Engineering Ethical Decision Making

Is It Black & White – Or Is It Gray?

Engineers See The World In Black & White

What Is Ethics?

Ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on.

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standards of behavior = “a decision making process”

Where Did Engineering Ethics Come From?

• Boston Molasses Disaster

• Ashtabula River Railroad Disaster

• Etc.

Two Solutions To The Engineering Ethics Problem

• License Engineers– US model: Only requires those

practicing independently (i.e. consulting engineers) to be licensed,

– Engineers working in industry, education, and sometimes government need not be licensed.

• Professional Societies Created A Code of Ethics– National Society of Professional

Engineers– American Society of Civil Engineers– IEEE

So We’ve Got This Ethics Thing Solved, Right?

Southwest Airline’s Ethics Problem

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What Is Ethics?1. “Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is

right or wrong.“

2. “Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs.”

3. “Being ethical is doing what the law requires.”

4. “Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts.“

Feelings = Ethics?

• Many people tend to equate ethics with their feelings.

• But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one's feelings.

• A person following his or her feelings may recoil from doing what is right.

• In fact, feelings frequently deviate from what is ethical.

Jared Lee Loughner

Anders Behring Breivik

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Religion = Ethics?Does ethics apply only to religious people?

Religion can set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical behavior.

Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same as religion.

Following The Law = Ethics?

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Doing What Society Accepts = Ethics?

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Ethics Case Study: The Job OfferA graduating engineering student is interviewing with severalcompanies for an entry-level position. He receives an attractive offerfrom company A. Since the job market is very competitive, he feels itunlikely that another company will give an offer, much less an attractiveone. The student accepts company A’s offer and returns a signed letterof acceptance which documents the terms of the position.

However, he receives an offer from company B one week afterwards. This new opportunity has a higher salary, more benefits, better advancementprospects, and a more desirable location. It is significantly better in allrespects.

Since only one week has past since the first acceptance wasreturned and the new opportunity is clearly in his professional andfinancial interests, he tells company A that he has changed his mindand accepts the offer of company B. Company A does not express anycriticism of the student’s actions.

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Was Anyone Harmed?

• REFERENCES: Relevant sections of the IEEE code

• Preamble: … to the highest ethical and professional conduct …

• 9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action.

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

Image Credit: http://polizeros.com/2009/03/21/daily-rogues-report-hank-morris/

Hank Morris doing his perp walk after being indicted on 123, count ‘em, 123 counts relating to taking multi-million dollar kickbacks from those wanting to manage money for the New York State pension fund.

Why Identifying Ethical Standards is Hard!

1. What should we base our ethical standards on?

2. How should we apply these ethical standards to specific real life situations we face?

2 Big Problems With Identifying Ethical Standards To Use:

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Sources Of Ethical StandardsThe Utilitarian

Approach

The Rights Approach

The Fairness or Justice Approach

The Common Good Approach

The Virtue Approach

Source: The Utilitarian Approach

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Source: The Rights Approach

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Source: The Fairness or Justice Approach

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Source: The Common Good Approach

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Source: The Virtue Approach

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Ethics Case Study

Image Credit: http://www.ohgizmo.com/2008/03/04/monster-cables-get-hung-drawn-quartered/Image Credit: http://consumerist.com/2008/02/monster-cables-monster-ripoff-80-markups.html

• Your company sells cables for $250 that are just as good as $50 cables.

• Your boss has asked you to create a document that confirms that your cables are worth the extra cost.

• It’s not really true – what do you do?

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

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Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, charged by the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, accused of reaping more than $20 million by trading on inside information in a dozen companies.

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making

How do you recognize an ethical issue?

1. Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or to some group? Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two "goods" or between two "bads"?

2. Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?

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Ethics Case Study: A Reference Request• A former employee who was fired due to poor quality

work, absences, and lateness related to her drinking problem, informs you that she has applied for a position at another company and has already given your name as a reference.

• She desperately needs a job (she is a single parent with three children), and she asks you to give her a good recommendation and not mention her drinking, which she assures you is now under control.

• She also asks you to say that she voluntarily left the company to address a family medical crisis, and that the company was pleased with her work. You like this person and believe she is a good worker when she is not drinking.

• You doubt that she really has overcome her drinking problem, however, and you would not recommend your own company hire her back.

Image Credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1290542/Drinking-alcohol-pregnancy-damages-sperm-quality-sons.html

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

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Ken Lay, CEO of Enron

Building An Ethical Framework

Framework So Far• Recognize an Ethical Issue

You need to collect all of the facts

• What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?

• What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are some concerns more important? Why?

• What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been consulted? Have I identified creative options?

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Ethics Case Study: Going Green?• An online auction site could order the shirts from a low-cost

company in China or they could order them from a fair-trade company in San Francisco, which provided safe conditions and higher wages for the workers who made the clothing.

• The fair trade shirts cost $28.65,making the grand total for the project $8,595. In contrast, the Chinese T-shirts are $5.50 each, and the company's Web site promised fast and free delivery for a grand total of $1,100.

• The T-shirts from China would be cheaper so that they could create a more elaborate design with more graphics and color.

• Working conditions in China are not good: low wages, rigorous work schedule, poor safety regulations, and the complete lack of worker's compensation and benefits.

• The San Francisco T-shirt company could provide shirts that were more expensive, they were fair-trade, organic, and eco-friendly.

• What should they do and why?

Image Credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1290542/Drinking-alcohol-pregnancy-damages-sperm-quality-sons.html

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

Image Credit: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/10241

Ralph Cioffi, former manager of two Bears Stearns hedge funds arrested for mail fraud and conspiracy

Building An Ethical Framework

Framework So Far• Recognize an Ethical Issue• Get the Facts

Evaluate Alternative Actions• Which option will produce the most

good and do the least harm? (The Utilitarian Approach)

• Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights Approach)

• Which option treats people equally or proportionately? (The Justice Approach)

• Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members?(The Common Good Approach)

• Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue Approach)Image Credit: http://diwt.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/framework/

Ethics Case Study(s)Receiving a Holiday Gift:A supplier sends a basket of expensive foodstuffs to your home at Christmas with a card: "We hope you and your family enjoy the 'goodies.‘". What action(s) might you want to take?

Sales Expense:The purchasing manager for a large company agrees to give you an order (their first), expecting you agree to make a $200 donation to his favorite charity, a local youth sports team. How do you respond?

Sales Expense Reimbursement:A customer executive from Southeast Asia will visit your HQ facility and meet with your executive team. Your independent Southeast Asian agent requests that you reimburse the customer for his expenses, including expenses that could violate your company's policies. The agent will reimburse you. How do you proceed? Image Credit: http://wine-bohemia.info/tag/wine-gift-basket/page/2/

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IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

Image Credit: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/10241

Former Bear Stearns hedge fund manager, Matthew Tanin,being arrested for fraud.

Building An Ethical Framework

Framework So Far• Recognize an Ethical Issue• Get the Facts• Evaluate Alternative Actions

Make a Decision and Test It• Considering all these

approaches, which option best addresses the situation?

• If I told someone I respect-or told a television audience-which option I have chosen, what would they say?

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Ethics: Case Study(s)References:

A large, prospective client calls you and asks about a competitor's reputation. One of your long time customers had a very bad experience with this competitor. What information do you share with the prospect? How do you respond to the prospect’s call?

Gratuities:

A customer has a large sailing yacht on a vessel that your company will be unloading. The customer is present and is watching the off-loading operation.

The five stevedores and you manage pull off a very tricky maneuver, safely transferring the yacht to the trailer. The customer is elated, and reaches into his pocket, pulling out a big wad of $50 bills. What do you do?

Conflict of Interest:

As department manager, you are hosting an informal celebration in the office. The food budget is $200. Your next door neighbor has just started her own catering business and asks to supply the food. Since she is just starting out, she'll do it at cost and provide extra items at no charge. What might you want to consider?

Competition:

You are in a head-to-head battle with your arch competitor, Evil Enterprises. One of your co-workers approaches you. He has recently joined your company after having worked for a second competitor for several years.

He suggests, "I made notes on all of Evil's bids when I could get the data. They use some clear cost standards. Would you like me to bring my notes to the office tomorrow and let you look through them?" How do you respond?

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IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

Image Credit: http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/10241

Danielle Chiesi, the former beauty queen turned stock trader got 30months in prison. Ceisei passed on insider stock information to her married boss and lover, Mark Kurland

Should We Ship?The company records-retention policy instructs employees to discard development records and test results for products five years after End of Life is declared. This policy is in compliance with local legal requirements.

Because of how much work you have, you’ve not disposed of some old records, and they are a couple of years over the limit for the company policy. You finally get time to clean out your files, but then you receive a legal request for any information about the old product that is involved in an injury case. Your records may or may not be applicable to the case.

Should you destroy the records?

You have just discovered that a country in the Far East has new regulations that apply to your product. The requirement is to submit a report and get a file number to apply to your product - after the government department has given its OK. However, you know from industry contacts that there is no enforcement of the law at this time.

Should you delay shipping products until they are compliant or take other action? Image Credit: http://www.servitokss.com/question-marks/

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Ethics & YOU!

Image Credit: http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2009/04/qa-mercedes-benz-us-ceo-ernst-lieb/

Ernst Lieb, the former president and chief executive of Mercedes-Benz USA was fired after repeatedly flouting rules governing the use of company funds and influence. He paid golf-club fees through Daimler and granted rentals of vehicles in exchange for flight upgrades. He was reported to have used corporate funds to build his house in the New York region.

Ethics Case Studies

Case #1:Your company's product uses some supplementary circuit protection in larger units. While visiting the factory for another reason, you tour the production line and notice that the protectors are different from the ones you originally evaluated. They seem to have the same ratings, but you suspect they may not be suitable as a substitute.

This product is not your responsibility, and you would have to do some research to figure out if there is a problem.

Image Credit: http://www.ecvv.com/product/92043.html

Ethics Case StudiesCase #2:

The latest edition of the standard that applies to your products now has three pages of "safety" markings and warnings specified. So many warnings about very unlikely situations greatly reduce the impact of warnings that might prevent dangerous events. You have actually surveyed customers and found that to be true.

Should you reduce the warning labels to only to the important ones or just follow the standards of the certification agencies?

Your marketing department wants you to color-coordinate and reduce in size the warning labels. The new version still would comply with the standard, but it would not stand out on the machine.

Should you resist the change?Image Credit: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12506_div/12506_div.HTML

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Building An Ethical Framework

Framework So Far• Recognize an Ethical Issue• Get the Facts• Evaluate Alternative Actions• Make a Decision and Test It

Act and Reflect on the Outcome

• How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?

• How did my decision turn out and what have I learned from this specific situation?

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Should We Ship?A new high-end computer is ready to ship - except for one test that you will not complete for another three weeks. The probability of failure is low - and even if the test fails, corrections can be made and sent out later to customers. Marketing is VERY anxious to ship because the end of the fiscal quarter is next week.

Should you put on the agency mark and ship while finishing the test?

Your boss tells you that this has occurred before; the company shipped the product, and there was no problem. He also says that if you do not want to sign off, then he will do so.

What should you do?

Products were shipped before this test was completed - but it happened when you were on a business trip. The production manager apologizes, but doesn't want to take any action.

What should you do?Image Credit: http://www.servitokss.com/question-marks/

IEEE Code Of EthicsWe, the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and agree:

1. To accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment;

2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist;

3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data;

4. To reject bribery in all its forms;

5. To improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences;

6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations;

7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others;

8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national origin;

9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action;

10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.

Building An Ethical Framework

Image Credit: http://diwt.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/framework/

Framework1. Recognize an Ethical Issue

2. Get the Facts

3. Evaluate Alternative Actions

4. Make a Decision and Test It

5. Act and Reflect on the Outcome

Final Thought:You Don’t Look Good In Handcuffs!