Indeed, in terms of ethics, it harms the company the CIO is working for, along with his own reputation. It is therefore better to channel negativity into the planning, implementation and anticipation stages than into external communications. A consideration of publications regarding the specific duties and positions of the CIO within a company provides further insight. According to Strassmann (reviewed by Goldsmith, 1995), for example, the CIO is primarily responsible for cost-reduction deliverables and the management of a strategic resource. Goldsmith highlight's Strassmann's definition of the CIO's duty as that of an "executive politician." He or she should build support and fulfill the needs of the organization rather than enforce standards and procedures in a rigid fashion.

According to Shwegman's confession, he failed in the basic duties of the CIO - he was unable to build adequate technological support for the needs of his company. However, according to Shuman's article, he felt this way even as strategies were implemented to improve the process. He was immediately and completely negative before the process was even completed, and he communicated this with absolute honesty, rather than even attempting a sense of optimism regarding the future. Furthermore although he did attempt to blame himself for the entire disaster, as he saw it, this also reflected badly upon those working under him. In this sense, Shwegman went beyond his duties as CIO in communicating externally, and did more damage than may have been strictly necessary.

On the other hand, Paul a. Strassmann, in a 2005 article, identifies certain criteria that should be applied to the duties of the CIO in order to ensure that the company benefits rather than suffer from such an official's work. Clearly, Shwegman's company suffered considerably in terms of reputation as a result of his letter. Strassmann's criteria are adapted from the Department of Defense and applied to the CIO profession in general. They provide further insight into the exact role and duties of the CIO, and may also clarify the estimation of Shwegman's decisions as wise or unwise.

According to Strassmann (2005), it is vitally...

This means that he or she needs the authority to set and execute information management policies, as these are the focus of his or her work. This in turn connects with the issue of accountability. Accountability is measured by the above-mentioned list that Strassmann provides. These include elements such as the CIO's power to put in place measures for result evaluation, report on progress, authorize investigations, authorize projects, etc. Interestingly, Shwegman appears to have taken the accountability requirement to heart.
Indeed, the CIO may have felt that honesty was concomitant with accountability, and that it was best to admit his own shortcomings before these were revealed by the complete failure of his architectured system.

Once again however, the issue focuses on projected as opposed to actual problems. Shuman's article asserts that there have been no problems to date with the update of the Oracle system.

While Shwegman did focus on his own accountability for existing problems, he does the same for projected problems. I do not believe that this was necessary, even if the letter was unintentionally leaked. In taking responsibility for projected future problems, Shwegman made matters appear worse than they actually were. I therefore believe that Shwegman was unwise in two respects. Firstly, he focused only on the negative effects of his company's current system rather than also focusing on success. Secondly, he projected problems rather than solutions, in this way unnecessarily causing concern among stakeholders and partners. While accountability is important, it is also important to handle this with responsibility and consideration.

Sources

Goldsmith, Neal M. (1995, Feb). The Politics of Information Management. Business Technology, Volume 2. (http://www.Strassmannn.com/pubs/goldsmith.html)

Shuman, Evan (2005). The CIO Who Admitted Too Much. Ziff Davis Internet. http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1852559,00.asp

Strassmannn, Paul a. (2005, July 8). Check: How to Verify if You are Important. Ziff Davis Internet. http://www.cioinsight.com/article2/0,1540,1849919,00.asp