Developed and Presented by the

National Institute for Engineering Ethics

Acknowledgements
This Project was made possible in part by a Grant from the National Science Foundation Grant NSF SES-0138309
NSF Program Directors: Dr. Rachelle Hollander - 2003 Dr. Joan Sieber - 2002

And Financial Support from

Harry E. Bovay, Jr., P.E., Past President, NSPE Victor O. Schinnerer and Company, Inc. National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) William J. Lhota, P.E., American Electric Power Steven P. Nichols, Ph.D., P.E., Clint W. Murchison Chair of Free Enterprise, University of Texas at Austin Robert L. Nichols, P.E., Past President, NIEE & NSPE Donald L. Hiatte, P.E., Past President, NSPE Jimmy H. Smith, Ph.D., P.E., Past President, NIEE & TSPE

Developed by the

National Institute for Engineering Ethics

Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism, Texas Tech University

Presented by

<Name of Presenter>

Producer & Writer/Director

Great Projects Film Co., Inc. New York City Kenneth Mandel, Producer Paul Martin, Writer & Director

Executive Producers - Video Team

Jimmy H. Smith, Ph.D., P.E., Texas Tech University, PI & PD

Steven P. Nichols, Ph.D. J.D., P.E., Univ. of Texas at Austin

Michael C. Loui, Ph.D., Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Vivian Weil, Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology

Philip E. Ulmer, P.E., Eagle River, Alaska

Fredrick Suppe, Ph.D., Texas Tech University Carl M. Skooglund, Texas Instruments, Dallas (Retired) E. Walter LeFevre, Jr., Ph.D., P.E., University of Arkansas and Patricia Harper, Assistant to Team of Executive Producers

Incident at Morales

How the Video Project Evolved & Consideration of Basic Concepts

Basic Concept

Needs in Engineering Education

NSF Funding

INCIDENT AT MORALES

Private Funding

NIEE Video Team

Idea for graphic based on Professional Responsibility: The Role of the Engineer, Journal of Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1997 by Drs. Steve Nichols and Bill Weldon, UT/Austin

The NIEE Video Team

Our Video Team communicated on a frequent basis and met as a group twice during 2002 for 2 days each. We started with basic ideas of:
Sensitivity - To raise awareness of ethical aspects of professional work Knowledge - To learn about professional standards such as codes of ethics

Judgment - To develop skills in moral reasoning

Commitment - To strengthen personal dedication to exemplary conduct

The NIEE Video Team

Identified a variety of ethical issues they wished to convey in the video. Developed situations where these issues may be encountered. Specified critical ethical elements of the video. Proposed a story line to the producer & writer. Critiqued two draft scripts. Reviewed and approved the final script and the fine cut of the video.

The NIEE Video Team Wanted Viewers To be Able To:

Identify ethical, technical, and economic issues and problems Identify affected parties (stakeholders) and their rights and responsibilities

Identify social and political constraints on possible solutions

And to:
Determine whether additional information is needed to make a good decision Suggest alternative courses of action for the principal characters Imagine possible consequences of those alternative actions

Evaluate those alternatives according to basic ethical values

Tests That Were Considered

(Davis, 1997) Harm test - Do the benefits outweigh the harms, short term and long term?

Reversibility test - Would I think this choice were good if I traded places?
Colleague test - What would professional colleagues say?

And ...
Legality test - Would this choice violate a law or a policy of my employer? Publicity test - How would this choice look on the front page of a newspaper? Common practice test - What if everyone behaved in this way?

Wise relative test - What would my wise old aunt or uncle do?

Evaluation & Assessment

The evaluation and assessment phase will be conducted during 2003 2005, lead by Dr. Michael Loui, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Basic Ethical Concepts

Ethical considerations are an integral part of making engineering decisions. The professional obligations of engineers go beyond fulfilling a contract with a client or customer. Codes of ethics can provide guidance in the decision-making process.

Basic Ethical Concepts ...

Ethical obligations do not stop at the United States border. Wherever engineers practice, they should hold paramount the health, safety, and welfare of the public. How an engineer fulfills those obligations may depend on the social and economic context of engineering practice.

Outline of Story
Phaust is the manufacturer of Old Stripper, a paint remover. Phausts learns that competitor Chemitoil plans to introduce a new paint remover. To remain competitive, Phaust decides to develop a new paint remover. To save money, Phaust decides to construct a new plant in Mexico.

Outline of Story ...

Phaust hires a chemical engineer, Fred Martinez, who had been a consultant to Chemitoil. Chemistr is Phausts parent company in France and they insist that budgets be radically cut. Chuck, a Vice President of Phaust, encourages Fred to reduce construction costs. Fred confronts several engineering decisions in which ethical considerations play a major role.

The Interactive DVD Version will:

Provide the viewer with interactive control of the action in the sense that they will have a variety of options to more effectively benefit from studying the elements of the video. Include interviews with and comments by NIEE Video Team Members and others.

Raise and discuss Issues/Concepts/Questions that should be considered by the viewers.

Supporting Materials
Supporting Materials that are available on the Internet : Script

Synopsis of the Story

Study Guide

Power Point Slides

Recommended Uses

Characters & Format

Incident at Morales
An Engineering Ethics Story

Characters in Incident at Morales

Dominique - French corporate liaison to Phaust Fred - Chemical engineer hired by Phaust to
design a new plant to manufacture a new paint remover

Wally - Freds supervisor at Phaust

Chuck - Vice president of engineering at Phaust

Maria - Freds wife, an EPA compliance litigator

Characters ...
Hal - Market analyst at Phaust

Jen - Research chemist at Phaust

Peter - Project manager of the construction firm that builds the new plant in Morales Jake - Plant manager for the SwisseChem plant in Big Springs, Texas

Manuel - Plant manager for the new Phaust plant in Morales, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

Suggested Assignments
List the ethical issues you observed in Incident at Morales. From your personal perspective, prioritize these ethical issues from most critical to least critical Discuss the video from the three following perspectives:

Freds Perspective: Assume you are Fred

What specific ethical issues do you (Fred) face?

What are some things that you should consider?

From whom or where would you seek guidance?

Wallys Perspective: Assume you are Wally

What specific ethical issues does Wally face? What do you think Wally's motivation was for having One Rule? What do you think about Wallys One Rule? What decisions would you change if you were Wally?

Responsibility Perspective:
If you were in charge and had the authority and the funding to make any changes you wanted to make in company policies: What specific steps would you take to improve the company culture? Who would you involve in this process? How and when would you communicate the company policies to: Your employees? Your clients? The public?

Lets Watch and Discuss

Incident at Morales
An Engineering Ethics Story