5 Global Issues of Engineering Ethics

5.
GLOBAL ISSUES OF ENGINEERING ETHICS

Multinational Companies
Multinational Companies, also called Transnational Companies are the companies that have
a main branch in a country called the Home country and its other branches in different
companies called the Host countries, as International Labor Organization (ILO) defines
it.There have been instances of corporate and government confrontations when
governments tried to force MNCs to make their intellectual property public in an effort to
gain technology for local entrepreneurs. Such an idea paves way for conflicts where either
the government has changed its rules or the companies have withdrawn their investments.
Multinational corporate lobbying is directed at a range of business concerns, from tariff
structures to environmental regulations. The threat of nationalization or changes in local
business laws and regulations can limit a MNCs power.
Business Ethics
Ethics are the set of rules of conduct that the concerning persons need to abide by. These
ethics when related to the field of business, are called Business Ethics. Business ethics are
similar to professional ethics. Business ethics are related to the aspects of business dealing
with all employees in an ethical manner.
The general business ethics include the following aspects −
• Be it any industry or a corporate office, the infrastructure and the working
environment should be comfortable and encouraging.
• The safety precautions and maintenance of the organization are to be taken care of.
• The work and the skills of the employees are to be identified and encouraged for the
development of the organization.
• A hierarchical procedure is to be followed, maintaining the ethical standards for the
execution of work.
• The product maintenance right from the procurement raw material to the dispatch of
product should be done in a standard procedure uninfluenced by any unethical issues.
• No tolerance should be there for any kind of unethical behavior or influences that
affect the production and organizational standards.
• To encourage the activities that promote social good and are environment-friendly.
Environmental Ethics
Globalization and industrialization have impacted the environment on a very large scale. The
long term effects of the environment are usually neglected unless it is gross and immediate
effect.Engineers need to show some responsibility towards the environment and should be
ethical in their approach and find mitigating solutions for the protection of environment.
Organizations should support the activities that promote environment protection.
The environment ethics include −
• The study of moral issues concerning the environment
• Moral perspectives, beliefs and attitudes concerning those issues..
Computer Ethics
Computers with Internet raise a host of difficult moral issues, many of them connected with
basic moral concerns such as free speech, privacy, respect for property, informed consent
and harm. To evaluate and deal with these issues, a new area of applied ethics called
Computer Ethics has come up. These ethics are related to all the computer professionals such
as programmers, analysts, operators, designers, etc. along with the users.
The ten commandments of Computer Ethics, created in 1992 by the Computer Ethics
Institute consists of the following −
One should never use a computer −
• To harm the people (anti-social activities)
• To interfere with other’s work (illegal manipulations)
• To snoop into other’s files (malware)
• To steal a computer/data (hacking)
• To bear false witness (manipulation and morphing)
• To use/ copy a software you didn’t pay for (like illegal downloads and usages)
• To use or copy other’s software without compensations (illegal pirated versions)
• To use other’s intellectual output inappropriately (violating IPR)
• Doing without thinking of social consequences of the program being written (libeling)
• Always use a computer ensuring consideration and respect towards fellow beings.
However, these ethics are facing lax in today’s world. A very small section of concerned
individuals seems to be following these ethics. A large section seems to be violating these
ethics. With this, there is an unprecedented increase in cybercrime.
Role of Computers in Technological Development
Internet which is now a global network of networks, initially used the infrastructure of the
telephone system and is now being handled by many telecommunication systems by wire,
fiber or wireless systems. The Internet provides a spring of new ways to be in contact with
other people and with sources of information. It has also created greater convenience in
ordering consumer items, paying bills and social experimentstrading stocks and bonds.
The most commonly discussed cases of computer abuse are instances such as −
• The stealing or cheating by employees at work.

• The stealing by non-employees or former employees.
• The stealing from or cheating clients and consumers.
• The violation of contracts for computers sales or services.
• The many conspiracies to use computer networks to engage in widespread fraud.
Alarmingly, the Internet has led to an explosion of identity theft, in which personal
information is obtained and used to forge documents and commit fraud.
Privacy Factors
The misuse of Internet also influences privacy factors. The illegal attackers or hackers get
access to restricted data which is a security threat.
• The inappropriate access which leads to security breach in an office leads to the
leakage of confidential information which might severely affect the growth of the
company.
• The hackers who crack the security and get unauthorized entry into the highly secured
information zone, tend to copy the content or they may change the content, delete the
content or get it affected with virus as soon as the authorized personnel opens the file.
• The different types of viruses such as Trojan Horse, Memory Resident, Overwrite,
Browser Hijacker, Directory Virus, etc. can create instances wherein, the data on
computer system get affected in various ways.
• The legitimate access to information is restricted to protect individual privacy,
national security and freedom within a capitalist economy to protect proprietary
information essential in pursuing corporate goals.
• The Privacy Act of 1947 prohibits the information contained in government files from
being used for purposes beyond those for which it was originally gathered.
Engineers as Managers
An engineer, whether he works individually or works for a company, has to go through some
ethical issues, mostly under conditions such as, conceptualization of a product, issues arising
in design and testing departments, or may be on the issues involving the manufacturing,
sales and services. An Engineer is responsible in promoting ethics in an organization,
through framing organizational policies, responsibilities and by personal attitudes and
obligations. Ethicists project the view that the manager’s responsibility is only to increase
the profit of the organization, and only the engineers have the responsibility to protect the
safety, health, and welfare of the public. But the manager, though an engineer or not, has the
ethical responsibility to produce safe and good products (or useful service), while showing
respect for fellow human beings including his employees, customers and the public. Hence,
the objective for the managers and engineers is to produce valuable products that are also
profitable.
Managing Conflicts
A conflict is a result of differences in opinions. Conflicts generally arise where the work is
shared among more than one members. In fact, the situations of conflicts should be tolerated
with patience, understood impartially and resolved by the participation by all the concerned.
When a project is distributed among a few members, the conflicts that generally occur are −
• The schedule based conflicts might occur at different levels of execution of a project,
depending upon the priorities and limitations at each level.
• The prioritizing of projects or departments which can be arrived from end
requirements may change from time to time.
• The deficiency of personnel availability for certain project completion in due time may
also lead to a conflict.
• Conflicts that occur 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.
Picking out on the personnel creating may keep others away from the problem and doesn’t
affect everyone. Such personnel can be trained again or given precautions. The interest of
the personnel doing a project should be focused on the ethical attitudes and morals but not
on their positions. In addition, the conflicts between the personnel, can be solved by the
manager who has more ways to solve it. The evaluation of the results should be based on
certain specified objectives such as efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction.
There may be various roles or models played by engineers who work as advisors. Let us now
see what the roles or models are −
Hired Guns
This model highlights the client’s wishes and acts accordingly. All the other factors are given
less priority. Assumptions about uncertainties are inclined in a direction favorable to the
client’s case.
Value-Neutral Analysts
This model expresses the idea of being neutral and the avoidance of any form of advocacy
towards anyone. The cost-benefit analyses if made, are to be done according to the value
criteria, explicitly.
Value-Guided Advocates
This model advocates the idea that it is the responsibility of engineers to keep the public
good in mind and maintain honesty about both technical facts and the values that guide their
studies.
Rosemary Tong defends this model noting, “Honesty is essential, both in negative sense of
avoiding deception and in the positive sense of being candid in stating all relevant facts and
in being truthful in how the facts are interpreted.”

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5.

GLOBAL ISSUES OF ENGINEERING ETHICS

• The stealing or cheating by employees at work.

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