ITC506: Ethics Case Study - Doing Ethics Technique Analysis

This case study analyzes an ethical dilemma faced by a project manager concerned about software quality and meeting a deadline. The manager questions the senior developer's confidence in the software's bug-free status and the reliability of overseas testing. The assignment utilizes the Doing Ethics Technique (DET) to explore the situation, identifying facts, non-ethical issues, stakeholders, and ethical issues. It evaluates potential options, including internal testing, replacing the development team, and proceeding with overseas testing, ultimately recommending internal testing of a single software version as the best course of action. The analysis considers the implications for the company, project manager, developers, and client, emphasizing the importance of ethical decision-making and quality assurance in project management.

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND MATHS, Charles Sturt University
Overseas codeshop
Assignment 1: Doing Ethics Technique
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Student Number
Word Count: 1000

Title of you case study/scenario
ITC506 Assessment Item 1- Marking Sheet
Total Obtained Marks /100 & /15
Criteria Standards
Marks
award
ed
Analysis
of the
ethical
dilemma
using the
Doing
Ethics
Technique
(DET)
(Value:
70%)
HD: Answers all DET questions, lists all the facts, identifies all the non-
ethical issues, lists all the stakeholders, identifies all the ethical issues,
evaluates all the options that seek to resolve them and selects the best
option from these and justifies why this option is the best using
supporting arguments based on the literature.
DI: Answers all DET questions, lists all the facts, identifies all the non-
ethical issues, lists all the stakeholders, lists all the ethical issues and
options that seek to resolve them and selects the best option from these
and explains why this option is the best.
CR: Answers all DET questions, lists most of the facts, identifies most of
the non-ethical issues, lists most of the stakeholders, lists most of the
ethical issues and options that seek to resolve them and selects the best
option from these and makes an attempt to explain why this option is the
best.
PS: Answers some of the DET questions, lists a few facts, identifies a few
non-ethical issues, lists a few stakeholders, lists a few ethical issues and
options that seek to resolve them and selects the best option from these
but without explaining why this option is the best.
FL: Answers a few DET questions but fails to list important facts, fails to
identify relevant non-ethical issues, fails to list important stakeholders,
fails to identify the ethical issues and evaluates the options that seek to
resolve them and does not select the best option or does not explain why
the option selected is the best.
Writing &
structure
(Value
20%)
HD: Language features and structures are used to convey meaning
effectively, concisely, unambiguously, and in a tone appropriate to the
audience and purpose with no spelling, grammatical, or punctuation
errors.
DI: Well developed skills in expression & presentation of ideas.
Fluent writing style appropriate to assessment task/document type.
Grammar & spelling accurate.
CR: Good skills in expression & clear presentation of ideas.
Mostly fluent writing style appropriate to assessment task/document
type. Grammar & spelling contains a few minor errors.
PS: The text contains frequent errors in spelling, grammar, word choice,
and structure, lacks clarity, and is not concise, but the meaning is
apparent to the reader with some effort.
FL: Rudimentary skills in expression & presentation of ideas.
Not all material is relevant &/or is presented in a disorganised manner.
Meaning apparent, but writing style not fluent or well organised.
Grammar & spelling contains many errors.
Referenci
ng
(Value
10%)
HD: Referencing is comprehensive, demonstrates academic integrity, and
conforms exactly to APA style conventions.
DI: Very good referencing, including reference list and citations.
High quality references.
CR: Good referencing, including reference list and citations. Good quality
references.
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Title of you case study/scenario
PS: Referencing is comprehensive, mostly accurate according to APA style
conventions, and demonstrates academic integrity. Some minor errors or
omissions in style and formatting choices (e.g. italics, punctuation, etc)
don’t impact on the transparency and traceability of the source, or
demonstration of academic integrity.
FL: Sub-standard (or no) referencing. Poor quality (or no) references.
Total
Marks
Q1. What's going on?
The case here is the project manager is concerned about the project quality and
meeting deadline. He asked the senior developer about the progress and if the software will
be bug free and will not crash in future. At the same time project manager has to deliver the
software to client within deadline to avoid breaching contract terms and condition between
the company and client. The senior developer said the software code is almost ready and
then it will be sent to overseas for testing the software(Miguel, 2014). The team of
developers is working on 3 versions of the same software and then the testing will be done
by overseas company. The project manager asked the senior developer if the developer
team has done any internal testing of the software.
Q2. What are the facts?
The facts are the deadline is very close so the project manager is concerned about
the delivery of the software in time. The senior developer is confident about the codes but
testing is yet to be done by sending it overseas. The project manager is concerned if the
software is bug free or not and if it will be stable and will not crash. It is a fact that if a
software is not tested properly it may crash and be buggy(Mannay & Morgan, 2015). In case
of delivering a buggy software the client will not be happy and it will be considered as
breaching of contract. Project manager is doubtful about the quality of testing of the
software overseas.
Q3. What are the issues?
The issues are that the project manager is concerned about the meeting deadline.
He asked the senior developer if the codes are ready and if any internal testing of code has
been done and also resources are thin(Bell, 2014). The major issue is if the codes are sent
overseas there is no guarantee that it will be bug free and will not crash. The deadline is
approaching so the testing has to be done quickly and also ensuring that the software does
not crash or contains bug(Sokol, 2013). The team of developer is working on 3 versions of
software which is also a hectic job and needs more resource for the same.
Q4. Who is affected?
The company’s reputation will be affected in long run if the software delivered to the
client is buggy and it crashes. The contract breaching by the software developer company
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Title of you case study/scenario
will lead to loss of money and fame. The project manger will also be affected if his team fails
to deliver good quality bug free software within deadline. The developer team will also be
affected and may also be sacked if the delivered software crashes frequently (Bell, 2016).
The client will also face problem if the software is buggy and it will lead to financial loss of
the client.
Q5. What are the ethical issues and their implications?
The ethical issue here is the project manger should trust his team of developers or
he should take alternative decision to meet deadline and deliver a quality software to the
client. As a project manger it is a dilemma whether to trust on the team or force them to
take alternative way to do the task. In case of forcing the team the developers may find it
inappropriate to interference of project manager in the way they coded and tested the
software. The project manager is also liable to deliver the quality software to the client and
it is his responsibility that his team of developers work efficiently and test the software
internally before delivering it to the client. The project manger is also concerned that if the
software will not crash if it is tested overseas because he doubts the quality of testing. The
client will be unsatisfied with the software if it crashes often.
Q6. What could have been done about it?
The project manager may ask the developers to test the software internally first. It
will ensure that the code does not contain any bug and the software does not crash. The
developers may be asked to work on only one version of project to use the resources more
efficiently. The project manger can seek help from the other senior developers and make
the team take quality assurance training in extra hours(Meine & Dunn, 2013). This will
ensure that the developer team tests the software well and remove the bugs from the codes
within deadline using the resources they have.
Q7. What are the options?
There are mainly three options. The first option can be asking the senior developer
to work on only one version. That version will be tested internally first. This will ensure that
the software is not buggy and it is delivered in time. To execute this the senior and junior
developer should take an after hour quality assurance training. The training will help the
developer team to understand the testing method and deliver the software which will not
crash(Shaw & Elger, 2013).
The second option is to inform the senior authority of the company to sack the team
of developers as the project manager finds the developers not suitable for the project. The
project manager needs another team to develop the software and test to finally deliver the
software within the deadline which may not be possible in short time period(Harris et al.,
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2013). The senior developer can not be trusted according to the project manager as he
suggested to send the codes overseas for testing.
The third option is to trust the senior developer and start the overseas testing
immediately. This may result in delivering the software within deadline but the software
may crash in that case which will lead to customer dissatisfaction and it may cause the
termination of job for the whole project team including the project manager and senior
developer.
Q8. Which option is the best and why?
The first option i.e the instruction of building only one version and testing it
internally is best. The decision is most suitable for everyone and do the project efficiently
within deadline. The developers will be concentrating on only one version and test it
internally to build a stable software. This will be best for everyone’s interest. The developers
and project manager both will be able to do their respective job properly and deliver a bug
free stable software.
References
Bell, G. (2016). Extended vocal technique and Joan La Barbara: The relational ethics of voice
on the edge of intelligibility.
Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies,
1(2), 143-159.
Bell, J. (2014). Doing Your Research Project: A guide for first-time researchers. McGraw-Hill
Education (UK).
Harris Jr, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., Rabins, M. J., James, R., & Englehardt, E. (2013).
Engineering
ethics: Concepts and cases. Cengage Learning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBfJ07gfHyc
Mannay, D., & Morgan, M. (2015). Doing ethnography or applying a qualitative technique?
Reflections from the ‘waiting field’.
Qualitative Research,
15(2), 166-182.
Meine, M. F., & Dunn, T. P. (2013). The search for ethical competency: Do ethics codes
matter?.
Public Integrity,
15(2), 149-166.
Miguel, A. (2014). Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins: Revised and Expanded. Orbis
Books.
Shaw, D., & Elger, B. (2013). Evidence-based persuasion: an ethical
imperative.
jama,
309(16), 1689-1690.
Your Name

Title of you case study/scenario
Sokol, D. K. (2013). Seven ways to hone your ethics skills.
BMJ: British Medical Journal
(Online),
346.
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