Reference no: EM132390356

Assignment - Ethical, Social Responsibility and Privacy Issues in Software Development

Write a business report and follow the hints of content and structure.

Aims:

• The assignment is designed to demonstrate your.
• Critical analysis skills in among audiences and producing various types of communications of professional quality relevant to that audience.
• Understanding, knowledge and application of professional practice issues.
• Understanding of and reasoning behind different communication vehicles for various audiences.
• Ability to learn from and reflect on feedback and personal learning.

Background:

Information Technology has a central and growing role in all aspects of life, including commerce, industry, government and society. It is critical that professional practice is taken into account in order to raise the standards and ensure expectations of the IT industry are understood, fair, appropriate and meaningful. Part of this is understanding the importance of ethical, social and privacy issues in software development.

The assignment: You will write a formal business report to explain the importance of ethical, social responsibility and privacy issues to senior management as it relates to the venture into building children's (age 8-14) online games.

Your task: You are currently leading a new development group for your company "MonGamerz" which has now branched into creating mobile applications for young children. You have received this email from your director:

"MonGamerz is an online games developer specializing in Multi-Player games similar to World of Warcraft, Fortnite and Elder Scrolls Online. The typical target market of these games are adults over the age of 18 years. A recent change in leadership has MonGamerz looking to tap into a new demographic - children between the ages of 8 and 14 - with a new mobile multiplayer game designed to actively engage the player and build a community of friends. Some of the features include:

• State of the art graphics that is attractive to kids.
• Daily quests and scheduled events for bonus points and power-ups.
• Easy to transact in-game purchases for quick advancements and power-ups.
• Group and peer-to-peer communications to keep in touch with friends.
• Location awareness so they can see where their friends are across the world, even if they are on the move.
• Faster advancement for more hours of game time to reward active members.

You are to oversee the development of the new game especially in relation to ethical, social responsibility and privacy issues when dealing with children. Please prepare a report to the executive group detailing any ethical, social responsibility and privacy issues (general or game specific) that you have identified plus your practical recommendations on how to address these issues."

This should help you consolidate your understanding and reflect on particular aspects of ethical frameworks and professional codes of conduct discussed in this unit.

Deliverables - It is a report (not an essay) so remember what business reports look like and all normal standards of presentation will apply.

Assessments - The assessment criteria will be based on

Completeness - all issues are covered

Quality - English expression, format, appropriateness of language

Depth of reflection

Professionalism in the presentation

Understanding of the audience

Expectation of content (Please use notes already read and further reading)

• What is the difference between a business report and an academic paper / essay?

They are VERY different - Business reports focus on the practical application of the theory - providing insights and recommendations rather than explaining the theory itself.

It should be 7-10 pages 3-4 pages (title page, doc and exec. summary) 4-6 pages main body with conclusions and recommendations. You may have references (but remember these are not usually in business reports).

• Hints for Structuring Your Report
• Title page
• Exec summary
• Table of contents
• Introduction (including Purpose - what do you want the reader to do with the report)
• Insights and issues discussion(using sub headings/bullets, including issues, no theory)
• Recommendations (including practical/tangible/implemented, how should we do, why should we do)
• Conclusion (position)

Hints for Writing Your Report -

• Remember the audience and purpose of a business report. The report should be focused on the problem, insights and recommendations on how to address the problem. The reader should be able to walk away with practical and tangible actions they can implement.
• The executive summary should act completely as a stand alone document that can be read separately from the report. A good executive summary assumes the reader will not read further and therefore includes a succinct summary of the key points and recommendations.
• The report should clearly include the purpose of the report (either in the introduction or in a separate section.
• Don't gloss over the recommendations. It should be clear to the reader why they are important and what tangible actions the reader should take to implement them.
• Put recommendations in a separate section so they don't get "lost" in the report.
• Keep the business report very succinct, short and punchy. Use lots of bullet points and sub headings to link ideas.
• Note well - your audience is a senior executive in your organization.