Question

Engineers are often entrusted with the responsibility of implementing large-scale projects involving millions of Riyals. Given a large amount of money changing hands, the integrity and ethical standards of engineers are being put to the test. What measures can an engineer take to prevent corruption and unethical practice of cutting corners to safeguard the good image of the engineering profession? Demonstrate your solution through a simple case study/example.

Answering Format for the question you had selected:

1. What are your personal belief and stand on this matter?

2. What is the ethical and/or legal issue to be considered? Please state this with reference to the correct Rules and Regulations on Engineering Ethics and Professionalism / standards / codes for engineers. You need to mention the code/standard in your essay.

3. Identify and describe potential stakeholders.

4. Identify alternative ways to resolve the issue, and discuss their potential effects on all stakeholders

Answer 1

Ethics are the fundamental values that are privy to every field of work, be it a business or profession. They lay the foundation of the action plans, policies and procedures leading up to ultimate attainment of goals. They impact the quality of deliverables. They influence the manner the people in an organization will interact with each other, the way the monetory and non-monetory resources will be put to use and efficiency and effectiveness with which the project at hand will be dealt with.

Engineering is a profession no different. An engineer is met with many technical and non-technical challenges in day to day work, some often pushing one to assess his next move based on a question of ethics.

For example, a Quality Control Engineer may have to make a decision of whether to let a defective piece be shipped or not. In the backdrop, this person might have been asked for a friendly favor by Production Manager to give the necessary clearances so that he could fulfill a target output level or meet a time deadline. He may, in an alternate scenario, have been pressurized by the Management to let the whole consignment, including defective goods, be shipped with the agenda of partaking the competitors’ market. An engineer who is a person with strong principles and a clear conscience would never let this happen. He would responsibly evaluate the impact of his decision on all the stakeholders in question, as follows :

· Consumer Safety and Satisfaction - A defective product may jeopardize the health and safety of consumer. For instance, a defective geyser may suffer short circuit and catch fire. Distribution of defectives in the market will also not prove to be value for money for the buyers, prompting them to look for alternatives.

· Welfare of Society – The defective goods may not be easily disposable or decomposable and hence, may be harmful for the environment at large.

· Shareholders’ money – The production of defective goods beyond an acceptable level may be an alarm that the technology or equipment used in the production requires a revamp. This further implies that cost already spent on the resources in hand is not ‘money spent well’ and the company may need to reinvest its profits for the necessary upgradations, thereby leaving less for distribution among the shareholders.

· Employees – The eventual impact of the management’s ill practices or the lapse on the part of engineer on the popularity and profitability of the company will negatively affect the payout of employees as well.

Hence, due consideration of the Engineering Ethics and recoganised best practices is inevitable. The Quality Control Engineer should ideally stop the shipment of the defectives, submit a detailed report on the defect noticed and suggest the required alterations in the raw material choice, production process and skill development of the concerned personnels.