HM 322

Corporate Law and Professional Ethics

Course Project

Submitted to:

Mr. Safarat Ahmad

Department of Management Sciences

Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology.

By:
Abdullah Haroon 2014013
Fahad Shafi 2014074
Muhammad Hasan 2014222
Muhammad Umair Mukhtar 2014258
Osama Bin Haroon 2014287

1
 Table of Contents
PAKISTAN ENGINEERING COUNCILS CODE OF CONDUCT ........................................................................... 5
Article 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Article 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Article 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Article 4 ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Article 5 ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Article 6 ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Article 7 ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Article 8 ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Article 9 ..................................................................................................................................................... 8
Article 10 ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Article 11 ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Article 12 ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Article 13 ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Article 14 ................................................................................................................................................... 9
Article 15 ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Article 16 ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Article 17 ................................................................................................................................................. 11
Article 18 ................................................................................................................................................. 11
UNITED KINGDOMS CODE OF CONDUCT ................................................................................................... 12
Accuracy and rigor .................................................................................................................................. 12
Honesty and integrity.............................................................................................................................. 13
Respect for life, law and the public good ............................................................................................... 13
Responsible leadership: listening and informing .................................................................................... 13
GUIDANCE FOR INSTITUTION CODES OF CONDUCT ................................................................................... 15
Pakistan Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of Engineerings Code of Conducts Comparison . 17
Recommendations for the Pakistan Engineering Councils Code of Ethics ................................................ 19
Improving Ethical Practice: Understanding through Mentorship........................................................... 19
Improving Ethical Practice: Understanding through Communication Nets............................................ 19
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 21
References .............................................................................................................................................. 22

2
The following Code of Ethics (Engineering) is promulgated by the Pakistan Engineering Council
(PEC). [1] It shall be incumbent upon the members of the Pakistan Engineering Council to subscribe
to it individually and collectively to uphold the honour and dignity of the engineering profession:

"Allah commands you to render back your

trust to those to whom they are, and that
when you judge between people, you judge
with justice. Allah admonishes you with
what is excellent."

"Give full measure and weight justly and

defraud not men of their things, and act not
corruptly in the land, making mischief."

"And swallow not up your property among

yourselves by false means, nor seek to gain
access thereby to the judges, so that you
may swallow up a part of the property of
men wrongfully while you know."

"Fulfill the obligations"

"And let not hatred of a people incite you

not to act equitably, Be just; that is nearer to
observance of duty."

3
And whose affairs are decided by counsel
among themselves."

"Avoid most of suspicion for surely

suspicion in some cases is sin; and spy not
nor let some of you backbite others."

And help one another in righteousness and

piety, and help not one another in sin and
aggression, and keep your duty to God."

"And follow not that of which thou hast no

knowledge. Surely the hearing and sight and
heart, of all these it will be asked."

"And speak straight words."

4
PAKISTAN ENGINEERING COUNCILS CODE OF CONDUCT

Article 1

This Code of Conduct may be called the Pakistan Engineering Council Code of Conduct.
This shall come into force at once.
This shall apply to all members of the Pakistan Engineering Council.

Article 2

To maintain, uphold and advance the honor and dignity of the engineering professional in
accordance with this Code, a member shall:
Uphold the ideology of Pakistan;
Be honest, impartial and serve the country, his employer, clients and the public at large with
devotion;
Strive to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession;
Use his knowledge and skill for the advancement and welfare of mankind;
Promote and ensure the maximum utilization of human and material resources of Pakistan
for achieving self-reliance;
and not sacrifice the national interest for any personal gain.

Article 3

A member shall be guided in all professional matters by the highest standards of integrity
and act as a faithful agent or a trustee for each of his client and employer.
A member shall:
o be realistic and honest in all estimates, reports, statements and testimony and shall carry
out his professional duties without fear or favor;
o admit and accept his own errors when proved and shall refrain form distorting or altering
the facts justifying his decision or action;

5
 o advise his client or employer honestly about the viability of the project entrusted to him;
o not accept any other employment to the detriment of his regular work or interest without the
consent of his employer;
o not attempt to attract an engineer from another employer by false or misleading pretenses;
o not restrain an employee from obtaining a better position with another employer; and
o not endeavor to promote his personal interest at the expense of the dignity and integrity
of the profession.

Article 4

A member shall have utmost regard for the safety, health and welfare of the public in the
performance of his professional duties and for that purpose he shall
Regard his duty to the public welfare as paramount;
Seek opportunities to be of service in civic affairs and work for the advancement of the safety,
health and wellbeing of the community;
not undertake, prepare, sign, approve or authenticate any plan, design or specifications which
are not safe for the safety, health, welfare of a person or persons, or are not in conformity with
the accepted engineering standards and if any client or an employer insists on such
unprofessional conduct, he shall notify the authorities concerned and withdraw form further
service on the project; and
Point out the consequences to his client or the employer if his engineering judgment is over-
ruled by any nontechnical person.

Article 5

A member shall avoid all acts or practices likely to discredit the dignity or honor of the
profession and for that purpose he shall not advertise his professional services in a manner
derogatory to the dignity of the profession. He may, however, utilize the following means of
identification:
o professional cards and listing in recognized and dignified publications and classified
section of the telephone directories,

6
 o sign boards at the site of his office or projects for which he renders services; and
o brochures, business cards, letter-heads and other factual representations of experience,
facilities, personnel and capacity to render services.
A member may write articles for recognized publications but such articles should be
dignified, free form ostentations or laudatory implications, based on factual conclusions and
should not imply other than his direct participation in the work described unless credit is given
to others for their share of the work.
A member shall not allow himself to be listed for employment using exaggerated statements
of his qualifications.

Article 6

A member shall endeavor to extend public knowledge and appreciation of engineering

profession, propagate the achievements of the profession and protect it from misrepresentation
and misunderstanding.

Article 7

A member shall express an opinion of an engineering subject only when founded on adequate
knowledge, experience and honest conviction.

Article 8

A member shall undertake engineering assignments only when he possesses adequate

qualifications, training and experience. He shall engage or advise for engaging of the experts
and specialists whenever the client's or employers' interest are best served by such service.
A member shall not discourage the necessity of other appropriate engineering services,
designs, plans or specifications or limit-free competition by specifying materials of particular
make or model.

7
Article 9

A member shall not disclose confidential information concerning the business affairs or
technical processes of any present or former client or employer without his consent.

Article 10

A member shall uphold the principles of appropriate and adequate compensation for those
engaged in engineering work and for that purpose he shall noto undertake or agree to perform
any engineering service free except for civic, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organizations
or institutions;
o undertake professional engineering work at a remuneration below the accepted standards
of the profession in the discipline;
o and accept remuneration from either an employee or employment agency for giving
employment.
A member shall offer remuneration commensuration with the qualifications and experience
of an engineer employed by him.
A member working in any sales section or department shall not offer or give engineering
consultation, or designs, or advice other than specifically applying to the equipment being sold
in that section or department.

Article 11

A member shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party
for the same service, or for services pertaining to the same work unless all interested parties
give their consent to such compensation.
A member shall not accept:- o financial or other considerations, including free engineering
design, from material or equipment suppliers for specifying their products; and o commissions
or allowances, directly or indirectly, from contractors or other parties dealing with his clients
or employer in connection with work for which he is professionally responsible.

8
Article 12

A member shall not compete unfairly with another member or engineer by attempting to
obtain employment, professional engagements or personal gains by taking advantage of his
superior position or by criticizing other engineers or by any other improper means or methods.
An engineer shell not attempt to supplant another engineer in a particular employment after
becoming aware that definite steps have been taken towards other's employment.
A members shall not accept part-time engineering work at a fee or remuneration less than
that of the recognized standard for a similar work and without the consent of his employer if
he is already in another employment.
A member shall not utilize equipment, supplies, and laboratory or office facilities of his
employer or client for the purpose of private practice without his consent.

Article 13

A member shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the
professional reputation, prospects, practices or employment of another engineer or member.
A member engaged in private practice shall not review the work of another engineer for the
same client, except with knowledge of such engineer or, unless the connection of such engineer
with work has been terminated;
Provided that a member shall be entitled to review and evaluate the work of other engineers
when so required by his employment duties.
A member employed in any sales or industrial concern shall be entitled to make engineering
comparisons of his products with products of other suppliers.

Article 14

A member shall not associate with or allow the use of his name by an enterprise of
questionable character nor will he become professionally associated with engineers who do
not conform to ethical practices or with persons not legally qualified to tender the professional
service for which the association is intended.

9
 A member shall strictly comply with the bye-laws, orders and instructions issued by the
Pakistan Engineering Council from time to time in professional practice and shall not use the
association with a non-engineering corporation, or partnership as a cloak for any unethical act
or acts.

Article 15

A member shall give credit for engineering work to those to whom credit is due, recognize
the proprietary interests of others and disclose the name of a person or persons who may be
responsible for his designs, inventions, specifications, writings, or other accomplishments.
When a member uses designs, plans, specifications, data and notes supplied to him by a client
or an employer or are prepared by him in reference to such client or the employer's work such
designs, plans, specifications, data and notes shall remain the property of the client and shall
not be duplicated by a member for any use without the express permission of the client.
Before undertaking any work on behalf of a person or persons for making improvements,
plans, designs, inventions or specifications which may justify copyright or patent, a member
shall get ownership of such improvements, plans, designs, inventions or specifications
determined for the purpose of registration under the relevant copyright and patent laws.

Article 16

A member shall disseminate professional knowledge by interchanging information and

experience with other members or engineers and students to provide them opportunity for the
professional development and advancement of engineers under his supervision.
A member shall encourage his engineering employees to improve their knowledge, attend
and present papers at professional meetings and provide a prospective engineering employee
with complete information on working conditions and his proposed status of employment and
after employment keep him informed of any change in such conditions.

10
Article 17

A member employed abroad shall order his conduct according to this Code, so far as this is
applicable, and the laws and regulations of the country of his employment.

Article 18

A member shall report unethical professional practices of an engineer or a member with

substantiating data to the Pakistan Engineering Council and appear as a witness, if required.[2]

11
 UNITED KINGDOMS CODE OF CONDUCT

The Engineering Council, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering and a number
of the leading professional engineering institutions, has created a Statement of Ethical Principles
to which it believes all professional engineers and technicians, and related bodies should subscribe.
Professional engineers and technicians work to enhance the welfare, health and safety of all, whilst
paying due regard to the environment and the sustainability of resources.[3]

They have made personal and professional commitments to enhance the wellbeing of society
through the exploitation of knowledge and the management of creative teams. This Statement of
Ethical Principles sets a standard to which members of the engineering profession should aspire in
their working habits and relationships. It guides them in meeting the UK-SPEC requirement to
exercise responsibilities in an ethical manner. [4]

The values on which it is based should apply in every situation in which professional engineers
and technicians exercise their judgement. [5] There are four fundamental principles that should
guide engineers and technicians in achieving the high ideals of professional life. These express the
beliefs and values of the profession and are amplified below: [6]

Accuracy and rigor

Professional engineers and technicians have a duty to ensure that they acquire and use wisely and
faithfully the knowledge that is relevant to the engineering skills needed in their work in the service
of others. They should:

always act with care and competence

perform services only in areas of current competence

keep their knowledge and skills up to date and assist the development of engineering knowledge
and skills in others

not knowingly mislead or allow others to be misled about engineering matters

present and review engineering evidence, theory and interpretation honestly, accurately and
without bias identify and evaluate and, where possible, quantify risks [7]

12
Honesty and integrity

Professional engineers and technicians should adopt the highest standards of professional conduct,
openness, fairness and honesty. They should:

be alert to the ways in which their work might affect others and duly respect the rights and
reputations of other parties

avoid deceptive acts, take steps to prevent corrupt practices or professional misconduct, and
declare conflicts of interest reject bribery or improper influence

act for each employer or client in a reliable and trustworthy manner. [8]

Respect for life, law and the public good

Professional engineers and technicians should give due weight to all relevant law, facts and
published guidance, and the wider public interest. They should:

ensure that all work is lawful and justified

minimize and justify any adverse effect on society or on the natural environment for their own
and succeeding generations

take due account of the limited availability of natural and human resources

hold paramount the health and safety of others

act honorably, responsibly and lawfully and uphold the reputation, standing and dignity of the
profession [9]

Responsible leadership: listening and informing

Professional engineers and technicians should aspire to high standards of leadership in the
exploitation and management of technology. [10] They hold a privileged and trusted position in
society, and are expected to demonstrate that they are seeking to serve wider society and to be
sensitive to public concerns. They should:

13
 be aware of the issues that engineering and technology raise for society, and listen to the
aspirations and concerns of others

actively promote public awareness and understanding of the impact and benefits of engineering
achievements

be objective and truthful in any statement made in their professional capacity [11]

14
 GUIDANCE FOR INSTITUTION CODES OF CONDUCT

The Code of Conduct of each licensed professional engineering institution shall place a personal
obligation on its members to act with integrity and in the public interest. It should be worded in
such a way as to encourage members to act in accordance with the Statement of Ethical Principles
published by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Engineering Council. [12] Institutions
shall ensure that they have appropriate disciplinary processes that comply with this Engineering
Council Guidance in place to deal with breaches of their Codes of Conduct.

Specifically, Codes of Conduct should oblige members to:

1. Act with due skill, care and diligence and with proper regard for professional standards

2. Prevent avoidable danger to health or safety.

3. Prevent avoidable risk to both physical and cyber security.

4. Act in accordance with the principles of sustainability, and prevent avoidable adverse impact on
the environment and society.

5. Maintain and enhance their competence, undertake only professional tasks for which they are
competent, and disclose relevant limitations of competence.

6. Accept appropriate responsibility for work carried out under their supervision.

7. Treat all persons fairly and with respect.

8. Encourage others to advance their learning and competence.

9. Avoid where possible real or perceived conflict of interest, and advice affected parties when
such conflicts arise.

10. Observe the proper duties of confidentiality owed to appropriate parties.

11. Reject bribery and all forms of corrupt behavior, and make positive efforts to ensure others do
likewise.

15
12. Raise a concern about a danger, risk, malpractice or wrongdoing which affects others (blow
the whistle), and support a colleague or any other person to whom you have a duty of care who
in good faith raises any such concern.

13. Assess and manage relevant risks and communicate these appropriately.

14. Assess relevant liability, and if appropriate hold professional indemnity insurance.

15. Notify the Institution if convicted of a criminal offence or upon becoming bankrupt or
disqualified as a Company Director.

16. Notify the Institution of any significant violation of the Institution's Code of Conduct by
another member. [13]

16
 Pakistan Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of
Engineerings Code of Conducts Comparison

Firstly, the code of ethics as per promulgated by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) are
strictly in accordance to the Shariah law and the teachings of the Holy Quran. All of the provisions
that have been included in the 18 aforementioned articles are succeeded as a result of the statements
and verses as per stated by the Holy Quran the book according to which the entire council runs.
However in the case of the Royal Academy of Engineers (UK), a special committee is setup which
is tasked upon the fact to look into the major considerations that can be made to setup a code of
ethics that is applicable to the large contingent of engineers present in the United Kingdom. [14]

In addition to this, another matter of concern is the fact that the codes presented are an open ended
reflective and a critical intellectual activity. [15] This statement reflects the fact that most of the
clauses are open ended and can be implemented in a variety of circumstances something that can
be circumlocutive and ambiguous to engineers recently employed at work.

Furthermore, there is plain evidence to suggest the fact that the list of codes presented are tailor
made to promote a sense of confusion amongst engineers as they fail to characteristically
differentiate between micro-ethics and macro-ethics. [16] Micro-ethics deals with all the
relationships that an engineer tends to have with himself regarding collusion, corruption and self-
disdain. Macro-ethics deals with how engineers tend to react to the changes in relationships
amongst their peers and in the outer world and in this sense both the PEC and Royal Academy of
Engineers fail to comprehend this imperative part of the code of ethics.

Moreover, another drawback on both sides of the ethical codes is the fact that giving codes a
disciplinary function on cases of how to deal with corruption within an organization tends to give
them a tinge of being more like legal rules rather than ethical rules, which also leads to yet another
important conclusion that despite the numerous clauses juxtaposed together, a professional code
of ethics is never complete and can always be changed to inculcate all the new and radical changes
that are currently taking place within our society. [17]

Lastly, a major drawback that is seen in the Pakistan Engineering Councils code of ethics is that
the codes are not always helpful when two substantially important directives are at a conflict within

17
each other and some other suo-motto action needs to be taken in order to ensure that corrective
steps are taken and the problem are mitigated without further hustle. [18]

18
 Recommendations for the Pakistan Engineering Councils Code of
Ethics

Improving Ethical Practice: Understanding through Mentorship

One way to improve ethical practice, especially among students and younger engineers is to use
the practice of mentorship. Student or newly hired engineers would be paired with a mentor or
practicing engineer preferably not a member of the firms management who would have the
express role of answering questions about ethical practices in a one-on-one, hold harmless
situation. The mentoring sessions could be regular and programmed as part of an initial training
period or, like employee assistance programs, could be on an as needed basis. Also, like employee
assistance programs the discussions would be confidential (and, it is hoped, without record). The
use of mentors would complement the use of cases by making current, relevant experience
accessible to practicing engineers. Mentors could easily answer process questions and would do
so in the appropriate context of a practice. Moreover, being involved in day to-day practice,
mentors would not necessarily concentrate on outcomes over process. Periodic certification of
mentors is desirable, in fact may be essential if the mentoring process is to work in practice. One
problem with mentoring is how to avoid systemizing old attitudes. The certification of mentors by
professional societies like IEEE in conjunction with university engineering programs would help
to ensure that mentors are innovative as well as conservative where appropriate. Mentoring
certification courses could become an option for engineering continuing education. [19] Moreover,
by introducing mentoring as an activity early in the engineering curriculum, say as a module in
engineering ethics courses, engineers in-training could be introduced to the practice and could be
guided by the practical experience of the mentors in training they encounter.

Improving Ethical Practice: Understanding through Communication Nets

An extension of the mentor idea is to develop communication nets among practicing engineers for
the constant, contemporaneous, grounded, discussion of ethics and ethical dilemmas. The use of
electronic communications such as bulletin boards, chat rooms, or list servers could ensure the
assembly of widespread experience in a timely fashion. It is interesting to note that these
mechanisms have been well and widely employed in engineering for the treatment of technical

19
problems. So, there is no reason to believe that they could not be useful for ethical ones, as well.
Also, electronic means, if implemented with proper safeguards, could guarantee anonymity and
thus help increase the participation of engineers in ethics learning and sharing. Moreover, using
technical means to improve ethical practice might be attractive to engineers. The propensity for
technical disciplines to use technical means to solve problems is well known. One idea that we
have offered elsewhere is to use electronic bulletin boards and chat rooms to both allow and indeed
encourage engineering students to openly discuss engineering ethics. Ideally, these sites would be
active even when a course was not being offered and would be open to students once they had left
an engineering program with their degree and had entered into practice. This would give engineers
somewhere to go to seek advice on ethics once they have left academe, as well as to share
experience about practice with both students and other practicing engineers. The development of
such a professional communication network would be invaluable to students, firms, and
instructors. The latter could tap this network for experts, current cases, and materials. Of course,
one barrier to implementing this electronic connections idea is the real concern of firms with
guarding intellectual property and the secrecy of business operations. These are legitimate
concerns because these factors are genuine constituents of business profit. Nevertheless, the
difficulties in working out such solutions in the academic environment can only help illustrate the
crucial enigma for engineering ethics: the practice of engineering often dictates secrecy, whereas
the ethics of engineering requires transparency. [20] It is the working out of the boundaries of these
two domains that provides a challenge for engineering ethics in practice.

20
 Conclusions

All Code of Ethics share some fundamental principles based on honesty, responsibility, fairness,
respect and openness. Three aspects of code of ethics are technology, colleagues and public. The
code of ethics provides some guidelines about relations with the public, profession, colleagues,
clients, employer & management. Therefore, we can see that the different codes of ethics share the
common view point of adopting good character and morality. The Code of Ethics defines fair,
truthful, sincere, honest and discreet behavior of quality professionals. However, some personal
attributes of Quality Professionals and Engineers are recommended for effective implementation
of code of ethics. These attributes are:

1. Open minded. i.e. willing to consider alternative ideas for points of view.

2. Diplomatic, i.e. tactful in dealing with people;

3. Observant, i.e. actively aware of physical surroundings and activities;

4. Perceptive, i.e. instinctively aware of and able to understand situations.

5. Versatile, i.e. adjusts readily to different situations.

6. Tenacious, i.e. persistent, focused on achieving objectives;

7. Decisive, i.e. reaches timely conclusions based on logical reasoning and analysis; and

8. Self-reliant, i.e. acts and functions independently while interacting effectively with others.

21
 References

1) R. Baum, A philosophical/historical perspective on contemporary concerns and trends in

the area of science and values, in Engineering Professionalism and Ethics, J.H. Schaub
and K. Paolovic, Eds. New York, NY: Wiley, 1983, pp. 214-222.
2) G. Bowker, L. Gasser, S. L. Star, and B. Turner, Eds. Social Science, Technical Systems
and Cooperative Work: Beyond the Great Divide, London, U.K.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1997.
3) J. Coates, The Claims of Common Sense: Moore, Wittgenstein, Keynes and the Social
Sciences. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996.
4) M. Davis, Thinking Like An Engineer, Oxford, U.K.: Oxford Univ. Press, 1998.
5) G. L. Downey and J. C. Lucena, Engineering studies, in Handbook of Science &
Technology Studies, S. Jasanoff, G. Markle, J. Petersen, and T. Pinch, Eds. Oxford, U.K.:
Sage, 1995, pp. 167-188.
6) J. R. Herkert, Ethical risk assessment: Valuing public perceptions, IEEE Technology and
Society Mag., vol. 13, pp. 5-10, 1994.
7) S. F. Johnston, J. P. Gostelow, and J. W. King, Engineering & Society. Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.
8) G. Klein, Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions. Cambridge MA: M.I.T. Press,
1998.
9) J. Law, Organizing Modernity. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 1994.
10) W. T. Lynch and R. Kline, Engineering practice and engineering ethics,
Science,Technology,& Human Values,vol. 25, pp. 195-225, 2000.
11) T. Nagel, Ruthlessness in public life, in Public and Private Morality, S. Hampshire, Ed.
Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1978, pp. 77-90.
12) National Science Foundation, Science and Engineering Indicators. Arlington, VA: NSF,
2000.
13) B. Perlman and R. Varma, Teaching engineering ethics, in Proc. 2001 American Society
for Engineering Education Ann. Conf. & Exposition, 2001.
14) B. Perlman and R. Varma, Bridging the cultural chasm: Improving collaboration and
cooperation between computer and social sciences, in Proc. IEEE-SSIT Int. Symp.
Technology & Society, 2001, pp. 19-27.
15) T.R. Schatzki, Social Practices: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the
Social. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1996.
16) E. Schlossberger, The Ethical Engineer. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Univ. Press, 1993.
17) R. Varma, Technology and ethics for engineering students, Bull. Science, Technology
& Society, vol. 20, pp. 216-224, 2000.
18) D. Vaughan, The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance
at NASA. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996.
19) P.A. Vesilind and A. S. Gunn, Engineering, Ethics, and the Environment.Cambridge, U.K.:
Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998.
20) L. Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge Univ. Press,
1953.

22