As we have discussed in class, information technology is evolving faster than our ethical standards, cultural norms, and laws that govern information technology. At the same time, competitive markets are driving organizations to push business strategies to the edge of existing ethical norms. Passively sticking to existing cultural, ethical, and legal barriers may not be enough to succeed in the current business climate. While moving beyond the current cultural, ethical, and legal boundaries may offer significant rewards, it can also create new and different risks and challenges. This is especially true in the context of IT projects. As we have discussed, projects are the mechanism that organizations use to implement strategy. As a result, project teams, and especially project managers, are likely to face significant ethical challenges that they must navigate through.

The number of ethical violations committed by organizations has been steadily increasing over the past decade. When organizations get caught committing clear ethical violations, or pushing their IT strategies beyond existing culture norms, the employees within the organization are often caught in the middle of a chaotic situation, and at worst pressured to do something unethical at work. In situations like that, it is a great benefit to have already reflected on what you as an individual believe is ethical. And, even better, to have constructed a personal ethical framework for decision making in these chaotic situations.

1. Create a personal ethical framework for yourself that you can come back to if you should face an ethical challenge in the future. While you are required to use the material from class lectures and discussion, you are not limited to that material. Feel free to incorporate in additional class content as well as any outside materials that will help you develop your personal ethical framework. This is a test question, but my hope is that this question will provide you with an opportunity to develop something that will be useful for you in the future, should you ever need it.