From Ethical Values to Process Quality in Agile Software Engineering: The Quality Value Driver (QVD) Framework

Software-intensive organizations increasingly face the challenge of integrating ethical considerations into routine work practices while maintaining process quality and organizational performance. This study develops the Quality Value Driver (QVD) framework, a managerial approach for embedding ethical reflection into everyday organizational processes. The framework links ethical values, organizational drivers, and observable quality indicators, providing a structured mechanism through which ethical values can be operationalized and evaluated. Following constructive research methodology, the study introduces the framework and illustrates its application through a proof-of-concept case involving an Agile team developing an AI-based facial palsy classification system. In the demonstrated application, collaboration was selected as the target value, Balint Groups served as the organizational driver, and process-quality indicators were used to assess development outcomes. The findings do not establish causal effectiveness but illustrate the feasibility of operationalizing ethical values through routine organizational practices within the specific context examined. The study contributes a software-engineering perspective that conceptualizes ethical values as potential process-quality drivers and advances the Ethics by Design approach by integrating ethical reflection into everyday software-development decision-making.