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    Ethics Case Study

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    daus_kimi
    The document presents four case studies that raise ethical questions: 1. Whether it is ethical for an engineer to work for a tobacco company given the health risks of smoking. There are arguments on both sides. 2. A case where an engineer is concerned about his manager's drinking affecting safety if promoted, and whether he should report this concern. 3. A case where an engineer learns confidential information that could help his girlfriend's company, raising conflicts of interest. 4. A case where an executive was ineffective but got a new job based on a division's later success under someone else, and whether the engineer should warn the new employer about the executive's abilities.

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    Ethics Case Study

    Uploaded by

    daus_kimi
    247 views7 pages
    The document presents four case studies that raise ethical questions: 1. Whether it is ethical for an engineer to work for a tobacco company given the health risks of smoking. There are arguments on both sides. 2. A case where an engineer is concerned about his manager's drinking affecting safety if promoted, and whether he should report this concern. 3. A case where an engineer learns confidential information that could help his girlfriend's company, raising conflicts of interest. 4. A case where an executive was ineffective but got a new job based on a division's later success under someone else, and whether the engineer should warn the new employer about the executive's abilities.

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    The document presents four case studies that raise ethical questions: 1. Whether it is ethical for an engineer to work for a tobacco company given the health risks of smoking. There are arguments on both sides. 2. A case where an engineer is concerned about his manager's drinking affecting safety if promoted, and whether he should report this concern. 3. A case where an engineer learns confidential information that could help his girlfriend's company, raising conflicts of interest. 4. A case where an executive was ineffective but got a new job based on a division's later success under someone else, and whether the engineer should warn the new employer about the executive's abilities.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    247 views7 pages

    Ethics Case Study

    Uploaded by

    daus_kimi
    The document presents four case studies that raise ethical questions: 1. Whether it is ethical for an engineer to work for a tobacco company given the health risks of smoking. There are arguments on both sides. 2. A case where an engineer is concerned about his manager's drinking affecting safety if promoted, and whether he should report this concern. 3. A case where an engineer learns confidential information that could help his girlfriend's company, raising conflicts of interest. 4. A case where an executive was ineffective but got a new job based on a division's later success under someone else, and whether the engineer should warn the new employer about the executive's abilities.

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    LAW, MORALITY, ETHICS & ETIQUETTE CASE STUDIES

    CASE STUDY – 1

    Is it ethical for a person to work as an engineer with a tobacco company? Take


    account of the following facts:

    Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, and lung diseases (including
    emphysema, bronchitis, and chronic airway obstruction).Worldwide, tobacco
    use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that
    tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. A warning
    sign of the potential health effects of smoking are usually placed on the
    cigarette packs.

    Cigarette companies do much good for example:


    ▪ by providing jobs (Phillip Morris employs more than 150,000 people
    worldwide)
    ▪ through taxes
    ▪ through sponsorships

    There is disagreement over just how addictive cigarettes are, but adults have
    some choice in deciding whether to continue using cigarettes, and they may
    choose to continue for reasons beyond the addictive potential of nicotine.
    LAW, MORALITY, ETHICS & ETIQUETTE CASE STUDIES

    CASE STUDY – 2

    Ahmad is a junior engineer at a big oil company. He has been working under Ah
    Chong’s supervision for the past three years. Ahmad knows that Ah Chong is a
    good and hardworking manager, but he has noticed that Ah Chong frequently
    has liquor on his breath at work and that sometimes his speech is slurred.

    One day Ahmad learns that Ah Chong is about to be offered a new and better-
    paying position. He is happy for Ah Chong until he learns that his new job will
    be the chief safety inspector for all the oil rigs that the company owns in the
    region. Ahmad worries that Ah Chong’s drinking habit will interfere with his
    work as a safety inspector much more seriously than it interferes with his
    present job. He tells Ah Chong that he is worried that Ah Chong’s drinking
    might cause serious problems in the new position, and he urges Ah Chong not
    to accept the job. Ah Chong agrees that he will have to cut back on his drinking,
    but he tries to assure Ahmad that he has things under control. He says that he
    is going to take the job, and he asks Ahmad not to tell anyone about his
    drinking.

    Should Ahmad take his concerns to higher management?


    LAW, MORALITY, ETHICS & ETIQUETTE CASE STUDIES

    CASE STUDY – 3

    Abu has been working as a process engineer at an oil refinery in Melaka


    ever since graduating from UiTM four years before. One Saturday morning at
    the local supermarket, Abu met his old friend Ali whom he has not seen for
    three years. After chatting briefly, they arrange to meet for lunch in Putrajaya
    near Ali’s office on one of Abu’s off days.
    Over lunch, Abu and Ali talk about the old days at UiTM and about their
    respective jobs. Abu learns that Ali has been working for the last two years at
    the Department of Environment (DOE). Ali’s job is to investigate allegations of
    water and air pollution from industrial sites throughout the country. Ali
    describes his power under the law to enter sites looking for violations of site
    discharge licenses. Abu then describes his duties as a Process Engineer within
    his company. Abu is aware that his company does not always obey the law with
    regard to the discharges and so is careful about what he says to his friend
    knowing that a careless comment could be damaging to his company. During
    the conversation, Abu admits his ignorance of the details of the law. So, Ali
    invites Abu to his office to give him some booklets published by the DOE.
    As Ali searches through his files for the booklets in his office, Ali and Abu
    are interrupted by the arrival of Halim, one of Ali’s colleagues. Before he
    notices Abu in the room, Halim begins talking to Ali about a surprise inspection
    visit, planned to be held in two days time, to XYZ chemical plant in Pasir
    Gudang. When he notices Abu, Halim stops talking and excuses himself. Ali
    then apologizes for the interruption and explains that in two days time he will
    be leading a small team of inspectors on an unannounced visit to XYZ. Ali
    explains that he has received a tip-off that XYZ have been exceeding their
    discharge licenses and that if this is true, any evidence they uncover might be
    used for a prosecution.
    As Ali tells him this, Abu listens quietly, his mind racing. Abu has not told
    Ali that his girlfriend, Anita, is a chemical engineer working for XYZ. Only the
    other night Anita had revealed that she had to authorize the shift
    superintendant to partially vent the contents of a reactor vessel to the
    atmosphere after the reactor had been incorrectly filled. Anita knew that this
    was wrong but it was common practice in the company.
    Ali has given Abu information about a secret raid unaware that Abu’s
    girlfriend work at the site.
    Does this case raise any ethical question?
    If you were at Abu’s position, what would you do with the information
    regarding the unexpected raid to XYZ?
    LAW, MORALITY, ETHICS & ETIQUETTE CASE STUDIES

    CASE STUDY – 4

    Azhar has worked in the Research and Development Division of TaikoChem Sdn
    Bhd for 12 years. Joining as a junior member of the research team he raised
    steadily through the ranks to become one of the seven section heads of the
    R&D Division. Azhar’s section is responsible for the development and
    application of fuel additives for the automotive, marine and aviation sectors.
    Four years ago, when TaikoChem was looking to appoint a new Chief of the
    R&D Division, many people thought that one of the existing section heads
    would be promoted to the role. Everyone in the company agreed that Julia, the
    most senior among the section heads, would be the most favorite candidate for
    the post. There was a great surprise, however, when Taufik, an outsider
    working as a Technical Manager for Petronas, was suddenly appointed to the
    role of Division Chief in TaikoChem Sdn Bhd.

    Upon starting work at TaikoChem, Taufik quickly developed his vision for the
    R&D Division, a vision which requires major changes to be made to both the
    operations of the Division as well as its research priorities. While Taufik had
    great vision as to where he wanted the R&D Division to go, he appeared to
    have poor management skills. He simply did not know how to put his vision
    into practice. The weekly meeting of the R&D Division section heads quickly
    extended from 1 hour to 3 hours. Despite the extra time, decisions were hardly
    being made. Part of the problems was that it appeared that Taufik could not
    work out what items were important and what were trivial. He did not
    understand the implications of some of his plans. After 18 months with Taufik
    as Chief of the R&D Division, the output of the Division had suffered. Morale
    amongst the staff was low while the seven section heads were frustrated with
    the many pointless meetings they had to attend.

    Seeing what was happening, the senior management at TaikoChem decided to


    remove Taufik from his role as a Chief. Unfortunately for them, Taufik had a
    solid contract that declared that he was a Chief of the R&D Division for at least
    five years. As a consequence, the company took the unusual step of appointing
    Julia as the Associate Chief of the R&D Division. Taufik remained as a Chief of
    the Division in name only. He still retained his pay rate and job title but Julia
    took on the role of Division Chief. Over the next two years, under Julia’s
    leadership, the performance of the Division dramatically increased as staff
    began to work together much better. To the outside world, Taufik was the
    Chief of the R&D Division, but to everyone in the company it was Julia who was
    the real boss.

    At the beginning of November, Taufik made a surprise announcement that he


    was leaving TaikoChem to join OtaiChem Sdn Bhd as the Manager of the
    Research and Development Division. OtaiChem had heard how the output from
    TaikoChem R&D Division had increased significantly in the last two years and
    were eager to employ Taufik so that he could do the same for them. No one in
    OtaiChem had contacted anyone in the R&D Division of TaikoChem to discuss
    Taufik’s employment there. As OtaiChem’s research activities were very
    different from TaikoChem’s own activities there was no concern that Taufik’s
    insider knowledge of current TaikoChem projects might benefits OtaiChem
    inappropriately.

    Azhar was very surprised that Taufik had been given a position at another
    company similar to the one at TaikoChem that he had been clearly incapable
    of. On one hand Azhar was delighted that Taufik would be leaving as this would
    mean that Julia would finally be able to become Chief of the R&D Division and
    would get the recognition that she deserved. On the other hand, Azhar was
    concerned for the people at OtaiChem. Azhar reflected that Taufik had many
    good attributes including an incredible intellect, a great vision, a thirst for
    knowledge and strong self esteem. But Azhar also felt that Taufik was an
    exceptionally poor manager, possessing poor people skills and lacking the
    ability to take firm decisions.

    Three weeks after Taufik’s resignation from TaikoChem was announced but
    two weeks before he was due to start working at OtaiChem, Azhar met and old
    friend, Najib, at a conference. Najib was a senior research associate at
    OtaiChem and when the two friends met Najib asked Azhar for his opinion
    about Taufik. Taufik would become Najib’s immediate boss and so Najib was
    eager to learn about what Taufik’s immediate priorities might be on taking over
    the new role. After all, he knew how TaikoChem’s R&D Division’s performance
    had improved tremendously in the last couple of years when Taufik was the
    Division Chief. From their brief discussion, Najib had absolutely no idea about
    Taufik’s true abilities and his past record of achievements.

    Which of the following should be Azhar’s response to Najib’s question about his
    opinion on Taufik?

    A) Azhar should say nothing about Taufik. Taufik should have the chance to
    establish his own reputation. It might be considered unfair to Taufik, to
    have his leadership undermined before he even starts working at his new
    company.

    B) Give Najib a very brief summary of Taufik’s strengths and weaknesses


    including his inability to properly run meetings and take decisions.
    However, Azhar would not reveal that Julia had effectively run the R&D
    Division for the last two years while the productivity of the group
    increased.

    C) Azhar should tell Najib everything he knows about Taufik including the
    fact that the company tried to remove him as Division Chief but were
    unable to. He would then have to explain that it was Julia who became
    the real chief of the division, and that it was through her leadership that
    the Division was so productive.

    D) Azhar should tell Najib nothing substantive about Taufik, but suggest to
    Najib that he contact Julia to discuss this matter.
    LAW, MORALITY, ETHICS & ETIQUETTE CASE STUDIES

    CASE STUDY – 5

    Malek is an Environmental Engineer for ABC Manufacturing, one of several


    plants in Penang whose water discharges flow into a river in a flourishing
    tourist area. Included in Malek's responsibilities is the monitoring of water and
    air discharges at his plant and the periodic preparation of reports to be
    submitted to the Department of Environment (DOE).

    Malek has just prepared a report that indicates that the level of pollution in the
    plant's water discharges slightly exceeds the legal limitations. However, there is
    little reason to believe that this excessive amount poses any danger to people
    in the area; at worst, it will endanger a small number of fish. On the other
    hand, solving the problem will cost the plant more than RM600,000.

    Malek's supervisor, Plant Manager Muniandi, says the excess should be


    regarded as a mere "technicality," and he asks Malek to "adjust" the data so
    that the plant appears to be in compliance. He explains: "We can't afford the
    RM600,000. It might even cost a few jobs. No doubt it would set us behind our
    competitors. Besides the bad publicity we'd get, it might scare off some tourists
    and hurt the tourism industry, making it worse for everybody."

    How do you think Malek should respond to Muniandi's request?

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