Ethical Dilemmas in Project Management: A Case Study Analysis

This report analyzes a case study involving Occidental Engineering and the development of an air traffic management system, Safe Skies. The company, facing financial pressures and deadlines, delivered a prototype despite knowing of a critical software flaw that could lead to aircraft disappearance. The report identifies ethical violations, including breaches of the Project Management Institute (PMI) ethical standards, such as prioritizing financial gain over safety and failing to communicate critical system issues. It examines the potential consequences for stakeholders, including the risk of accidents and loss of life. The analysis includes recommendations for Deborah and Wayne, suggesting proper monitoring, recruitment, and modification scope to prevent future ethical lapses. The report emphasizes the importance of ethical conduct in project management and the need to prioritize safety and integrity. References from sources like Binder, Kerzner, and McMurrian are included to support the analysis.

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Project Management
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Identify the ethical issues that arise in this case study.
Ethics is one of the most important element in any different kinds of the business
activities. The presence of proper ethics within the business is certainly one of the most
needed element. The maintenance of the ethical standards by the management of the business
organizations helps in the creation of loyalty and trust. The loyalty and trust of the people can
help in the success of the business in a proper manner. In the given case study, a case of a
terrible form of ethical violations by the management of a business organization has been
highlighted. Though there has been no negative impacts of the unethical practice
implemented by the business organization, there has been a lot of raised questions in the
following regards. Occidental engineering has been provided a contract by the government to
develop a technologically advanced form of air traffic management system to mitigate any
form of risks and accidents in the aviation sector.
The project code named safe skies has been able to meet all the deadlines and has also
been a success for the company. However, a thorough check-up by the software expert of the
organization revealed a major setback for the software as too much overload one the system
could lead to the total disappearance of a single aircraft from the system. The aircraft which
will be untraceable by any means could lead to a huge accident in such a case. Though the
problem behind its cause has been identified, the presence of a less time for the deadline and
the fear of government sanctions forced the company to present the prototype. However, the
testing of the software on relatively small airport helped the company to totally avoid the
failure of the system. Considering the ethical elements of the business the delivery was not
justified as it was a breach of agreement and can easily lead to a major danger.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Identify the potential consequences to the stakeholders of accepting this aggressive bid
and risks involved in this project.
The avoidance of the ethical principles of the business can lead to dangerous
consequences. The case here clearly highlights the violation of the ethical principles which
could have led to a great catastrophe. The aggressive bid was clearly made by the company to
make up for the damage caused by the financial losses it has been suffering for some time.
The absence of the defence deals has forced the company to submit the bid at the lowest
amount which was one of the strategies of the management in order to win the contract. The
employees of the company walked day and night for the creation of the new technology.
However, the major fault in the system was discovered just before the delivery. The fear of
missing the deadline and the financial stress of the company was the major reason behind the
problem.
The management of the company was warned about the problems of the system, but
still thy proceeded with the delivery in order to ensure the success of the business
organization. The other reason behind the delivery was that the management wanted to
improve their financial stress with the commercial delivery of the system and was also in fear
that the failure of the delivery could lead to future bans. The most important question that
arises was the safety of the system. The system which was code named safe skies was a big
failure in the beginning as it was clearly inviting a major catastrophe in the skies. The
unethical behaviour of the company could have led to a major disaster.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Identify the potential breaches of the Project Management Institute (PMI) ethical
standards by the Project team. Examine the PMI code and identify requirements that
are relevant to this case study.
The code of business ethics clearly summarizes the presence of the aspirations of the
management of the company at a high level. There have been a number of breaches in the
ethical standardisation polices. First of all the employees must have reported each and every
development of the system to the software engineer who in turn could have a proper
monitoring over the system at each and every junction. Secondly the presentation of the
lowest bid was not needed as because it clearly suggested the urgency of the company to grab
the task and deliver it within a short time limit. The project safe skies is one of the most
coveted projects which itself implies the need for safety. However, the major breach in the
system due to a technical error was one of the major defaults of the organization. The loss of
the ethical standards in the organization could have led to dangerous consequences.
There are different requirements for the conduction of the safe project. This includes
the likes of the;
a. Communication- The communication planning in between the project managers and
the employees of the project is an essential for the following project. The presence of
a proper communication plan can ensure safety and monitoring which in turn can help
to avoid any errors.
b. Product Development- The development of the product needs to be done in a proper
and effective manner in order to ensure stability.
c. Judgement- The proper and smart judgement is essential to gain success.
d. Management- management of the project is the most important form of task that
needs to be done to ensure success.

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Deborah and Wayne are attempting to resolve the ethical dilemma that they have. Having
completed your ethical analysis recommendations as to how they should proceed.
The ethical analysis have revealed a number of breaches in the air traffic software.
The unethical issues must be addressed accordingly to avoid any such occurrences in the near
future. Some of the recommendations are as follows;
a. Proper Monitoring- The monitoring of the project from the beginning and at each and
every steps will ensure success.
b. Proper Recruitment- The proper recruitment of the people will help to ensure success
c. Modification scope- The management of the organization must ensure the presence of a
modification time for the software’s or any products before its final delivery to avoid
any future losses.

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References
Binder, J. (2016). Global project management: communication, collaboration and
management across borders. Routledge.
Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management, 33(2),
291-298.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
McMurrian, R. C., & Matulich, E. (2016). Building customer value and profitability with
business ethics. Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER), 14(3), 83-90.
Saltz, J., & Crowston, K. (2017, January). Comparing data science project management
methodologies via a controlled experiment. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii
International Conference on System Sciences.
Sierra, V., Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., & Singh, J. J. (2017). Does ethical image build equity
in corporate services brands? The influence of customer perceived ethicality on affect,
perceived quality, and equity. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(3), 661-676.