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The importance of ethics within a business
Business ethics chapter 1
The importance of ethics within a business
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Ethical dilemmas have long been issues that have plagued all of mankind for generations. Since the beginning, the majority of humanity has struggled to do what is right when the answer wasn’t clear. Sometimes, however, the answer is not as difficult to realize, but is much more difficult to accept. In the case of the Gee-Whiz Mark 2 (GWM2), the dilemma that faces its respective company is whether or not the units that are defective should be exported to countries that have no enforceable rules to punish the marketing of said defective units. If the company does not do so and instead decides to scrap the units, there will be a loss of profit. For the company though, the answer is clear; though it may be challenging for its leaders to accept, …show more content…
To clarify, the Engineering Code of Ethics is the set of rules established by the National Society of Professional Engineers that all engineers are expected to adhere to. In essence, the fundamental tenets of this code are that all engineers are expected to prioritize public safety, as well as be honest with their clients and the general public while only doing work that they are qualified to do. (“Code of Ethics,” n.d.). The reason this code is crucial in this case is because it offers guiding principles for the men and women who are in charge of so many of the various structures and buildings that are used by everyone in society. If the engineering population were to fail to adhere to this code, many people’s lives would be put in jeopardy; buildings might crumble, planes may crash, and bridges could collapse. This means that this code serves to keep engineers in check so that the world maintains stability, therefore its importance cannot be emphasized enough. Furthermore, since this code is nationally recognized, if a company’s engineers were to violate any aspect of it, it would be seen nation-wide as a misuse of power for the sake …show more content…
As such, because the possibility of a user of the defective GWM2 units being electrocuted is realistic, there is a strong chance that the world will become aware that this company’s engineers approved of the exportation of a product that is dangerous to the public. As previously stated, the safety of the public is of the utmost importance in the Engineering Code of Ethics, so if a company’s engineers were caught not prioritizing safety in certain countries, it would be shamed globally. Regardless of whether the countries’ individual laws governing electrical wiring codes are existent or enforceable, this would still be a devastating blow to the company’s reputation. In addition, this damage to the business’s stature would ultimately result in a major profit-loss over the long term as well. Once the world discovers that this company provided customers with a dangerous product, many people will be much less inclined to purchase any of their future products. If this happens, then any profit made in the short-term by the exportation of the defective GMW2’s would eventually be overshadowed by long-term financial losses, as a portion of the market for the product will lose faith in the company and no longer buy their items or
On Friday, July 17, 1981, the Hyatt Regency Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri hosted a dance party, which was held in the hotel’s atrium lobby. One of the atrium lobby’s defining features was the presence of elevated walkways that were suspended from the ceiling. About 1,600 people attended the event, mostly occupying the lobby floor; however many guests were either standing or dancing on the suspended walkways as well. Tragically, at approximately 7:05 P.M. a loud crack was heard as two of the walkways collapsed onto the lobby floor below killing 114 people and injuring 216 more. Investigations following this event revealed that the walkways were not designed in a way that was structurally sound, rendering them prone to catastrophic failure. In order to make efforts to avoid such tragedies in the future, it is necessary to evaluate the engineers whose work led to the collapse of the walkways. A consideration of their ethical behavior through the framework of virtue ethics may provide insight into what virtues engineers, and aspiring engineering students, must possess so that their work is done properly with the safety of the general public in mind. To this end, it is useful to first provide some background information on the structure of the suspended walkways and to pinpoint the specific cause of their collapse.
One Volkswagen’s senior engineers, James Robert Liang, pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud regulatory agencies and costumers by cheating in emissions tests. According to documentation provided by the court system, when Liang and other engineers realized that their diesel engine design would not adhere the U.S. emission standards, they created software to manipulate the results on the tests. The company admitted to installing software that was used to deceive the emissions tests on more than 11 million of its vehicles. Liang could face up to 5 years in federal imprisonment and additionally he might have to pay a $250,000 dollar fine. Volkswagen’s behavior will be analyzed through rule utilitarianism and Kantian ethics.
In 1975 the board of directors for a company that makes transistors were presented with an ethical dilemma. They were the last transistor company that was selling to a pacemaker company as a result of other companies backing out of the business due to the failure of some pacemakers leading to deaths of some of those who used them. At the time, pacemaker technology was extremely new and had yet to develop into the ground breaking product that it is today. The ethical dilemma presented to the board was whether or not to continue to sell their transistor to the company and risk the negative connotation and ultimately the loss of shareholders in the company, associated with the deaths that occurred (Shanks, 1996). This analysis will explore the use of Jeremy Bentham’s Utilitarian ethics in the decision making process for that company in this vital time. The Utility test and the Common Good Test will then be applied to this situation and through that decision making process and then compared. This will all be used in attempt to solve the current issue that was on the mind of all of the board members.
Martin, M.W. and Schinzinger, R. (2005) Ethics in Engineering. 4th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
...t be in business very long. But, for instance, what if RGIS was offered the chance to perform one “test” inventory for a company that had many stores and the inventory went extremely well because of the customer service levels provided? RGIS would have the opportunity to service this customer’s other stores not because of the data, but because of the service they received. This human factor played huge role in garnering business for the RGIS and yet their employees have no chance in earning any more compensation than they would have for simply putting data into a machine. Let’s look at other ethics principles and see where an example like the one above would fit in.
In my point of view, every choice has consequences. General Motors ignition switch issue has affected many families in U.S., took lives, and caused injuries to many people. Replacing the part after a decade passed will prevent future accidents from happening; however it will not replace the pain and suffrage of people who lost their loved ones. Bad decision-making, poor professional conduct and dishonesty cost GM millions of dollars. Choosing company’s financial budget over lives of innocent people is wrong. No matter how much money GM will spend on replacing the ignitions, compensating the families, going through lawsuits those lives cannot be restored. Following duty-driven ethics would have prevented the disaster from taking place.
The six basic guidelines outlined by the George S. May International Company (GMS) for making ethical business decisions are so simplistic and common sensible that it is hard
Most common ethical issues an engineer faces are that providing a quality product at a reasonable cost and safety of the public. At time, clients want more than they are willing to pay for, in this case engineer must decide whether to shorten the design to save money and time or not to take the job they offered. The ethical engineer modules or designs are not only for the safety and low manufacture cost, but also for reduce manufacture cost for the entire design. The professional engineer’s duty is to find the correct manufacture cost and whether the product will be safe to use. Often times, an engineer may experience a situations in which they can’t get the client or manager satisfied of the product. In order to maintain an ethical demeanor in such cases, an engineer may have to refuse to approve the project design.
In this case, the public opinion formulated was bad and this affected the company’s reputation. The community, consumers, and government involvement shows that GM operates under the interactive system theory which means that Businesses involves the interaction among different members of society. The main cause of this problem is because of lack of ethics, poor corporate culture, and failure to address the problem on time. Ethics is knowing what is right and wrong, one ethical dilemma that occur in the case was that the head Engineer of the company decided to switch the product features without letting anyone know, and this caused more problems in the future. This example highlights the benefits of ethics, Ethics helps the company increase profit overtime, compile with law, minimize harm, and promote personal morality that would reduce stress among individuals. In this case, GM did not keep their profits because at the end they had to repay 250 million dollars for all their damages they have done, they experience a lot of lawsuits that slowed down the company’s growth, and many employees were being laid off which caused a lot of stress for many
In this case a large engineering consulting firm was contracted by the government to perform civil engineering work for the installation of equipment that would be later used to train firefighters. Prior to the actual work being commenced on site, Donald J. Giffels, president of the consulting firm soon realized through careful observation that there was a significant amount of ambiguity in how critical safety systems were to be designed. In this situation, what are the ethical issues that the consulting firm faces in accepting such a contract from the government. What is the optimal strategy in responding to what Donald J. .Giffels identified as an unacceptable lapse in safety. These two important questions are discussed in further detail with a conclusion of noteworthy facts surrounding this case following.
After the Bhopal Disaster, Union Carbide made an ethical decision through their legal strategy to secure the best outcome for themselves and to keep their company from going bankrupt multiple times over. Union Carbide used the corruption of the Indian court system to their advantage to minimize the amount they would pay in damages to the victims. Their strategy wouldn’t be considered moral to the victims of this chemical explosion if the trial were kept in the American court system. What is ethical isn’t always considered moral to all the parties involved. With a company facing bankruptcy and losing everything they had, the only ethical decision was to use the court systems to their advantage. By doing so, they made the ethical decision strictly
The Code of Ethics of Professional Engineers Ontario. (n.d.). Professional Engineers Ontario: Welcome to PEO's website. Retrieved February 24, 2010, from http://www.peo.on.ca/Ethics/code_of_ethics.html
The initial ethical guideline presented in the IEEE Code of Ethics states “to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment”. In regards to health, safety and well-being of the public and environment, many would consider this to be the most important rule presented. Professions in electrical and electronic engineering operate in designing electrical syst...
The standards of ethics serve as guidelines for the conduct of individuals and businesses alike. Uzi Nissan acted h...
The code says that engineers should always be aware that their first responsibility is to protect public safety, health and welfare. If their judgment is rejected in circumstances where under threat security, health, property or welfare of the people, they must notify the employer or client, and, if necessary, other authorities.