CS525 Professional Practices Assignment 1 for Fall 2026 is built around five case studies. Question 1 asks you to identify the appropriate organizational structure, business function, or managerial responsibility in each case study. Question 2 asks you to identify the primary ethical issue demonstrated in each case study. The solution file linked below answers both questions for all five case studies, including the case study details each answer is based on.
What Does the Solution File Cover?
What Are the Question 1 Answers?
Question 1 identifies the category for each case study: Case Study 1 is a Sole Trader, because Ahmed independently operates a small computer repair shop, makes all business decisions and holds unlimited liability over personal assets. Case Study 2 is a Private Limited Company, because TechVision Ltd. is an incorporated software company with private shareholders that cannot offer shares to the general public. Case Study 3 relates to Quality Management, because a department at GlobalTech Solutions checks software products and routinely inspects applications against agreed quality benchmarks. Case Study 4 is the responsibility of a Project Manager, because a manager at SoftCore Technologies plans a new system and monitors progress, resources, timelines and budgets. Case Study 5 is the responsibility of a Corporate Manager, because a senior manager at DigitalFuture Corporation outlines long-term strategy and oversees overall inter-departmental performance.
What Are the Question 2 Answers?
Question 2 identifies the primary ethical issue in each case study: Case Study 1 shows Software Risks, because management knowingly releases a flawed AI patient monitoring tool that occasionally misses critical emergency alerts. Case Study 2 shows Fairness or Discrimination, because an automated hiring tool consistently screens out qualified female applicants due to algorithmically embedded gender bias. Case Study 3 shows Conflicts of Interest, because an engineer evaluating government bids hiddenly selects their brother’s company despite it costing more. Case Study 4 shows Privacy, because a university provides identifiable student data to third-party advertisers without obtaining consent. Case Study 5 shows Unauthorized Access to Computer Systems, because an administrator uses a former employee’s active credentials to nose around a restricted server without permission. Ethical reasoning of this kind also appears in the CS204 Assignment 1 solution on phishing and account safety.
How Do You Download the Solution File?
You can download the complete solution file from Google Drive using the link below. It contains both questions with their full tables, including the case study core details and the ethical breach context behind each answer. Fill in your own name and student ID in the blanks at the top before submitting, and check your VULMS for the marks and submission deadline, since neither was part of the file we received.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sole trader?
A sole trader is a business owned and run by one person. That person keeps all the profits but also carries all the risk and unlimited liability, which makes it the simplest business structure and the right label when a case study shows a single owner running the whole business.
How is a private limited company different?
A private limited company is a separate legal entity owned by shareholders, with liability limited to what they invested. Unlike a sole trader, the business and its owners are legally separate, and shares cannot be offered to the general public.
What counts as a conflict of interest?
A conflict of interest arises when a professional’s personal interest, or a second loyalty, could interfere with acting in the best interest of the client or employer. The ethical response is to disclose the conflict and step back from the decision, not to hide it.
Why is unauthorized access an ethics issue, not just a technical one?
Accessing a computer system without permission violates the trust placed in professionals and can expose private data and damage others. Professional ethics codes treat it as misconduct in its own right, separate from whatever technical method was used.
Last updated: November 2026.
