joint engineers conference making ethical decisions in engineering stephen smith, p.e....
TRANSCRIPT
Ethics = ??
• Do the right thing.• Do no harm.• Comply with the law.• Be honest.• Black and white vs. grey areas.• Does intent or result matter?
Engineers CreedAs a Professional Engineer, I dedicate my professional knowledge and skill to
the advancement and betterment of human welfare.• I pledge:
– To give the utmost of performance;– To participate in none but honest enterprise;– To live and work according to the laws of man and the highest
standards of professional conduct;– To place service before profit, the honor and standing of the
profession before personal advantage, and the public welfare above all other considerations.
• In humility and with need for Divine Guidance, I make this pledge.Adopted by National Society of Professional Engineers, June 1954
http://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics/engineers-creed
NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers
Fundamental CanonsEngineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.3. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful
manner.4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.5. Avoid deceptive acts.6. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and
lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession.
http://www.nspe.org/sites/default/files/resources/pdfs/Ethics/CodeofEthics/Code-2007-July.pdf
Ethics and Human Nature
• Want to be ethical vs. be accepted• Want to please vs. bad news• Now vs. later• Not my problem• Effort vs. ease (lazy)• Profit (greedy)
Ethical Dilemmas
• Cost vs. safety– Busy traffic intersection in small city– Stop signs least cost, but more accidents likely– Traffic lights more costly, fewer accidents, more
delay– Roundabout most costly, least accidents and delay
• How does engineer decide?
Ethical Dilemmas
• Energy vs. climate– If you think human caused CO2 emissions are
damaging our climate,– Is it ethical to design a coal fired power plant?
Ethical Dilemmas
• Making the least bad choice…– Choose between fossil CO2 emissions vs.
windmills that kill raptors• Forced decisions with limited data…– Human behaviors– Earthquake loads– Climate change responses
Ethical Dilemmas
• Engineers and Politics– Data vs. belief– Obligation to be involved?– “The world is run by those who show up.”
Journal of Management in Engineering , July 1997, Vol. 13, No. 4 : pp. 61-66Leadership: The World Is Run by Those Who Show Up. Weingardt, R.(doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(1997)13:4(61))
Ethical Dilemmas• When to blow the whistle?– Consider General Motors and their ignition switch
issues1. As a design engineer, if you know about the problem
and have reported it to your boss and nothing happens, what do you do?
2. As a supervisory engineer, you know about the problem and production manager says not a problem, what do you do?
3. Knowing that whistle blowing is likely professional suicide, when must you blow anyway?
Ethical (Non) Motivators
• VA Hospitals—Bonuses for short wait lists– Intent—Promptly schedule patients for care– Result—Secret lists not reflecting true wait times
• Others??
How To Promote Ethical Behavior
• Recommendations from Morality Rebooted: Exploring simple Fixes to Our Moral Bugs, T. Zhang, F. Gino, & M Bazerman, April 21, 2014.– Download from website: http://
www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/14-105_67d79182-6bf2-404e-a049-6544c916fc8d.pdf
• Values and structures oriented approaches
Strategy for Ethical Behaviors
• Emphasize moral values– Values and mission statements– Ethical standards– Moral self concepts• We want to be good
– Ethical perceptions flexible• Reflect environment, peers, organization• Like “white lies”, unintended or little ethical lapses
accumulate, resulting in unethical behavior
Strategy for Ethical Behaviors
• Structural approaches– Audits• Increase likelihood of being caught• Give credibility to values
– Penalties• Impose consequences appropriate to acts• Give credibility to values
– Commitment before action• Face ethical issues before they are real. • Use SOPs, project planning, team approach
Strategy for Ethical Behaviors• Alignment of values with structure– Impossible goals (“Why try?”)
• No child left behind• 90% billable time
– Short term goal versus values• Profit versus reputation• Individual goal versus group values
– Discuss, emphasize, consistent, frequent, culture– Lead by example– Conflict between values and policies encourages
unethical behavior.
Resources• Online Ethics Center for Engineering and
Research at: http://www.onlineethics.org/• NSPE Ethics website: www.nspe.org/ethics/• YouTube Engineering Ethics—Many!!• Many more: google “engineering ethics”• And the final best resource—your family! Tell
spouse, parents, children about what you are doing and see how you and they feel.
