Doing Ethics Technique: Analysis of ICT Ethical Dilemma Scenario

This report analyzes an ethical dilemma within an ICT project, focusing on a situation where a developer communicates directly with a client without involving the project manager. The report employs the "Doing Ethics Technique" to dissect the scenario, addressing questions about the facts, issues, and affected parties. It explores potential ethical implications, highlighting violations of ICT laws and ethics concerning proper communication channels and budget adherence. The analysis identifies that the developer's actions could lead to contract disputes and project mismanagement. The report evaluates various options for resolving the dilemma, recommending that the developer should be instructed to route client communications through the project manager to maintain project control and ethical standards. Ultimately, the report concludes that while ethical challenges exist, they can be effectively managed by adhering to established procedures and upholding professional conduct within the ICT environment.

Running head: DOING ETHICS TECHNIQUE – VIDEO 2
Doing Ethics Technique – Video 2
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Maintaining ethical ordinance is necessary in a professional field. However, in many
cases, situational crisis puts a person in dilemma about being ethically or morally correct. The
Doing Ethics Technique can possibly dilute the rift in such situations. In the following
scenario as well, the possible dilemma would most likely be solved by asking a series of
questions. As the questions progress, hopefully, there would be a solution to the problem as
per the ethics in ICT. The first four of the questions would explain the facts that have come
up in the scenario and the last four would focus on the ethical behaviour.
What is going on?
The case scenario in discussion is about an ethically questionable situation between a
developer and a project manager. During an ongoing project, a client had asked for some
changes in the development and had contacted the developer for it. The developer, on the
other hand, had a conversation with the client and ensured that the changes would be
implemented (Scenario 2: Development Methodology., 2018). The project manager was not
included in this conversation and he had no clue about it even. This is a situation where many
ethical obligations could arise.
What are the facts?
The facts that raise a situation of ethical dilemma in this scenario are about the
interventions of the developer between the project manager and the client. It is the duty of a
project manager to prepare a contract between the client and the organization for any project
(Scenario 2: Development Methodology., 2018). If there are any alterations as per their
requirements, the project manager has to include them into the contract. If the developer does

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not take in the manager into the conversation between him and the client, that would be a
situation of ethical dilemma.
What are the issues?
Several issues could arise in this scenario. Firstly, the developer did not ask the
project manager before taking up the requirements from the client nor did he include him in
the conversation. This could be an issue since the project manager could not inform the client
about including all the alterations in the contract as the requirements could go over the fixed
budget. If the client is not informed about the raised budget, it could be an implication since
the client may take it as a complimentary (Scenario 2: Development Methodology., 2018).
These issues may further create problems in the project charter since the organization may
not sanction the project being above the preset budget.
Who is affected?
The situation may affect many people in the process. The first person who will be
questioned for this issue would be the project manager. Since he was not included in the
conversation between the developer and the client, he had no idea of the alterations that were
asked for. As a result, the contract could not be updated (Scenario 2: Development
Methodology., 2018). If the project goes over budget, the organization would be hampered
and so would be the stakeholders of the company including the developer himself and all the
clients of the company.
What are the ethical issues and implications?
Apart from doing the respective works, it is also necessary for every person in a
project to maintain the ICT laws and ethics (Al-Saggaf, Burmeister & Weckert, 2015).
According to the ICT laws and ethics, any subordinate cannot take up any requirement from a

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client without the perseverance of the project manager. For this, his immediate seniors, such
as, the managers, could question the project manager. The exclusion of the new requirements
from the proposed budget again would create an issue for the company. Therefore, the issues
would raise an allegation on the project manager, the developer and the manager as well.
What can be done about it?
The situation in this scenario is delicate to handle, however, there are still chances that
some measures could be taken to resolve the issue. The client can be informed about the
exceeding proposed budget and can be requested to make the requirements accordingly
(Yaghmaei & Brem, 2016). The developer could be instructed not to handle this kind of
client requirement alone excluding the project manager. The manager could be made to
understand the situation and take decisions consequently.
What options are there?
Three options are available that the project manager can supposedly take up to resolve
the issue. The options may or may not be ethically correct, however, it depends on a person to
decide which option is the best to chose (Yaghmaei & Brem, 2016). The options may
include:
 Angrily confronting the developer about the obligation his negligence can
cause and threaten him not to take up a client’s call by himself.
 Requesting the developer to further divert such calls to him first and then
follow the orders.
 Praise the work the developer has done in taking up the call on his absence.
Which option is best and why?

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Amongst the options that could be followed to resolve the issue, the best one would
be to request the developer to divert such calls to the project manager and not take it up by
himself. This option would just not be ethically correct but also would be convenient for
maintaining the balance between all the levels of the project (Schwalbe, 2015). The other two
options can be discarded, since it is unethical to behave rudely with an employee and not to
abide by the company norms on going over budget for a project to keep clients happy.
Ethical Solution
According to the ICT ethical norms, there are many implications for a project
management. The scenario here describes the plight of the project manager who could see a
developer being ethically incorrect (Kerzner & Kerzner, 2017). However, the ethical solution
here could be to request the developer no to repeat this unethical behaviour. In this way, all
other complications could be avoided.
Conclusion
It could be concluded from the scenario that however, there have been a situation that
did not abide by the ICT laws and ethics; it can still be handled ethically. Abiding by the
ethical laws, the project manager could ask the employee not to repeat this again. In this way,
all the other aspects of the ethical dilemmas can be avoided at once. Even the progress of the
project would not be hampered or be over the proposed budget.

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Reference
Al-Saggaf, Y., Burmeister, O., & Weckert, J. (2015). Reasons behind unethical behaviour in
the Australian ICT workplace: An empirical investigation. Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society, 13(3/4), 235-255.
Kerzner, H., & Kerzner, H. R. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Scenario 2: Development Methodology. (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 12 March 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0npm9cEJBWY
Schwalbe, K. (2015). Information technology project management. Cengage Learning.
Yaghmaei, E., & Brem, A. (2016). Case study research to reflect societal and ethical issues:
introduction of a research implementation plan for ICTs. ACM SIGCAS Computers
and Society, 45(3), 306-312.