Professional Ethics:

Case Studies

Prof. Kumar Neeraj Sachdev

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
 Introductory Issues
• Ethics, Applied Ethics, and Professional Ethics
• Concept of a Profession
• Ethics and Professions

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 Across the Professions
• Ethical Theories (Frameworks of Ethics)
– Indian Ethical Theory (Indian Ethics)
– Virtue Theory (Virtue Ethics)
– Utilitarian Theory (Utilitarian Ethics)
– Deontological Theory (Deontological Ethics)
• Ethical Codes for Various Professions
• Employer-Employee Relations
• Whistle-Blowing
• Women and Family Issues
• Case Studies
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 Case Study – The Idea
• A case study is a brief description of a problem
situation depicting majorly the conduct of a
professional, followed by the analysis of the case.
• The analysis of the case should involve the use of the
relevant topic of study like whistle-blowing, and a
theoretical frame, like utilitarian theory.
• The analysis of the case will help the student,
– better understand the topic of study and the theoretical
frame of ethics and;
– to learn the correct way to arrive at a morally defensible
judgment in a given problem.
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 Foul on the Field
Srikant Sahu, CEO of Sahu Industries, is known for his firm
management style. He expects his managers and other
employees to work as hard as he does. A shipment of parts has
come in late, which could cause potential setbacks for other
companies relying on Sahu Industries. The delay can be avoided,
but only by having the employees work late into the night; this is
what Sahu orders them to do. He thinks avoiding the delay is so
important that he threatens to fire employees who do not stay
and work late. Suppose one of the employees refuses to work. Is
she violating the moral virtue of loyalty by disobeying her CEO?
Is her firing morally justified if she gets fired for refusing to
work?

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 Defect in the Design
Mr Srinivas Reddy, an engineer for Samsung, discovered a
defect in the design of one of Samsung’s products. Mr Reddy
had good evidence that the defect would cause harm to the
buyers of the product. He went to his supervisor and told her
of the defect. She waved Mr Reddy and his evidence away by
saying, “It is too late. The product is already in the market.”
Mr Reddy went over her head to the general manager. The
general manager agreed with Mr Reddy about the problem.
He pulled the product from the market and fired Mr Reddy’s
supervisor. When Mr Reddy was asked why he went over his
supervisor’s head, Mr Reddy responded, “I was just following
the rules.” Does Kant’s emphasis on respect for the moral law
of categorical imperative have any bearing on Mr Reddy’s
response?

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 Thank you.

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