Ethics and Social Responsibility

Professional Development

Word Count 3,400

Abstract
Good ethical behavior is the basis on which our societies function. It connects all our relationships whether they are social, community or employment. The Engineers Ireland (EI) code is divided into four parts but these headings are not exclusive to EI and can be found in the Code of Ethics of other professional institutions. These Codes provide a template for the operation of the institution and how it is to conduct its operations in an ethical manner. This behavior can be influenced when self-interest and emotional involvement are threatened by the actions. Our primal instincts of self-preservation influence our decision making. In the case of J&J it is shown how a company under threat from two distinct sources, external and internal, operates in an ethical manner. This behavior is repeated in the space shuttle Challenger case.

Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................... 2 Abbreviations ................................................................................... 3 1. What is Ethics? .............................................................................. 4 1.1 Definition ................................................................................ 4 1.2 Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics ..................................................... 4 1.2.1 Part 1: Relations with Colleagues, Clients, Employers and Society .......... 5 1.2.2 Part 2 : Environmental and Social obligations ................................... 5 1.2.3 Maintenance & Development of Professional Conduct and Standards ........ 6 1.2.4 Enforcement Procedures and Disciplinary Action ................................ 6 2. The Need for Ethics and Social Responsibility .......................................... 6 2.1 Cost V Service ........................................................................... 6 2.2 Emotional Engagement................................................................. 7 2.3 Decision Making. ........................................................................ 8 3. Cases of Good and Bad Ethical Behaviour ............................................... 8 3.1 Johnston & Johnston Tylenol........................................................ 8 3.2 LifeScan SureStep ....................................................................... 9 3.3 A.H. Robins Dalkon Shield ............................................................. 9 4 Space Shuttle Challenger Launch ......................................................... 10 Conclusion ...................................................................................... 11 Bibliography ...................................................................................... 12

Abbreviations
BP CEO EI MT NASA NPD British Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Engineers Ireland Morton-Thiokol National Aeronautics and Space Administration New Product Development 3

1. What is Ethics?
1.1 Definition The Engineering profession likes to categorise topics within clear and defined boundarys and prefer to use mathematical expressions in definitions where there is no room for ambiguity. The definition of ethics introduces a difficulty to this method of thinking as ethics cannot be defined in this manner. It can be defined as a set of principal or moral values but this is open to individual perception as what one individual portrays as moral may not be accepted by another. The definition offered by Nelson and Trevino (1) is that ethics are the principles, norms and standards of conduct governing an individual or group. This definition targets conduct and the individual/group are expected to carry out its business to established guidelines. In the case of groups or associations these guidelines are communicated to their members through the Code of Ethics by either supplying a copy of the document to the particular member or via a training programme. 1.2 Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics The Engineers Ireland Code of Ethics outlines to members, how they are to carry out the duties as a member of the Institution. As a member they are obliged to conduct their business to the guideline in the code. Guidelines exist for integrity, competence, responsibilities and promotion of the profession. These principles are fundamental and are to be found in the Code of Ethics for other non-engineering Professional Associations and Councils such as the Medical Council (2) Institute of Chartered accountants of Ireland (3) . These fundamental principles are required for good management and provide leadership and direction to the governing bodies. These bodies do not operate in a vacuum and their interrelationships with other groups depend on the good ethics. In other words when an engineering company hires an accountancy company to prepare its tax return it expects that it will be treated with the same due diligence that the engineering company affords to its customers. These relationships are recognised and the

within the code as it is divided into four parts with Part 1 dealing with interrelationships with colleagues, clients etc. 1.2.1 Part 1: Relations with Colleagues, Clients, Employers and Society This section indicates in an unambiguous manner how it expects its members to carry out their business. The standards expected are in keeping with what we would expect of normal good citizenship behavior in a first world society. As engineers, members may find themselves working in other parts of the world where standards may be different and the morals up held in our society, are not part of normal culture. In these instances these guidelines provide a structure for good decision making and management. 1.2.2 Part 2 : Environmental and Social obligations The code outlines distinct directives in how the members of the institution are to conduct themselves in regard to matters surrounding the environment and the safety of the public and fellow colleagues. As engineers are trained with a background in science their decision making is factual based. In one of the most recent major environmental disasters, the blow out at The Deepwater Horizon Well in the Gulf of Mexico, the response to the media by the then BP Chief Executive Mr Tony Hayward an engineer, displayed the characteristics of his profession by giving the direct facts of the case to the media. His media performance was not welcomed by BP and was subsequently replaced by Bob Dudley. The different approach to the media by Dudley, who portrayed that BP was on top of the problem, stemmed the anger of the shareholders. (4) This case is similar to the response of Exxon in the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.Exxon image was badly damaged and Exxon CEO Lawrence Rawls also an engineer, whose media performances appeared to slow and dispassionate (1) . Both of these cases highlight the obligations placed upon these professionals by their relevant institutions. They behaved in a factual manner to the media and told it as it was which is not what the parent companies or shareholders needed to hear. It was what the public wanted to hear- the truth.

1.2.3 Maintenance & Development of Professional Conduct and Standards The terms of the code in relation to conduct and standards are not unique to the Engineering profession. As outlined earlier these standards are expected in all walks of life and is the base on which all our relationships are built. EI provide guidelines and rules in order to control the behavior of its members. This control leads to a stronger unified organization as it reduces the risk of members heading off on a tangent with that may impact on the institution. This part of the code encourages members to strengthen the association encouraging others to join and indicates a willingness to partake in education and in the promotion of the profession. In this manner the standards will be maintained and the association will be held in the high status that it seeks. 1.2.4 Enforcement Procedures and Disciplinary Action In order to ensure that its rules and guidelines are adhered to all organisations and association no matter what their background must have disciplinary procedures. Discipline is important and the sanction must not be influenced by the standing of the offender within the organisation. The responsibility of ensuring that the standards are being met rests with the Ethics Board. It functions are clearly defined and this part is the largest part of the Code of Ethics. The procedures in dealing with a breach of the Code are well set out and with areas such as investigation, sanctions and appeal well covered. Unless sanctions are truly delivered then the code will breakdown. If one considers the recent banking crisis in Ireland. The bankers operated their banks in an unethical manner but yet they have to receive sanction. Similarly in the health service where a failure has happened the results of any inquiry have found systemic failure and not failure on the part of any particular individual. In cases like these, this behaviour leads to is public cynicism in the organisation.

2. The Need for Ethics and Social Responsibility

2.1 Cost V Service In the NPD process the design engineer may be far removed from the end user of the product, thus they may never meet. The standards used by the engine in the design will impact on this end user. They are linked by the ethical decisions taken in the 6

decision stage. Cases such as the Ford Pinto fuel tank highlight such scenarios. In the design stage the engineer may be under pressure to build a product as economic as possible which may increase risk of failure to the ultimate user. This may not have a huge impact if for instance, the product failure will not impact on human life such as a defective mobile phone housing but poses a different set of questions if the product is for instance an airplane wing. The design engineer will be under pressure to design a product that can be manufactured at the lowest cost. The ethical question posed at this stage is will he use inferior materials of reduce the factors of safety to a minimum level this using lighter components. The balance between cost and service should be met with the ultimate safety and wellbeing of the end user but at price that is economic. Sure cars could be built of far superior materials and safety systems far and beyond what is required but no one could afford them. Similarly design compromises can lead to failure rather that poor construction practice such as the failure of the levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina (5) . There is conflict of interest between cost and service and failure to compromise on the design to reduce cost when instructed by an employer could result in the engineer getting the sack. This situations call for moral judgement on the part of the employee and could entice them to enact the whistleblower act on the employer. 2.2 Emotional Engagement As stated the link between the engineer and the end user of a product may only be an ethical one where the consumer trust that the engineer as designed the product to such a standard that it will not cause harm or fail. For the engineer he has invested himself into the creditability of this product. The decision that are made at the design stage affect the end user and while there is no emotional link between the two groups the ethical decisions regarding the component used and products construction will impact on the user. This emotion moral dilemma is discussed by Dunbar (6)where he sets out the scenario of the runaway train, the bystander at the diverting switch, the homeless man sleeping on the train tracks and the fat man. There are seven workers on the rail line and to save them the bystander is given two choices. He either A diverts the train and kills the man sleeping on the track or he throws the fat man onto the track to divert the train. In the case of the former choice he can pull 7

the lever and walk away and the man sleeping on the track will be unaware what is happening, while the later requires direct personal involvement. When Dunbar posed this question what would you do to people on the street most were happy to take the first choice as it lacked personal intervention. This moral dilemma is similar to the design engineer that has compromises to make for cost reasons. This is where the guidelines in ethics can help support the engineer in his decision making. 2.3 Decision Making. The way that humans process information is a combination of affective reaction and logical controlled processing in order to come to decisions. Dunbar commented that ethical decision making in professional bodies often involve a conflict between selfinterest and professional responsibilities, with self-interest engaging an affective response whereas the later requires a logical process. (6) If there is conflict between the two responses then it is likely that as self-interest is linked to our survival instincts it will win over and lead to unethical behavior. The emotional engagement that has evolved with our species could be seen to protect or assist someone that has decisions to make that involve conflict and uncertainty; equally it can protect the self-interest leading to unprofessional or unethical decisions being made.

3. Cases of Good and Bad Ethical Behaviour

3.1 Johnston & Johnston Tylenol In their book Trevino and Nelson present several case studies in ethical behaviour. In the case of the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnston whose reaction when their product Tylenol was sabotaged with cyanide, J&J set the standard of how to behave in an ethical manner. From the outset the company took control and removed all products from the shelves in the local area and then a nationwide recall with retail value of $31 million. The management of Johnston and Johnson were made available for interview by the media. In the media they outlined the importance of the customers and refused to dodge the responsibility even though the contamination was not caused by them.

Lessons learned in this case were far reaching in the industry as newly designed packaging to reduce the risk of product interference became an industry standard and the company CEO James Burke became renowned for his concern in ethical issues. In the Tylenol case the company were not responsible for the defective /sabotaged product. It wasnt a defect caused by them so they could go out all guns blazing on the offensive and tackle the issue head on. While the product and the customers were theirs, the company still had no emotional or self-interest in the failure of the product. As outline earlier when there is no self-interest or emotional involvement the ethical standards will be raised. 3.2 LifeScan SureStep In the other case presented on J&J their reaction is completely different. In this instance a product developed by their sub division company Lifespan, SureStep a device for monitoring glucose levels in diabetic was shown to be defective and caused the death of at least three customers. In this case the company were not as transparent about the defects and didnt disclose the information regarding the defects to the FDA. They were subsequently found guilty of criminal charges and paid $60 million in fines. In this case as the defects in the product were caused by the company, they had an emotional connection and self-interest to protect. This can be presented as the reason for a different reaction as the company attempted to protect itself. The companys response, when defective products are presented to customers from two different sources, can be influenced by the source of the defect. It is a good example of this theory that ethical decisions are affected by our emotional involvement and protection of self-interest as outlined by Dunbar. 3.3 A.H. Robins Dalkon Shield In this case which is similar to that of the SureStep where a defective device was sold to customers. In this case however the company Robins didnt develop the product but bought the rights to it. The product was an IUD with the brand name Dalkon Shield. The product had under gone very little testing when it was launched onto the market in 1975.Robins became aware early on that there was problem with the device and alerted 120,000 doctors to the danger, by this stage 4 million devices were sold worldwide. It didnt recall the product until 1984 when it had caused the 9

death of fifteen women, 60,000 miscarriages and birth defects in hundreds of children. (1) The company reacted by destroying test data, presenting falsified medical data and denied any knowledge of the dangers when questioned under oath. The company set up a fund of $615 million to deal with claims but this proved in adequate and the eventually the company were declared bankrupt in late 1985. This is another case where the companys self-interest, in this case, its investment is protected. In order to protect this self-interest it behaved in an unethical manner.

4 Space Shuttle Challenger Launch

The decision to launch the Space shuttle Challenger posed ethical issues on both sides- MT, the company responsible for the design and manufacture of the rocket boosters and NASA. The MT engineers that presented the test data to the group teleconference meeting displayed typical engineering principles that they had gained in their training. This was to present the data as they saw it, similar to the BP CEO Tony Hayward in the Gulf of Mexico. At the teleconference the day before the launch MT engineers expressed their fears that the O rings would fail at the low temperature and presented evidence to support their claim. There had been a previous failure to launch this mission and the NASA officials were under pressure from the political sources to proceed with this launch. This was in order to gain further support for the shuttle programme. NASA was unhappy with the MT recommendation and asked the company to prove it was unsafe rather than it was safe to launch. The engineers at MT knew that there was an inherent risk to the crew and the programme should a launch proceed. The decision to break into a smaller group and exclude those that were presenting the argument not to launch meant that the decision would be based not on the scientific data and facts but on the impact on the future of MT and their positions at the head of the company. At no point in the decision process were those directly involved the crew asked for their opinion. This poses a similarity to the design engineer who is asked to comprise on a design by an employer for commercial reasons and who is linked only by his ethical decisions to the end user, who in this case were the space shuttle crew who ultimately had the most to lose. As components of the process the engineers who had doubts over the design and the crew book ended the case. In the middle was MT and NASA but financial gain was at stake rather than loss of life. The NASA official put the MT 10

management under severe pressure and this indicated by NASA posing the satirical and rather flippant question ,when you want me to launch , next April, knowing that MT were questioning the safety of the design. This smaller management looked narrowly at the data trying to find the answer they wanted. This is typical behaviour as people will analyse the situation to their benefit. The Senior Vice President in MT Jerry Mason had started to condition the situation in the early in the group discussion stage and stated that a management decision was necessary. (6) He dominated the small group and he forced the last one of the four to decide by requesting that he should remove his engineering hat and put on a management hat again a similarity to the BP case. When faced with the decision to launch or not, the information that they had was interpreted in a manner to come to the decision that they needed. This decision brings us back to the self-interest situation posed earlier. It was in the self-interest of this group to proceed despite the dangers that it posed on others. The decision would lead to anger on the part of the MT engineers that disapproved the launch as they would be linked with the disaster but were removed from the decision, despite following the ethical reasoning and linking themselves to the end user while the management group linked themselves to their end user NASA.

Conclusion
As human beings we all strive to behave in an ethical manner. In the first world cultures this behaviour is typified by the basic principles of integrity, a responsibility to clients, employers, employees and customers. We are expected to maintain professional conduct and confidentiality and promote the profession and its practitioners. Using this template, social groups, individuals, companies and society can interrelate in a manner which upholds moral standards. This standard can be threatened when judgements may become skewed due to self-interest or emotional involvement. We have seen in our case study of J&J how their ethical behaviour changed when their self-interest was under threat.

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Bibliography
1. Nelson, K and Trevino, L. Managing Business Ethics. [ed.] L Bishop. 3rd. Hoboken : John Wiley & Sons, 2004. 0-471-22293-3. 2. Irish Medical Council. GUIDE TO PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ETHICS FOR REGISTERED MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS. 2009. 3. Institute of Chartered Accountants of Iteland. Code of Ethics. 2006. 4. The Money Programme -The $30 Billion Blow Out. BBC, 2010. 5. Engineering Ethics:A system Dynamics Approach. Geistauts, G, Baker, E and Eschenbach, T. 3, Sept 2008, Engineering Managment Journal, Vol. 20, pp. 21-28. 6. Emotional Engagement in Professional Ethics. Dunbar, W. 4, 2005, Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol. Volume 11.

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