Ethics and Professionalism in Engineering

Richard H. McCuen, Kristin L. Gilroy

• Publisher: Broadview Press
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9781460400906
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Philosophy History & Theory

The rapid pace of technological change constantly gives rise to new ethical dilemmas, and engineers must be as well versed in societal values and ethics as they are in the technical concepts of their disciplines. Ethics and Professionalism in Engineering provides a practical introduction for engineering students that emphasizes ethical decision-making. McCuen and Gilroy situate engineering ethics in the wider context of business and environmental ethics and guide students through case studies emphasizing value conflicts often encountered in engineering.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

To discuss general characteristics of value conflicts

To introduce values into decision making by professionals

To identify values common to value conflicts in professional practice

To present general dimensions of professionalism

1.1 INTRODUCTION

“I am an honest person, so why do I need to read and study about ethics and professionalism?” Unfortunately, this is a common argument used to explain why these topics are not discussed in many college curricula. Yet most people with experience state that they have been confronted by ethical issues many times in their careers. Also, since a responsible person may have to interact with people who lack a moral compass, a study of ethics can provide guidelines about dealing with such people and issues.

When confronted by a value conflict or an ethical dilemma, it is important to respond properly. Acting unethically can damage a person’s reputation. Also, failure to respond in a way that the profession considers proper can damage a person’s career, even when the person is trying to do the right thing. Numerous cases demonstrate that individuals who were trying to resolve a case in an ethical manner suffered consequences detrimental to their career because their response was inappropriate. Exposure to topics related to ethics and professionalism can increase one’s chances of resolving an ethical conflict in a way that will not damage career prospects or one’s reputation.

Case Study 1-1

Unger (1982) reports in length about the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) case, which involved three engineers who went public with their concerns about the procedures involved in operationally qualifying the Automated Train Control System. The engineers expressed concern for public safety in the operation of the cars on the bart system and tried to resolve the case through the contractor’s internal channels prior to making public statements. However, the engineers believed that their superiors were not properly supervising the testing and installation of communications equipment, so they approached the client, which was the bart Board of Directors. For their actions, the contractor fired them.

The details of this case identify several important issues. First, engineers can suffer personal and professional hardships when they are involved in ethical dilemmas, especially when issues of the proper handling of the case are in question. Second, engineers have a primary responsibility to public safety and can be confronted by value conflicts such as public safety and diligence versus efficiency and loyalty, where the parties involved assess the importance of the values quite differently. Third, knowing the proper way to handle ethical dilemmas is important.

1.2 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF VALUE CONFLICTS

A value conflict can be defined as a problem in which value issues are a primary concern of the parties involved. A value is a quality, characteristic, or standard considered meritorious, important, or desirable. When two or more parties have conflicting values or assign different levels of importance to values, a value issue occurs. Value issues common to ethical dilemmas include dishonesty, selfishness, and inefficiency. Common basic characteristics of a value conflict include the following:

1. Competing values have divided two or more parties.

2. Those involved perceive the competing values to have different levels of importance.

3. The uncertainty associated with alternative solutions is perceived differently.

4. Any decision will require values of the other party to be sacrificed.

5. One or both parties are unwilling to compromise.

Each person places a different level of importance or weight on a value such as honesty or diligence, and it is this weight that influences that person’s decisions. The set of weights on all relevant values can loosely be defined as the person’s value system.

In most cases, issues other than values are involved, usually economic factors or technical details. Value conflicts are often more difficult to resolve than either technical or economic-based conflicts, because the latter types of conflict involve issues that are more easily measured and quantified. For example, benefit–cost analyses can assist in resolving economic differences. Theoretical considerations or empirical data can help conflicts where technical issues are a central focus. For example, the better of two empirical models for computing the thickness of steel corrosion can be identified using statistical criteria related to prediction bias and accuracy. Values are much less prone to quantitative measurement; therefore, any resolution must rely heavily on subjective weights assigned to the individual values by people with different value systems. Since the importance of a value is often uncertain, conflicts where values are involved tend to be contentious.

Case Study 1-2

Two senior-level students who major in environmental science decide to characterize the water quality of a lake near campus as part of a senior project. They conduct a number of tests to which they were introduced in their course work. The results of one test indicate a moderately high level of a pollutant for which a state standard has not been established. Beth wants to go back to the lake and take several more samples for that pollutant because she has heard that it can cause rashes on people who swim when the pollutant is present in the water. Beth believes that they should take the time to do further sampling and report the results if the other tests confirm their initial value. Jared feels it would be a waste of time, as it is not necessary for their senior project and he has other activities that he feels are more valuable to him.

Based on the above five criteria, does this serve as an example of a value conflict? If so, what are the values in conflict? Discuss your reasoning.

1.3 NAIVE DECISION MAKING

A professional has value responsibilities to society, the profession, the client, the employer, and to him or herself. While all of these stakeholders are not involved in every case, it is important for the professional to acknowledge all relevant stakeholders. Individuals who are naive from an ethical standpoint will not likely make good value decisions because they do not properly recognize the ethical responsibilities that they have to these five stakeholders. The following are some of the factors that contribute to poor value decision making and reflect ethical naivety:

1. A lack of appreciation of the importance of human values to the relevant stakeholders.

2. A lack of understanding of the breadth of a problem, especially the value issues.

3. A failure to obtain all relevant information and interpret the information gathered without bias, such as favoritism toward one’s own position.

4. A failure to consider all possible alternative solutions, especially those that are counter to one’s own interests.

5. Excessive influence by, or bias against, input from stakeholders.

6. A lack of accurate communication among the parties involved.

7. Different weights applied to the values in conflict by the parties involved.

8. Different perceptions of the risk associated with each alternative decision and each factor that influences the risk.

9. A failure to take the issue seriously in its early stages.

These nine factors can complicate value decision making, and failure to recognize one or more of them can lead to poor decisions. As people mature from an ethical standpoint, the likelihood of their successfully solving an ethical dilemma increases. Specifically, they will recognize the importance of considering the array of stakeholders and begin to make sacrifices with respect to personal gain. Also, they will be less likely to rationalize in making a decision.

1.4 ELEMENTS OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS

Ethical dilemmas can occur in many forms, from plagiarism to bid rigging, from data fabrication to identity theft, and from software piracy to résumé padding. Each of these dilemmas has unique characteristics, but all conflicts have common characteristics. A primary step in analyzing ethical dilemmas is to assess the role that each of these characteristics plays.

Box 1.1: Definitions

Value:	A quality, characteristic, or standard considered meritorious, important, or desirable.
Value Issue:	A situation where values are a central focus.
Value Conflict:	A situation where alternative solutions to a dilemma are primarily value based, with the values in opposition to each other.
Ethical Dilemma:	A value conflict in which one or more of the alternatives involve moral and/or professional wrongdoing.

First, ethical dilemmas involve value conflicts, which are often associated with other factors such as economics, public safety, or technical concerns. The relevant values need to be identified and their importance measured. For example, when fabricating data, the person puts too much weight on personal values (e.g., pleasure, efficiency) at the expense of values of the employer, scientific community, or school system (e.g., honesty, fairness, knowledge).

Second, ethical dilemmas generally involve multiple value responsibilities. A professional has responsibilities to society, the profession, the client, and the employer, as well as to himself or herself. Conflicts often arise because an individual places excessive weight on one of these at the expense of another. For example, in bid rigging, the individual places more weight on employer success than on fairness with the client. In padding a résumé, the person places greater weight on personal advancement than on honesty with a prospective employer.

Third, the perpetrator may feel pressure to act unethically. The pressure can be internally or self-imposed, or externally imposed by an employer or client. A person may feel the necessity to act unethically because of the need to compete with friends or appear more competent than he or she really is. This represents internal or self-imposed pressure, which can be very stressful. Internal pressure also arises when the person is unsure of the best alternative, such as when to blow the whistle or to continue pursuing a solution through company channels. An employer can apply pressure to do something unethical in order to gain an economic advantage. For example, the project manager of a company that performs traffic surveys for a client who manufactures stop signs may pressure an employee to falsify traffic data in order to allow the client to argue with local governments that more stop signs need to be installed and, therefore, produced. This represents externally imposed pressure.

Fourth, the perpetrator rationalizes, either a priori to justify committing the act or after the fact in order to avoid a feeling of guilt. Rationalizations are excuses people make to avoid acting according to their value system or to avoid changing their value system. Common rationalizations include “everybody does it,” “no one will be hurt,” and “it is not my responsibility to report cheating.”

Fifth, ethical dilemmas often take place over extended periods of time, which makes it difficult to recall details or see trends in misconduct. Some ethical dilemmas start out with what seems to be an inconsequential act, which makes it difficult to associate related actions over a period of time. It is difficult to remember a discussion six months later, especially when the exact words of a discussion are important to resolving the matter. The individual might believe that the supervisor gave a direct order to take some action, while the supervisor might only have wanted the person to consider an alternative action.

Sixth, people often do not know how to properly respond to ethical dilemmas, which often leads to actions that complicate the dilemma. It is quite possible that the perpetrator of an unethical act may not be punished because the case is mishandled by the person reporting the problem. Additionally, competing values make it difficult to know how to report it.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: Values in the Engineering Profession
• Chapter 3: Professional Codes of Ethics
• Chapter 4: Value Decision Making
• Chapter 5: Ethics in Leadership
• Chapter 6: Business Ethics
• Chapter 7: Environmental Ethics
• Chapter 8: Ethics and Sustainability
• Chapter 9: Ethics in Research
• Chapter 10: Cyberethics