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UNIT-1 HUMAN VALUES

Morals, values and Ethics – Integrity – Work ethic – Service learning – Civic virtue –
Respect for others – Living peacefully – Caring – Sharing – Honesty – Courage –Valuing
time – Cooperation – Commitment – Empathy – Self confidence – Character –Spirituality –
Introduction to Yoga and meditation for professional excellence and stress Management

1. What are the general characteristics of values? (NOV/DEC 2017, APRIL/MAY 2016)

o A value is defined as a principle that promotes well-being or prevents harm.”

Another definition is: Values are our guidelines for our success—our paradigm about
what is acceptable.”
o Personal values are defined as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as
particularly favourable or important for the individual.” Our values associate
emotions to our experiences and guide our choices, decisions and actions.
o 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.

2. What are the two important ways of building Courage? (NOV/DEC 2017)
Courage is the tendency to accept and face risks and difficult tasks in rational ways. Self-
confidence is the basic requirement to nurture courage. Courage is classified into three types, based
on the types of risks, namely:
o Physical courage
o Social courage
o Intellectual courage.

3. Define the term Service Learning (APRIL/MAY 2017)

o Service learning refers to learning the service policies, procedures, norms, and
conditions, other than ‘the technical trade practices’.
o The service learning includes the characteristics of the work, basic requirements,
security of the job, and awareness of the procedures, while taking decisions and
actions.
o It helps the individuals to interact ethically with colleagues, to effectively coordinate
with other departments, to interact cordially with suppliers as well as the customers,
and to maintain all these friendly interactions.

4. What are the human values in engineering ethics? (NOV/DEC 2016)

The five core human values are:
(1) Right conduct, (2) Peace, (3) Truth, (4) Love, and (5) Non-violence

5. List out ant two aspects of honesty. (NOV/DEC 2016)

Honesty is a virtue, and it is exhibited in two aspects namely,
(i) Truthfulness (ii) Trustworthiness.
Truthfulness is to face the responsibilities upon telling truth. One should keep one’s word or
promise. But trustworthiness is maintaining integrity and taking responsibility for persona
performance.
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6. What is meant self confidence? (APRIL/MAY 2016)

Or
Define the term self confidence. How is it related to character development (NOV/DEC 2018)
Self-confidence is positive attitude, wherein the individual has some positive and realistic
view of himself, with respect to the situations in which one gets involved. The self-confidence in a
person develops a sense of partnership, respect, and accountability, and this helps the organization to
obtain maximum ideas, efforts, and guidelines from its employees.
The people with self-confidence have the following characteristics:
A self-assured standing,
Willing to listen to learn from others and adopt (flexibility),
Frank to speak the truth, and
respect others’ efforts and give due credit.

7. Define moral values with examples. (APRIL/MAY 2015, NOV/DEC 13, APRIL/MAY 2017)
o Moral issues are those when the engineer deliberately takes a wrong decision
motivated by some self- interest like wanting higher profit to the company or
accepting a bribe or any form of corruption.
o Moral values are the welfare principles enunciated by the wise people, based on their
experience and wisdom. They were edited, changed or modified or evolved to suit the
geography of the region, rulers (dynasty), and in accordance with development of
knowledge in science and technology and with time.
o For eg: Personal values are defined as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as
particularly favourable or important for the individual.”

8. List the factors that enhance the self-confidence in a person. (APRIL/MAY 2015)
o Self-confidence relates to self-assuredness in one's personal judgment, ability, power,
etc., sometimes manifested excessively.
o Being confident in yourself is infectious if you present yourself well, others will want
to follow in your foot steps towards success.
o Promise yourself, no matter how difficult the problem life throws at you, that you
will try as hard as you can to help yourself. You acknowledge that sometimes your
efforts to help yourself may not result in success, as often being properly rewarded is
not in your control.
9. Define the terms honesty and moral leadership. (APRIL/MAY 2015)
Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as
integrity, truthfulness, straightforwardness, including straightforwardness of conduct, along with the
absence of lying, cheating, theft, etc
Moral leadership: Honesty, Humility, and Courage

10. What is mean by civic virtue and how is it related to respect for others? (APR/MAY 2018)
Civic virtue is the moral under pinning of how a citizen behaves and is involved in society. It is a
standard of righteous behaviour in relation to a citizens’ involvement in society.
A individual may exhibit civic virtue by voting, volunteering and organizing other community
activities.
Without an understanding of civic virtue, citizens are less likely to look beyond their families,
friends and economic interests.
Related ideas for civic virtue are citizenship, philanthropy, public good, voluntarism and social
capitalism

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11. What are the qualities of moral leadership? (APR/MAY 2011)

Integrity
Selfless service
Decision making
Personal values

12. Define the term Empathy and how is it related to Emotional Quotient. (APR/MAY 2018)
 Empathy is the "capacity" to share and understand another’s "state of mind" or emotion. It is
often characterized as the ability to “put oneself into another’s shoes”, or in some way
experience the outlook or emotions of another being within oneself. Empathy is a powerful
communication skill that is often misunderstood and under used.
 Emotional Intelligence (EI), often measured as an Emotional Intelligence Quotient (EQ),
describes a concept that involves the ability, capacity, skill or a self-perceived ability, to
identify, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups.
There are five components of emotional intelligence
1. Self-awareness - understanding your strengths and limitations
2. Self-regulation - effectively managing your emotions
3. Motivation - your drive to work and succeed
4. Empathy - your ability to see the world from others’ perspectives
5. Social skills- how you communicate and engage with others
So, empathy is a component of emotional intelligence which understanding their viewpoint and how
they feel about this.

13. What is mean by Integrity? How it is related to work ethics. (NOV/DEC 2018)
o Integrity is one of the fundamental values that employers seek in the employees that
they hire. It is the hallmark of a person who demonstrates sound moral and ethical
principles at work.
o Integrity is the foundation on which co-workers build relationships, trust, and
effective interpersonal relationships.
o Integrity is used to refer to people who act in ways that are consistent with their
own code of principles.
o Work ethic is not just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues, whose
crucial role in the development and sustaining of free markets
o Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may be regarded as failing to
provide fair value for the wage the employer is paying them and should not be
promoted or placed in positions of greater responsibility.

14. Define Anthropology?

Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. Anthropologists take a broad
approach to understanding the many different aspects of the human experience, which we call
holism. They consider the past, through archaeology, to see how human groups lived hundreds or
thousands of years ago and what was important to them.

15. Define natural character

o The natural character of an area is the natural qualities and features of that area
(as opposed to artificial features such as roads and buildings).
o ‘Natural character’ describes: Natural features – including landforms, plants and
animal.
o Physical and biological processes – including sediment movement, waves, currents,
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changes in the plants and animals. values – spiritual, cultural, scientific and visual.
o Natural character covers the range from undeveloped, mainly natural, environments
(which have high natural character) to highly developed and built environments (little
natural character).

16. Draw the origin stress management

17. Define work Ethics.(APR -2019)

By one’s work one cannot harm others. Any worker cannot escape accountability. Worker
has the moral responsibility to see that no other person’s right, private or freedom is impaired or
transgressed.

18. Define spirituality. ( APR-2019,NOV- 2015)

Spirituality raises a man above the materialistic world into a realm where he seeks
peace and real happiness. Spirituality is a broad term threat refers to the way of living. It
emphasizes a constant awareness of the spiritual dimension of nature.

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PART-B

1. What is service learning? Why service learning is important? Explain the Characteristics of
Service Learning.(NOV/DEC 2017)
(OR)
What is service learning? Discuss its role in caring and sharing in society with suitable
example.
(NOV/DEC 2018)

 Service-Learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community

service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic
responsibility, and strengthen communities.
 Through service-learning, young people—from kindergarteners to college students use what
they learn in the classroom to solve real-life problems.
 They not only learn the practical applications of their studies, they become actively
contributing citizens and community members through the service they perform.

 Service-learning can be applied in a wide variety of settings, including schools, universities,

and community-based and faith-based organizations.
 It can involve a group of students, a classroom or an entire school.
 Students build character and become active participants as they work with others in their
school and community to create service projects in areas such as education, public safety,
and the environment.
 University students in Michigan looked for ways to support struggling local non-profit
organizations during difficult economic times.
 Graduate communication students honed their skills while providing a wide variety of public
relations services with community partners, including developing press kits and managing
event coordination.
 Service-learning is an education and youth development strategy that connects learning
objectives with meaningful service to the community.
 Students build civic, leadership, and academic skills while strengthening communities
through service.
 Benefits include improved academic achievement, increased student engagement and civic
skills, and stronger communities.

Why is service learning important?

Growing body of research recognise so slowly as an effective strategy to help the students by
1. Promoting learning through active participation in service experiences
2. Providing structure time for students to reflect by thinking and writing about their service
experience
3. Wedding an opportunity for students to use skills and knowledge in real life situations
4. Extending learning beyond the classroom and into the community
5. Fostering a sense of caring for others
Service learning also strengthens both education and local communities by
1. Building effective collaborative partnership between schools or colleges other Institutions and
organisations
2. Engaging parents and other adults in supporting student learning
3. Meeting community needs through the service projects conducted and
4. Providing in teaching and productive opportunities for young people to work with others in
their community.
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Characteristics of service learning

The important characteristics of service learning are given below
1. Service learning links to academic content and Standards
2. Animals young people in helping to determine and meet real define community needs
3. What is reciprocal in nature benefiting both the community service providers by combining a
service experience with your learning experience
4. It can be used in any subject areas so long as it is appropriate to learning goal
5. Stitch works at all ages even among young children
6. It is positive meaningful and real to the participants
7. Which animals Cooperative rather than competitive experiences and that promotes skills
associated with the team work and community involvement and citizenship
8. It offers powerful opportunities to acquire the habits of critical thinking the ability to identify
the most important questions are issues within a real-world situation

Examples of Service-Learning
The following are examples of service-learning projects from universities across the country.
 Communications students preparing public relations materials for non-profit organizations.
 Education students providing after school tutoring with at-risk students.
 Engineering students collaborating with elementary school students to design and construct
environmentally sensitive playgrounds.
 Social work and Psychology students researching, designing, and implementing effective
group interventions for first-time teen offenders in a Teen Court program.
 English Composition students preparing newsletters for local non-profits and public schools.
 Accounting students offering free tax preparation assistance to low-income clients.
 Economics students providing data analysis for non-profit organizations.
 Public Administration students preparing grant proposals for community organizations.

2. Define Empathy. State and explain the Elements, Benefits of empathy and compare
empathy
with sympathy.(NOV/DEC 2017)
(OR)
What is Empathy? Discuss its role in the spiritual development for excellence in an
organization with suitable examples. (NOV/DEC 2018)

Definition
o Empathy is defined as the ability to imagine oneself in another's place and understand
the others feeling, desires, ideas and actions. Empathy is closely related to the ability
to read others people's emotions.
o Empathy is social radar. Sensing what others feel about, without their open talk, is
the essence of empathy. Empathy begins with showing concern, and then obtaining
and understanding the feelings of others, from others’ point of view.
o It is also defined as the ability to put one’s self into the psychological frame or
reference or point of view of another, to know what the other person feels.
o It includes the imaginative projection into other’s feelings and understanding of
other’s background such parentage, physical and mental state, economic situation,
and association. This is an essential ingredient for good human relations and
transactions.
Empathy Characteristics

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1.Understanding others: It means sensing others feelings and perspectives, and taking active
interest in their welfare.
2. Service orientation: It is anticipation, recognition and meeting the needs of the clients or
customers.
3.Developing others: This means identification of their needs and bolstering their abilities. In
developing others, the one should inculcate in him the ‘listening skill’ first. Communication = 22%
reading and writing + 23% speaking + 55% listening
One should get the feedback, acknowledge the strength and accomplishments, and then
coach the individual, by informing about what was wrong, and giving correct feedback and positive
expectation of the subject’s abilities and the resulting performance.
4.Leveraging diversity (opportunities through diverse people): This leads to enhanced
organizational learning, flexibility, and profitability.
5.Political awareness: It is the ability to read political and social currents in an organization.

Elements of empathy
 Empathy must incorporate the following elements
 Imagination which is dependent on the ability to imagine
 The existence of an accessible self (self awareness or self consciousness)
 The existence for an available other( other awareness, recognising the outside world)
 Existence of accessible feelings, ideas,desires and representation of actions or there comes
both in the empathizing self and in other the object of empathy
 Availability of an aesthetic frame of reference
 Availability of a moral frame of reference
Comparison of Empathy with Sympathy
o Empathy and sympathy are very close and sometimes used as synonyms.
o The easiest way to separate them is to remember the input is about feelings whilst sympathy
is about actions.
o Thus you may empathize with another person and then act on this by telling them how happy
you feel for them.
o Empathetic people are often very sympathetic. They can hardly stop themselves as they
really do feel for the other person .Sharing of the painful feeling of another person is
characteristics of both sympathy and empathy.
o However the person using sympathy would be more attention to the pain than to the love for
the father whereas person using empathy would be equal attention to the pain and love.
o 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.

Benefits of Empathy
The value of empathy comes not from understanding other person's feelings, but what you do as a
result of this. Empathy has many benefits As given below:
1.Empathy connects people together:
When you empathize with me , my sense of Identity is connected to yours. As a result I feel greater
in some way and less alone. I may well., as a result, also start to empathize more with you.
2. Empathy heals :
It can be a very healing experience for someone to empathize with you.
Someone effectively says i care for you, it also says I can do that, I can card for myself.
3. Empathy builds trust :

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Empathy displayed can be surprising and confusing. When not expected, which can initially cause
suspicion , between sustained it is difficult not to appreciate the concern. Empathy thus quickly
leads to trust.
4. Empathy closes the loop
Consider what would happens if you had no idea what the other person felt virtual
communications to them.
You might say something, they hated it, and you continued as if they understood and
agreed. The more you can empathize, the more you can get immediate feedback on what they are
experiencing of your communications with them.
And as a consequence, you can change what you are saying and doing to get them to
fail what you want them to feel.
Empathy helps to understand others better this is the way to make healing relationship,
if you pay too much attention to yourself and your impact on the others you have a very limited
perspective that will not help you with your relationship. Also empathy is far more effective when it
is offered, as opposed do when people ask for empathy.
Empathy also has benefits as
 Good customer relations (in sales and service, in partnering).
 Harmonious labour relations (in manufacturing).
 Good vendor-producer relationship (in partnering.)Through the above three, we can
maximize the output and profit, as well as minimizing the loss. While dealing with customer
complaints, empathy is very effective in realizing the unbiased views of others and in
admitting one’s own limitations and failures.
Empathy is often confused with pity, sympathy, and compassion, which are each
reactions to the plight of others. Pity is a feeling of discomfort at the distress of one or more sentient
beings, and often has paternalistic or condescending overtones.
Implicit in the notion of pity is that its object does not deserve its plight, and,
moreover, is unable to prevent, reverse, or overturn it. Pity is less engaged than empathy, sympathy,
or compassion, amounting to little more than a conscious acknowledgement of the plight of its
object.

Spirituality for Corporate Excellence

The spiritual traits to be developed for excellence in corporate activities are listed as follows:
1. Self-awareness — Realization of self-potential. A human has immense capability but It
needs to be developed.
2. Alertness in observation and quickness in decision making, i.e., spontaneity which includes
quick reflexes, no delay but also no hasty decisions.
3. Being visionary and value based — This includes an attitude towards future of the
organization and the society, with clear objectives.
4. Holism — Whole system or comprehensive views and interconnected with different aspects.
Holistic thinking, which means the welfare of the self, family, organization and the society including
all other living beings and environment.
5. Compassion — Sympathy, empathy and concern for others. These are essential for not only
building the team but also for its effective functioning.
6. Respect for diversity — It means search for unity in diversity i.e., respect others and their
views.
7. Moral Autonomy — It means action based on rational and moral judgment. One need not
follow the crowd or majority i.e., band-wagon effect.
8. Creative thinking and constant reasoning — Think if we can do something new and if we
can improve further?
9. Ability to analyze and synthesize — Refrain from doing something only traditional.
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10. Positive views of adversity — Make adversities one’s source of power—a typical
Karmayogi’s outlook! Every threat is converted into opportunity.
11. Humility — The attitude to accept criticism (it requires courage!) and willing to correct. It
includes modesty and acknowledging the work of colleagues.
12. Sense of vocation — Treat the duty as a service to society, besides your organization.

3. Explain the scope and importance of professional ethics in engineering (APR/MAY 2017)
Scope:
 Engineering is transforming science into useful products for human comfort. Engineering is
something that engineers do, and what they do has profound effects on others.
 Ethics in engineering then is the ability as well as responsibility of an engineer to judge his
decisions from the context of the general wellbeing of the society.
 It is the study of moral issues that confront engineers and engineering organizations when
some crucial decisions are taken.
 Engineering research and practice requires that the task being performed considers all the
pros and cons of a certain action and its implementation.
 Professional engineering bodies like IEEE, ASME, IEI etc., have evolved comprehensive
ethics codes relevant to their respective professions, based on the rich experience of their
members.
 Independent organizations like NSPE have prepared value based ethical codes applicable to
all engineering professions.
 Teaching engineering ethics in academic institutions is undertaken largely through many
case studies for creating awareness interactively among engineering students of all
disciplines.
 By studying engineering ethics, the students develop awareness and assessment skill of the
likely impact of their future decisions on moral and ethical grounds.
Ethical standards in engineering are influenced by many factors:
 Engineering as an experimentation for the good of mankind is a notable factor involving far
reaching consequence,
 Ethical dilemmas make engineering decisions relatively difficult to make.
 Risk and safety of citizens as a social responsibility is a prime concern of an engineer,
 Technological advancement can be very demanding on the engineering skill in the global
context
 Moral values and responsible conduct will play a crucial role in decision making.
 The study of engineering ethics within an engineering program helps students prepare for
their professional lives.
 A specific advantage for engineering students who learn about ethics is that they develop
clarity in their understanding and thought about ethical issues and the practice in which they
arise.
 The study of ethics helps students to develop widely applicable skills in communication,
reasoning and reflection. These skills enhance students' abilities and help them engage with
other aspects of the engineering program such as group work and work placements.

Professional ethics
 Profession is a commitment to a designated and organized occupation by virtue of being an
authority over a body of knowledge with requisite skills acquired through specialized
training.
 An occupation becomes a profession when a group of people sharing the same occupation
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work together in a morally acceptable way with members setting and following a certain
ethics code.
 A professional is a practitioner belonging to a specific profession. Professional ethics, as
opposed to personal values and morality, is a set of ethical standards and values a practicing
engineer is required to follow. It sets the standards for professional practice, and is only
learned in a professional school or while practicing ones own profession.
 Today, it is an essential part of professional education because it helps students deal with
issues they will face.

The scope of engineering ethics envelopes diverse activities like

 Engineering as a social experimentation
 Engineers responsibility for safety
 Role of engineers, managers, consultants etc.
 Rights of engineers
 Moral reasoning and ethical theories
 Responsibility to employers
 Global issues and concerns

The best way to teach engineering ethics is by using case studies—not just the disaster cases
that make the news, but the kinds of cases that an engineer is more likely to encounter.
If the subject of professional ethics is how members of a profession should, or should not,
affect others in the course of practicing their profession, then engineering ethics is an
essential aspect of engineering itself and education in professional responsibilities should be
part of professional education in engineering, just as it is in law and medicine
Professional Codes of Ethics
 A code of ethics prescribes how professionals are to pursue their common ideal so that each
may do the best at a minimal cost to oneself and those they care about.
 The code is to protect each professional from certain pressures (for example, the pressure to
cut corners to save money) by making it reasonably likely (and more likely then otherwise)
that most other members of the profession will not take advantage.
 A code is a solution to a coordination problem. A professional has obligations to the
employer, to customers, to other professionals- colleagues with specific expectations of
reciprocity.
Individual Responsibility:
An individual in his professional capacity has responsibility for the regular tasks he is
assigned, for the outcomes of the actions and decisions.
A professional is answerable and liable for the actions. He should have the capacity and
moral strength to defend his actions/decisions.
Individuals may fail for one or the other of the following reasons:
1. failure to meet minimum appropriate standards or falling very much below expectations due to
negligence,
2. deliberate underperformance

4. Explain character and spirituality and their importance in ethics? (APR/MAY 2016)
(OR)
What is spirituality? What are the spiritual traits to be developed for excellence in an
organization? Discuss with suitable example. (APR/MAY 2018)

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Character
It is a characteristic property that defines the behaviour of an individual.
It is the pattern of virtues (morally-desirable features).
Character includes attributes that determine a person’s moral and ethical actions and responses.
It is also the ground on which morals and values blossom.
People are divided into several categories, according to common tendencies such as ruthless,
aggressiveness, and ambition, constricting selfishness, stinginess, or cheerfulness, generosity and
goodwill.
Individuals vary not only in the type of their character but also in the degree. Those whose lives
are determined and directed by the prevailing habits, fashions, beliefs, attitudes, opinions and values
of the society in which they live have at best a developed social as opposed to an individual
character.
The character is exhibited through conduct. Character is determined by the expectations of
society. Many act and live within its norms, refusing to fall below the required social minimum,
failing to rise above the maximum expected of a normal member of the group.
On one extreme are those that do not even conform to the minimum standards, and fail to
acquire the socially-required behaviours, attitudes and values. These individuals have an unformed
social character. At the other extreme are those whose beliefs, attitudes and values are determined
internally by the strength of their own convictions. These are individuals with developed minds and
formed characters of their own.
Character is the expression of the personality of a human being, and that it reveals itself in one’s
conduct. In this sense every human has a character.
At the same time only human beings, not animals have character: it implies rationality. But in
addition to this usage, the term is also employed in a narrower sense, as when we speak of a person
“of character”.

The Four Temperaments

 The original endowment or native element in character with which the individual starts life is
practically identical with what the Ancients recognized as temperament.
 Although our original temperament is given to us independently of our will by heredity, we play
an important part in molding our character, and we thus become responsible for certain ethical
qualities in it.
o Character has been defined as “natural temperament completely fashioned by the will”.
o It is, in fact, a resultant of our acquired habits with our original disposition.
o The regular use of the intellect, the controlled activity of the imagination, the practice of
judgment and reflection, all contribute to the formation and refinement of habits of mind.
o The frequent indulgence in particular forms of emotion, such as anger, envy, sympathy,
melancholy, fear, and the like, fosters tendencies towards these sentiments which give a
subconscious bent to a large part of man’s behaviour.
o But finally, the exercise of the will plays the predominant role in moulding the type of
character. The manner and degree in which currents of thought and waves of emotion are initiated,
guided, and controlled by the will, or allowed to follow the course of spontaneous impulse, has more

Types of Character
From the four fundamental temperaments, various classifications of character have been adopted
by different psychologists. M. Ribot, with more subjective division and excluding indefinite types as
‘Characterless’, recognizes the forms as:
(a) the sensitive (humble, contemplative and emotional),
(b) the active (great and the mediocre)
(a) the apathetic (purely apathetic or dull)
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Ethics and Character

o Whilst psychology investigates the growth of different types of character, ethics
considers the relative value of such types and the virtues which constitute them. The
problem of the true moral ideal is a question of the relative value of different types of
character.
o The effect on the person’s character of a particular form of conduct is a universally
accepted as a test of its moral quality. Different systems of ethics emphasize different
virtues in constituting the ideal moral character.
o With the utilitarian, who places the ethical end in the maximum happiness for the
whole community, benevolence will form the primary element in the ideal character.
For the stoic, fortitude and self-control are the chief excellences.

Education and Character

o The aim of education is not only the cultivation of the intellect but also the formation
of moral character. Increased intelligence or physical skill may as easily be employed
to the detriment or benefit of the community, if not accompanied by improved will.
o It is the function of ethics to determine the ideals of human character. The theory and
science of education are to study the processes by which that end may be attained.

Building Character in the Workplace

Managers have to influence and employ creative means of stressing the importance of good
character in the workplace, in the following ways:

1. Employee Hiring, Training, and Promotion Activities

(a) Institute and adopt an organization policy statement to positive character in the
workplace. For example, commitment to civility pledges. This may be communicated through
printing on the back of the business cards of the employees.
(b) during interviews and in the hiring deliberations. Emphasize the importance of character
and adherence to the ‘six pillars’ of character in orientation, initial job training, and during in-
service training.
The six pillars of character are the ethical values, such as: trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Respect means showing high regard for self, others,
authority, property and country. It includes showing appreciation for cultural diversity by valuing all
people as human beings.

2. Internal Communication
Use internal communication channels to create a friendly environment that praises positive role
modelling at the workplace and in the community by encouraging voluntarism, and mentoring,
e.g., through
(a) Internal newsletters
(b) Workplace posters in canteens and recreation rooms,
(c) Mailers, and
(d) Electronic mails.

3. External Communication
In relations with customers, vendors and others, consciously communicate affirming messages about
character and ethics, such as
(a) Advertise and market honouring consensual values (the six pillars), Assure that none
of your products and services undermines character
(b) building,
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(c) Include positive messages about voluntarism and celebrate, and

(d) ‘Character counts’ week in advertising, billings and other mailers.

4.Financial and Human Resources

Support local and national ‘character’ projects and the activities of the members by encouraging.
staff members to get involved. Offer incentives such as paying employees for the time they
contribute at a local youth-service organization. Sponsor ‘character’ movement through financial
support.

5. Community Outreach
Building approach
Encourage educational and youth organizations to become active in character building. Use
corporate influence to encourage business groups (chambers of commerce
Conference
boards, and Rotary clubs) and other companies to support ‘character’ building.
Spirituality
Spirituality is a way of living that emphasizes the constant awareness and recognition of the
spiritual dimension (mind and its development) of nature and people, with a dynamic balance
between the material development and the spiritual development.

This is said to be the great virtue of Indian philosophy and for Indians. Sometimes, spirituality
includes the faith or belief in supernatural power/ God, regarding the worldly events. It functions as
a fertilizer for the soil ‘character’ to blossom into values and morals.

Spirituality includes creativity, communication, recognition of the individual as human being (as
opposed to a life-less machine), respect to others, acceptance (stop finding faults with colleagues
and accept them the way they are), vision (looking beyond the obvious and not believing anyone
blindly), and partnership (not being too authoritative, and always sharing responsibility with others,
for better returns).

Spirituality is motivation as it encourages the colleagues to perform better. Remember, lack of

motivation leads to isolation.

Spirituality is also energy: Be energetic and flexible to adapt to challenging and changing
situations. Spirituality is flexibility as well.

One should not be too dominating. Make space for everyone and learn to recognize and accept
people the way they are. Variety is the order of the day. But one can influence their mind to think
and act together.

Spirituality is also fun. Working is okay, but you also need to have fun in office to keep yourself
charged up. Tolerance and empathy are the reflections of spirituality. Blue and saffron colours are
said to be associated with spirituality.

Creativity in spirituality means conscious efforts to see things differently, to break out of habits
and outdated beliefs to find new ways of thinking, doing and being. Suppression of creativity leads
to violence. People are naturally creative. When they are forced to crush their creativity, its energy
turns to destructive release and actions.

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Creativity includes the use of color, humor and freedom to enhance productivity. Creativity is
fun. When people enjoy what they do, it is involvement. They work much harder.

Spirituality in the Workplace

Building spirituality in the workplace: Spirituality is promoted in the workplace by adhering to the
following activities:

1. Verbally respect the individuals as humans and recognize their values in all decisions
and actions.
2. Get to know the people with whom you work and know what is important to them.
Know their goals, desires, and dreams too.
3. State your personal ethics and your beliefs clearly.
4. Support causes outside the business.
5. Encourage leaders to use value-based discretion in making decisions.
6. Demonstrate your own self-knowledge and spirituality in all your actions.
7. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Spirituality for Corporate Excellence

The spiritual traits to be developed for excellence in corporate activities are listed as follows:
1. Self-awareness — Realization of self-potential. A human has immense capability but
it needs to be developed.
2. Alertness in observation and quickness in decision making, i.e., spontaneity which
includes quick reflexes, no delay but also no hasty decisions.
3. Being visionary and value based — This includes an attitude towards future of the
organization and the society, with clear objectives.
4. Holism — Whole system or comprehensive views and interconnected with different
aspects. Holistic thinking, which means the welfare of the self, family, organization and the society
including all other living beings and environment.
5. Compassion — Sympathy, empathy and concern for others. These are essential for not
only building the team but also for its effective functioning.
6. Respect for diversity — It means search for unity in diversity i.e., respect others and
their views.
7. Moral Autonomy — It means action based on rational and moral judgment. One need
not follow the crowd or majority i.e., band-wagon effect.
8. Creative thinking and constant reasoning — Think if we can do something new and
if we can improve further?
9. Ability to analyze and synthesize — Refrain from doing something only traditional.
10. Positive views of adversity — Make adversities one’s source of power—a typical
Karma yogi’s outlook! Every threat is converted into opportunity.
11. Humility — The attitude to accept criticism (it requires courage!) and willing to
correct. It includes modesty and acknowledging the work of colleagues.
12. Sense of vocation — Treat the duty as a service to society, besides your organization.

5. Explain the importance of self confidence in ethics?(APR/MAY 2016)

SELF-CONFIDENCE

o Certainty in one’s own capabilities, values, and goals, is self-confidence. These

people are usually positive thinking, flexible and willing to change. They respect
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others so much as they respect themselves.

o Self-confidence is positive attitude, wherein the individual has some positive and
realistic view of himself, with respect to the situations in which one gets involved.
The people with self-confidence exhibit courage to get into action and unshakable
faith in their abilities, whatever may be their positions. They are not influenced by
threats or challenges and are prepared to face them and the natural or unexpected
consequences.
o The self-confidence in a person develops a sense of partnership, respect, and
accountability, and this helps the organization to obtain maximum ideas, efforts, and
guidelines from its employees.
The people with self-confidence have the following characteristics:
A self-assured standing,
Willing to listen to learn from others and adopt (flexibility),
Frank to speak the truth, and
respect others’ efforts and give due credit.
On the contrary, some leaders expose others when failure occurs, own the credit when success
comes. The factors that shape self-confidence in a person are:
1. Heredity (attitudes of parents) and family environment (elders),
2. Friendship (influence of friends/colleagues),
3. Influence of superiors/role models, and
4. Training in the organization (e.g.training by Technical Evangelists at Infosys
Technologies).
The following methodologies are effective in developing self-confidence in a person:
1. Encouraging SWOT analysis. By evaluating their strength and weakness, they can
anticipate and be prepared to face the results.
2. Training to evaluate risks and face them (self-acceptance).
3. Self-talk . It is conditioning the mind for preparing the self to act, without any doubt on
his capabilities. This make one accepts himself while still striving for improvement.
4. Study and group discussion, on the history of leaders and innovators (e.g., Sam Walton
of Wal-Mart, USA).

6. Explain integrity and honesty in ethics.(NOV/DEC 2016,APR/MAY 2019)

The human values evolve because of the following factors:

 The impact of norms of the society on the fulfillment of the individual’s needs or desires.
 Developed or modified by one’s own awareness, choice, and judgment in fulfilling the
needs.
 By the teachings and practice of Preceptors (Gurus) or Saviors or religious leaders.
 Fostered or modified by social leaders, rulers of kingdom, and by law government.

Integrity:
o Integrity is defined as the unity of thought, word and deed (honesty) and open
mindedness.
o It includes the capacity to communicate the factual information so that others can
make well-informed decisions.
o It yields the person’s ‘peace of mind’, and hence adds strength and consistency in
character, decisions, and actions.
o This paves way to one’s success. It is one of the self-direction virtues. It enthuse
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people not only to execute a job well but to achieve excellence in performance.
o It helps them to own the responsibility and earn self-respect and recognition by doing
the job.
o Moral integrity is defined as a virtue, which reflects a consistency of one’s attitudes,
emotions, and conduct in relation to justified moral values.

HONESTY
Honesty is a virtue, and it is exhibited in two aspects namely,
(a) Truthfulness and
(b) Trustworthiness.
 Truthfulness is to face the responsibilities upon telling truth. One should keep one’s word or
promise. By admitting one’s mistake committed (one needs courage to do that!), it is easy to
fix them.
 Reliable engineering judgment, maintenance of truth, defending the truth, and
communicating the truth, only when it does ‘good’ to others, are some of the reflections of
truthfulness.
 But trustworthiness is maintaining integrity and taking responsibility for personal
performance. People abide by law and live by mutual trust. They play the right way to win,
according to the laws or rules (legally and morally).
 They build trust through reliability and authenticity. They admit their own mistakes and
confront unethical actions in others and take tough and principled stand, even if unpopular.
Honesty is mirrored in many ways. The common reflections are:
(a) Beliefs (intellectual honesty)
(b) Communication (writing and speech)
(c) Decisions (ideas, discretion)
(d) Actions (means, timing, place, and the goals)
(e) Intended and unintended results achieved
As against this, some of the actions of an engineer that leads to dishonesty are:
Lying: Honesty implies avoidance of lying. An engineer may communicate wrong or distorted test
results intentionally or otherwise. It is giving wrong information to the right people.
Deliberate deception: An engineer may judge or decide on matters one is not familiar or with
insufficient data or proof, to impress upon the customers or employers. This is a self deceit.
Withholding the information: It means hiding the facts during communication to one’s superior or
subordinate, intentionally or otherwise.
Not seeking the truth: Some engineers accept the information or data, without applying their mind
and seeking the truth.
Not maintaining confidentiality: It is giving right information to wrong people. The engineers
should keep information of their customers/clients or of their employers confidential and should not
discuss them with others.
Giving professional judgment under the influence of extraneous factors such as personal benefits
and prejudice. The laws, experience, social welfare, and even conscience are given a go-bye by such
actions. Certainly this is a higher-order crime.

7. Explain the role of yoga and meditation in the field of professional excellence and stress
management.(NOV/DEC 2016,APR/MAY 2019)
(OR)
Discuss the role of yoga for professional excellence and stress management.(APR/MAY 2017)

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Yoga is a process of gaining control over the mind. Control involves two aspects – a power
to concentrate on any desired subject or object and a capacity to remain quiet for quite some time.
Thus, Yoga is: a process for elevating oneself through calming of mind,
 also the very states of higher, subtler layers of mind,
 conceived as a creative power in man
 that of the reality itself
Benefits of yoga
1. Increased flexibility.
2. Increased muscle strength and tone.
3. Improved respiration, energy and vitality.
4. Maintaining a balanced metabolism.
5. Weight reduction.
6. Cardio and circulatory health.
7. Improved athletic performance.
8. Protection from injury.

Meditation:
Meditation is relaxation. It is not about concentration, it’s actually about de-concentration. It’s not
about focusing one’s thoughts on one thing, but instead on becoming thoughtless.
Benefits of meditation:
1. A calm mind
2. Good concentration
3. Better clarity
4. Improved communication
5. Relaxation and rejuvenation of the mind and body
Health benefits of meditation
With meditation, the physiology undergoes a change and every cell in the body is filled with more
prana (energy). This results in joy, peace, enthusiasm as the level of prana in the body increases.
On a physical level, meditation:
 Lowers high blood pressure
 Lowers the levels of blood lactate, reducing anxiety attacks
 Decreases any tension-related pain such as tension, headaches, ulcers, insomnia, muscle
&joint problems
 Increases serotonin production that improves mood and behavior
 Improves the immune system
 Increases the energy level, as you gain an inner source of energy

To get meditation benefits To experience the benefits of meditation, regular practice is necessary.
It takes only a few minutes every day. meditation is like a seed. When you cultivate a seed with
love, the more it blossoms. Busy people from all backgrounds are grateful to pause and enjoy a
refreshing few minutes of meditation each day. Dive deep into yourself and enrich your life.
Benefits of meditation for students

1. Greater confidence
2. More focus and clarity
3. Better health
4. More mental strength and energy
5. Greater dynamism!

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Stress management
Stress management refers to the wide spectrum of techniques and psychotherapies aimed at
controlling a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of improving
everyday functioning.
How can you relieve stress?
You will feel better if you can find ways to get stress out of your system. The
best ways to relieve stress are different for each person. Try some of these ideas to see which ones
work for you:
 Exercise. Regular exercise is one of the best ways to manage stress. Walking is a great way
to get started.
 Write. It can help to write about the things that are bothering you.
 Let your feelings out. Talk, laugh, cry, and express anger when you need to with someone
you trust.
 Do something you enjoy. A hobby can help you relax. Volunteer work or work that helps
others can be a great stress reliever.
 Learn ways to relax your body. This can include breathing exercises, muscle relaxation
exercises, massage, aromatherapy, yoga, or relaxing exercises like tai chi and qi gong.
 Focus on the present. Try meditation, imagery exercises, or self-hypnosis. Listen to
relaxing music. Try to look for the humor in life. Laughter really can be the best medicine.

8. What is integrity? How integrity plays a major factor in work ethics? Discuss with
suitable example (APR/MAY 2018)

o Integrity is one of the fundamental values that employers seek in the employees that
they hire. It is the hallmark of a person who demonstrates sound moral and ethical
principles at work.
o Integrity is the foundation on which co-workers build relationships, trust, and
effective interpersonal relationships.
o Integrity is used to refer to people who act in ways that are consistent with their
own code of principles.
o Work ethic is not just hard work but also a set of accompanying virtues, whose
crucial role in the development and sustaining of free markets
o Workers who fail to exhibit a good work ethic may be regarded as failing to
provide fair value for the wage the employer is paying them and should not be
promoted or placed in positions of greater responsibility.

How to Encourage and Maintain Integrity in the Workplace

o Integrity is one of the core values that employers look for in potential employees. It’s
also a core value to the operation of businesses.
o To act with integrity is to ensure that every decision made is based on thoroughly
ethical and moral principles.
o Trust, honour, and honesty are key elements to the concept of integrity. In the
workplace, employees that act with integrity will always tell the truth, are
accountable and reliable, and treat co-workers, stakeholders and customers with
respect.
o They will do the right thing, even when no one is watching.

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Few scenarios that demonstrate integrity in the workplace:

1. The manager of an organisation regularly updates his team of the financial struggles
they’re experiencing. The manager discloses clear and detailed communication at team meetings
regarding the struggles, and the recovery plan. As a result, employees feel that they know what is
going on, and are not caught off guard when the manager requests a small pay cut across the board
to avoid layoffs.
2. Two employees are talking about another employee’s inability to complete tasks. They
criticise this other employee’s work ethic and knowledge. Another employee overhears this
conversation, and interrupts.
3. He asks if they have informed their colleague that they feel this way. He explains that it is
very possible he is unaware of his failings, or that there are reasons they are unaware of. He explains
that it would be far fairer, and more effective, to discuss these issues with their colleague – not
behind his back. They all discuss the issues with the underperforming employee, and come up with
strategies for him to improve.
3. In both these scenarios, honesty and trust underpin the correct resolution. The staff in the
first scenario wouldn’t have understood the pay cut, or the second scenario’s employee his failings,
if their colleagues were not honest and respectful.

Why is it important?
In the workplace, integrity is one of the key foundations for ethical behaviour and
accountability. It is one of the basic essentials for business in general – no one wants to involve
themselves with a business that cheats and deceits its customers, and employees have no desire to
work for CEOs that are insincere and fraudulent.

How can we encourage integrity in your workplace?

o Despite being an absolute essential element of good business, integrity is difficult foster.
First is the innately human ability to rationalize behaviour. Despite our knowledge that we
should always do the ‘right thing’, humans have an inbuilt ability to justify their behaviour
when they do they ‘wrong thing’.
o For example, research found that although the majority of high school students define
cheating as ‘wrong’, 95% of them have cheated in one way or another. However, they justified
this cheating as ‘no big deal’, or ‘not really cheating’.
o The second roadblock to integrity is the non-fixed definition of what it means. Not everyone
envisions integrity the same. So, how do you overcome these roadblocks to ensure integrity
underpins processes in your workplace? Here are a few tips.
o Clearly outline what integrity means in your workplace. Let your team know exactly what
you expect from them in terms of honesty and transparency. You can create a series of ethical
standards for your employees. Relying on rules alone will not be enough , however it is a great
starting point.
o Encourage an open and transparent environment where team members feel they can freely
discuss issues without punishment. It can be beneficial to set aside some time to directly discuss
integrity in the context of your specific workplace.
o In a team meeting, you could outline some scenarios, and ask your team to come up with
solutions. This forces considered deliberation of how to act with integrity, and will encourage
employees to pursue this line of thinking in their everyday actions.
o Set regular integrity self-assessments. In these assessments, employees will have to provide
feedback on how they view their actions in the past few weeks or months. It might not be
necessary to collect these assessments – they are used as tools for self-reflection, forcing
employees to reflect on, and consider the way in which they conduct themselves at work.

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