ethical consequences following the decision by Telstra to revamp its operations into a digital firm. In this case, the company will be prompted to overhaul its existing employees to create room that will be taken by the digital talents who will be required to help the company keep pace with the adopted framework (Anderson, 2015, p. 34). As a digitized company, the employees that used to steer its operations under the conservative engineering culture will be least required, implying that they will either be retrenched or retrained to acquire the necessary digital skills for spearheading the company’s operations (Seitel, 2017, p. 34). In this case, embracing digital talent in the market will help in ensuring that the company is able to revolutionize the way it relates with its customers and offer the necessary services.
Telstra can choose to recruit digital talents in the market or retrain its existing staff to acquire the necessary digital skills of keeping pace with customers’ requirements. This will be a necessary approach considering that the company has shifted from its conservative engineering culture to become a digitized company (Wahl-Jorgensen, Bennett and Cable, 2017, p. 396). The company can also choose to retrain its employees and at the same time employ the available digital talents to help in spearheading its market operations.
Retraining the existing staff and hiring a few digital talents in the market is the best option that should be pursued by the company (Crystal, 2017, p. 45). This is because it will help in transforming the company to the desired levels in terms of customer services utilizing the already acquired experience by its initial employees who will be trained to acquire necessary competency skills of keeping pace with customer needs.
Digitization of Telstra is likely to face key IT governance issues. For instance, there is a likelihood of possible cyber-attacks and malfunctioning of the incorporated software for crowdsupport platforms. However, this can be avoided through the incorporation of relevant governance, enterprise architecture, service management and security technologies for Telstra to remain competitive. In this case, frameworks such as COBIT, ECEG and ISO/IEC 38500 should be incorporated to enhance its governance (Lashmar, 2017, p. 665). Possible security risks can also be avoided by Telstra by adopting enterprise architectures such as DODAF, TOGAF, MODAF, EAMM and NASCIO. Security of the developed Telstra apps can further be enhanced by security frameworks such as ITIL, COBIT and ISO/IEC 27001.
IT governance is the process that ensures effective use of information technology to enable a give organization achieve its goals (Yagil, and Shultz, 2017, p. 689). This is achieved through approaches such as organization and leadership processes and structures that are usually deployed for sustenance of an organizations IT strategies and objectives.
Telstra will deploy diversified governance, enterprise architecture, project management, service management and security frameworks in the bid to leverage its operations as a digital company. For instance, Telstra will be able to leverage risk and business continuity by deploying standards such as ISO 31000, ISO 22301, COBIT, ITIL, RiskIT and ValIT (Boddy and Dominelli 2017, p. 172). Besides this, the company will also deploy project management frameworks such as Agile, COBIT, PMBOK MSP and PRINCE 2 to enhance its service delivery to customers.
The decision by Telstra to digitize its operations to become a fast-paced digital company will greatly improve its service delivery to customers. Unlike the initial conservative engineering culture, digitization will enable Telstra to adopt a 24/7 service delivery framework (Wahl-Jorgensen, Bennett and Cable, 2017, p. 386). This will also enhance its relations and interactions with its customers.
Telstra will enhance the security of its IT systems by deploying relevant security standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, COBIT and ITIL (Pheng, 2018, p.195). Telstra can also enhance the management of its data by deploying relevant service management frameworks such as USMBOK, ASL, MOF, CMM and BISL.
As a digitized company, Telstra should adopt relevant standards and frameworks in its entire approach to IT governance. In this case, it should adopt ITIL, SFIA and ISO/IEC 2000 support model and staffing standards (Lewis and Westlund, 2015, p. 449). This will ensure that the Telstra has the capacity to utilize the skills and knowledge of the employed digital talents, thus enhancing its sustainability in the market.
Conclusion
Based on the outlined report, it is evident that Telstra has moved from a conservative engineering based company to a fast-paced digital company. In this case, it has been outlined that the digitization of the company was primarily aimed at enhancing its service delivery to customers. It is as a result of this that the company has been able to provide its services to its 1.5 million users routinely 24/7. Furthermore, Telstra apps have been developed, thus enabling its customers to access all the required services through tablets and smartphones (Ephraim, 2017, p. 50). Even though digitization approach by Telstra is laudable, the company should further deploy the relevant enterprise architecture, security and risk frameworks and standards to enhance its sustainability.
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