Chapter 1: Vignette and Case Study

Vignette: Dubious Methods Used to Investigate Leaks by Hewlett-Packard Board Members

1.    Which issue is more disconcerting, the fact that a board member leaked confidential information about the firm or the tactics used to investigate the leak? Defend your position.

          For me, I would go with the fact that a board member leaks confidential information about the firm. It is more disturbing in a sense that, you do not know who is truly trustworthy enough to be considered as advantage to the company or who are the foe who pretends to be a friend and part of the circle. And there is no issue at all about the tactics used to investigate the leak when it is first prevented one of the board members who secretly leaked confidential information. But it’s quiet impossible.

  2.    Can the use of pretexting to gain information ever be justified? Is it     legal under any circumstances?

          I don’t think so, pretexting is the use of false pretenses to gain access to telephone records it might help to those detectives who really need to use that kind of tactics but it somehow disregard the private, personal life of the certain individual. When the intention was really genuine and true, it might be justified in order to give justice to the majority, but when the intention is doubtful it’s another issue. In can be legal in some circumstances but it somehow illegal to some situations. It merely depends on the kind of scenario one might engage into.

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.

          Should CIOs be ethical? If so, in what kinds of situations should they be ethical and how should they exercise their ethics? Schrage published an article entitled “Ethics, Schmethics” which mainly tells that CIOs “should stop trying to do the ‘right thing’ when implementing IT and focus instead on getting their implementations right.” He also asserted that the demand for ethical behavior interferes with business efficiency. And for me, what a kind of thinking he had? Its sounds stupid but well I respect his opinions. And I wondered, what’s really the essence of making its implementations right without doing the ‘right thing’? I agree that IT is a business thing, but I strongly disagree that there is no place for ethics in IT and must and should not in IT only. There are suggested process for ethical decision making that are given and these are those: Develop problem statement, you should gather and analyze facts and be sure to study it well. Make no assumptions and identify stakeholders affected by the decision. Next, Identify alternatives, involve others, including stakeholders, in brainstorming. Followed by Evaluating and choosing alternatives, what laws and principles apply? What’s the impact in the organization, evaluate in multiple criteria. Next is implementing decision, develop and execute plan, provide leadership to overcome resistance to change. Second to the last, evaluate results, were there any unintended consequences? And lastly, it is successful? If yes, it is finished but if no, go back to the first step. Ethical decision making is very important and must be implemented in any field of interest. It is the best way to solve the problem without making any unethical moves. And I believe that doing the ‘right thing’ leads to the implementations right and a job well done.

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

          In the first scenario, a company is developing customer relationship management (CRM) systems, and the staff is working hard to meet the deadline. The company plan to outsource the maintenance and support of the CRM systems once it is developed, meaning there is a good chance that two-thirds of IT staff will be laid off. And the worst thing here, someone asked to Schrage, ‘would you disclose this information?’ he answered, “I don’t think so.” He’s really that unkind type of person, shortsighted and crazy. The possible short term losses here based on implementing ethical solutions are maybe, probably two-thirds of the IT staff will be laid off, and maybe losing one project in which everybody was participating, the skills and abilities, the knowledge and hard work are intense but at a sudden the company plan to outsource the maintenance and support of the CRM systems once it is developed. And the long term gains are maybe the perseverance and the courage of the IT staff to do the best of their abilities, skills and knowledge, in which will help the company improve and competent among the others.

Second 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. The short term losses here based on implementing ethical solutions are getting to the point that information from the boss will now disclose and would provoke his/her. And the long term gains here are that, employees must be connected with their employers, in a sense that, they should trust each other and will not make each other put in a shame of trouble. As well as help each other to improve each one’s ability and skills.

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

         For me, it is not needed to choose between good ethics and the selfish want in financial benefits. As what I agreed, IT is a business thing as well as a place for ethics. It doesn’t necessarily mean that when you choose good ethics, you didn’t consider financial benefits or vice versa. Business is business, ethics is ethics. Business mainly exist for financial benefits but it must have a mixed of good ethics to make it successful. What’s the essence of business without financial benefits? And what’s more the essence of business without a good ethics? Business is ethics. Business must come next to ethics, because doing the right thing is what much more important, than doing it right.

And as addressed to Schrage scenarios, I bet he chose the business efficiency corresponds to financial benefits and I choose both, the good ethics and the financial benefits. We are living in a globe where in everybody is competing, in every aspects of life. What I’m trying to say here is that no matter how worse the situation is, never ever be choose to be unethical. Be a man with values and virtues, anyway, all material things are just temporary. But the values and virtues may stand still and remains in us until were no longer here in this mortal world.