HW23: Chapter 22

Ex 22.6

Q: Fixed-price contracts, where the contractor bids a fixed price to complete system development, may be used to move project risk from client to contractor. If anything goes wrong, the contractor has to pay. Suggest how the use of such contracts may increase the likelihood that product risks will arise.

A: If the contractor is interested in a fixed price contract, they might not be extremely invested in the project. This gives me the feeling that they are more interested in getting the job done within a certain time frame at all costs as they would not be benefitting by gaining extra cash if they spent more time on it. I think it would increase the likelihood of a product arising. My next question would be, "how is the quality of this product?" If they are trying to push out this product within a certain time frame and plans do not go as scheduled, for the sake of the contractor losing money, would they be willing to sacrifice doing a little bit of extra testing because they do not have time? I think this ties in the ethics of the individual software engineering that may be working on the project. The questions I'm asking are dependent on the standards the developer holds themselves to.