Question

ENMA 480: ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS

A   project   leader   working   for   a   large   retail   business   was   assigned   the   task   of   developing   a  
customer   billing   and   credit   system.   The   budget   assigned   for   the   project   appeared   at   first   to  
be   adequate.   Yet   by   the   time   the   system   was   half   completed   it   was   clear   the   funds   were   not  
nearly   enough.   The   project   leader   asked   for   more   money,   but   the   request   was   denied.   He  
fully   informed   management   of   the   serious   problems   that   were   likely   to   occur   if   he   had   to  
stay   within   the   original   budget.   He   would   be   forced   to   omit   several   important   program  
functions   for   convenience   and   safety:   for   example,   efficient   detection   and   correction  
mechanisms   for   errors,   automatic   handling   and   reporting   of   special   customer   exceptions,  
and   audit   controls.   Management   insisted   that   these   functions   could   be   added   after   the  
more   minimal   system   was   produced   and   installed   in   stores.   Working   under   direct   orders,  
the   project   leader   completed   the   minimal   system,   only   to   find   his   worst   fears   realized   after  
it   was   installed.   Numerous   customers   were   given incorrect   billings   or   ones   they   could   not  
understand.   It   was   easy   for   retail   salespersons   to   take   advantage   of   the   system   to   steal  
from   the   company,   and   several   did   so.   Within   a   year   the   company’s   profits   and   business  
were   beginning   to   drop.   This   led   to   middle-level   management   changes,   and   the   project  
leader   found   himself   blamed   for   designing   an   inadequate   system.  
a. Did   the   project   leader   have   an   obligation   either   to   clients   or   to   the   company   to   act  
differently   than   he   did?  

b. Did   he   have   a   moral   right   to   take   further   steps   in   support   of   his   original   request   or  
later   to   protect   himself   from   managerial   sanctions?

Answer 1

(a) The project leader does have the obligation because it is he who designed the system (either adequate or inadequate).

So he is having the responsibility to solve the matter when the problem arises.

(b) The project leader have a moral right to solve the error. As he designed for inadequate system because of lack of funds from the top management he should have made a report stating the errors that are likely to happen with the inadequate system and how early they should be added by the time the stores were installed.

This report can help him to defend himself when he was blamed for his design as inadequate.