Chapter 1 - Case Study 3: Is There a Place for Ethics in IT?

1. Discuss how a CIO might handle Schrage’s scenarios using the suggested process for ethical
decision making presented in this chapter.

In the article, Schrage provided a few scenarios to back up his opinion. In one such example,
a company is developing a customer relationship management (CRM) system, and the staff is
working very hard to meet the deadline. The company plans to outsource the maintenance and
support of the CRM system once it is developed, meaning that there is a good chance that
two-thirds of the IT staff will be laid off. Would you disclose this information? Schrage answered,
“I don’t think so.”
In another scenario, Schrage asked readers if they would consider deliberately withholding
important information from their boss if they knew that its disclosure would provoke his or her
immediate counterproductive intervention in an important project. Schrage said he would withhold
it. Business involves competing values, he argued, and trade-offs must be made to keep business
operations from becoming paralyzed.

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2. Discuss the possible short-term losses and long-term gains in implementing ethical solutions
for each of Schrage’s scenarios.

The possible short-term losses would be the two-thirds of the IT staff will be laid off. And the long-term gains would benefit to the company.

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3. Must businesses choose between good ethics and financial benefits? Explain your answer
using Schrage’s scenarios as examples.

Yes, because as Michael Schrage choose to handle all those scenarios being presented in the chapter. He chooses good ethics among his co-workers and financial benefits to their company.