Early Launch Ethics: A Case Study of Dilemmas in Software Development

This case study examines the ethical dilemma faced by a project manager in a software development organization tasked with launching a product early, potentially without proper encryption. The report uses the "Doing Ethics technique" to analyze the situation, focusing on the project director's res...Read More

Running head: DOING IT ETHICS
DOING IT ETHICS-
ETHICAL DILEMMA FACED WITH EARLY LAUNCH
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DOING IT ETHICS
Introduction
The aim of this report is to describe the ethical dilemma that is faced while working
within an organization. It has been observed that there is a constant increase over the information
technology. Thus it becomes important to ensure that the people associated with the
organizations are capable of making ethical decisions. The main challenge arises with the
implementation of improper control over the data. Thus it becomes essential to understand the
ethical dilemma at early stages so that the issues can be mitigated properly. Software
development organization needs to develop a product after analyzing all the necessary
requirements. This ensures that the product is ready to be launched in the market. This report will
focus on the ethical dilemma faced by the developer.
About early launch case study
While working within a software organization it becomes essential for the employees to
understand the basic demands of the products. Each and every product needs to be tested
properly so that the software developed can meet the client’s expectations. The main component
of a software organization is implementing proper authentication tools that help in maintaining
performance o the system. From the scenario it can be observed that a project manager of
software development organization has been asked to deliver the product early by the project
director. The project manager faced dilemma with the delivery of the project as delivering the
product without proper encryption is unethical and can hamper the reputation of the organization.
it becomes very challenging for any developer to deliver the product without encryption. In this
video it has been observed that the director is asking to deliver the project before deadline so that
they can get better increment. Delivering a product without proper encryption has the ability to

2DOING IT ETHICS
impact the overall performance of the organization and also tends to create negative impacts on
the company. Moreover it has been observed that the project manager bribed the project director
for delivering the project without encryption and also offered him with increment in his position
within the organization if he agrees on doing the same. The project is needed to be delivered a
month earlier based on the clients need. The main reason behind forcing the project director to
work according to the need of the client’s is that there is a new project that is going to be
developed in future by the client and the project manager wants to grab this opportunity so that
they can crack the deal.
The ethical dilemma that is identified in the given scenario is that delivering the product
without proper encryption. Encryption ensures that proper support is provided towards the
developed software and this also ensures that the developed software is not vulnerable to risks.
Delivering software without proper encryption is against the ethics and this is highly risky. These
possess the ability to harm the user and will eventually end up creating serious impact on the
reputation of the organization. In order to determine the ethical dilemma in the case study the
procedure that is being used is “Doing ethics technique”. From the case study it can be stated that
the main requirement of the project manager was to deliver the product as per the need of clients.
The director focused on delivering the product even without implementing proper encryption
method (Al-Saggaf, 2016). Thus for the purpose of delivering the product the before deadline the
project manager came up with several offers towards the project director. Thus from the scenario
it can be observed that the activity is unethical and can be determined only by the actions of
project director.
The response of the project director is used for determining the action. After visualizing
the scenario it can be stated that there can be three possible scenarios that will help in deciding

3DOING IT ETHICS
whether the situation is ethical or not. From the video it can be stated that the approach of project
director was unethical and hence if the project director responds positively towards this than
there is a high chance that the organization will face serious damages. Once the client identifies
that the project is delivered without encryption than they can charge the organization with legal
implications. This will impact the organization performance and will impact the reputation.
There are possible three ways in which director can act. The first situation can be if the
project director surrenders himself towards the project manager and agrees on delivering the
product early. This can cause legal implications towards the organization. Second situation can
occur if the director denies the proposal given by project manager and focuses on delivering the
complete product by implementing effective authentication technique. This will ensure that the
organization is able to avoid the illegal activity by focusing on ethical process. This will help in
delivering the product effectively without any issue. The third situation can be if the project
director takes help from the team and discuss about the situation. This will help in coming up
with better solution for handling this situation.
Thus it can be stated that while working within an organization it becomes essential for
every employee to focus on the ethical aspects. Ethical implication ensures that the project is
completed effectively without any error. This ensures that the project team will be able to deliver
the project without any errors.
Recommendation
After analyzing the case study it can be recommended that the project manager should
understand the importance of encryption within software. It is the responsibility of project
manager to handle such critical situation and should focus on making effective decision that will

4DOING IT ETHICS
be beneficial for the organization and will also be beneficial for the employees. Thus it is highly
recommended that proper training and knowledge sharing among the employees about
encryption methodology will help in delivering the software within time and efficiently.

5DOING IT ETHICS
Bibliography
Al-Saggaf, Y. (2016). Scenario 3: Early Launch. [online] YouTube. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5M7ohdZ6qA [Accessed 28 May 2019].
Bailey, J., & Burch, M. (2016). Ethics for behavior analysts. Routledge.
Ganz, F. D., Wagner, N., & Toren, O. (2015). Nurse middle manager ethical dilemmas and
moral distress. Nursing Ethics, 22(1), 43-51.
Hess, D. (2015). Ethical Infrastructure and Evidence-Based Corporate Compliance and Ethics
Programs: Policy Implications from the Empirical Evidence. NYUJL & Bus., 12, 317.
Ilic, D., & Ogilvie, C. (2017). Concise review: Human embryonic stem cells—what have we
done? What are we doing? Where are we going?. Stem Cells, 35(1), 17-25.
Mannay, D., & Morgan, M. (2015). Doing ethnography or applying a qualitative technique?
Reflections from the ‘waiting field’. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 166-182.
Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2016). Ethical leadership and decision making in education:
Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Routledge.
Singh, P., & Kaur, K. (2015, February). Database security using encryption. In 2015
International Conference on Futuristic Trends on Computational Analysis and
Knowledge Management (ABLAZE) (pp. 353-358). IEEE.