HOW ETHICS FITS INTO ENGINEERING

Build products such as cell phones, home appliances, heart valves, bridges, &
cars. In general, they advance society by building new technology.
Develop processes, such as the process to convert salt water into fresh water or the
process to recycle bottles. These processes change how we live and what we can
accomplish.
PRODUCTS AND PROCESSES HAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR SOCIETY:
 If the bridge has an inadequate support, it will fail.
 If the gas tank is positioned too close to the bumper, it might explode from a
small accident.
 If a medical instrument isn’t accurate, improper doses of medication can be
given.
 If the process for refining gas produces too much toxins, it harms the local
community.
THE ESSENCE OF YOUR ENGINEERING CAREER
Engineering is one of the most important professions in society. As engineers, we
don’t just build things and develop processes. We build things and make processes
in order to better society. In order to make society better we have to reflect
constantly on the products and processes that we make.
WHY STUDY ENGINEERING ETHICS?
 Increased awareness of importance due to publicity surrounding high profile
engineering failures
 Engineering decisions can impact public health, safety, business practices and
politics
 Engineers should be aware of moral implications as they make decisions in the
workplace
 Study of ethics helps engineers develop a moral autonomy:
 Ability to think critically and independently about moral issues
 Ability to apply this moral thinking to situations that arise in the course of
professional engineering practice
 Ethical problems in engineering are often complex and involve conflicting
ethical principles. Engineers must be able to intelligently resolve these conflicts
and reach a defensible decision
ENGINEERING CODES OF ETHICS
 Express the rights, duties and obligations of members of the profession
 Do not express new ethical principles, but coherently restate existing standards
of responsible engineering practice
 Create an environment within the profession where ethical behaviour is the
norm
 Not legally binding –an engineer cannot be arrested for violating an ethical
code, but may be expelled from or censured by the engineering society
ETHICAL THEORIES
Ethical or sometimes defined as Moral Theories. We use ethical/moral theories to
help us understand ethical cases and ethical problems that often face by engineers.
They are not algorithms to resolve complex dilemmas. They can however, provide
systematic guidance, and understanding. There are many approaches that can be
applied to solve ethical issues. We can look at the problems from different angle.
The opinions from these different angles are based on a variety of ethical theories
1. Virtue ethics
 is an approach to Ethics that emphasizes an individual's character as the key
element of ethical thinking, rather than rules about their consequences.
 EXP..An employee who displays ethical behavior at work based on the virtues
they hold dear are often seen as more reliable and dependable by their superiors.
Even though that behavior is to be expected on the job, seeing examples of it at
work can make an employee stand-out from their colleagues.
2. Duty ethics
 express respect for individuals. Once one’s duties are recognized, then the
ethically correct actions are obvious.
 EXP… if we promised to pay ransom to a hostage taker (a duty), is it all right
to deceive the kidnapper to benefit the hostage (another duty).
 The duties we should follow are what rational people would agree to in a
hypothetical contracting situation.
3. Right ethics
 Humans have the right to life, liberty and property. Moral “rights" meant
capacity to show concern for others.
 Immanuel Kant believed that the GOOD is an absolute and can be identified.
The only thing that is good for its own sake is good will. Everything else that you
can imagine as good, can be qualified.
4. Utilitarianism
 Based on maximizing "goodness“. Produce the most good for the most people
given equal consideration to all affected.
 TYPE.. 1. Act Utilitarianism (Focuses on individual actions, rather than general
rules and Rules should be broken if they lead to the most good) 2. Rule
Utilitarianism (Moral rules are most important and Rule utilitarianism is more rigid
than act Utilitarianism)
ETHICAL ISSUES//CONFLICTS
1. CORRUPTION
 The misuse of entrusted power for private gain. Giving or obtaining advantage
through means which are illegitimate with one’s duty or the rights of others.
 EXP..use their power to obtain something for their personal interest.
 CAUSE.. Absolute authority//Ineffective anti-corruption mechanisms//Lack of
awareness//Lack of effective management//Lack of effective political
leadership//Authority and power in wrong hands
 CURE.. Loyalty and Patriotism//Declaration of wealth and assets//Coordination
and control of agencies
2. BRIBERY
 The acceptance of gifts from vendors or offering of gifts to customer to secure
business
 EXP.. offered to someone in position of trust in order to induce him to act
dishonestly
 EFFECT.. Bribery does not reward the most efficient producer//Bribery
corrupts justice and public policy by allowing rich people to make all the
rules//Bribery treats people as commodities that can be bought and sold.
3. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
 A situation that has the potential to undermine the impartiality of a person
because of the possibility of clash between the person’s self-interest and
professional interest.
 EXP.. The manager of a marketing department dated a coworker who is also a
manager in the same department. They part ways over time but when he is
promoted to the marketing department director role, she found herself reporting to
him//A manager provides paid consulting services on the weekend to a company
customer or supplier//A manager provides paid consulting services on the weekend
to a company customer or supplier//An employee works part-time in the evening
for a company that makes a product that competes with the products of his full-
time employer//A member of the company board of directors accepts fees and
provides advice to a company that is in direct competition with the company on
whose board of directors he sits//A purchasing agent hires his brother-in-law to
provide vending services to the company lunch areas.
4. WHISTLEBLOWING
 It is attempt by a member or former member of an organization to disclose
wrong doing in or by the organization.
 EXP..report the wrong doing even though the mistake is small and can settle
easily
 REASON.. Un-procedural behavior since it interrupts clearly communicated
actions in the form of rules and policies that leading the operations of the
organization// This behavior if the person trying to waste the resource of company.
So, you have to tell your boss about what’s happen.
5. PLAGIARISM
 act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds or creative expression of
others as your own. Act of stealing and passing off the ideas or words of another
as your own.
 EXP.. when you are writing a report, and you research some information. If you
copy or even paraphrase, it called as plagiarism.
 AVOID.. Give other people credit// Cite any sources that you use// Take notes
and keep them organized
ANALYSIS OF ISSUESIN ETHICAL PROBLEMS
1. FACTUAL ISSUE
 What is actually known about a case. Resolved through research to establish the
truth
2. CONCEPTUAL ISSUE
 applicability of an idea. Resolved by agreeing on the meaning of terms and
concepts. Like factual issues, conceptual issues are not always clear-cut and will
often result in controversy as well
3. MORAL ISSUE
 Once the factual and conceptual issues have been resolved, all that remains is
to determine which moral principle is applicable to the situation. Once the issues
are analysed and agreement is reached on the applicable moral principles, it is clear
what the resolution should be made
MORAL CONFLICT RESOLUTION
1. Enquiries
 Normative (What are the moral issues here? What is acceptable
behavior/practice? EXP.. bribes, cheating)
 Conceptual (Defining terms, concepts.What is the meaning or applicability of
an idea? EXP.. what constitutes a bribe vs a gift?)
 Factual (What is known about the case? Factual issues EXP..was the “gift”
offered or requested?)
2. LINEDRAWING
 Whether the problem is more like the positive or negative paradigm

 5. Use the same general ideas from the previous reports, but don’t bother citing
 6. Use the same topic and cited references as the previous report without credit
 7. Read the report only to get an idea of the format and detail required
 8. Use the same topic and cited references as the previous report but
acknowledge
3. FLOW CHARTING
 Provides a visual picture of a situation and helps one establishes sequences,
identify moral issues and consequences of actions.
ORGANIZATIONAL POLICY ON MISCONDUCT
 PURPOSE..ensure that employees are aware of behaviour that could amount to
misconduct and that all relevant parties are aware of [name of organisation]'s policy
for dealing with misconduct.
 POLICY -- expects employees to observe acceptable standards of behaviour.
Employees must not engage in behaviour that amounts to misconduct at the
workplace.
 MISCONDUCT-- failing to follow defined policies, procedures and rules.
 SERIOUS MISCONDUCT—fraud, theft, fighting
 RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Human Resources Department is responsible for ensuring the processes in this
policy are followed in relation to all instances and allegations of misconduct.
2. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that instances or allegations of
misconduct are reported to the Human Resources Department.
3. Employees are responsible for ensuring that they comply with this policy and
related procedures
 PROCESSES
1. A breach of this policy or related procedures may lead to disciplinary action and
possible dismissal. Where [name of organisation] considers that an employee has
engaged in serious misconduct, [name of organisation] may dismiss the employee
without notice.
2. Each instance or allegation of misconduct will be considered by [name of
organisation] on its own merits, and any mitigating circumstances will be taken
into account.
3. Where an employee is accused of engaging in misconduct, it is open to [name
of organisation] to stand the employee down on full pay in order to further
investigate the matter.
4. Investigations into instances or allegations of misconduct will be conducted in
accordance with the principles of procedural fairness. Employees accused of
misconduct will be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them
and may have a support person present at any disciplinary meetings with [name of
organisation].
5. Any meetings relating to instances or allegations of misconduct or serious
misconduct will be conducted by two members of the Human Resources
Department, one of whom will act as a note taker.
6. f [name of organisation] decides that the appropriate action is to dismiss an
employee, the employee will be provided with the full reasons for the decision.
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
1. CRISIS-- constitutes a threat to vital national interests or to the essential needs
of the population// A triggering event, which is so significant that it challenges the
existing structure, routine operations or survival of the organization.
2. TYPE
 Technological crises-- (caused by human application of science and technology.
Occur when technology becomes complex and the system breaks down// software
failure & industrial accident)
 Malevolence – (when opponent or miscreant individual use extreme tactic for
the purpose of expressing anger or seeking gain from a company with the aim to
destroy it//tampering & kidnapping)
 Natural—(are natural disasters such as environment phenomena//earthquakes &
storms)
 Financial—(occur in the organization due to its prevailing financial
condition//losses & bankruptcy)
 Workplace violence–(when the person commits an act of violence against other
employees on organization ground)
3. COMMON FEATURES OF A CRISIS
 Time is short// Specific threats are identified// Routine business become
increasingly difficult// Outsiders take an unaccustomed interest//
Communications are increasingly difficult to manage
4. CRISIS MANAGEMENT--Prevents a crisis from becoming a catastrophe.
(Prevention//survival//successful outcomes)
5. CONFLICT PROBLEMS-- Hard choice: you have to bite the bullet and make
the best choice possible with the information available at the time// Easy choice:
One is obviously more significant than the other and easy choice// Creative
Middle way: Compromise that will work for everyone
 CRISIS MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
 Should conduct Internal communications where they need to identify what
they need to explain the current crisis state and ready to respond to your
employees.
 Need to identified the potential impact. As a decision maker, you’ll always
want to understand what the immediate impact could be on your business. It is
important to have expect an identifying the impact because it will determine
how your decisions will impact business reputation.
 Position yourself. you should have a clearer idea of how to position your
corporate stance accordingly. Begin drafting your messaging and ensure you get
advice from the executive team and key decision makers.
 Create a means for monitoring. Once you’ve determined the channel of
distribution for your message, monitoring your publics’ responses. Know that
this type of crisis doesn’t solve overnight sometimes it can take a month before
it solves.
 Learn the lessons. You’ll need to take a lesson and reflect into any events that
caused this crisis to occur. By considering how certain events affected your
organization, you will be better prepared to have an appropriate and timely
response should another conflict arise.