EE203 Signals and Systems

Dr.T.Vinopraba

September 10, 2020

Unit 1

Introduction to signals, classification of signals, basic continuous-

time and discrete- time signals, step and impulse functions,
transformation of independent variable.
Introduction to Signals
A signal is defined as a physical quantity that varies with time,
space or any other independent variables.

Figure: Temperature Vs time

Figure: ECG signal

Signal Modelling
I Deterministic Signal
I Random Signal

Figure: Deterministic signal

Figure: Random signal

Continuous time and Discrete time Signal
I The signals that are defined for every instant of time are
known as continuous time signals.
I The signals that are defined at discrete instant of time are
known as discrete time signals.

Figure: Continuous time and Discrete time Signal

Elementary Continuous time signals

Unit Step function

Figure: Unit step signal

u(t)=1 for t≥0

=0 for t<0
Elementary Continuous time signals

Delayed unit Step function

Figure: Delayed unit step signal

u(t-a)=1 for t>a

=0 for t<a
Elementary Continuous time signals

Advanced unit Step function

Figure: Advanced unit step signal

u(t+a)=1 for t>a

= 0 for t<a
Elementary Continuous time signals

Unit ramp function

Figure: Unit ramp signal

r(t)=t for t≥0

= 0 for t<0
or
r(t)=tu(t)
Elementary Continuous time signals

UnitRramp function
R
r(t)= u(t)dt= dt=t for t>0
or
Elementary Continuous time signals
Unit parabolic function

Figure: Unit parabolic signal

Elementary Continuous time signals
Impulse function

Figure: Rectangular pulse function

Elementary Continuous time signals
Impulse function
Elementary Continuous time signals

Impulse function
Elementary Continuous time signals

Impulse function

Figure: Impulse function

Elementary Continuous time signals
Rectangular pulse function

Figure: Rectangular pulse function

Elementary Continuous time signals
Triangular pulse function

Figure: Triangular pulse function

Elementary Continuous time signals
Signum function

Figure: Signum function

Sgn(t)= -1+2u(t)
Elementary Continuous time signals
Sinc function

Figure: Sinc function

I Oscillates with period of 2π

I Decays with increasing t
I It is an even function of t
Elementary Continuous time signals
Gaussian function

Figure: Gaussian function

Elementary Continuous time signals

Sinusoidal Signal

Figure: Sinusoidal signal

x(t)=Asin(ω t+θ)
Elementary Continuous time signals
Real exponential signals

Figure: a>0

Figure: a<0
Elementary Continuous time signals

Complex exponential signals

Unit II
Syllabus
• Introduction to systems, properties of systems, classification of
systems, mathematical model for systems, normal form of system
equations, initial conditions – Laplace transform – system transfer
function.
System

• A system is defined as a physical device that generates a response or

output signal, for a given input signal.
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

CONTINUOUS TIME AND DISCRETE TIME SYSTEMS

A continuous time system is one which
operates on a continuous time input signal and
produces a continuous time output signal.

A discrete time system is one which operates

on a discrete time input signal and produces a
discrete time output signal.
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

LUMPED PARAMETER AND DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER SYSTEMS

A lumped system is one in which the dependent variables of interest
are a function of time alone. This involves solving a set of ordinary
differential equations.

A distributed system is one in which all dependent variables are

functions of time and one or more spatial variables. This involves
solving partial differential equations.
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

STATIC AND DYNAMIC SYSTEMS

A system is called static or memoryless if its output at any instant
depends on the input at that instant but not on the past or future
values of input. Otherwise, the system is said to be dynamic or with
memory.

Static Continuous time 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑥 2 (𝑡)

Discrete time 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥(𝑛)
Dynamic Continuous time 𝑑𝑥(𝑡)
𝑦 𝑡 =
𝑑𝑡
Discrete time 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑥(𝑛 − 1)
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

CAUSAL AND NON CAUSAL SYSTEMS

A causal system is one for which the output at any time t depends on
the present and past inputs but not future inputs. These systems are
also known as anticipative systems.
A non causal system is one whose output depends on future values.

Causal systems Continuous time 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑥 𝑡 + 𝑥(𝑡 − 1)

Discrete time 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥 𝑛 + 𝑥(𝑛 − 3)
Non causal systems Continuous time 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑥 𝑡 + 3 + 𝑥 2 (𝑡)
Discrete time 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑥(2𝑛)
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS

LINEAR AND NON LINEAR SYSTEMS

Superposition principle states that the response to a weighted sum of
input signals be equal to the weighted sum of the outputs
corresponding to each of the individual input signals. A system that
satisfies the superposition principle is said to be a linear system.
𝑇 𝑎𝑥1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑡) = 𝑎𝑇 𝑥1 (𝑡) + 𝑏𝑇 𝑥2 (𝑡)

𝑇 𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛) = 𝑎𝑇 𝑥1 (𝑛) + 𝑏𝑇 𝑥2 (𝑛)

 Check the linearity of the system
𝑑𝑦
𝑖) + 3𝑡 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑡 2 𝑥(𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑦1 𝑡
𝑥1 𝑡 → + 3𝑡𝑦1 𝑡 = 𝑡 2 𝑥1 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑦2 𝑡
𝑥2 𝑡 → + 3𝑡𝑦2 𝑡 = 𝑡 2 𝑥2 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑦1 (𝑡) 𝑑𝑦2 (𝑡)
𝑎 + 3𝑎𝑡𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏 + 3𝑏𝑡𝑦2 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑡 2 𝑥1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑡 2 𝑥2 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑
𝑦3 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑦2 (𝑡) + 3𝑡 𝑎𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑦2 (𝑡) = 𝑡 2 𝑎𝑥1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

System is linear
 Check the linearity of the system
𝑑𝑦
𝑖𝑖) + 2 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑥 2 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑦1 𝑡
𝑥1 𝑡 → + 2𝑦1 𝑡 = 𝑥12 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑦2 𝑡
𝑥2 𝑡 → + 2𝑦2 𝑡 = 𝑥22 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑦1 (𝑡) 𝑑𝑦2 (𝑡)

𝑎 + 2𝑎𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏 + 2𝑏𝑦2 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑥12 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑥22 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑 2
𝑦3 𝑡 = 𝑎𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑦2 (𝑡) + 2 𝑎𝑦1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑦2 (𝑡) = a𝑥1 𝑡 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑡)
𝑑𝑡

System is non linear

 Check the linearity of the system
𝑖𝑖𝑖) 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥(𝑛)

𝑥1 𝑛 → 𝑦1 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥1 (𝑛)

𝑥2 𝑛 → 𝑦2 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑥2 (𝑛)

𝑎𝑦1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑦2 𝑛 = 𝑛 𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛) = 𝑛𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + 𝑛𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛)

𝑦3 𝑛 = 𝑎𝑦1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑦2 𝑛 = 𝑛𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + 𝑛𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛)

System is linear
 Check the linearity of the system
1
𝑖𝑣)𝑦 𝑛 = 2𝑥 𝑛 +
𝑥(𝑛 − 1)

1
𝑥1 𝑛 → 𝑦1 𝑛 = 𝑥1 𝑛 +
𝑥1 (𝑛 − 1)
1
𝑥2 𝑛 → 𝑦2 𝑛 = 𝑥2 𝑛 +
𝑥2 (𝑛 − 1)

𝑎 𝑏
𝑎𝑦1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑦2 𝑛 = 2𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + + 2𝑏𝑥2 𝑛 +
𝑥1 𝑛 − 1 𝑥2 (𝑛 − 1)

1
𝑦3 𝑛 = 𝑎𝑦1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑦2 𝑛 = 2 𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛) +
𝑎𝑥1 𝑛 − 1 + 𝑏𝑥2 (𝑛 − 1)

System is non linear

CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS
TIME INVARIANT AND TIME VARIANT SYSTEMS

A system is said to be time invariant if its input – output characteristics

do not change with time.
x(t ) y (t )
Time invariant
system

x(t − t0 ) y (t − t0 )

t0 t0
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS
TIME INVARIANT AND TIME VARIANT SYSTEMS

The output due to delayed input x(t-T) for a time invariant system is
given by
𝑦 𝑡 − 𝑇 = 𝑇 𝑥(𝑡 − 𝑇)

Time invariant Time variant

𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 ≠ 𝑦(𝑡 − 𝑇)
𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 = 𝑦(𝑡 − 𝑇)

Discrete time systems

𝑦 𝑛, 𝑘 = 𝑇 𝑥(𝑛 − 𝑘) 𝑦 𝑛, 𝑘 = 𝑦(𝑛 − 𝑘)
For the following systems, determine whether or not the system is time invariant.
𝑖𝑖) 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑡𝑥(𝑡)
𝑖) 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑒 𝑥(𝑡)

The delayed output is

The delayed output is
𝑦 𝑡 − 𝑇 = t − T x(t − T)
𝑦 𝑡 − 𝑇 = 𝑒 𝑥(𝑡−𝑇)
The output due to delayed input is
The output due to delayed input is
𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 = 𝑇 𝑥 𝑡 − 𝑇 = 𝑡𝑥(𝑡 − 𝑇)
𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 = 𝑇 𝑥(𝑡 − 𝑇) = 𝑒 𝑥(𝑡−𝑇)

𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 ≠ y(t − T)
𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 = y(t − T)
Time variant system
Time invariant system
For the following systems, determine whether or not the system is time invariant.
𝑖𝑣) 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑥(2𝑛)
𝑖𝑖𝑖) 𝑦 𝑛 = 𝑥 2 (𝑛 − 1)

The delayed output is

The delayed output is
𝑦 𝑛 − 𝑘 = x(2n − 2k)
𝑦 𝑛 − 𝑘 = 𝑥 2 (𝑛 − 1 − 𝑘)
The output due to delayed input is
The output due to delayed input is
𝑦 𝑛, 𝑘 = x(2n − k)
𝑦 𝑛, 𝑘 = T 𝑥 𝑛 − 𝑘 = 𝑥 2 (𝑛 − 1 − 𝑘)

𝑦 𝑡, 𝑇 ≠ y(t − T)
𝑦 𝑛, 𝑘 = y(n − k)
Time variant system
Time invariant system
CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS
STABLE AND UNSTABLE SYSTEMS

A system is said to be bounded input and bounded output stable if

and only if every bounded input produces a bounded output.
 UNIT IV
SAFETY, RESPONSIBILITIES
AND RIGHTS
 2
SAFETY, RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS

 Safety and risk - assessment of safety and risk - risk benefit analysis and
reducing risk - the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl case studies.
 3
What would you do?
 4
Engineer’s Concern for Safety

 We demand safe products (Primary demand of the Society)

...but we have to pay for safety (important for the public to
know this)
 What may be safe enough for you, may not be for others
Example: Investing in Stock Market
 Absolute safety is neither attainable nor affordable
Example: San Francisco earthquake...
 5
SAFETY…

 Safety, definitions:
– “A thing is safe if, were its risks fully known, those risks would be judged
acceptable by a reasonable person in light of their settled value principles”
Safety is relative!
 We buy an ill-designed Iron box in a sale -> Underestimating risk
 We judge fluoride in water can kill lots of people -> Overestimating risk
 We hire a taxi, without thinking about its safety -> Not estimating risk
How does a judge pass a judgement on safety in these 3 cases? ….So, this
definition won't do in real life.
 – “A thing is safe (to a certain degree) with respect to a given person or
group at a given time if, were they fully aware of its risks they would judge
those risks to be acceptable (to a certain degree). ” -Mike Martin and
Roland Schinzinger What is “degree”?
 6
RISK…

….”A risk is the potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur”
 We take a risk when we undertake something or use a product that is not safe.
 Risk in technology could include dangers of
 bodily harm,
 economic loss,
 environmental degradation.
 Risks always exist. But true safety never exists, except in hypothetical situations. So,
Safety is 'acceptable risk'.
 “Experimental” risks associated with introducing new technology (“social
experimentation”)
Example: Toyota Prius/deaf people problem unforeseen?, exposes environment-safety
trade-off
 7
Acceptability of Risk

Voluntary risk and Control

 Willingness to be subjected to risk:
-For example, John and Ann Smith enjoy riding motorcycles over rough ground for amusement. They
take voluntary risk, part of being engaged in such a potentially dangerous sport.
 People don’t have as much of a problem with subjecting themselves to risks
 – Much less willing to involuntarily be subjected to risks
Are risks on-the-job voluntary? What about in a manufacturing job?
– Could quit! But is this always possible?
– If piece-work-based, will workers behave less safely?
Safety complaints from on-the-job should always be listened to..
 8
Lessons for the Engineer

Problems with the public’s conception of safety:

 – Over-optimistic with regard to familiar products that have not hurt them
before and that they have control over (Underestimating the risk)
 – Over-pessimism when accidents kill or claim large numbers or harm those
we know (e.g., aircraft crashes) (Overestimating the risk)
 – Indifference to risk people do not think of the risk factor at all. They simply
do not make judgements on risks. Statistically speaking, the real risk may
be quite small (e.g. Taking selfies near dangerous locations, Venturing into
Beach)
 9
Design Considerations, Risk

Principles:
 Absolute safety is not attainable
 Improvements in safety often cost $$
 Products that are not safe incur secondary costs
 Loss of customer goodwill and/or customers
 Warranty expenses
 Litigation
 Business failure? Loss of your professional employees? Bad climate/hiring
potential?
 10
Design principle, risk/trade-offs

How safe should we make a product?

• As the product is in the process of being designed
and manufactured, any safety or risk-avoidance
considerations are just informed guesses or
probabilities of what can happen.
• Past experience is a good guide while designing
something for safety
• Design Reviews by internal teams followed by a
design assessment for safety by external consultants
is a viable procedure to avoid unsafe products and
the resulting financial liabilities. P = primary cost of a product (including safety
measures)
S = secondary cost
There are tradeoffs...
 11
Knowledge of Risk

 Safety issues, even for standard products, are often not well understood
– Information is often not shared between industries, or even engineers in an
organization
– Always new application of old technology so we do not know what our products
will encounter.
 Uncertainties in design cause risk
 Engineers use “safety factors” in design
Examples:
– Uncertainties in materials (e.g., what does the silver or gold band on a resistor mean?).
Supplier’s data based on statistical averages? What is the underlying probability density
function?
– Designs that do well under static loads often do not do well under dynamic loads
 12
Design Principle: Safe if Capability
Exceeds Duty

Degree of safety proposed to be attained varies with

the product, perception and cost of risk involved.
 An aircraft is designed with a much greater level
of safety than an automobile.
 A manned space vehicle has much more safety
features than unmanned vehicle because cost of
lives is much higher than the cost of material
things like the spacecraft.
 In addition, more standby systems are designed
and incorporated to increase safety.
 13
SAFETY AND RISK

 Safety was defined as the risk that is known and judged as acceptable.
 But, risk is a potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur.
 It is the result of an unsafe situation, sometimes unanticipated, during its use.
 Probability of safety = 1 – Probability of risk
 Risk = Probability of occurrence × Consequence in magnitude
 14
SAFETY AND RISK

 Different methods are available to determine the risk (testing for safety)
1. Testing on the functions of the safety-system components.
2. destructive testing: In this approach, testing is done till the component fails.
It is too expensive, but very realistic and useful.
3. Prototype testing: In this approach, the testing is done on a proportional
scale model with all vital components fixed in the system. Dimensional
analysis could be used to project the results at the actual conditions.
4. Simulation testing: With the help of computer, the simulations are done.
The safe boundary may be obtained. The effects of some controlled input
variables on the outcomes can be predicted in a better way.
 15
Do we know capability and duty?
 No, not precisely, we must determine (estimate) it!
Testing for safety
– Design tests with the above comments in mind
– Be careful to do accurate tests, be honest in trying to find the problem
– Sometimes it may be good to get an outsider’s perspective
– Be careful with the results of other’s tests - don’t just blindly trust them when it comes to safety
 Testing cannot always be performed
– Failures would be catastrophic
– Tests are too expensive
What do to in these cases?
– Scenario analysis
– Fault tree analysis
 16
Risk-Benefit Analysis

– Is a product worth the risks connected with its use?

– What are the benefits? To whom?
– Do they outweigh the risks? To whom? Environmental impact?
 “Under what conditions, if any, is someone in society entitled to impose a risk on someone
else on behalf of a supposed benefit to yet others?”
 How do you place value in $$ on a human life?? Recall cost-benefit analysis. Human
rights/dignity/respect?
 Engineers often supply facts on risk. Caution!
Example: Operator error and negligence are most often not the principle causes of
accidents - often unsafe conditions that are incorrectly assessed
 17
Making a product safe does not
automatically increase costs

 Safety should be built into the original design

 Warnings are often not adequate, cannot fall back on
insurance!
 Must “embed” safety; requires competence, broad
perspective!
• Examples: Improved safety
– Magnetic door catch on a refrigerator (safety for less
money!)
– Ground-fault interrupter (but costs some?)
– Motor reverse circuit (no cost)
 18
Fail-Safe and Safe-Exit

 In the study of safety, the ‘safe exit’ principles are recommended.

 The conditions referred to as ‘safe exit’ are:
 The product, when it fails, should fail safely
 The product, when it fails, can be abandoned safely (it does not harm
others by explosion or radiation)
 The user can safely escape the product (e.g., ships need sufficient number
of life boats for all passengers and crew; multi-storeyed buildings need
usable fire escapes)
 19
Types of Risk

 Acceptable Risk

 Voluntary risk and Control

 JOB RELATED RISKS

 20
Acceptable Risk

 Acceptable risk refers to the level of human and property injury or loss from an
industrial process that is considered to be tolerable by an individual, household,
group, organization, community, region, state, or nation in view of the social,
political, and economic cost-benefit analysis.
Example: For instance, the risk of flooding can be accepted once every 500
years but it is unacceptable in every ten years.
 It is management's responsibility to set their company's level of risk. As a security
professional, it is your responsibility to work with management and help them
understand what it means to define an acceptable level of risk.
 Each company has its own acceptable risk level, which is derived from its legal
and regulatory compliance responsibilities.
 21
Acceptable Risk vs Unacceptable Risk
 22
Voluntary risk

 A person is said to take ‘VOLUNTARY RISK’ when he is subjected to risk by either

his own actions or action taken by others volunteers to take that risk without any
apprehension.
Example: Riding over rough ground for amusement
 Voluntary risks have to do with lifestyle choices.
 They are the risks that people take knowing that they may have consequences.
These risks include smoking tobacco, driving a car, skydiving, and climbing a
ladder.
 Involuntary risks are risks that people take either not knowing that they are at risk,
or they are unable to control the fact that they are at risk, such as second hand
smoke. These risks often include environmental hazards such as lightning,
tsunamis, and tornadoes etc.
 23
Voluntary risk vs Involuntary risk
 24
JOB RELATED RISKS

 Many workers are taking risks in their jobs in their stride like being exposed to
asbestos.
 Exposure to risks on a job is in one sense of voluntary nature since one can always
refuse to submit to the work or may have control over how the job is done.
 But generally workers have no choice other than what they are told to do since
they want to stick to the only job available to them.
 But they are not generally informed about the exposure to toxic substances and
other dangers which are not readily seen, smelt, heard or otherwise sensed.
 Occupational health and safety regulations and unions can have a better say in
correcting these situations but still things are far below expected safety standards.
 25
ASSESSMENT OF SAFETY AND RISK

 Absolute safety is never possible to attain and safety can

be improved in an engineering product only with an
increase in cost.
 On the other hand, unsafe products increase secondary
costs to the producer beyond the primary (production)
costs, like warranty costs loss of goodwill, loss of customers,
legal action costs, downtime costs in manufacturing, etc.
 Figure indicates that P- Primary costs are high for a highly
safe (low risk) product and S- Secondary costs are high for a
highly risky (low safe) product.
 It should now be clear that ‘safety comes with a price’ only.
P = primary cost of a product (including safety
measures)
S = secondary cost
 26
Uncertainties encountered in design
process

 Coordination problems.
 Contractor-caused delays.
 Uncertainties regarding materials and skills required in the manufacturing
 Changing economic realities.
 Unfamiliar environmental conditions like very low temperature
 A decision on maximizing profit or maximizing the return on investment.
 Uncertainties about applications like dynamic loading instead of static loading,
vibrations, wind speeds.
 The available standard data on items like steel, resistors, insulators, optical glass,
etc are based on statistical averages only.
 27
What is the goal of risk assessment?

 Recent occurrences of large scale accidents in which many lives were lost or in
which great damage was caused to the environment has lead to more attention
being paid to safety within industrial plants or installations.
 As a result of this attention, risk analysis techniques have come to play an ever-
increasing role.
 Risk reduction can take place at different levels viz by implementing the inherent
safety provisions during the designing stage, applying safety measures, preventing or
limiting damage, providing safety zones around industrial plants and by emergency
planning.
 Each of these applications demands a specific approach for the risk analysis
 The aim of the risk assessment process is to remove a hazard or reduce the level of its
risk by adding precautions or control measures, as necessary. By doing so, you have
created a safer and healthier workplace.
 28
Testing strategies for safety (Risk Analysis)

Risk analysis is used for the assessment of the hazards associated with an industrial or
commercial activity and can be summarized by 3 questions given below:
 What can go wrong? – Hazard Identification
 What are the effects and consequences?- consequence Analysis
 How often it will happen? - Probability estimation
Several methods are adopted for testing of safety of a product/project:
 Using the past experience in checking the design and performance.
 Prototype testing. Here the one product tested may not be representative of the
population of products.
 Tests simulated under approximately actual conditions to know the performance
flaws on safety
 Routine quality assurance tests on production runs.
 29
Testing strategies for safety

 The above testing procedures are not always carried out properly. Hence we
cannot trust these testing procedures uncritically.
 Some tests are also destructive and obviously it is impossible to do destructive
testing and improve safety.
 In such cases, analytical methods could be applied in testing for safety
 Scenario Analysis (Event -> Consequences)
 Failure Modes & Effects Analysis (Failure modes of each component)
 Fault Tree Analysis (System Failure -> Possible Causes at component level)
 30
Example of Testing for safety

 Failure modes and effect analysis (FMEA) :

This approach systematically examines the failure modes of each
component, without however, focusing on relationships among the
elements of a complex system.
 Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) :
 The failure (undesirable event) is initially defined, and the events (causal relationships)
leading to that failure are identified at different components level.
 The reverse of the fault-tree analysis is ‘event –tree analysis’.
 This method can combine hardware failures and human failures .
 This method most effectively illustrates the disciplined approach required
to capture as much as possible of everything that affects proper functioning and
safety of a complex system.
 31
Worksheet for Design/Process FMEA
 32
Fault Tree Analysis

Consider the failure of the steam

flow in a thermal station. The water
is pumped from a big reservoir
nearby.
 33
Risk Benefit Analysis
 Risk Benefit Analysis (RBA) is an approach to risk assessment that focuses not just on the risks of
the activity, but on the benefits of the activity.
 Risk – benefit analysis is analysis that seeks to quantify the risk and benefits and hence their ratio.
 Exposure to personal risk is recognized as a normal aspect of everyday life.
A certain level of risk in our lives is accepted as necessary to achieve certain
benefits.
 Risk is an essential element in the development of children’s physical, emotional and intellectual
development.
 Risk isn’t just about physical actions –for example climbing a tree or skateboarding. It’s also
about taking intellectual risks –trying anything for the first time, testing new ideas,
accepting other people’s opinions (even if you don’t agree with them).
 For example, driving an automobile is a risk most people take daily.
 34
Example-Pond dipping

 Pond dipping is a fun and simple way for children to

explore an aquatic habitat.
 Children will be able to observe a diversity of
different creatures from leeches to dragonfly nymphs
 35
RISK BENEFIT ASSESSMENT-Example
 36
Example-Nuclear Reactor Risk Assessment
 37
Reducing risk (Improving Safety)

 Application of Inherent safety concepts in design (e,g. LPG cylinder with frame to
protect the valve while handling and facilitate cryogenic storage
 Use redundancy principle in the instrument protection/Design
 Periodical monitoring (inspection) and testing of safety system to ensure reliability.
E.g., Fire extinguishers, Earth systems in electric circuits are checked periodically
 Issue of operational manuals, training of the operating personal and regular
audits to ensure that the procedures are well adopted and followed.
 Development of well designed emergency evacuation plans and regular
rehearsals to ensure preparedness in case of emergency.
 In case of unavoidable risks like calamities, Govt. regulatory bodies can give
safety instructions
 38
Example(Fire accident)
 39
Example(Flooding)-Before Flooding
 40
Example(Flooding)-During Flooding
GLOBAL ISSUES
UNIT IV
GLOBAL ISSUES

Multinational corporations - Environmental ethics

- Computer ethics - Weapons development –
Engineers as Managers-Consulting Engineers-
Engineers as Expert Witnesses and Advisors -
Moral Leadership
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

 Technology Revolution – Communication technologies,

information technology, nanotechnology etc.
 Globalization – Living in a global village; global economy; no
insulated economies.
 Outsourcing – Outsourcing of various types of tasks; India is a
leading player in this area.
 International Trade agreements – WTO; GATT (General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) & IPR.
 World summits – Many world summits to discuss international
issues.
Globalization
 Globalization means integration of countries through
commerce, transfer of technology, and exchange of
information and culture.
 Acting together and interacting economies through trade,
investment, loan, development schemes and capital
across countries.
 Flow of knowledge, science, technology, skills, culture,
information, and entertainment, besides direct human
resource, tele-work, and outsourcing.
Multinational Corporations
 Organizations who have established business in more than one
country, are called multinational corporation.
 The headquarters are in the home country and the business is
extended in many host countries. The Western organizations doing
business in the less-economically developed (developing, and
overpopulated) countries
 Gain the advantage of inexpensive labor, availability of natural
resources, conducive-tax atmosphere, and virgin market for the
products.
 Developing countries are also benefited by fresh job opportunities,
jobs with higher remuneration and challenges, transfer of technology,
and several social benefits by the wealth developed.
 But this happens invariably with some social and cultural disturbance.
Loss of jobs for the home country, and loss or exploitation of natural
resources, political instability for the host countries are some of the
threats of globalization.
ISSUES FOR PROFESSIONALS
 The impact of globalization, privatization, and economic
interdependence are evident today. We have to prepare ourselves
to live a life in a globalized economy.
 People work not only for Indian companies but also for many
MultiNational Corporations. The work ethics and skill sets required
have to be suitably matched.
 Work culture is undergoing major changes in that one may work
from home and need not be physically present in his/her office at
all. Professional integrity will play a major part in such cases.
 Professionals work in many countries and have to contend with the
local political environment in their dealings. Great tact and
business acumen are needed to work ethically in such situations.
 While working in other countries, one has to take care of the
sociocultural aspects of the population one is working with.
 Ethical conduct, rules, and conventions may differ from country to
country. Professionals have to consider this while performing their
duties in other countries.
International Human Rights
Moral responsibilities and obligations of the multinational
corporations operating in the host countries,
 Framework of rights ethics. Common minimal rights are to be
followed to smoothen the transactions when the engineers and
employers of MNCs have to interact at official, social, economic and
sometimes political levels.
 At international level, the organizations are expected to adopt the
minimum levels of
 (a) values, such as mutual support, loyalty, and reciprocity,
 (b) the negative duty of refraining from harmful actions such as
violence and fraud, and
 (c) basic fairness and practical justice in case of conflicts.
 MNC and Morality
 The economic and environmental conditions of the home and host countries
may vary. The multinational institutions have to adopt appropriate measures
not to disturb or dislocate the social and living conditions and cultures of the
home countries. A few principles are enlisted here:
 MNC should respect the basic human rights of the people of the host countries.
 The activities of the MNC should give economic and transfer technical benefits,
and implement welfare measures of the workers of the host countries.
 The business practices of the multinational organisations should improve and
promote morally justified institutions in the host countries.
 The multinationals must respect the laws and political set up, besides cultures
and promote the cultures of the host countries.
 The multinational organisations should provide a fair remuneration to the
employees of the host countries. If the remuneration is high as that of home
country, this may create tensions and if it is too low it will lead to exploitation.
 Multinational institutions should provide necessary safety for the workers when
they are engaged in hazardous activities and ‘informed consent’ should be
obtained from them. Adequate compensation should be paid to them for the
additional risks undertaken.
ENVIRONMENTAL EPISODE :
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
UNION CARBIDE INDIA LIMITED
 UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION
(UCC) with Indian government controlled banks and the Indian
public holding a 49.1 % stake .
 It started in 1969 at the northern state of India. The Bhopal plant
had a license to make Methyl isocyanate-based pesticides.
 Phosgene, Monomethlyamine, Methyl Isocyanate and the pesticide
Carbaryl also known as Sevin were manufactured here.
 To produce pesticide Sevin with an intermediate methyl isocyanate.
It necessitated the start up of MIC production plant in 1979.
 In 1983, there were 14 plants in India manufacturing chemicals,
pesticides, and other hazardous products.
 In November 1984, they had decided to close down the plant. For
quite some years before the production rate was going down.
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
 Bhopal gas tragedy , a disaster that happened by a gas leak
is considered as one of the world’s worst industrial
catastrophes that occurred on December 2-3 ,1984 at the
UNION CARBIDE INDIA LIMITED (UCIL) pesticide plant in
Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh , India.
What happened..?

 A leak of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas and other chemical

from the plant resulted in the exposure of thousands of
people.
 The toxic substance spread its way in and around the
neighborhood around the plant.
 The resulted in a very high death toll . The official
immediate death toll was 2259 and the government of
Madhya Pradesh has conformed a total of 3787 deaths
related to the gas release.
Overall view of gas leak
 Storing MIC in a large tank and a filling beyond recommended
levels resulted in exothermic reaction which increased the
temperature inside the tank to over 200C and raised the
pressure.
 About 30 metric tons of methyl isocyanate escaped from the
tank into the atmosphere, which got added to a weak wind which
frequently changed direction, which in turn the gas cover more
area in a shorter period of time.
 The flare tower and several vent gas scrubbers had been out of
service for 5 months before disaster .
 Failure of several safety system
 These was only one manual back up system compared to a 4 stage
system used by union carbide plan USA .
 Lack of skilled operators : no proper training was given to them .
AFFECTED AREA
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
The cumulative effects of the following factors caused the
tragedy in Bhopal on December 3, 1984.
 Maintenance neglected & the trained maintenance reduced as
economy measure.
 Inadequate training of the personnel to handle emergencies.
 Periodical Safety Inspection teams from U.S. which visited
previously were also stopped.
 The procedures had been deteriorating at these sites for weeks
or months, prior to the accident.
 There was clear lack of management systems & procedures to
ensure safety.
 Vital spares for equipment and machineries were not available
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
 Absence of capital replacement led to the stagnant economy of the
plant.
 The high turnover of the experienced engineers and technicians,
who were demoralized by the lack of development.
 Lack of experienced personnel to operate and control the vital
installations.
 They have not conducted a thorough process hazards analysis that
would have exposed the serious hazards which resulted in disaster
later.
 No emergency plan was put in practice, during the shut down and
maintenance.
 Above all, the commitment of top-level management to safety was
lacking.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
Technologically, the tragedy was caused by a series of events
listed:
 The safety manual of U C precribed that the MIC tanks were to be
filled only up to 60% of the capacity. But the tanks were reported to
have been filled up to 75%.
 The safety policy prescribed that an empty tank should be available
as a stand-bye in case of emergency. But the emergency tank was
also filled with to its full capacity. These facts confirmed that the
MNC had not followed and implemented appropriate safety
standards of the home country in the host country. [Example of
‘misappropriate technology’?]
 The storage tanks should be refrigerated to make the chemical less
reactive. But here the refrigeration system was shut down as an
economy measure. This raised the temperature of the gas stored.
Bhopal Gas Tragedy
 The plant was shut down for maintenance two months earlier. The
worker who cleaned the pipes and filters connected to the tanks and
closed the valves, was not trained properly. He did not insert the
safety disks to prevent any possible leakage of the gas. This led to
the build up of temperature and pressure in the storage tanks.
 When the gas started leaking out, the operators tried to use the vent
gas-scrubber that was designed to reduce the exhausting gas. But
that scrubber was also shut down.
 There was a flare tower that was designed to burn-off the gas
escaping from the scrubber. That was not also in working condition.
 The workers finally tried to spray water up to 100 feet to quench the
gas (which is water soluble). But the gas was escaping from the
chimney of 120-feet high.
 The workers were not trained on safety drills or emergency drills or
any evacuation plans..
UCIL plant after disaster
When in Rome do as the Romans do
What should be the Multinational Corporations Ethics conduct?
 Ethical Relativism: The view that actions are morally right within a
particular society when (and only because) they are approved by law,
custom, or other conventions of the society.
 Ethical Absolutism: The view argues that one should retain precisely the
same practices endorsed at home, never making any adjustments to a new
culture: whatever is morally true in one place should be morally true
everywhere else.
 Ethical Relationalism: this view argues that moral judgments should be
made in relation to factors that vary from situation to situation, which
makes it impossible to formulate rules that are both simple and absolute.
Foreign customs are certainly relevant but they are not decisive in
determining what to do in a particular situation.
 Ethical Pluralism: this view is consistent with the previous one
(relationalism, or contextualism) in that it argues that there is more than
one justifiable moral perspective, and a number of morally permissible
variations in formulating, interpreting, and applying basic moral principles.
International Rights
International Rights
 Human rights is the most powerful value across-cultural ethical theory. All
ethical theory rely on a conception of the worth and dignity of human beings.
 Not all societies are not based on ideals of individual liberty and sanctity of life.
 A valid cross-cultural ethics does not assume that all society have to appreciate
all important values however all culture share some common values such
fairness and mutual support
Promoting Moral Just Measures
Conclusion

 A human right is a moral entitlement that places obligations

on other people to treat one with dignity and respect which is
a cross cultural moral judgment.
Environmental Ethics

 It is the study of
 Moral issues concerning the environment
 Moral perspectives, beliefs or attitudes concerning those
issues
 Some Important Causes to exploit EV
 Plastic waste disposal
 E-Waste Disposal
 In-adequacy Awareness
 Self Centered activities
ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS
Engineers in the past are known for their negligence of environment, in
their activities.
It has become important now that engineers design eco-friendly tools,
machines, sustainable products, processes, and projects.
These are essential now to
a) ensure protection (safety) of environment
b) prevent the degradation of environment, and
c) slow down the exploitation of the natural resources, so that the
future generation can survive.
Role of Engineers towards Environmental Ethics
Engineers as experimenters have certain duties towards environmental
ethics, namely:
 Environmental impact assessment: One major but sure and
unintended effect of technology is wastage and the resulting
pollution of land, water, air and even space. Study how the
industry and technology affects the environment.
 Establish standards: Study and to fix the tolerable and actual
pollution levels.
 Counter measures: Study what the protective or eliminating
measures are available for immediate implementation
 Environmental awareness: Study on how to educate the people on
environmental practices, issues, and possible remedies.
Environmental Disasters

 Plastic Waste Disposal

 e-Waste Disposal

 Industrial Waste Disposal

 Depletion of Ozone Layer

 Global Warming

 Acid Rain
Plastic Waste Disposal

 In our country, several crores of plastic bottles are used as

containers for water and oil, and plastic bags are used to pack
different materials ranging from vegetables to gold ornaments.
 Hardly any of these are recycled.
 They end up in gutters, roadsides, and agricultural fields. In all
these destinations, they created havoc.
 The worse still is the burning of plastic materials in streets and
camphor - release toxic fumes and threaten seriously the air
quality.
 Cities and local administration have to act on this, collect and
arrange for recycling through industries.
e-Waste Disposal
 The parts of computers and electronic devices which have served its
useful life present a major environmental issue for all the developing
countries including India. This scrap contains highly toxic elements
such as lead, cadmium, and mercury.
 Even the radioactive waste will lose 89% of its toxicity after 200
years, by which time it will be no more toxic than some natural
minerals in the ground. It will lose 99% of its remaining toxicity over
the next 30,000 years.
 The toxic chemical agents such as mercury, arsenic, and cadmium
retain toxicity undiminished forever - these scraps are illegally
imported by unscrupulous agencies to salvage some commercially
valuable inputs.
 Instead of spending and managing on the scrap, unethical
organizations sell them to countries such as India.
e-Waste Disposal
 A recent report of the British Environment Agency, revealed that the
discarded computers, television sets, refrigerators, mobile phones, and
electrical equipment have been dispatched to India and Pakistan in large
quantity, for ultimate disposal in environmentally-unacceptable ways -
violation of the Basel Convention of the United Nations Environment
Program - banned the movement of hazardous waste.
 The European Union through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) has posed strong regulation including
 pressure on industries to set up disassembling facilities,
 ban on disposal in landfill sites,
 legislation for recycling requirements for these junk and
 policy incentives for eco-friendly design are essential for our country.
 WEEE directive has curbed the e-waste dumping by member countries and
require manufacturers to implement methods to recover and recycle the
components.
 e-Waste Disposal

 Indian Government expressed its concern through a technical guide on

environmental management for IT Industry in December, 2004.
 It is yet to ratify the ban on movement of hazardous waste according to
the Basel Convention.
 A few years back, foreign news agency exposed, the existence of a thriving
e-waste disposal hub in a suburb of New Delhi, operating in dangerous
conditions.
 Our country needs regulations to define waste, measures to stop illegal
imports, and institutional structures to handle safe disposal of domestic
industrial scrap.
Industrial Waste Disposal

 There has been a lot of complaints through the media, on

 against the Sterlite Copper Smelting Plant in Thuthukkudi
(1997) against its pollution, and
 When Indian companies imported the discarded French Warship
Clemenceau for disposal, the poisonous asbestos compounds
were expected to pollute the atmosphere besides exposing the
labor to a great risk, during the disposal. The government did
not act immediately. Fortunately for Indians, the French
Government intervened and withdrew the ship, and the serious
threat was averted!
Depletion of Ozone Layer
 The ozone layer protects the entire planet from the ill-effects
of ultraviolet radiation and is vital for all living organisms in
this world.
 But it is eaten away by the Chloro-fluro-carbons (CFC) such as
freon emanating from the refrigerators, air conditioners, and
aerosol can spray.
 This has caused also skin cancer to sun-bathers in the Western
countries.
 Further NO and NO2 gases were also found to react with the
ozone.
 Apart from engineers, the organizations, laws of the country
and local administration and market mechanisms are required
to take up concerted efforts to protect the environment.
Global Warming

 Greenhouse gases, notably carbon dioxide emitted by motor

vehicles and coal-fired power plants, trap heat like the glass
walls of a greenhouse, cause the Earth to warm up – Global
Warming
 Over the past 30 years, the Earth has warmed by 0.6 °C. Over
the last 100 years, it has warmed by 0.8 °C. It is likely to push
up temperature by 3 °C by 2100, according to NASA’s studies.
 The U.S. administration has accepted the reality of global
climate change, which has been associated with stronger
hurricanes, severe droughts, intense heat waves and the
melting of polar ice
Global Warming

 Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and US - These six

countries account for about half of the world’s emissions of
climate-heating greenhouse gases - met in California in April 2006
for the first working session of the Asia Pacific Partnership on
Clean Development and Climate
 Only Japan, is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
by at least 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012 under the
Kyoto Agreement.
 About 190 nations met in Germany in the middle of May 2006 and
tried to bridge vast policy gaps between the United States and its
main allies over how to combat climate change amid growing
evidence that the world is warming
 Acid Rain
 Large emissions of sulphur oxides and
nitrous oxides are being released in to
the air from the thermal power
stations using the fossil fuels, and
several processing industries.
 These gases form compounds with
water in the air and precipitates as
rain or snow on to the earth.
 The acid rain in some parts of the
world has caused sufficient damage to
the fertility of the land and to the
human beings.
Human-centered Environmental Ethics
 Utilitarianism aims to maximize good consequences for human beings.
This approach assumes that only human beings have inherent moral
worth duly to be taken care of. Other living being and ecosystems are
only instrumental in nature.
 Rights ethicists favor the basic rights to live and right to liberty, to
realise the right to a live in a supportive environment.
 Virtue ethics stresses importance of prudence, humility, appreciation of
natural beauty, and gratitude to the mother nature that provides
everything.
 The nature-centered ethics, which ensures the worth of all living beings
and organisms, seems to be more appropriate in the present-day
context.
 The eco-balance is the need of the hour and the engineers are the right
experimenters to achieve this.
COMPUTER ETHICS

 Computer ethics is defined as

 study and analysis of nature and social impact of computer
technology,
 formulation and justification of policies, for ethical use of
computers.
 The use of computers have raised a host of moral concerns such as
free speech, privacy, intellectual property right, and physical as well
as mental harm.
 no conceptual framework available on ethics, to study and understand
and resolve the problems in computer technology.
COMPUTER ETHICS

 There are Numerous ways in which computers have been

misused, leading to serious ethical issues
◦ Hacking
◦ Software Piracy
◦ Virus Dissemination
◦ Online fraud
◦ Cyber Stalking
Computer Ethics - Types of Issues

Computer as the Instrument of Unethical Acts

 The usage of computer replaces the job positions. This has been
overcome to a large extent by readjusting work assignments,
and training everyone on computer applications such as word
processing, editing, and graphics.
 Breaking privacy. Information or data of the individuals
accessed or erased or the ownership changed.
 Defraud a bank or a client, by accessing and withdrawing
money from other’s bank account.
Computer Ethics - Types of Issues
Computer as the Object of Unethical Act
 The data are accessed and deleted or changed.
 Hacking: The software is stolen or information is accessed from other
computers. This may cause financial loss to the business or violation of
privacy rights of the individuals or business. In case of defense
information being hacked, this may endanger the security of the
nation.
 Spreading virus: Through mail or otherwise, other computers are
accessed and the files are erased or contents changed altogether.
‘Trojan horses’ are implanted to distort the messages and files beyond
recovery. This again causes financial loss or mental torture to the
individuals. Some hackers feel that they have justified their right of
free information or they do it for fun.
 Health hazard: The computers pose threat during their use as well as
during disposal.
Computer Ethics - Types of Issues
Problems Related to the Autonomous Computer
Security risk:
Recently the Tokyo Stock Exchange faced a major embarrassment. A
seemingly casual mistake by a junior trader of a large security house led to
huge losses including that of reputation. The order through the exchange’s
trading system was to sell one share for 600,000 Yen. Instead the trader
keyed in a sale order for 600,000 shares at the rate of one Yen each.
Naturally the shares on offer at the ridiculously low price were lapped up.
And only a few buyers agreed to reverse the deal! The loss to the securities
firm was said to be huge, running into several hundred thousands.
More important to note, such an obvious mistake could not be corrected by
some of the advanced technology available.
Computer Ethics - Types of Issues
Problems Related to the Autonomous Computer
Loss of human lives:
Risk and loss of human lives lost by computer, in the operational control of
military weapons. There is a dangerous instability in automated defence
system. An unexpected error in the software or hardware or a conflict during
interfacing between the two, may trigger a serious attack and cause
irreparable human loss before the error is traced. The Chinese embassy was
bombed by U.S. military in Iraq a few years back, but enquiries revealed that
the building was shown in a previous map as the building where insurgents
stayed.
In flexible manufacturing systems, the autonomous computer is beneficial in
obtaining continuous monitoring and automatic control.
Computer Ethics - Types of Issues
Property Issues
The property issues concerned with the computers are:
1. Computers have been used to extort money through anonymous telephone
calls.
2. Computers are used to cheat and steal by current as well as previous
employees.
3. Cheating of and stealing from the customers and clients.
4. Violation of contracts on computer sales and services.
5. Conspiracy as a group, especially with the internet, to defraud the
gullible, stealing the identity and to forge documents.
6. Violation of property rights: Is the software a property? The software could
be either a Program (an algorithm) or a Source code (the algorithm in a
general computer language). How do we apply the concept of property
here? This demands a framework for ethical judgments.
Professional Responsibility
 The computer professionals should be aware of different conflicts of
interests as they transact with other at different levels. The IEEE and
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have established the codes of
ethics to manage such responsibilities
 Almost all the countries are now connected by the internet. But there are
no international laws to regulate the issues of freedom of speech,
intellectual property rights, privacy rights etc.
 Another development in this direction is, the universities offering degrees-
on-line. Third World is certainly gaining knowledge and education. Even
Google.com has announced plans to publish research papers through the
World Wide Web. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is internationalised!
Will this lead to empowerment of the Third World and promotion of
World peace?
WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT
 Military activities including the world wars have stimulated the growth of
technology.
 The development of warfare and the involvement of engineers bring out
many ethical issues concerned with engineers, such as the issue of
integrity in experiments as well as expenditure in defence research and
development, issue of personal commitment and conscience, and the
issues of social justice and social health.
WEAPONS DEVELOPMENT
Engineers involve in weapons development because of the following
reasons:
1. It gives one job with high salary.
2. One takes pride and honor in participating in the activities towards
the defense of the nation (patriotic favor).
3. One believes the he fights a war on terrorism and thereby
contribute to peace and stability of the country. Ironically, the wars
have never won peace, only peace can win peace!
4. By research and development, the engineer is reducing or
eliminating the risk from enemy weapons, and saving one’s country
from disaster.
5. By building-up arsenals and show of force, a country can force the
rogue country, towards regulation. Engineers can participate
effectively in arms control negotiations for surrender or peace,
e.g., bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima led to surrender by the
Japanese in 1945.
ENGINEERS AS MANAGERS
Managers have the ethical responsibility to produce safe and good products
(or useful service), while showing respect for the human beings who include
the employees, customers and the public. Hence, the objective for the
managers and engineers is to produce valuable products that are also
profitable.

The characteristics of engineers as managers are:

 Promote an ethical climate, through framing organization policies,
responsibilities and by personal attitudes and obligations.
 Resolving conflicts, by evolving priority, developing mutual
understanding, generating various alternative solutions to problems.
 Social responsibility to stakeholders, customers and employers. They
act to develop wealth as well as the welfare of the society.
Managing Conflicts
 In solving conflicts, force should not be resorted. The conflict situations should
be tolerated, understood, and resolved by participation by all the concerned
 The conflicts in case of project managers arise in the following manners:
 Conflicts based on schedules: This happens because of various levels of execution,
priority and limitations of each level.
 Conflicts arising out of fixing the priority to different projects or departments. This
is to be arrived at from the end requirements and it may change from time to time.
 Conflict based on the availability of personnel.
 Conflict over technical, economic, and time factors such as cost, time, and
performance level.
 Conflict arising in administration such as authority, responsibility, accountability, and
logistics required.
 Conflicts of personality, human psychology and ego problems.
 Conflict over expenditure and its deviations.
Managing Conflicts

Most of the conflicts can be resolved by following the principles:

 People
Separate people from the problem. It implies that the views of all concerned
should be obtained. The questions such as what, why, and when the error was
committed is more important than to know who committed it.
 Interests
Focus must be only on interest i.e., the ethical attitudes or motives and not on the
positions (i.e., stated views). A supplier may require commission larger than usual
prevailing rate for an agricultural product. But the past analysis may tell us that
the material is not cultivated regularly and the monsoon poses some additional risk
towards the supply. Mutual interests must be respected to a maximum level. What
is right is more important than who is right!
Managing Conflicts

 Options
Generate various options as solutions to the problem. This helps a manager to try
the next best solution should the first one fails. Decision on alternate solutions can
be taken more easily and without loss of time.
 Evaluation
The evaluation of the results should be based on some specified objectives such as
efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction. More important is that the means,
not only the goals, should be ethical.
 CONSULTING ENGINEERS
 The consulting engineers work in private. There is no salary from the employers.
But they charge fees from the sponsor and they have more freedom to decide on
their projects. (no absolute freedom). The consulting engineers have ethical
responsibilities different from the salaried engineers.
Advertising: The consulting engineers are directly responsible for advertising their
services, even if they employ other consultants to assist them. Deceptive advertising
such as the following are prohibited:
(a) By white lies.
(b) Half-truth, e.g., a product has actually been tested as prototype, but it was claimed to
have been already introduced in the market.
(c) Exaggerated claims. The consultant might have played a small role in a well-known
project. But they could claim to have played a major role.
(d) Making false suggestions. The reduction in cost might have been achieved along with the
reduction in strength, but the strength details are hidden.
(e) Through vague wordings or slogans.
CONSULTING ENGINEERS
Competitive Bidding
 The organizations have a pool of engineers. The expertise can be shared and the
bidding is made more realistic.
 The individual consultants have to develop creative designs and build their reputation
steadily and carefully, over a period of time. The clients will have to choose between
the reputed organizations and the expertise of the consultants.
 Although competent, the younger consultants are thus slightly at a disadvantage.
Contingency Fee
 This is the fee or commission paid to the consultant, when one is successful in saving
the expenses for the client. A sense of honesty and fairness is required in fixing this
fee.
 The NSPE Code III 6 (a) says that the engineers shall not propose or accept a
commission on a contingent basis where their judgment may be compromised
 This fee may motivate the consultants to effect saving in the costs to the clients,
through reasonably moral and technological means.
 CONSULTING ENGINEERS
Safety and Client’s Needs
 The greater freedom for the consulting engineers in decision making on safety
aspects, and difficulties concerning truthfulness are the matters to be given
attention.
 A few on-site inspections by the consulting engineers will expose the deficiency in
execution and save the workers, the public, and the environment that may be
exposed to risk upon completion of the project.
 The NSPE codes on the advertisement by consultants provide some specific
regulations. The following are the activities prohibited in advertisement by
consultant:
1. The use of statement containing misrepresentation or omission of a necessary fact.
2. Statement intended or likely to create an unjustified expectation.
3. Statement containing prediction of future (probable) success.
4. Statement intended or likely to attract clients, by the use of slogans or sensational
language format.
ENGINEERS AS EXPERT WITNESS

 Frequently engineers are required to act as consultants and provide expert

opinion and views in many legal cases of the past events.
 They are required to explain the causes of accidents, malfunctions and
other technological behaviour of structures, machines, and instruments,
e.g., personal injury while using an instrument, defective product, traffic
accident, structure or building collapse, and damage to the property, are
some of the cases where testimonies are needed.
 ENGINEERS AS EXPERT WITNESS
 The engineers, who act as expert-witnesses, are likely to abuse their
positions in the following manners:
Hired Guns
Mostly lawyers hire engineers to serve the interest of their clients. Lawyers are permitted
and required to project the case in a way favorable to their clients. But the engineers
have obligations to thoroughly examine the events and demonstrate their professional
integrity to testify only the truth in the court. They do not serve the clients of the
lawyers directly. The hired guns forward white lies and distortions, as demanded by the
lawyers. They even withhold the information or shade the fact, to favor their clients.
Money Bias
Consultants may be influenced or prejudiced for monitory considerations, gain reputation
and make a fortune.
 ENGINEERS AS EXPERT WITNESS
 The engineers, who act as expert-witnesses, are likely to abuse their
positions in the following manners:
Ego Bias
The assumption that the own side is innocent and the other side is guilty, is responsible
for this behaviour. An inordinate desire to serve one’s client and get name and fame is
another reason for this bias.
Sympathy Bias
Sympathy for the victim on the opposite side may upset the testimony. The integrity of
the consultants will keep these biases away from the justice. The court also must obtain
the balanced view of both sides, by examining the expert witnesses of lawyers on both
sides, to remove a probable bias.
Duties of EXPERT WITNESS
 The expert-witness is required to exhibit the responsibility of confidentiality just as they
do in the consulting roles. They can not divulge the findings of the investigation to the
opposite side, unless it is required by the court of law.
 More important is that as witness they are not required to volunteer evidence favorable to
the opponent. They must answer questions truthfully, need not elaborate, and remain
neutral until the details are asked for further.
 They should be objective to discover the truth and communicate them honestly.
 The stand of the experts depends on the shared understanding created within the society.
The legal system should be respected and at the same time, they should act in
conformance with the professional standards as obtained from the code of ethics.
 The experts should earnestly be impartial in identifying and interpreting the observed
data, recorded data, and the industrial standards. They should not distort the truth, even
under pressure. Although they are hired by the lawyers, they do not serve the lawyers or
their clients. They serve the justice. Many a time, their objective judgments will help the
lawyer to put up the best defence for their clients.
ENGINEERS AS ADVISORS IN PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING
Advisors
The engineers are required to give their view on the future such as in planning,
policy-making, which involves the technology.
 For example, should India expand nuclear power options or support traditional energy
sources such as fossil fuels or alternative forms like solar and wind energy?
Various issues and requirements for engineers who act as advisors are:
Objectivity
The engineers should study the cost and benefits of all possible alternative means in
objective manner, within the specified conditions and assumptions.
Study All Aspects
They have to study the economic viability (effectiveness), technical feasibility
(efficiency), operational feasibility (skills) and social acceptability, which include
environmental and ethical aspects, before formulating the policy.
ENGINEERS AS ADVISORS IN PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING
Values
 Engineers have to posses the qualities, such as (a) honesty, (b) competence (skills and
expertise), (c) diligence (careful and alert) (d) loyalty in serving the interests of the clients
and maintaining confidentiality, and (e) public trust, and respect for the common good,
rather than serving only the interests of the clients or the political interests.
Technical Complexity
 The arbitrary, unrealistic, and controversial assumptions made during the future planning
that are overlooked or not verified, will lead to moral complexity. The study on future is full
of uncertainties than the investigations on the past events. On the study of energy options,
for eg, assumptions on population increase, life style, urbanization, availability of local
fossil resources, projected costs of generating alternative forms of energy, world political
scenario, world military tensions and pressures from world organizations such as World Trade
Organisation and European Union may increase the complexity in judgment on future.
National Security
 The proposed options should be aimed to strengthen the economy and security of the
nation, besides safeguarding the natural resources and the environment from exploitation
and degradation
ENGINEERS AS ADVISORS IN PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING
For the advisors on policy making or planning, a shared understanding on balancing the
conflicting responsibilities, both to the clients and to the public, can be effected by
the following roles or models:
Hired Gun
 The prime obligation is shown to the clients. The data and facts favourable to the
clients are highlighted, and unfavourable aspects are hidden or treated as
insignificant. The minimal level of interest is shown for public welfare.
Value-neutral Analysts
 This assumes an impartial engineer. They exhibit conscientious decisions,
impartiality i.e., without bias, fear or favour, and absence of advocacy.
Value-guided Advocates
 The consulting engineers remain honest (frank in stating all the relevant facts and
truthful in interpretation of the facts) and autonomous (independent) in judgement
and show paramount importance to the public (as different from the hired guns).
MORAL LEADERSHIP
 Moral leadership is not merely the dominance by a group.
 It means adopting reasonable means to motivate the groups to achieve morally
desirable goals. This leadership presents the engineers with many challenges to their
moral principles
 Moral Leadership is a very different kind of leadership. Rather than aspiring to being
followed, Moral Leaders aim to serve. Instead of showcasing their own skills, Moral Leaders
tend to develop the capacities of others.
 Moral Leadership is also about particular capacities and skills. First of all, Moral Leaders
know how to manage themselves, how to temper their egos and how to act with nobility and
rectitude.
 Moral leadership is not about telling the stakeholders that you have delivered the best
results. It is about looking at yourself in the mirror and being able to tell yourself that you
have done the right thing.
 A sense of humility is essential for leadership because it authenticates your humanity.
Recognizing what we do well, as well as what we do not do so well, is vital to self-awareness
and ethical leadership cannot exist without self-awareness
MORAL LEADERSHIP
MORAL LEADERSHIP

Why is moral leadership essential for engineers?

 It is leading a group of people towards the achievement of global and objectives.
The goals as well as the means are to be moral. For example, Hitler and Stalin
were leaders, but only in an instrumental sense and certainly not on moral
sense.
 The leadership shall direct and motivate the group to move through morally
desirable ways.
 They lead by thinking ahead in time, and morally creative towards new
applications, extension and putting values into practice. ‘Morally creative’
means the identification of the most important values as applicable to the
situation, bringing clarity within the groups through proper communication, and
putting those values into practice.
MORAL LEADERSHIP
 They sustain professional interest, among social diversity and cross-disciplinary complexity.
They contribute to the professional societies, their professions, and to their communities.
The moral leadership in engineering is manifested in leadership within the professional
societies. The professional societies provide a forum for communication, and canvassing for
change within and by groups.
 Voluntarism: Another important avenue for providing moral leadership within communities,
by the engineers is to promote services without fee or at reduced fees (pro bono) to the
needy groups. The professional societies can also promote such activities among the
engineers. This type of voluntarism (or philanthropy) has been in practice in the fields of
medicine, law and education. But many of the engineers are not self-employed as in the
case of physicians and lawyers. The business institutions are encouraged to contribute a
percentage of their services as free or at concessional rates for charitable purposes.
 Community service: This is another platform for the engineers to exhibit their moral
leadership. The engineers can help in guiding, organising, and stimulating the community
towards morally- and environmentally-desirable goals. The corporate organizations have
come forward to adopt villages and execute many social welfare schemes, towards this
objective.
MORAL LEADERSHIP
The Codes of Ethics promote and sustain the ethical environment and assist in
achieving the ethical goals in the following manner:
 It creates an environment in a profession, where ethical behaviour is the basic criterion.
 It guides and reminds the person as to how to act, in any given situation.
 It provides support to the individual, who is being pressurized or tortured by a superior
or employer, to behave unethically.
 Apart from professional societies, companies and universities have framed their own
codes of ethics, based on the individual circumstances and specific mission of the
organisations.
 These codes of conduct help in employees’ awareness of ethical issues, establish, and
nurture a strong corporate ethical culture.
THANK YOU