Everyday Engineering Ethics

A Discussion of Common Ethical

Issues Facing the Engineering
Professional

Module 1 in the “Teaching Engineering Ethics” Series

Outline of Material
 Everyday Ethical Issues = Micro-ethics
 Macro-ethics (systemic issues)
 Micro-ethics (the individual and the situation)
 Corporate Ethical Climate
 Corporate Policies
 Industry Practices
 Government Oversight vs. “The Market”
 NSPE Board of Ethical Review (BER)
 Activity: Facing micro-ethical issues
Macro-Ethical Issues
 Safety, Loss of Life, Catastrophic Failures
 Typically “Newsworthy” Items
 The Space Shuttle Challenger
 Bhopal—Union Carbide
 The Ford Pinto
 Firestone and Ford Explorer tires
 Three Mile Island / Chernobyl Nuclear Reactors
 Kansas City Hyatt Hotel (suspended walkway)
 The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill
 Indicative of systemic problems (beyond simple
engineering and day-to-day ethics)
Situational Influences and Factors
Family
Global and
Connections Friends
(Society and Company
Environment) Engineer
s
ue

Ma
a g
lle

na
o

ge
C

rs
Clients or
Industry
Customers

Government
Law
Public Agencies
Micro-Ethical Issues
 Categories:
 Corporate Commitment / Loyalty
 Confidentiality (with company, to clients)
 Conflict of Interest and Disclosure
 Technical vs. Moral Errors
 Example: 1999 NASA Mars Climate Orbiter Mission Failure
 Bribes, Gifts, Kickbacks
 Intellectual Property:
 Trade Secrets, Copyrights, and Patents
Micro-Ethical Issues
 Categories (continued):
 Data Integrity and Reporting
 Computer Data and Security
 Anonymity in Corporations
 Risk-Assessment / Risk Management
 In the Design Phase
 During the Testing Phase (Test Protocol and Specs)
 After product release
 Whistle-blowing
 Authority, Teams and the Individual Engineer
 Situational Factors that govern reasoning and
behavior
Micro-ethics Case Studies
 Goals of Exercise
 To introduce everyday ethical issues you may face

 To facilitate a forum for discussion

 Process
 Project Team

 Read and Discuss the Scenario

 Propose a set of Actions (behaviors)

 Propose an action through the lens of each of the three levels
of McCuen’s Six Dimensions of Professional Ethics.
 Consider the individual, the situation, and the larger
organization/industry factors
 What may be the immediate and long-term results from each
of the three actions?
 Use the Codes to justify the decision