com
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VALUES
Software piracy
Expense account padding
Copying of homework or tests
Inc ome taxes
Borrowing nuts and bolts, office supplies from employer
Copying of Videos or CDs
Plagiarism
Using the copy machine at work
RELIGION AND ETHICS
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C oncerns the goodness of voluntary human c onduct that affects the s elf or
other living things
Morality (Latin m ores) usually ref ers to any aspect of human action
Ethics (Gr eek ethos) comm only ref ers only to professional behavior
Ethics c onsist of the applicat ion of fundamental moral princ iples and ref lect
our dedic ation to f air treatment of each other, and of society as a whole.
An individuals own values c an result in accept ance or rejection of societys
ethic al standards bec ause even thoughtfully developed ethic al rules can
conflict with individual values.
ASPECTS OF ET HICS
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the study of mor al issues and decisi ons c onfronting individuals and
organizations involved in engineering and
the study of related questions about mor al ideals, character, policies and
relations hips of people and organizations involved in technologic al activity.
TRAINING IN PREVENTIVE ETHICS
S elf-interest.
F ear .
S elf-deception.
Ignor ance.
Egoc entric tendencies.
Microsc opic vision.
Groupthink.
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apparent
CLEARLY WR ONG ENGINEERING PRACTICES
Lying
Deliberate dec eption
Withholding information
Failing to adequately promote the diss emination of information
Failure to s eek out the truth
Revealing c onfidential or proprietary inf ormation
Allowing ones judgment to be c orrupt ed.
SENSES OF EXPRESSION OF ENGG. ET HICS
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the s ame c heap way, and no law explicitly f orbade the practice.
4.4. Electronics Company ABC gear ed up f or pr oduction of its own version of a
popular new item. The product was not yet r eady f or sale, but even so, pictures and
impressive specifications appeared in adver tisem ents. Prospective cust omers were
led to believe that it was available of f the shelf and were drawn away f rom c ompeting
lines.
TYPES OF INQUIRIES
1. NORMATIVE INQUIRY
These are about what ought to be and what is good. These questions identify and
also justify the morally desirable norms or standards.
Some of the questions are:
A.
How f ar
engineers are obligat ed to protect public safety in given
situations?
B.
W hen should engineers st art whistle blowing on danger ous practices of
their employers?
C.
W hose values are primary in taking a mor al decision, employee, public
or govt?
D.
W hy are engineers obligated to protect public safety?
E.
W hen is govt justif ied in int erfering on such issues and why?
2. C ONCEPT UAL INQUIRY:
These questions should lead to clarific ations on c oncepts, principles and issues in
ethics. Examples are:
A)
W hat is SA FETY and how is it relat ed t o RISK
B)
Protect the safet y, health and welfare of public-W hat does this
statement mean?
C)
W hat is a bribe?
D)
W hat is a profession and who ar e professionals?
3. FACT UAL ( DES CRIPTIVE) I NQUIRI ES
These are inquiries us ed to uncover information using scientific tec hniques. These
inquiries get to information about business r eal ities, history of engineering
prof ession, procedures us ed in ass ess ment of risks and engineers psychology.
Why st udy ENGINEERING ETHICS
ENGINEERING ETHICS is a m eans to incr ease the ability of c oncerned engineers,
managers, citizens and others to responsibly c onfr ont mor al issues r ais ed by
technologic al activities.
MORAL DILEMMMA
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VAGUENESS: This complexity arises due to the fact that it is not clear to
individuals as to which mor al c onsiderations or principles apply to their
situation.
CONFLICTING REASON S: E ven when it is perfectly clear as to which moral
principle is applicable to ones situation, there could develop a situation where
in two or more clearly applicable moral principles c ome into c onflict.
DISAGREE MENT: Individuals and gr oups may dis agree how to interpret,
apply and balance moral reasons in particular situations.
Steps in confronting MORAL DILEMMAS:
i)
Identify the relevant moral f actors and reasons.
ii)
Gather all available facts that are pertinent to the moral fact ors
involved.
iii)
Rank the moral c onsider ations in the order of their import ance as they
apply to the situation.
iv)
Consider alt ernative c ourse of action, tracing the full implications of
each, as ways of solving dilemma.
v)
Talk with c olleagues, s eeking the suggestions and perspectives of the
d i l e mma .
vi)
Arrive at a caref ully r easoned judgm ent by weighing all the relevant
moral fact ors and r eas ons in light of facts.
All the above st eps are distinct, even though they are interrelat ed and c an oft en be taken jointly
M ORAL AUT ONOMY
This is viewed as the skill and habit of thinking r ationally about ethical
iss ues on the basis of mor al c onc erns independently or by self determination.
Autonomous individuals think f or themselves and do not assum e that
customs are always right.
They s eek to r eas on and live by gener al principles.
Their motivation is to do what is morally r easonable f or its own sake,
maintaining integrit y, s elf-respect, and respect f or others.
One who br eaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and wit h a willingness to
acc ept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells
him is unjust and willingly acc epts the penalt y is in r eality expressing the highest
respect f or the law. Rev. Mart in Luther King, Jr. in Letter f rom a Birmingham J ail,
1963.
A person becomes morally autonomous by impr oving various prac tical skills listed
b e l o w:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
v)
vi)
vii)
viii)
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Conventional
Here the thinking is opposite in that, one is pr eoccupied with not hurting
others and a willingness to sacrifice ones own interests in order to help or
nurture others (or retain friendship).
Post-conventional Level
Achieved through context-oriented reas oning, rather than by applying abstract
rules r anked in a hier archy of import anc e. Here the individual becomes able to
strike a r easoned balance between caring about other people and pursuing
ones own s elf-interest while exercising ones rights.
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GILLIGAN
Ethics of care
Studies included females and colored
peoples
Application of c ontext-oriented reasoning.
Study was conducted on both genders
and it was found, men based the ir
reasoning on justice and women based
theirs on c are
HEINZ S DILEMMA
The fam ous example us ed by Kohlberg was c alled Heinzs dilemma. A woman
living in Europe would die of c anc er unless she was given an expensive drug. Her
husband, Heinz, c ould not afford it. B ut the local pharmacist, who had invented the
drug at only one t enth of the sale price refus ed to sell it to Heinz who could only r aise
half the required money from borrowings. Desperation drives Heinz to br eak into the
pharmacy and steal the drug to s ave his wife.
W hen respondents were ask ed whether and why Heinz should or should not st eal a
drug to save his wife from a life-thr eatening illness. The responses of the individuals
were compar ed with a protot ypic al response of individuals at particular stages of
mor al r easoning. Kohlberg noted that irrespective of the level of the individual the
response could be same, but the r eas oning could be dif f ere nt.
For example, if a child r eas oning at a preconventional level might say that it is not
right to st eal bec ause it is against law and som eone might s ee you.
At a conventional level, an individual might argue that it is not right to st eal bec ause
it is against law and laws are nec essary for s ociety to function.
At a postconventional level, one may argue that stealing is wrong bec ause is
against law and it is immor al.
CONSENSUS AND CONTROVERSY
CONTROVERSY:
All individuals will not arrive at same ver dict during their exercising their moral
autonomy.
Aristotle not ed long ago that morality is not as precise and clear-cut as
arithmetic.
Aim of t eaching engg ethics is not to get unanimous confor mity of outlook by
indoctrination, authorit arian and dogmatic t eaching, hypnotism or any other
technique but to improve promotion of toler ance in the exercise of moral
autonomy.
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CONS E NS US:
The conduct or of a music orchestra has authority over the musicians and his
authority is respect ed by them by c onsensus as other wise the music perform ance
will suf f er. Hence the authority and autonomy are c ompatible.
On the other hand, tension arises between the needs f or autonomy and the need for
concerns about authorit y. The differ ence between the t wo should be discussed
openly to resolve the issue to the common good.
PR OFESSIONS AND PR OFESSIONALISM
Engineers normally imagine that they are ser vants to organizations rather than a
public guardian. Respons ibility to the public is essential for a prof essional.
W ho is a professional?
Obviously a member of a profession.
W hat is a profession?
JOB or OCCUPATION that m eets the f ollowing criteria fr om which a pers on ear ns
his living.
Knowledge E xercise of s kills, knowledge, judgment and discr etion requiring
extensive form al crit eria.
Organization - special bodies by members of the profession to set standard
codes of et hics,
Public good-The occupation ser ves some important public good indicat ed by
a code of et hics.
W ho is a professional engineer?
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A desire f or interesting and challenging work and the pleasure in the act of
changing the world.
The joy of cr eative eff orts. W here a scientists interest is in disc overing new
technology, engineers interest is derived fr om cr eatively solving practical
problems.
The engineer shares the scientists job in underst anding the laws and riddles
of the universe.
The sheer magnitude of the nature oc eans, rivers, mount ains and pr airies
leads engineers to build engineering mar vels like ships, bridges, tunnels, etc.,
which appeal to human passion.
The pleasure of being in the pres ence of machines gener ating a comf orting
and absorbing sense of a manageable, c ontrolled and ordered world.
Str ong s ense of helping, of directing eff orts towards easing the lot of ones
fellows.
T YPES
BASED ON
Virtue et hics
Utilitarianism
Duty ethics
Rights ethics
Human Rights
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VIRTUE ETHICS
The
unexamined
life
is
not
wo rth
living.
(Socrates, 470-399 B.C.)
The happy life is thought to be v irtuous; now a v irtuous life requires exertion
and does not consist in amusement.
(Aristotle, 384-322 B.C.)
Virtue
ARISTOTLE s ays that mor al virtues are tendencies, acquired thr ough habit
formation, to r each a proper balance between extremes in conduct, em otion, desire
and att itude i.e. virtues are tendencies to find the Golden Mean between the
extremes of t oo much and t oo little.
Some of the virtues are defined using exam ples her e:
Virtue
Courage
Truthfulness
Generosity
Friendliness
Too much
Too less
(Golden mean between extremes)
Foolhardiness
Cowardice
Revealing all in violation of Being
sec retive
tact and conf identiality
lacking in candor
Wasting ones resources
Being miserly
Being annoyingly effusive
Sulky or surly
or
PR OFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
This encompasses a wide variety of the more specific virtues grouped as follows:
1. SELF DIRECTION VIRTUES:
Fundament al virtues in exercising our mor al autonomy and responsibilit y. e.g.
self understanding, humilit y, good mor al judgment, c ourage, s elf discipline,
persever anc e, commitments, s elf-respect and dignity
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Dr awbacks:
Utilitarian thinking
a st andard that promotes those individual actions or rules that pr oduce the
greatest total amount of utility to those aff ected.
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A code that enjoins engineers to promote the safet y, health, and welfare of
the public.
W hat is ut ilit y, though? H appiness?
Preference utilitarianism
Assess the costs and benef its of each option f or the entire audience affected
Make the decision that is likely to result in the gr eatest benef it relative to cost.
2. ACT-UTILITARIANISM:
(professed by J ohn Stuart Mills)
Focus es on individual actions, rather than general rules.
An act is right if it is likely to pr oduce the most good f or the most people
involved in the particular situation.
Rules may be broken whenever doing so will produce the most good in a
specific situation.
Happiness is the only intrinsic good and all others are instrument al goods
that ser ve as the means of happiness.
3. RULE-UTILITARI ANISM:
(professed by Richard Br andt)
This regards mor al values as primar y.
W e should follow the rules and avoid bribes, even when those acts do not
have the best c onsequences in a par ticular situation, bec ause the general
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practice of following rules and not bribing pr oduce the most over all good
Rules should be c onsidered in s ets called moral codes . A mor al code is
justified when followed, would maximize the public good more than alternative
codes would.
DUTY ETHICS (Immanuel Kants view)
Contends that certain acts ( or duties) should be perform ed because they are
inher ently ethic al such as:
be honest,
k eep promises,
do not inf lict sufferings on other people,
be f air,
make reparation when you have been unf air,
how gratitude for kindness extended by others
seek to impr ove own int elligence and charact er,
develop ones talents,
dont comm it suicide.
Duties, r ather than good c onsequences, is f undament al.
Individuals who recognize their ethical duties will choose ethic ally c orrect
moral actions
These duties should meet K ants 3 conditions i. e.
1. It should express respect f or pers ons,
P eople deser ve respect bec ause they have capacity to be autonomous
and for exercis ing goodwill.
Goodwill is the conscientious and honest effort to do what is right
according to univers al principles of duties.
Mor al motives and intentions play a prominent role in duty et hics rather
than utilitarianism.
2. It is an univers al principle
Duties are binding on us only if they are applic able to ever yone. They
must be univers alisable.
3.It expresses comm and for autonom ous mor al agents. Duties prescribe c ertain
actions categorically, without qualifications or c onditi ons attac hed. V alid
principles of duties are Categorical Imperatives. They c ontrast with non-moral
commands c alled Hypothetical Imperatives which are conditional.
The above
RESPECT f or PERSONS
Drawback of K ants duty ethics: It has f ailed to be s ensitive to how principles of duty
can conflict with each other thereby creating Moral dilemmas.
Rawls Development on K ants Duty Ethics
Rawls argues that all rational people would agr ee to abide by two basic mor al
principles:
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1. Each person is ent itled to the most ext ensive amount of liberty c ompatible with an
equal amount f or others and
2. Dif f er ences in social power and economic benef its are justified only when they are
likely to benefit everyone, including members of most disadvantaged groups.
RIGHTS ET HICS (JOHN LOCKE 1632-1704)
Everyone has inherent moral rights
E ver yone has rights that arise fr om EX ISTING (i. e. right to Lif e, maximum
individual Libert y, and human Dignity are Fundament al Rights).
Other rights arise as a Consequence.
Duties arise because people have rights, not vice versa.
Any act that violates an individuals moral rights is ethically unaccept able.
Rights ethics was highly individualistic.
Rights are primarily entitlements that prevent other people fr om meddling in
ones lif e. These are refer r ed to as Liberty Rights or Negative Rights that plac e
duties on other people not to int erfere with ones life.
e.g. Individuals do not have rights to life bec ause others have duties not to kill
them. Inst ead, possessing the right to life is the r eas on why others ought not to
kill them.
Drawbac k s
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W e always do what we most want to do. e.g., a man who helps others has
chosen to do s o, so he s ees doing it, is in his self-interest
W e do what makes us f eel good. e.g., a man who helps others must get
pleasure fr om doing it hence it is in his self-interest
The Problem of Counter Examples
W hat about char ity and pity?
These require the egoist to distinguish s elfish and uns elfish acts fr om s elfish and
uns elfish motives
Charity I enjoy showing my power
Pity I worry that it might happen to me
So again, doing thes e, we act f rom self-interest
Confusion over s elf-interest and s elfishness
Ethical Egoism
A differ ent view, which talks of mor alit y as only the pursuit of s elf interest
S elf interest is a r ational c onc ern r equiring c onsideration of ones long-term
interests.
E.g., t aking bribe m ay appear to ser ve ones self interest but it does not ser ve the
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long-term interest of s elf. Hence taking bribe is not accept able since it would not
do any good on a long-term. This was profess ed by Thomas Hobbes (15881679) and Ayn Rand (1905-1982).
Ayn R and with only one life to live, the individual is of utmost import ance
It is in ones s elf-interest to adopt the Mor al Point of View (Hobbes Social
C ontract)
CUSTOMS and ETHICAL RELATIVISM
Relativism:
Distinction between mor als (tr eatment of others) and mores (harmless
customs)
Cultural (Descriptive) Relativism:
Factual Claims: x is c onsider ed right in society y at time t and is consider ed
wrong in society z at t im e t
Empiric al Conc lusion: Moralities are relative
This is either true or f alse ( anthropology a study of mankind , its customs,
beliefs, etc.can f igure it out)
Normative (Ethical) R elativism:
N ormative Claim: W hat is consider ed right in society x at time t is right for
that soc iety
A particular culture c annot be judged fr om outside of that cultur e.
Ethic al Relativism s ays that actions are morally right when they are appr oved
by law and cust om.
They are wrong when they violate laws and custom.
Ethic al egoism tries to reduce mor al r eas ons to matt ers of self interest,
ethical relativism attempts to r educe moral values to laws, conventions and
customs of particular s ocieties.
Consequences of Normative Relativism
W e cannot s ay other mor als are inf erior to our own societys
W e decide the value of our actions bas ed only on what our particular society
thinks
W e should show a lot of toler ance f or dif f er ent cust oms and outlooks in a
society in which we live in. It means that cust oms c an have mor al signific ance in
deciding how we should ac t. This view is called et hic al pluralism.
Reasons f or Accept ance Of Ethical R elativism
The r eas ons profess ed f or acc ept ance of ethical relativism is thr eefold.
1. Laws s eem so tangible and clear-cut. They provide a public way ending
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seemingly endless disputes about rights and wr ongs. But many times, moral
r eas ons s eem to be at variance with laws e.g. apartheid laws.
2. Moral standards vary dramatically from one culture to another. The only kind of
objectivity possible is limit ed to a given s et of laws in a given society.
Acknowledging this relativit y of morality enc ourages the virtue of toler ance of
differences among societies.
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3. Mor al judgm ents should be made in relation to fact ors that fr om case to cas e,
usually making it im possible to formulate rules which are simple. Cust oms and
laws are usually morally relevant f actors that should be taken into account.
RELIGION and DIVINE COM M AND ET HICS
Ethics and Religion:
Moral issues and religious belief are related in s everal positive ways.
First, they are shaped over time from the c entral moral values of major world
r eligions.
Sec ond, religious views often support mor al responsibility by pr oviding
additional m otivation f or being moral.
Third, sometimes religions set a higher moral standard than is conventional.
Societies of t en benefit f rom a variety of religions that make pr ominent
particular virtues, inspiring their members to pursue them beyond what is
ordinarily s een as morally obligatory.
Divine Command Ethic:
This s ays that an act which is right is commanded by god and the one which
is wrong is f orbidden by God.
The dif f iculty in t his is to know precisely what G ods comm ands are and in
knowing whether God exists.
W e can view that mor al r eas ons are not reducible to r eligious m att ers, although
religious belief may provide an added ins piration for responding to them.
Uses Of Ethical Theories
1. Ethic al theories aid in identif ying the moral c onsider ations or reasons that
constitute a dilemma.
2. They pr ovide a precise s ense of what kinds of inf ormation are relevant to
solving moral development.
3. They sometimes, of f er ways to rank the relevant mor al consider ations in order
of importance and provide a rough guidance in solving moral problems.
4. The theories help us identify the f ull mor al ramifications of alt ernative c ourses
of action, urging a wide perspective on the mor al implic ations of the options
and providing a s ystematic framework of comparing alternatives.
5. The theories augment the precision with which we use mor al terms and they
pr ovide frame works for mor al r easoning when discussing mor al issues with
colleagues.
6. By pr oviding frame works f or development of moral arguments, the theories
strengthen our ability to r each balanc ed and insightful judgments.
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UNIT III - ENGINEERING AS SOCIAL EXPERIM ENTATION
To undertake a gr eat work and especially a work of novel type means, carrying
out an experiment. It means t aki ng up a struggle with the forces of nature
wit hout the assurance of emerging as a vi ctor after the first attack.
Louis Marie Henri Navier (1785 - 1836) - Founder of Structural Analysis
ENGINEERING AS EXPERIMENTATION
The normal design process is t hus iter ative (modific ations being made on the
basis of f eedback information ac quir ed fr om the tests).
E ven though various tests and experim ents are c onduct ed at various stages, the
engineering project as a whole in its totality can be viewed as an ex periment.
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3. Effective Engineering relies upon knowledge gained about pr oducts both before
and after they leave the factory- knowledge needed f or improving curr ent
pr oducts and cr eating bett er ones. That is, ongoing success in engineering
depends upon gaining new knowledge.
Examples:
1.
T he Titanic lacked sufficient number of life boats resulting in the death of 1522
out of 2227 (life boat capacity available was only 825), a f ew decades lat er Arctic
perished due to the same problem.
2.
In June 1966, a section of the Milf ord Haven Bridge in W ales collapsed during
c ons truc t i on. A bridge of similar design, erected by the same br idge- builder in
Melbourne, Austr alia, also partially c ollaps ed in the month of October, same year.
During this incident 33 people were killed and many were injured.
3.
Malf unctions occurred at nuclear r eact ors at various loc ations and the
information reports were with Babcock and W ilcox, the reactor manufacturer. In spite
of thes e, no attention was paid leading to a pressure relief valve giving rise to the
Three Mile Island nuclear accident on March 28, 1979.
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W illingness to develop the skill and expend the eff ort needed to r each the
best balance possible among these c onsiderations.
C onscientiousness m eans c onsciousness bec ause mere intent is not
sufficient.
Conceiving engineering as social experimentation restores the vision of engineers as
guardians of the public interest in that they are duty bound to guard the welfare and
safety of those aff ected by engg projects.
RELEVANT INFORMATION:
Conscient iousness is blind without relevant factual information. Mor al c onc ern
involves a commitment to obtain and assess all available pertinent information.
Another dimension to factual inf ormation is the c ons equences of what one does.
W hile regarding engg as social experiment ation points out the import ance of cont ext,
it also urges the engineer to view his or her specialized activities in a project as part
of a larger whole having a social impact that may involve a variety of unint ended
effects. It may be better to practice defensive engg (Chauncy Star r) or preventive
engg (Ruth D avis).
M ORAL AUT ONOMY
P eople are mor ally autonomous when their mor al conduct and principles of
action are their own.
Mor al beliefs and at titudes must be a critic al reflection and not a passive
adoption of the particular conventions of ones societ y, r eligion or profession.
Moral beliefs and attitudes cannot be agreed to formally and adhered to
merely verbally.
They must be int egrated into the core of ones p ersonality and should lead to
committed action.
It is wrong to think that as an employee when one performs acts ser ving
companys interests, one is no longer morally and personally identified with
ones actions.
Viewing engg as a social exp eriment ation helps to overcome this f lawed
thought and restores a s ense of autonom ous participation in ones work.
As an experiment er, an engineer is exercising the specialized tr aining
that forms the core of ones identity as a professional.
A social experiment that c an result in unknown c onsequences should
help inspire a cr itic al and questioning at titude about the adequacy of
current economic and safety standards.
In turn, t his leads to better personal involvement with work.
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ACC OUNT ABILITY:
Responsible people accept mor al responsibility f or their actions.
Accountability is the willingness to submit ones actions to mor al scr utiny and
be open and responsive to the assessment of others.
It should be underst ood as being culpable and blameworthy f or misdeeds.
Submission to an employers authority cr eates in many people a narrow s ense of
acc ountability f or the c ons equenc es of their action. This is bec ause of
i) Only a small c ontribution is made by one individual, when large scale
engineering work is f ragment ed. The final product which is f ar away fr om ones
immediate workplac e, does not give a proper understanding of the c ons equences
of ones action.
ii) Due to the fr agment ation of work, a vast diff usion of acc ountability takes
plac e. The ar ea of personal acc ountability is delimit ed to the portion of work
being c arried out by one.
iii) The pressure to move on to another new project does not allow one to
complete the obser vations long enough. This makes people account able only for
m eeting schedules and not f or the c ons equences of action.
iv) To avoid getting into legal issues, engineers tend to c onc entrate more on
legal liabilities than the c ontainment of the potential risks involved in their ar ea of
work.
Viewing engineering as a social experiment ation makes one overcome these
difficulties and s ee the problem in whole rather than as part.
ENGINEERING C ODES OF ET HICS
Engineering Codes of Et hics have evolved over time
EARLY CODES
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Depending upon your discipline and organizational affiliations, you may be bound
by one, two or even more et hic al codes:
Discipline related (ASME, IEEE, ASCE, IIE etc.)
N ational Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
Employee c odes (corporation, university, etc.)
Union Codes
Engineering Et hics
Our engineering et hics codes are derived from a W estern cultural tradition
Ancient Greeks
Judeo-Christian religions
Philos ophers and thinkers (e.g. Locke, Kant, Mills)
The Hammurabi C ode
If a builder has built a house f or a man and has not made his work sound, and the
house he has built has f allen down and so c aus ed the death of the householder, that
builder shall be put to deat h. If it causes the death of the householders son, they
shall
put
the
builders
s on
to
death.
(Hammurabi, King of Babylon, 1758 B.C.)
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Engineers shall uphold and advance t he integr ity, honor, and dignity of the
engineering profess ion by:
using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of the human race;
being honest and impartial and serving w ith fidelity the public, their employers, and
clients;
striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession.
supporting the professional and tec hnic al societies of their discipline.
The Fundament al C annons
Engineers shall
hold paramount the saf ety, health, and welfare of t he public in the performance of
their professional duties;
per form s ervice only in ar eas of their competence;
issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner;
act in professional matt ers for each employer or client as fait hful agents or trust ees,
and shall avoid conf licts of interest;
build their professional reputations on the merits of the ir services and shall not
compete unfairly w ith others
act in such manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity and dignity of the
profess ion;
continue their professional development throughout their careers, and shall provide
2. S upport:
Codes give positive support to those s eeking to act ethic ally.
An engineer under pressure to act unethically c an use one of the publicly
proclaimed codes to get support for his stand on specific moral issues.
Codes also ser ve as legal support f or engineers.
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1. Codes are res trict ed to general and vague wording. They c annot be straightaway
applied to all situations. It is impossible to fores ee the full range of moral problems
that can arise in a c omplex prof ession like engg.
2. It is easy f or dif f erent clauses of codes to come into c onf lict with each other.
Usually codes pr ovide no guidance as to which clause should have priority in those
cases, cr eating mor al dilemmas.
3. They c annot ser ve as the final mor al authority f or professional conduct. If the code
of a professional society is taken as the last wor d, it means that we are getting into a
particular s et of conventions i.e. ethic al c onventionalism.
4. Andrew Oldenquist and Edward S lowt er pointed out how the exist ence of separate
codes for different professional soc iet ies can give members the feeling that ethical
conduct is more relative than it is and that it c an c onvey to the public the v iew that
none is really right. The current codes are by no means perfect but are definitely
steps in the right direction.
The pro blems of law in engineering
1. The gr eatest pr oblem of law in engg is of minim al compliance. Engineers and
employers c an s earch for loop holes in the law to barely keep to its letter while
violating its s pir it. Engineers will tend to ref er to standard r eadymade specific ations
r ather than come up with innovative ideas. Minimal compliance led to the tragedy of
the Titanic.
2. C ontinually updating laws and regulations may be c ounter-pr oductive and will
make law always lag behind technology. This also ov erburdens the rules and
regulators.
3. Many laws are non-laws i.e. laws without enf orc eable s anctions. These merely
ser ve as window dressing, fr equently gives a f alse s ense of security to the public.
4. The opponents of the law may burden it int entionally with many unr easonable
pr ovisions that a repeal will not be f ar of f .
5. Highly powerful organizations, like the government c an violate the laws when they
think they c an get away with it by inviting would be challengers, to face them in
lengthy and costly c ourt proc eedings. This also cr eates f rustration with the law.
Role of law in engineering
It is wrong to write of f rule-making and rule following as futile. G ood laws,
eff ectively enf orced, clearly produce benef its.
R easonable minimum st andards are ensur ed of professional conduct.
It also pr ovides a s elf-interest ed motive f or most people and c orpor ations to
c omply.
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They also ser ve as powerf ul support and def ense f or those who wish to act
ethic ally in situations where ethical conduct might not be welc ome.
Viewing engineering as social experimentation pr ovides engineers with a
better perspective on laws and regulations.
Precise rules and enf orc eable s anctions are appropriate in cases of et hical
misc onduct that involve violations of well established and regularly
r eexamined procedures that have as their purpose the safety of public.
In ar eas of experiment ation, rules must not att empt to c over all possible
outcomes of an experim ent, nor must they f orce the engineer to adopt a
rigidly specif ied course of action. Here the regulations should be br oad based
guidelines but should hold the engineer accountable f or his or her decisions.
People as Consumers:
Active Consumers: directly involve themselves e. g., mowing the lawn,
washing clothes or t oas ting br ead.
Passive Consumers: have less choice and less c ontr ol e.g., W ater, Electricit y,
P etr ol,
Bystanders: e. g., exposed to P ollution from unk nown s ources
.W hat is safe to E ntrepreneurs, may not be so to Engineers. e.g., Pilots: "Indian
Airports are not safe; Low Vision in Fog
W hat is safe to Engineers, may not be so to Public.
Machine
e.g .,
T op loading W ashing
Typic ally s everal groups of people are involved in safety m att ers but have their own
interests at stak e. Each group m ay differ in what is safe and what is not.
Concept of Safety
1. A ship in harbor is saf e, but that is not what ships are built f or John A.
Shedd
2. A thing is safe if its risks are judged to be accept able - W illiam W . Lawr ence
.So,
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Then, what is acc eptable also depends upon the individual or groups value
jud g m ent. Hence a better, working definition of conc ept of saf ety c ould be,
A thing is safe (to a c ertain degr ee) with respect to a given pers on or group at a
given time if, were they f ully aware of its risks and expressing their most s ettled
values, they would judge those risks to be acc eptable (to that c ert ain degree). Mike Mart in and Roland Schinzinger
A thing is NOT SA FE if it exposes us to unacc eptable danger or hazard
RISK is the potential that som ething unwanted and harmf ul may occur.
a. W e take a risk when we undertake something or use a product that is
not safe.
Risk in technology could include dangers of
b. bodily har m,
c. economic loss, or
d. environmental degradation.
Some m ay assume that safety is a c oncrete c onc ept, while ris k is a vague,
hypothetic al c onc ept
In fact, its the other way ar ound
Risks always exist. But true safety never exists, exc ept in hypothetical
situations
S o, risk is rea lity, safety is f antasy
W hat degr ee of risk is acceptable?
Safety is a matt er of how people would f ind risks accept able or unacc eptable,
if
they knew the risks, and are basing their judgm ents on their most settled value
perspective.
S o, to this ext ent, it is objective.
Perspectives differ.
To this extent, it is subjective.
S o, Safety is 'acceptable risk'.
Accept able Risk
A risk is accept able when those affect ed are generally no longer ( or not)
apprehensive about it.
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Apprehens ion (i.e. anxiety) depends largely on fact ors such as
whether the risk is assumed volunt arily.
how the probabilities of harm ( or benefit) is perceived.
job-related or other pressures that c auses people to be aware of or to
overlook risks.
whether the defects of a risk y activity or s ituation are immediately notic eable
or close at hand .
whether the pot ential victims are identifiable beforehand.
Voluntary risk and Control
A person is s aid to take VOLUNTARY RISK
-when he is subjected to risk by either his own actions or acti on taken by others and
-volunt eers to take that risk without any apprehension.
-For example, J ohn and Ann Smith enjoy riding mot orcycles over rough gr ound for
amusement. They take voluntary risk, part of being engaged in such a potentially
dangerous sport.
Connect ed to this notion of voluntarism is the matt er of Control. In the example cit ed,
the Smiths are aware of the high probability of accident figures in such a spor t, but
they display characteristic ally unrealistic confidence of most people when they
believe the dangers to be under their control. In terms of engineering as social
experimentation, people are more w illing to be the subjects of their own ex perime nts
than of som eone elses (whether social experim ent or not).
Chaunc ey St arr informs us that individuals are more r eady to assume voluntary risks
than involuntary risks, even when voluntary risks are 1000 times more likely to
produce a fatality than the involuntary ones.
A DISASTER = A s eriously disr uptive event + A state of unprepared ness.
e.g., Titanic collision with an iceber g, at night: Emergency
Fewer lifeboats, inadequate training and
warnings of icebergs
unheeded -> Disast er.
Effect of information on risk assessments
The manner in which information necessary f or decisi on making is pres ent ed can
greatly influence how risks are perceived. Consider this example:
In a particular case of disaster management, the only options available are pr ovided
in 2 different ways to the public f or one to be chos en (where lives of 600 people are
at stake).
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Alternate 1
If pr ogram A is followed, 200 people will be s aved. If Pr ogram B is followed, 1/3
probability is 600 people will be s aved and 2/3 probability that nobody will be s aved.
Response
72% of the t arget gr oup chose option A and 28% option B
Alternate 2
If pr ogr am A is f ollowed, 400 people will die. If Pr ogr am B is f ollowed, 1/3 probability
is that nobody will die and 2/3 probability that 600 people will die.
Response
This tim e only 22% of the target gr oup chose option A and 78% option B
Conclusion:
1.
The option perceived as yielding f irm gain will tend to be pref err ed over those
from which gains are perc eived as risky or only probable.
2.
Option emphasizing firm losses will tend to be avoided in f avour of those
whose chances of success are perceived as probable.
Secondary Costs of Products
Cost of products is High, if designed unsafely
R eturns and W arr anty Expenses
Loss of Customer G oodwill
Cost of litigation
Loss of Customers due to injuries in using it
Cost of rewor k, lost time in attending to design problems
Manufacturers understanding of the risk in a pr oduct is necessary:
To help r educe sec ondary costs
To know the possible risk f or purposes of pricing, disclaimers, legal t erms and
conditions, etc.
To know the cost of reducing the risks
To take a decision before finalizing the design.
Buyers underst anding of the risk in a product is necessary:
To judge whether he/she wants to take the risks
To judge whether the risk vs. costs justifies taking the risk.
JOB RELATED RISK S
Many work ers are tak ing risks in their jobs in their stride like being exposed to
asbestos.
Exposure to risks on a job is in one s ense of voluntary nat ure since one can
always refuse to submit to the work or m ay have c ontr ol over how the job is
done.
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But gener ally workers have no choice other than what they are told to do
since they want to stick to the only job available to them.
But they are not generally inf ormed about the exposure to toxic subst ances
and other dangers which are not readily s een, smelt, heard or other wise
sensed.
Occupational health and safety r egulations and unions can have a better say
in c orrecting these situations but still things are f ar below expect ed safety
standards.
Engineers while designing work stations must take into account the casual
attitude of workers on safety (esp. when they are paid on piece rat e).
Problems faced by engineers about public concept of safety
The optimistic attitude that things that are familiar, that have not caused harm before
and over which we have some contr ol present no risks.
The s erious shock people f eel when an accident kills or m aims people in large
numbers or harms t hose we k now, even though statistically speaking such accidents
might occur infrequently.
Saf ety in a commodity comes with a price Explain.
Absolute safety is never possible to attain and safety can be improved in an
engineering product only with an increase in c ost.
On the other hand, unsafe products inc ur secondary costs to the produc er beyond
the prim ary (pr oduction) costs, like warr anty costs loss of goodwill, loss of
customers, litigation costs, downtime costs in manufacturing, etc.
Figure indicates that P- Primary costs are high for a highly safe (low risk) pr oduct
and S- Secondary costs are high for a highly risky (low safe) product.
If we draw a cur ve T=P +S as shown, there is a point at which costs are minimum
below which the cost c annot be r educ ed.
If the risk at Minimum Tot al Cost Point is not acceptable, then the pr oduc er has to
choose a lower acceptable risk value in which case the total cost will be higher than
M and the product designed acc ordingly.
It should now be clear that safety comes with a price only
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Knowl edge of risk for better saf ety
Robert St ephens on writes that all the accidents, the harms c aus ed and the
means us ed to repair the damage should be recorded f or the benef it of the
younger Members of Prof ession.
A f aithful acc ount of those accidents and the damage c ont ainment was r eally
more valuable than the description of successf ul work.
Hence it is imper ative that knowledge of risks will def initely help to attain
better saf ety.
But it should be borne in mind, that st ill gaps remain, bec ause
i)there are some industries where information is not freely shared and
ii)there are always new applications of old technology that render the
available inf ormation less useful.
Uncertainties encountered in design process
A decision on m aximising profit or maximising the r eturn on investm ent.
Unc ertainties about applic ations lik e dynamic loading inst ead of static
loading, vibr ations, wind speeds.
Uncertainties regarding materials and skills required in the manufacturing.
Changing economic r ealities.
Unfamiliar envir onment al c onditions like very low temperature.
The available st andard data on it ems like steel, resist ors, insulat ors,
optical glass, etc are bas ed on statistic al averages only.
Due to the inher ent nature of processes, all c ompts have a tolerance in
design leading to the probability st atistics by which ass emblies capabilit y
is assess ed.
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Fault Tree Analys is (System Failure -> Possible Caus es at c omponent level)
W hat if there is a combination of factors?
All Analysis pre-suppose a thorough understanding of the physical
system
Failure modes and effect analysis (FM EA) :
This appr oach systematic ally examines the failure modes of each component ,
without however, focusing on relationships am ong the elements of a c omplex
system.
Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) :
A syst em f ailure is propos ed and then events are traced back to possible c auses at
the c omponent level. The reverse of the f ault-tr ee analysis is event tree analysis.
This method most eff ectively illustrates the disciplined appr oach requir ed to c apture
as much as possible of everything that af f ects proper functioning and safety of a
complex system.
Risk Benef it Analysis
Ethic al Implications
W hen is someone entitled to im p ose a risk on another in view of a suppos ed
benef it to others?
C onsider the worst case scenarios of pers ons expos ed to maximum risks
while they are r eaping only minimum benef its. Are their rights vio lated?
Are they pr ovided s afer alt ernatives?
Engineers should k eep in mind that risks to k nown persons are perceived
differ ently from statistic al risks
Engineers may have no c ontrol over grievance redress al.
Concept ual difficulties in Risk-Benefit Analy sis
Both risks and benef its lie in future
H eavy discounting of f uture bec ause the very low pres ent values of
cost/benef its do not give a true picture of f uture sufferings.
Both have related unc ertainties but difficult to arrive at expected values
W hat if benef its accrue to one party and risks to anot her?
C an we express risks & benef its in a common set of units?
e.g. Risks can be express ed in one set of units (deaths on the
high way) and benefits in another (speed of travel)?
Many projects, which are highly beneficial to the public, have to be safe also.
Hence these projects c an be justified using RISK-BENEFIT analysis. In these
studies, one should find out
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For example, how to assign a rupee value to ones life. There is no over the
counter trade in lives.
E ven for a sale, it has to be clear under what conditions the sale is to take
place.
If one buys a kg of rice it matt ers whether it is just one additional purchase
one makes regularly or it is the f irst rice purchase aft er quite sometime.
Risks and benef its to public are more easily determined than to individuals
N ational Highway Traffic Safety Administr ation (NHTSA)- proposed a value
f or life bas ed on:
loss of f uture income
other costs associated with the accident
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date that are costly. E ven then life cycle costs c an be made lower f or the
redes igned or retrofitted product (for safety).
If safety is not built into the or iginal design, people c an be hurt during testing
stage its elf.
They should get out of the thinking that warnings about hazards are adequate
and that insur ance coverage is cheap er than planning f or safety.
All it takes to make a product safe is to have dif f erent perspective on the
design problem with emphasis on safety.
E xamples of Improved Safety
Magnetic door c atch intr oduc ed on refrigerat ors
Pr event death by asphyxiation of children accident ally tr apped inside
The c atch now permits the door to opened from inside easily
Cheaper than older types of latches
D ead-man Handle f or Drivers in trains
Semaphore signaling
Volks wagen's car safety belt
Attachm ent on the door so that belt automatic ally goes in place on
entry
L i a bilit y
Early
St andards are mere checklists - use them cr eatively and judgm entally
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Engineers can be sued personally even when acting according to guidelines
set by employers
e.g. One county highway engineer was sued f or failure to repair r oads -- had to
pay $2 million
Some Cos. protect their engineers and allow themselves to be sued f or such
money damages
Independent engineers c an write liability limits into their c ontracts
Good knowledge of liability is necessary f or engineers
S AFE EXIT
It is almost impossible to build a completely safe pr oduct or one that will never fail.
W hen there is a f ailure of t he product SA FE E X IT should be pr ovided.
Safe exit is to assure that
i) when a product fails, it will fail safely,
ii) that the pr oduct c an be abandoned safely and iii) that the us er can safely escape
the product.
More than the questions of who will build, install, maint ain and pay f or a safe exit, the
most import ant question is who will recognize the need for a safe exit. This
responsibility should be an integral part of the experiment al proc edure.
Some examples of pr oviding S AFE E XIT:
Ships need lifeboats with sufficient spaces f or all passengers and crew
members.
Buildings need usable fire escapes
Oper ation of nuclear power plants calls f or r ealistic m eans of evacuating
nearby communities
Pr ovisions are needed f or safe dispos al of danger ous mat erials and pr oducts.
Colleagiality & Its Elements
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The c entral elements of collegiality are respect, commitment, connec tedness and cooperation.
Res pect: Acknowledge the worth of other engineers engaged in producing socially
useful and safe products.
Commitment: Share a devotion to the mor al ideals inher ent in the practice of
engineering.
Connectedness: Aware of being part of a co-operative undertaking cr eated by
shared commitments and expertise.
Collegiality, like most virtues, c an be misus ed and dist orted.
It should not be reduced to group interest but should be a shared devot ion f or
public good.
It is not defaming colleagues, but it does not c lose the eyes to
unethical
practices of the co-professionals, either.
Classifications of Loyalty
Agency-Loyalty
o
o
o
o
Identification-Loyalty :
o It has to do with at titudes, emotions and a s ense of personal identity.
o S eeks to m eet ones mor al duties with personal attachment and affirmation.
o It is against
detesting their employers and c ompanies, and do work
reluctantly and horribly (this is c onstrued as dis loyalty)
This means
o A void c onf licts of interest,
o Inf orm employers of any poss ible c onf licts of int er est,
o Protect c onfidential inf ormation,
o Be honest in making estimates,
o Admit ones err ors, etc.
Loyalty - O bligati on of E ngineers
Agency-Loy alty
o Engineers are h ired to do their duties.
o H ence obligated to employers within proper limits
Identification-Loyalty
Obligatory on two conditions;
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1. W hen some important goals are met by and through a group in which the
engineers participate
2. W hen employees are tr eat ed fairly, receiving the share of benef its and
burd ens.
But clearly, identific ation-loyalty is a v irtue and not strictly an obligation.
Relationship - Professionalism and Loyalty
1. Acting on professional c ommitme nts to the public is more ef fective to ser ve a
company than just following c ompany orders.
2. Loyalty to employers m ay not m ean obey ing ones immediate supervisor.
3. Professional obligations to both an employer and to the public might
strengthen rather than contradict each other.
Need for Authority
Authority is needed since
a) Allowing ever yone to exercise uncontrolled indiv idual discretion creates chaos
(c onfusi on).
b) Clear lines of authority identif ies areas of personal responsibility and
acc ounta b ility.
Institutional Authority and Expert Aut hority
Institutional authority
The institutional right given to a pers on to exercise power bas ed on the res ources of
the instit ution.
o It is ac quired, exercis ed and defined within institutions.
o It is given to individuals to perf orm their institutional duties assigned within the
organisation. There is not always a perfect m atch between the authority
gr anted and the qualifications needed to exercise it.
Expert authority
The possession of special knowledge, skill or c ompet ence to perform some task or
to give sound advice.
Engineers may have expert authority but their institutional authorit y, may only be, to
provide management with analysis of possible ways to perform a tec hnic al tas k, af t er
which they are restricted to following managements directive about which option to
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pursue. In large companies, engineers, advisors and c onsult ants in staff f unction
carry expert authority, while institutional aut hor ity is vested only with line managers.
Authority Vs Power
Ineffective persons, even if vest ed with authority by their institution, may not be able
to summon the power their position allows them to exercis e. On the other hand,
people who are effective m ay be able to wield greater power that goes beyond the
authority attached to the pos itions they hold. Highly respect ed engineers of pr oven
int egrity belong to this class.
Aut hor ity - Morally justified
Observations on authority.
o An emp loyer who has institutional authority may direct engineers to do
som ething that is not morally justified.
o Engineers may f eel that they have an inst itutional duty to obey a directive that
is morally unjustified, b ut their moral d uty, all things c onsider ed, is not to obey.
o To decide whether a specific act of exercis ing institutional aut hor ity is morally
justified, we need to know whether the institutional goals are themselves
morally permissible or desirable and whether that act violates basic moral
duties.
Z one Of Acceptance of Authority
A subordinate is said to accept authority whenever he permits his behaviour to be
guided by the decision of a superior, without independently examining the m erits of
that decision
- Herbert Sim on
o Simon notes that all employees tend to have a zone of acceptance in which
they are willing to acc ept their employers authority.
o Within that zone, an individual, relaxing his own critical faculties, perm its the
decision of the employer to guide him.
o Employees gener ally do not make an issue of questionable incidents on
moralit y, out of a sense of responsibility to give their em ployer leeway within
which to operate and oft en not to risk their jobs.
o The problem increases when employees slowly expand the boundaries of
tolerance and rationalize it.
This only shows that engineers should nev er stop critically rev iewing the employers
directives especially on moral issues.
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Faithful Agent Argument
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o
o
Proprietary information:
Inf ormation that a c ompany owns or is the propr iet or of.
This is prim arily us ed in legal sense.
Also called Trade Secret. A trade secr et c an be virtually any type of
information that has not become public and which an employer has taken
steps to keep secret.
Pat ents:
Differ from trade secrets.
Legally protect specific products f rom being manufactur ed and sold by
competitors without the express permiss ion of the patent holder.
They have the draw back of being public and c ompetitors may eas ily work
around them by cr eating alt ernate designs.
Obligation of Confidentiality
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II.
III.
2.
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The professional has some additional or side interest that c ould thr eaten
good judgment in ser ving the interests of the em ployee or client. E.g. W hen an
engineer is paid based on a percentage of t he cost of the design and there is
no incentive for him to
cut costs- The distrust c aus ed by this situation
compromis es the
engineers abilit y to cut costs and calls into question his
judgement.
W hen one works actually for the compet itor or subc ontract or as an
employee or cons ultant.
Having partial ownership or substantial stock holdings in the
competit ors business.
It may not arise by merely having a spouse work ing for subcontractor to ones company, but it will arise if ones job also includes granting
c ontracts to that s ubc ontractor.
Tempting customers away f rom their current employer, while still
working f or them to form their own competing bus iness.
M oonlighting usually cr eates conflicts when working f or com petit ors,
suppliers or customers but does not conflict when working for others without
affecting the pres ent employers business.
Moonlight ing means work ing in ones spare time for another employer.
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Avoi ding Confli cts Of I nterests
o
o
o
o
Types Of Crime
Domestic crime
Non-acc idental crime committed by members
of the family
Professional Crime
W hen crime is pursued as a profess ion or day
to day
occupation
Blue collar cr ime (or) Street cr ime
Crime against person, property (thef t, assault
on a pers on, rape)
Victimless crime
P ers on who commits the crim e is the vict im of
the crim e. E.g. Drug addiction
Hate cr ime
Crime done on the banner of religion,
community, linguistics
Occupational Crime
Occupational crimes are illegal acts made possible through ones
lawful employ ment.
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Price Fixing
An act was pass ed, which forbade (pr event ed) c ompanies fr om jointly setting prices
in ways that restrain fr ee competit ion and trade. Unfortunately, many s enior people,
well respected and pos itioned were of the opinion that pric e fixing was good f or their
organizations and the public.
Employees Endangering Lives of Employees
Employers indulge in exposing their employees to safety hazards. They escape
criminal action against them, by paying nominal compensations even if their crimes
are pr oved in c our t. And even t his happens only when the victim sues company for
damages under civil law.
Engineers M oral Rights
Engineers mor al rights f all into categories of human, employee, contractual and
profess ional rights.
Professional rights:
The right to f orm and express ones pr ofess ional judgment freely
The right to refuse to c arry out illegal and unethical activ ity
The right to talk publicly about ones work within bounds s et by c onfidentiality
obligation
The right to engage in the activities of professional soc iet ies
The right to protect the clients and the public from t he dangers that might arise from
ones work
The right to prof essional recognition of ones services.
Right of Professional Conscience
o There is one basic and generic professional right of engineers, the moral r ight
to exercise responsible professional judgment in pursuing professional
responsibilities.
o Pursuing these responsibilities invol ves ex ercising both technical judgment
and reasoned moral convictions.
o This basic right c an be ref erred to as the right of professional conscience.
Right of C onscientious R efusal
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The most basic human right, which needs no justification, as per A. I.Meldon,
is to pursue ones legitimate (those that do not violate others rights) interests.
The right to pursue legitimate interests gives a pers on right to pursue
prof essional moral obligations.
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This may be viewed as a hum an right of c onscience directly derived f rom the
basic human right.
2. D uty Ethics:
o
o
I have a right to somet hing only bec ause others have duties or obligations to
allow me ( and not int erfer e) to do so.
If we derive the meaning of others as em ployers, then the basic professional
right is justified by refer ence to others duties to support or not interfere with the
work related exercise of c onscience by professionals.
3. Util itarianism:
o
o
o
Whistle blowing is an act of convey ing informat ion about a s ignificant moral problem
by a present or for mer employee, outside approved channels (or against str ong
pressur e) to someone, in a position to take action on the pr oblem.
The features of Whistle blowing are:
Act of Disclosur e: Intentionally convey ing inf ormation outs ide approved
organizational channels when t he pers on is under pressure not to do so from
higher-ups.
Topic: The infor mation is believed to conc ern a significant moral problem for
the organization.
Agent: The person disc losing the inf ormation is an employ ee or former
em p loyee.
Recipient: The informat ion is c onveyed to a person or organizat ion who can
act on it.
Types of Whistle Blowing
External Whistle blowing: The act of passing on information outside the organisation.
Internal Whistle blow ing: The act of passing on information to someone within the
organization but outside the approved channels.
E ither type is likely to be consider ed as dis loyalty, but the second one is often seen
as less serious than t he latter. From cor porations point of view both are ser ious
because it leads to dist rust, disharmony, and inability of the employ ees to work
together.
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Open Whistle blow ing: Individuals openly r evealing their identity as they convey the
information.
Anonymous Whist le blow ing: Individual conveying the inform ation conc eals his/her
identity.
Procedures to be followed before Whistle Blowing
Except f or extreme em erg enc ies, always try working through normal
organizational channels.
Be prompt in expressing objections.
Proc eed in a tactf ul manner with due cons ideration to the feelings of others
involved.
As much as possible, keep supervisors informed of your actions, both
inform ally and f ormally.
Be accurate in observations and claims and keep all for mal records
documenting relevant events.
Consult c olleagues f or advice and also to avoid isolation.
Consult the ethics committee of your professional society before going outside
the organization.
Consult a lawyer regarding potential legal liabilities.
A great deal of introspection and ref lection are requir ed before WB. Motive
should neither be for revenge upon fellow employee, supervisor or company nor
in the hope of fut ure gains like book cont racts or speak ing tours etc.
Conditions to be satisfied before Whistle Blowi ng
Richard T. De George suggests the following:
1. The harm that will be done by the pr oduct to the public is ser ious and
considerable.
2. The individual makes his/her c onc ern known to his/her superiors
.
3. If one does not get any proper response fr om immediate superiors, then one
should exhaust the channels that are available w ithin the organizat ion
including the board of directors.
4. One must have doc umented ev idence that would c onv ince a r easonable and
im partial observer that ones view of the situation is c orrect and the company
policy is wrong.
5. There must be strong evidence that m aking the inf ormation public will in fact
prevent the threatened serious harm.
Prevention of Whistle Blowing
The f ollowing actions will prevent/reduce whistle blowing:
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1. Giving direct access to higher levels of management by announcing open
door policies with guar ant ee that t here wont be retaliation. Instead such
employees should be rewarded for fostering ethical behav ior in the company.
2. This gives gr eat er fr eedom and promotes open communication within the
organizati on.
3. Cr eation of an Et hics Review Committee with freedom to investigate
complaints and make independent recommendations to top management.
4. Top priority should be given to promote ethical conduct in the organization by
top management.
5. Engineers should be allow ed to discuss in confidence, their mor al concerns
with the ethics c ommittee of their prof essional s ocieties.
6. W hen there are differ ences on et hic al issues between engineers and
management, ethics committee members of the professional societies should
be allowed to ent er into these discussions.
7. Changes and updations in law must be explor ed by engineers, organizations,
prof essional s ocieties and government organizations on a continuous basis.
Employee Rights
Employ ee rights are any rights, mor al or legal, that involve the status of being an
employee.
Employee rights are:
The organization will not also discriminate against an employee f or enga g ing
in outs ide activit ies or f or objecting to an organizat ion directive that violates
common norms of morality.
No personal informat ion about employees will be collected or kept other than
what is necessary to manage the organization ef f iciently and to meet the legal
requirements.
No employee who alleges that her/ his rights have been violated will be
disc harged or penalized without a fair hearing by the employer organization.
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Discrimination
o Discrimination gener ally means pref erence on the grounds of sex, race, skin
colour, age or religious out look.
o In everyday speech, it has come to m ean morally unjustified treatment of
people on arbitrary or irrelevant grounds.
o Therefore to call something Discrimination is to condemn it.
o But when the question of justification arises, we will c all it Pr eferential
Treatment.
Many of the rights of the ownership common to r eal and pers onal property are
also common to Intellectual Property
together
w it h
Copyri ght
form
TOTAL
Patent
1. D erived fr om the Latin word LITTERAE PATENTES which means Open
Letters or Open Documents to c onf er rights and privileges.
2. A c ontract between an Inventor and the Government
3. An exclusive privilege monopoly right gr anted by the Governm ent to the
Inventor
4. Invention may be of an Industrial pr oduct or process of manufacture
5. Invention should be new, non-obvious, usef ul and patentable as per Pat ents
Act
6. The right to the inventor is f or limit ed period of time and valid only within the
t erritorial limits of a c ountry of grant.
Examples: a drug compound, a tool, maybe
software effects
DESIGN
Meant f or beautifying an industrial product to attract the c onsumer public
Shaping, C onfigur ation or Ornam entation of a vendible Industrial product
Exclusive Design Rights to the originat or for a limit ed term
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A patent ee gets the exclusive monopoly right against the public at large to
us e,s ell or manufacture his patented device.
A patent ee c an enf orce his monopoly right against any inf ringement in the c ourt
of law f or suitable damages or profit of account.
The Governm ent ensures f ull disclosure of the invention to the public for
exchange of exclusive monopoly pat ent right to the invent or.
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They tried to turn on the plant ref riger ation syst em to c ool down the
environment and slow the r eaction. (The r efr igeration system had been
drained of coolant weeks before and never refilled -- it cost too much.)
They tried to r oute expanding gases to a neighboring tank. (The t ank's
pressure gauge was broken and indic ated t he tank was full when it was really
empty.)
They tried to purge the gases through a scrubber. (The scrubber was
des igned f or f low rates, temperatures and pressures that were a fraction of
what was by this t ime escaping from the tank. The scrubber was as a result
ineffective.)
They tried to route the gases through a flare tower -- to burn them away. (The
supply line to the f lare tower was broken and hadn't been replaced.)
They tried to spr ay wat er on the gases and have them settle to the gr ound -by t his time the chemic al r eaction was nearly complet ed. (The gases were
escaping at a point 120 feet above ground; the hoses w ere des igned to shoot
water up to 100 feet into t he air.)
In just 2 hours the chemicals escaped to form a deadly cloud ov er hundr eds of
thousands of people incl. poor migrant labourers who stay ed c lose to the plant.
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2. What are the benefits of M ulti National corpor ations doing business in less
devel oped countries for both the M NCs and the host country?
Benefits to MNCs:
Inexpensive labour
Availability of natural res ources
Favourable tax conditions
Fresh markets f or products
Benefits to developing host countries:
N ew jobs
Gr eat er pay and gr eat er challenge
Transf er of advanc ed technology
Social benef its fr om sharing wealth
The
The
The
The
The
The
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6. What can M NCs do to promote mor ally j ust measur es? Or what are R ichard
T. De Georges guidelines for moral promotion by MNCs?
MNCs business should do more ov erall good than bad towards the economy of
the host country than doing good to a few corrupt leaders in oppressive r egimes.
They must respect laws and regulations of the loc al country as long as they do
not violate basic moral r ights.
They must pay a liv ing wage, even when loc al c ompanies fail to pay such a
wage, but other wise pay only enough to attract compet ent work ers.
It is permissible f or the US to tr ansf er danger ous technology lik e asbestos
pr oduction to another country and then simply adopt that countrys safety laws only
under the following conditions.
Good judgements exercised in good faith, than abstract pr inciples, is the only
way to address prac tic al problems.
7. Write in brief about Technology Transf er and Appropriate Technol ogy?
7.1. Technology Transfer:
The process of moving technology to a novel setting and implement ing there.
N ovel s etting is any situation c ontaining at least one new variable relevant to
success or f ailure of given technology
Condit ions include social factors that go beyond r outine economic and
technic al engineering c onstr aints
Identif ying them requires att ention to an arr ay of human values and needs
that may influence how a technology affects the novel situation
Intermediate technology
8. How is environment degraded?
1. By c ausing injuries to nature
i.Usually this damage is c aus ed slowly
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Snowm elt into wat er releases huge amount of acid which got f rozen during
winter.
Effects:
Acid shock from snowmelt c auses mass destruction of fish. On long term it also
harms fish eggs and s ources of f ood.
Thous ands of lakes were killed by acid rain in Sc andinavia and North America.
The c auses are burning of fossil fuels leading to release of SO 2 in particular and
Nitrogen oxides.
Problems of Sweden c aused by Industrial plants in England and North Europe.
Problems of N orth America c aus ed by utilities in Ohio valley, the largest polluter
of SO 2 in USA.
Some of the potential changes are still unknown
Micro organisms in s oil are being affected
Groundwat er is pollut ed but its ultim ate effects are not known
The ef f ects may be k nown only af t er another 100 years
Effect on f ood s ources are also unclear
11. What are the ot her problems caused to the environment?
Build-up of CO2 from the use of fossil fuels by Industrial nations c ould result in
Greenhouse effect.
Damage to protective OZONE layer due to the release of Freon is related to
technologic al products us ed by the people of these nations.
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The temperature effect of the CO 2 and water vapour combined together has a
14. Describe the case st udy of environment al degrad ati on caused by PCB &
Kanemis Oil?
In Southern Japan, in 1968 a large number of people suffer ed by disfigurement of
skin, discolouration, fat igue, numbness, respirat ory distress, vomit ing and loss of
ha ir.
10,000 people got affected & some died
Two gr oups of 121 people each were tested and results were as follows:
It was f ound that fried food us ing rice oil produc ed by Kanemi c ompany
was eat en which caus ed the problem
After 7 months of investigation.
It was found that the presence of Polychlorinated biphenyl-PCB was
the cause f or the effects and it was pres ent in the rice oil.
Rice Oil was heated at low pressure to remove the odour thro a heat
exchanger and a liquid known as KANECHLOR which contained PCB
was used f or heat tr ansfer
Pipes of the heat exchanger was corroded and led to leakage thro
those pinholes.
In fact, Kanemi had been replenishing 27 kgs of lost PCB per month for
sometime without realizing the s eriousness.
Indirect path t his rice was us ed as chicken-f eed and half of one million
chickens that were f ed died.
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Try to assess the technology and its environment al impacts and focus
on c ontaining the major adverse effects.
17. Write short notes on Senti ent Center ed Et hics, Bio Centric Ethics,
Ecocentric Ethics and Human Centered Environmental Ethics.
Sentient Centered Ethics
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Sent ient animals are those which feel pain and pleas ure. This ver sion of Naturecenter ed ethics is advanc ed by some ut ilitarians, notably Pet er Singer, who s ays that
right action maxim izing good f or all should include sent ient animals as well as
humans. Failure to do so leads discrimination like racism, which is known as
Speciesism. There is always a dispute as to whether the inherent worth of anim als
can be equat ed to human beings or not.
Bio Centric Et hics
This regards all living organisms as hav ing inher ent w orth. W e should live with the
virtue of reverence to life, as s et f orth by Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965). This will
enable us to take decisions about when life c an be sacrific ed.
Ecocentric Ethics
This locates inherent w orth in Ecological systems and this appr oach is differ ent from
the other two, as it is not individualistic. This is voic ed by Aldo Leop old (1887-1948).
There is another view that ecoc entric ethic does not replace s ocially generated
hum an- oriented duties to f amily, neighbours and humanity
Human C ent ered Environment al Ethics
This is an ext ension of et hic al th eories to c ombat thr eats to human beings presented
by the destruction of nature.
18. Define comput er ethics?
Computer Ethics deals with the evaluation of and decision making in a variety of
moral problems c aused by comput ers.
19. What shifts are caused in power r elationships by Computers?
Power relat ionship c aused by Comput ers:
1. Job Elimination:
Comput ers still continue to lead to elimination of jobs.
W hile employees cannot be paid when there is no work, all attempts are to be
made by employers to readjust work assignments and retain employees.
The abs ence of t his practice cr eates an employee or pubic backlash against
introduction of Computers.
2. Customer Relations:
It is very easy f or a customer to notice an err or in a computer printout, of the
price dif f er ence between what is shown at the shelf and what is shown in cash
receipt register.
Here mor al s ense and long term business requirement requires that t he
policies should be made f avourable to c onsumers.
3. Biased Software:
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Owing to the high degr ee of job complexit y and technic al proficiency r equir ed, a lot
of issues arise in engineering ethics.
1. Computer failures:
Failures c an occur due to either hardware or software
Hardware errors do not occur frequently.
Software errors are the major failures of the c omputers.
Hardware errors are easily detected.
Software errors are difficult to detect.
Trial runs are absolutely ess ential to check the program.
2. C omputer Implementation:
New computer system should be attempted successf ully before the old one
bec omes inoperative. Many failure cases have been report ed while switching
over to a new syst em.
3. Health Condit ions:
Ergonomic conditions should be implemented to reduce back problems, provide
wrist support, to become good looking.
26. Give one argument each for and against Weapons Development?
They are devices to kill human beings, innocent civilians or equally unwilling
soldiers on the other side.
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Then Krupp made chrome st eel shells that c an pierce nick el leading to f urther
investm ent by military.
Then they made a high-carbon armour plate that c an resist the new shells
resulting in more orders
Then Krupp again produces, c apped shot with explosive noses which can
pierce through the high-carbon armoured plate als o
Arms deals c ontinued to flourish
2. Vick ers and Schneider-another arms manufacturer
Supplying arms to Chines e, Japanese and Russians
Pointing out the gr owth of the Japanese navy to Chinese
Pointing out the gr owth of the Chinese to their rivals, Russians
Russia Japanese war in 1905 was usef ul f or the c ause of arms
manufacturers.
Russians lost the war, hence order ed fresh arms f or rehabilit ation
Japanese won the war, but were ups et since t errible bloodbath was caused
by Russians machine guns on land.
29. Describe the destructive nature and power of weap ons and their
development?
Towards the end of W orld W ar II, night raids sometimes on civilian areas were
very comm on
The deaths c aus ed by Atom bombs on Hiroshima, Nagasaki were not more than
the deaths c aused by single air r aids in W orld W ar II
But they were horrible bec ause of their power in rapid delivery of destructive
power in immense c onc entration
Hiroshima Bomb equivalent to 20000T of TNT powder c arried on 267 bogies of
r ailr oad (2 miles long) f or one bomb again equivalent to 740-B52 bombers to
carry this load.
USSR exploded Hydrogen bombs in 1960 50 & 60 mega ton range f or tests
with capabilities such as:
2000 to 3000 times powerful than Hiroshima bomb
4000 to 6000 miles long train required to c arry an equivalent amount of
TNT powder which will take 100 hours to pass any point
W ill require one and a half million planes +(bombers) to c arry the
powder
Towards the end of cold war
USSR had 5800 megatons (9500 w arheads on 2700 launchers) and
USA had 3300 megatons (10800 warheads on 2000 launchers)
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3. But more interesting was that understanding people was more important than
anyt hing else.
4. P ers on oriented skills are as im port ant to engineers as technic al skills.
35. Why managements prefer to make engineers as managers than nonengineers? / Why engineers find management positions attractive?
Engineers undergo the most intensive technical training amongst professionals.
But still, many of them move to managerial pos itions early in their car eer for
which they rec eived no training.
Organisations find it easier to teach the business side to engineers than
teac hing engineering to non-engineers.
They also value the quant itative analysis, strong work-ethics, and conf idence in
problem solv ing exhibit ed by engineers.
Engineers also pref er the management attractive, since car eer in management
off ers bett er recognit ion than tec hnic al track.
Nobel laur eate Milt on Friedman s aid The social responsibility of business is
to incr ease its prof its. The responsibility of managers is to conduct
bus iness in accordance with their stockholders desires, which generally will
be to make as much money as possible while conforming to he basic rules of
society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical custom
The et hic al custom refer ed by Friedm an m eans only refr aining f rom fr aud,
dec eption and c orr uption.
But Martin and Schinzinger s ay that Friedm an is not c orrect in s aying that
managers ethics reduce to only respons ibility to maximize prof its for
stockholders.
The pr imary res ponsibility of managers is to produce pr oduct or ser vice while
maintaining respect f or pers ons, including c ustomers, employees and public.
Ethic ally, pers onnel and safety c omes first before profits.
By def inition, com par ed to charitable institutions, r eligions, organizations, etc
organizations and c orporates operate only f or profits.
But the ult im ate goal of managers should be to make valuable pr oducts that
are also profitable since profit making is one of the conditions to be in
business.
Good business and sound ethics go together. H ence the moral roles of
managers and engineers are complementary and not oppos ed.
Engineer managers have two major responsibilities prom oting and et hical
climate and resolving c onf licts.
37. E xpl ain how Ethi cal Climate is promot ed in organizations through
examples.
There are highly ethic al organizations, examples of some of which are given below:
1. Marilyn H amilt on, founded Quickie Designs in 1980, who was a t eacher and
athlete who was paralyzed in hang-gliding accident. A highly mobile and vers atile
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wheel chair was designed weighing 26 pounds, half the weight of chairs that were
currently produc ed. The company grew up within a decade to $65 millions in sales. It
had a policy of customer sponsor ed sports events f or young people in wheelchairs. It
is relatively s mall (500 strong) and exc eptionally committed.
2. Martin Mariette C orpn began an et hics pr ogram in 1985 em phasizing basic value
like honesty and f airness and responsibility f or environment and high pr oduct quality.
They draf t ed a code of c onduct, conduct ed and et hics workshop f or managers and
created eff ective proc edures f or employees to express their ethic al c oncerns.
3. T exas Instruments (TI) is an example of an ethic al large corporation em phasizing
on trust, respect for other pers ons, etc. TI appoint ed a full time Ethics Director, Carl
Skooglund. He surveyed to know the et hic al c onc erns of employees and their
awareness. He conduct ed workshops on ethics, wrote brochures and was directly to
all employees through a confidential phone line. E ven though they made it clear that
unprofessional c onduct would not be tolerated, the focus was on suppor ting ethical
conduct than punishing wrong doers.
4. A large def ense c ontractor start ed an ethics pr ogr am that was not successf ul.
Higher management viewed the pr ogr am as a success but the professional
employees c onsider ed it as a sham/f arce f or public relations and window dressing.
The primary
dif f iculty was the gap between the int entions of t op management and the unchanged
behaviour of the S enior managers.
38. What steps can be taken to improve the et hical climate by managers?
1. Ethic al values and their full c ompl exity are widely acknowledged and
appreciat ed by managers and engineers. Neither prof its nor promoting the
interests of the organization is neglected but the moral limits on profit-s eeking
go beyond s imply obey ing the law and avoiding fraud.
2. The sincere use of ethical language is recognized as a legitimate part of
corporate dialogue. This is done either by f ormulating corporate code of ethics
or by including ethic al responsibilities in job descriptions at all levels.
3. Top management must set a moral tone, in words, in policies and by personal
exampl e. E veryone should be c onfident that management is serious about
ethics.
4. There must be procedures for conflict resolution. Managers should be tr ained
to resolve c onflicts and on the other hand, a pers on should be exc lusively
made to have c onfidential discussions about moral c onc erns.
39. What are the most common confl ict s?
o C onf licts over schedules, depending mostly on support depts. but where
managers do not have any c ontr ol.
o C onf licts over which is the most import ant dept or function at a given time
o C onf licts over personnel res ources
o C onf licts over technic al issues
o C onf licts over administrative proc edures
o Personality c onflicts
o C onf licts over costs
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43. What are the major areas of work for engineer consult ant s?
1. Advertising
2. Competitive bidding
3. Contingency f ees
4. Safety and client needs
44. Advertisi ng, once thought to be unprofessional has now been accept ed by
law E xplain.
Before 1976, advertising was thought to be unprofessional, in U.S.A. The state
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f elt that work should be won t hrough reputat ion as engineer and not t hrough
advertisement.
But in 1976, Supreme Court ruled that
Ban on professional advertising is an improper restraint
It reduces public awareness of available professional services
They keep prices higher than they might otherwise.
Now t he focus has been shift ed t o restrain deceptive advertis ing which is done
through:
1. Outright lies
2. H alf-truths
3. E xagger ation
4. Making false suggestions or implications
5. Obfuscation (c onfusion or not being clear) created by ambiguity, vagueness
6. Manipulation of the unc onscious
45. When is advertising considered to be deceptive?
Example 1: A c onsulting firm played actually a very minor role in a well-known
project
Situation 1: Its broc hure claims that it played a major role
Situation 2: It makes no claim but only shows the picture of the project
S ituation 3: It shows the picture along with a f ootnote in fine print the true det ails
about its role in the project
Situation 4: If the same statement is print ed in larger type and not as f ootnote.
Example 2: An ad shows an electronics device to convey that the it em is r outinely
pr oduc ed and available f or sale. B ut actually the ad shows only the prototype or
mock-up and the item is just being developed.
46. What are the norms to be followed by ethical consultants in advertising?
Generally c onsumer products can be advertis ed suppressing the negative
aspects and even some exaggeration is allowed.
But advertisement of professional serv ices like engineering services is governed
by strict norms.
NSPE f orbids the following:
the use of statements contain ing a material misr epresentat ion of fact or omit t ing a
material fact necessary to keep the statement from being misleading; statements
intended or likely to create an unjustified expectation; statements c ontaining
prediction of f uture success; statements c ontaining an opinion as to the quality of the
showmanship inc luding the use of slogans, jingles or sensational language format.
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47. Why was Compet itive Bi ddi ng pr ohibited earlier and th en why was it
approved by courts?
Competitive bidding was prohibited f or quite sometime due to the following
r eas ons:
C onsulting jobs, unlike industrial and c onstruction work, are not suit able for
precise c ost estimates and hence precise bids.
Here c ompet itive bidding, would enc ourage cutting safety and qualit y, in case
of lower bids and padding/over designing in the case of higher bids.
Lat er, Compet itive bidding was appr oved by C ourts of law on the r eas oning
that fr ee trade is restr ained in an unf air manner.
48. When consul ting engineers reject competitive bidding, what can be the
basis of their selection?
Consulting engineers, in the abs ence of c ompet itive bidding c an be select ed only
bas ed on their reput ation and pr oven qualification. But younger, competent
engineers may be disadvantaged by this method.
49. What is your underst anding of C ontingency Fees?
Contingency f ee is dependent on some specific conditions b eyond normal,
satisfactory performance in work.
A client may hire a c onsultant engineer to find methods of cost s aving on an
ongoing project to s ave a minimum of 10%. If consultant s aves 10%, he will get
his f ee; other wise no f ee will be paid. The f ee c an be either an agr eed amount or
a %age of s avings.
W hen the f ee is a %age of s aving, it becomes c ontingency f ee. In many cases,
consultants tend to be bias ed and in order to gain the f ee, they may specify
inf erior design or process to cut costs.
50. How does NSPE address the issue of Contingency Fee?
NSPE has address ed this issue as follows:
An engineer shall not request, propos e, or accept a professional commission on a
contingent basis under circ umst ances in which his professional judgement may be
compr omis ed, or when a c ontingency provision is us ed as a device f or promoting or
securing a prof essional c ommission.
51. When does the cont ingency fee become permissible?
To decide whether c ontingency f ee practice may be allowed or not, the potential
gains should be weighed against the pot ential losses. Henc e, this again calls for
contextual r easoning bas ed on et hic al theories, which provide a f ramework for
ass essing morally relevant issues of the problem.
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Large projects involve owners, c onsultants and c ontractors and many participants
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Engineers, in their pos ition as experts, explain the happenings of the past in terms of
Causes of accidents, malf unctions of equipment and other technologic al events.
They also help in events of the future lik e, public planning, pot ential of pat ents and
policy making (in technology)
56. How should Expert Engineers f unction?
They should f unction as impartial s eekers of facts & Communicat ors of truth but not
as hired guns i.e. advocates f or lawyers, officials, etc
57. What are the types of cases, expert witnesses are call ed upon to test ify in
court & what are the stakes?
57.1. Types Of Cases
I. Airplane crash
II. Defective pr oducts
III. P ersonal injury
IV. Property damage
V. Traf f ic accident
57.2. Stakes
I. Legal liabilities
II. Economic interests
III. Reputations of corpns. and professionals
58. What are the Expert engineers responsibilities towards their hirer s?
They should
Pres ent their qualifications to the client
Investigate thoroughly the cas es entrusted to them.
Testify in c ourt
59. How sho uld t he expert witness exhi bit o nes co nfid ential ity
responsibility?
The expert witnesses must
Not divulge their in vestig ations unless called upon to do so by the c ourt
Not volunt eer evidence favourable to the opponent
Answer questions truthfully when opp osing attorney puts f orth pertinent
questions
But he should not just be the c lients mouthpiece.
60. What are the aims of a legal system?
A ims Of A Legal System is
To adminis ter a complex system of legal rights that define legal justice ach ieved
through adversarial relationships, with rules about admissible forms of evidence
and permissible forms of testimony
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d) Sympathy B ias
The p lig ht of the victims and their sufferings c an invoke sympathy f rom the
expert witness
This upsets impartial investigation of facts
65. What is needed of the Expert E ngineers?
Engineer Experts should maintain their integr ity in the face of all the above
biases
Courts also must rely on balance pr ovided by exp ert witnesses on both sides
of the case and pr ovide opportunities to lawyers to remove t he bias by crossexamination
ar e:
Opposing politic al views
Social perspectives
Economic interests
And their individual values like,
Honest y
Public trust
Respect for c ommon good
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70. What are the normative models of Advisers? Briefly explain each of them.
Normative Models of Adv isers
Thr ee
types:
Hir ed Guns
Value N eutr al Analysts
Value Guided Analysts
Hired Guns This is the most undesir able role that c an be played by the advis er.
Here the obligati on to clients onl y is param ount and other values are not
bothered about.
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do public good and not evils i.e. the goals must be morally valuable. H ence Moral
Leaders c an be defined as,
The individuals, who direct, motivate, organize, cr eatively manage and move groups
toward mor ally valuable goals
74. Technologi sts were best qu alified to govern because of their t echni cal
expertise. Discuss in det ail.
Mussolini and Hitler were gr eat leaders, but not Mor al Leaders , since their goals
were not morally valuable.
An Utopian society shall be governed by a philosopher-king whose mor al wisdom
best qualifies him to rule P lato
Technologists were best qualified to govern bec ause of their technical expertis e, as
well as their logic al, practical and unprejudiced minds Frederick Taylor
But no single profession has the only right to moral governance of society.
Leadership is also m oving away from any narrow professional interests.
Mor al leadership is not dominance by elite, but stimulating groups toward
morally desirable ends.
75. Expl ain Moral Creativity.
Moral cr eativity is
Identif ying most important values in particular situations
Focusing on them through effective communication within the group.
Deep commitments grounded in integrity to implement them.
Cr eativity consists in ident ifying new possibilit ies for applying, extending and putting
into practic e, rather than inventing values.
76. How participation in Professional Societies will improve moral leader ship?
Professional Societies
o Promote c ontinuing education for their members
o Unify the prof ession, speak and act on behalf of them
o Are a f orum f or communic ating, organizing and mobilizing change within, a
change which has a moral dimens ion.
o Cannot take any pro-employee or pro-management stand since they have
members in management, supervision and non-management.
o But they can play a role in res olv ing mor al issues
o A mor al responsibility as well as mor al cr eativity is shar ed.
77. How can individuals make a di fference in leadership of Professional
Soci eties?
o St ephen H. Unger, as an individual was mainly responsible f or persuading
IEEE to focus on supporting responsible engineers than punishing wrong
d oers. He was instrum ent al in IE EE pres enting awards to the thr ee BART
engineers.
o In 1988, NS PE cr eated N ational Inst itute of E ngineering Ethics with a mission
to promote ethics within engineering. The focus was on educ ation rather than
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propaganda.
o But eff ective prof essional activity, r equir es a s ubstantial trust fr om clients and
the public.
o Building and sust aining that trust is an important responsibility shar ed by all
engineers.
o In t his ar ea also Mor al Leadership within professional societies is im port ant.
78. Write short note on Leadership in Communities.
Leadership responsibilities of engineers as citizens go beyond those of nonengineers. They should provide gr eat er leadership in social debates about
Industrial P ollution
Automobile Safety
Dispos al of Nuclear W ast e, etc.
79. What are the different views on leadership in communities?
80. What are the arguments for and against Voluntary Service by engineering
professionals?
Should engineering professionals of f er engineering ser vices to the needy,
without charging f ee or at r educ ed f ee?
Voluntarism of this kind is alr eady enc ouraged in Medicine, Law and
Education.
But ABET code states Engineers shall not undertake or agr ee to perform any
engineering ser vice on a fr ee basis and other codes also insist that engineers
are obligated to adequate com pensations (which means f ull f ee)
Engineers find it dif f icult to donate their ser vices individually compared to
doct ors and lawyers since their out put is on a shar ed basis
But, as suggested by Robert Baum, engineers c an volunt eer their ser vices in
the f ollowing ar eas, in groups, either fr ee or at cheaper than norm al f ee.
Environm ental im pact studies that is harmful to a community
Health issues of polluted wat er and s oil
Minimal needs of elderly and minorities like running water, sewage
systems, electric power and inexpensive transportation.
81. Wh at can engineers and engineeri ng soci ety do to publ ic in terms of
volunt ary service?
Engineers c an
Urge Govt. to expand ser vices of the Army Corps of Engineers
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