Technical debt, a double-edged sword that can damage moral responsibility

Abstract

This teaching case provides a simple yet comprehensive overview of Technical Debt (TD) and its associated terminology to the readers. TD, which has received an increasing amount of attention from information systems (IS) development research and practice, is mainly used to communicate the consequences of sub-optimal design decisions and trade-offs made during software development with non-technical project stakeholders. We reviewed the extant literature and interviewed five software professionals from a European company to examine this costly phenomenon. As such, we provide a comprehensive understanding of TD, its relevant terminology, and concrete examples that can help information systems and business students better understand the topic. In addition, the teaching case demonstrates antecedents, benefits and challenges, and the responsibilities associated with the accumulation of TD. We argue that, unfortunately, the moral responsibility associated with TD tends to get diffused leading to the invisibility of consequences and de-individuation issues in software teams. To this end, considering the critical role of software-intensive systems in modern societies, we argue that practitioners should look beyond the financial or technical costs and benefits of TD and consider the ethical and societal responsibilities associated with its accumulation carefully.