Framing Ethical Problem

moral and ethics in engineering profession

Problem solving
strategies
How does an engineer decide whether
it is ethical to work on a particular
project or product?

What tools are there for an engineer
who needs to decide which is ethically
correct path to take?
Theories help us to frame our understanding
of the problem , but there are no formulas
and no easy plug and-chug methods for
reaching a solution.
Reasonable solutions :
1. clear about which moral values are at
stake and how they pertain to the
situation.
precision in using the key concepts
applicable in the situation.
2. knowing and appreciating the implications
of the available facts that are morally
relevant.
3. good judgment is exercised in integrating
the relevant moral values and facts to
arrive at a morally desirable solution.


Steps in Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
Problem solving
strategies

Completely understand all of the issues
involved.
The issues involved in understanding ethical
problems can be split into 3 categories:
- Factual
- Conceptual
- Moral

Steps in Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
Understanding all the issues involved helps to
put an ethical problem in the proper framework
Factual issues involve what is actually
known about a case.
Find the relevant Facts
Facts Not always clear
Facts may be controversial.
Ex: Is Social Contracts well understood

Problem solving
strategies
How can controversial ethical problems be
resolved?
Factual issues can be resolved through
research to establish the truth.
Not everyone will agree to the truth
- Further research helps clarify the situation,
- increase areas of agreement, and
- sometime achieve consensus on the facts
Problem solving
strategies
Understanding all the issues involved helps to
put an ethical problem in the proper framework
Conceptual issues have to do with the
meaning (definition) or scope of a term or
concept.
Conceptual issues not always clear cut
Conceptual issues often controversial
What is the scope of proprietary
information?
Problem solving
strategies
How can controversial ethical problems be
resolved?
Conceptual issues are resolved by agreeing
on the meaning of terms and concepts.
Sometime agreement isnt possible
- Further analysis of the concepts clarify
some of the issues
- helps to facilitate agreement
Problem solving
strategies
Once factual and conceptual issues have been
resolved, to the best extent possible determine:
Moral issues :
Which moral principle is applicable to the
situation?
Does one concept apply to two different
case?
Ex: Once is determined when it is a gift or
bribe, the moral principle is easily applicable.
Problem solving
strategies
How can controversial ethical problems be
resolved?
Moral issues are resolved by agreement as
to which moral principles are pertinent and
how they should be applied .
A Deeper analysis of the issues always help.

Problem solving
strategies
Lecture #6


Case Study : Semua Boleh Ent.
Florida based leading developer of carrier - class high speed
network access solutions for broadband voices, data and
videos

Florida based leading developer of carrier class, high
speed network access solutions for broad band voices, data
and videos.
Auto manufacturing firm were losing market share to foreign
imports.
To meet stiff competition, the CEO ordered that the company
produce a SUV crossover that would be priced at less than
RM100k.
The car had to be designed and produced in 24 months rather than
42 months for a new car line.
The standard safety procedure of testing for rear-end impact was
not carried out until after production due to accelerated production
schedule.
The car eventually failed the test- fell below the state of the art for
cars of that size.
The chief engineer for safety claims that a potential safety risk if
hit from the rear and could possibly burst into flame.
Cost benefit analysis
- modifying the gas tank of the 1.5 million cars that would
eventually be built would cost RM60million.
- statistical data showed that the modification would prevent the
loss of about 80 burn deaths, and 80 serious burn injuries.
- Insurance companies valued human life at RM200k , and a serious
burn injury at RM50k.
The CEO of the company claims that the cost benefit analysis
suggested that the cost of making the car as safe as the
competitions will cost more than the amount the company will have
to pay if sued by families of those killed in accidents, and so he has
authorized production. The chief engineer has gone over the CEOs
head and has brought the issue to the board for a vote.
Lecture #6


Case Discussion
Florida based leading developer of carrier - class high speed
network access solutions for broadband voices, data and
videos

Florida based leading developer of carrier class, high
speed network access solutions for broad band voices, data
and videos.

Was this a clear-cut unethical case by Semua
Boleh Ent? CEO? Chief Engineer?
Point out the unethical action by the company?
CEO? Member of the Board of Directors?
Was it ethical to accelerate production schedule
at abnormal rate at the expense of final product
safety?
Was it ethical for the CEO to authorize the
production based on cost benefit analysis?
Was it ethical for the director to tag along with
the band wagon?
Lecture #6


Application to a Case
Florida based leading developer of carrier - class high speed
network access solutions for broadband voices, data and
videos

Florida based leading developer of carrier class, high
speed network access solutions for broad band voices, data
and videos.
Factual Issues
Whether the SUV cross over is really a
safety hazard?
The chief engineer claims that the new model
cars carries a potential safety risk.
The cost benefit analysis suggested that it is
economical for the to proceed with the
production.
So there is no controversy on factual issues
Lecture #6


Application to a Case
Conceptual issues
What constitute acceptable
production schedules?
Is bidding to design and produce in 24
months rather than 42 months
constitutes acceptable production
schedules or deceptive?
Whether compromising on safety risk is
an acceptable business practice?
So conceptual issues are more controversial
In the broad sense, the entire set of factual,
conceptual, and moral issues raised could be
called a moral issue.
In the narrower sense, only the issue
involving determining the relevance or
application of a moral principle (or principles)
to the situation is a moral issue.
Problem solving
strategies

Application to a Case
Moral/Application issues
Is negligence an acceptable business practice?
Is it right to be deceptive so your company can
make a profit?
Answer is obvious
Lying and deceit are no more acceptable in your
business life than in your personal life
The key is
If we can conceptually decide that Semua Boleh
Ent. practices were deceptive; than our analysis
indicates that their actions were unethical.
Problem solving
strategies

Application to a Case
Is the company guilty of an ethical breaches?
- Product Safety hazards
- Deception/not telling the truth
- Not keeping promise
- misrepresentation
- Falsification

Problem solving
strategies

Application to a Case
Which moral considerations to employ?

Problem solving
strategies
Moral Standards:

1. Maximize social Utility
2. Respect moral rights
3. Distribute Benefits and
Burdens justly
4. Exercise caring
Ethical Frameworks:

1. Utilitarianism
2. Rights and Duties
3. Justice
4. Ethics of Care

Application to a Case
Which moral considerations to employ?

Problem solving
strategies
Utilitarian standards
consider only the
aggregate social welfare,
but ignore the individual
and how that welfare is
distributed.
Standards of justice
distributive issues, but
ignore aggregate social
welfare and the individual.
Moral rights consider the
individual but discount
both aggregate well being
and distributive
considerations.
Ethics of care consider the
partiality that must shown
to those close to us , but
ignore the demand for
impartiality.

Integrating the moral considerations
The moral considerations do not seem to reducible to
each other yet all seems to be necessary parts of our
morality.
Strategy for ensuring all 4 kinds of considerations are
incorporated into ones moral reasoning is to inquire
systematically into the 4s involved in a given moral
judgment.


Problem solving
strategies
1. Does the action maximize social benefits and
minimize social injuries?
2. Is the action consistent with moral rights of
those whom it will affect?
3. Will the action lead to a just distribution of
benefits and burdens?
4. Does the action exhibit appropriate care for
the well- being of those who are closely related
to or dependent on oneself?

Application to a Case

Utilitarianism provides a clear and straight
forward basis for formulating and testing
policies.
- An organization policy, decision, or action
is good if it promotes the general welfare
more than any other alternative.

- A policy is considered wrong if it does not
promote total utility as well as some
alternative would.

Problem solving
strategies

Application to a Case
Using Utilitarian Principle
- Act utilitarianism: consequences of a
particular act in a particular situation
- Rule utilitarianism: utility applies
appropriately to classes of actions rather
than to given individual actions.
Why favor the rule utilitarian rather than the
act utilitarian approach?
- inability to know all the consequences with
certainty.
- more harm is done by breaking a moral
rule than any good that can be achieved
by doing so.
Problem solving
strategies

Accurately state the action to be evaluated.
Identify all those who are directly and indirectly
affected by the action.
Consider whether there is some dominant, obvious
consideration that carries such importance as to
outweigh other considerations.
Specify all the pertinent good and bad
consequences of the action for those directly
affected, as far as into the future as appears
appropriate, and imaginatively consider various
possible outcomes and the likelihood of their
occurring.
Weigh the total good results against the total bad
results, considering quantity, duration, propinquity
or remoteness, fecundity, and purity for each value,
and the relative importance of these values.
Problem solving
strategies
STEPS OF A UTILITARIAN ANLYSIS

Deontological approaches denies the utilitarian
claim that the morality of an action depends on
its consequences
Moral Duty
Rights
Justice
Problem solving
strategies
Is the CEO ethically justified in authorizing the
production despite the safety claims?

Universal acceptability principle
- Can the action be performed by everyone without
any contradiction developing to prevent its continued
performance?
- Is the CEO to advocate marketing the product even if
the were themselves in the position of uninformed
consumers?
Humanity as an end , never as merely a means
principle
- Does the action respect consumers as end and
not as means only?
Problem solving
strategies
We should always act in such a way that we can will the
maxim of our action to become a universal law.

Moral Law
Consistency
Universality
priori

First formulation;
an action is morally right for a person
in a certain situation if, and only if, the
persons reason for carrying out the
action is a reason that he or she would
be willing to have every person act on, in
any similar situation

UNIVERSALITY
REVERSIBILITY

Problem solving
strategies
Kantians Categorical Imperative requires that everyone
should be treated as a free person equal to everyone
else.


Second Formulation;
an action is morally right for a person
in a certain situation if, and only if, in
performing the action ,the person does
not use others merely as a means for
advancing his or her own interests, but
also both respects and develops their
capacity to choose freely for
themselves.
Problem solving
strategies
The ultimate principle of morality requires that the
maxim must be capable of being consistently
universalized, must respect the dignity of persons, and
must be acceptable to rational beings.
If the maxim passes all 3 tests, it is moral,
if it fails any 1 of the 3, it is immoral

Is the actions violate the Positive rights of providing
consumers a right to life?
Is there any conflict of rights?
How about human rights?
Given two rights, which one take precedence?
- right to property vs right to life
Problem solving
strategies
Is rights are the dominant consideration?

Compensatory justice?
Retributive justice?
Procedural justice ?


Problem solving
strategies
Justice and fairness

Moral accountability for oneself or as agents for
others
Responsible for fulfilling obligations
Role responsibility
Problem solving
strategies
Moral Responsibility

Moral accountability for oneself or as agents for
others
Responsible for fulfilling obligations
Role responsibility
Can use a deontological approach or utilitarianism

Directors Obligation to make known to the public
the facts that the company knew but did not make
public
- WHISTLE BLOWING
Problem solving
strategies
Moral Responsibility

When is a Gift a Bribe?

During a sales visit, a sales representative offers
you a coffee mug with his companys name and
logo on it. The value of the mug is RM5. Can you
accept this item? Does the answer to this
question change if the item is RM500 crystal
bowl with the name of the company engraved on
it?
Your meeting with sales rep is running into
lunch hour. She invites you to go out for lunch at
McDonald. Is this practice acceptable?
A sales rep from whom you often purchase asks
if you would like to play golf with him this
weekend. Should you go?
Problem solving
strategies
Lecture #7



Problem Solving

Factual :
who offered a gift?
what its value was?
what its purpose was?

Conceptual:
more difficult
whether the gift is of sufficient value to influence
a decision.
whether that influence is the intent of the gift
Once the conceptual issues have been worked out,
moral issue is often very clear.