Question

when engineers disagree with their employees they may engage in organizational disobedience. Describe three types of organizational disobedience (by contrary action,by nonparticipation, by protest.)

Answer 1

The guidelines used by Engineer in deciding to engage in Organisational disobedience may be-

(i) By contrary action- Sometimes Engineer's actions outside the workplace or in general lifestyle are objectionable to the Organisation, maybe organization's managers believe that their particular action reflects bad impressions for the Organisation. e.g. Engineer may be a political group's member in low esteem which reflects bad impressions of an organization in the community.

Disobedience by contrary action is not a paradigm case of harm to the organization, and its restriction by the organization is not a paradigm case of restriction of an individual's freedom.

(ii) By Nonparticipation- it can be based on professional ethics or personal ethics. If an engineer believes the design or their work is unsafe then he can object on it and can refuse to do work with their professional codes which require engineers to give preeminence to considerations of public safety, health, and welfare. Sometimes it is difficult for employers to honor a request to be removed from an assignment. eg. There may be no alternative work, or there is no other engineer who is able to do this work or the change may be disruptive to the organization.

So in these Situations, both employers and employees should Cooperate with each other and should be honorable and respectful.

(iii) By protest- It is the most extensively discussed form of organizational disobedience. In some situations, Engineers find the actions of the employer to be objectionable that they believe mere nonparticipation in the objectionable activity is insufficient. Rather, some form of protest or whistle-blowing is required.

What  Is Whistleblowing?

The origin and exact meaning of the metaphor of whistleblowing are uncertain. According to Michael Davis, there are three possible sources of the metaphor: a train sounding a whistle to warn people to get off the track, a referee blowing a whistle to indicate a foul, or a police officer blowing a whistle to stop wrongdoing. One problem with all of these metaphors, as Davis points out, is that they depict whistleblowers as outsiders, whereas a whistleblower is more like a team player who calls a foul play on his own team. This “insider” aspect is suggested by the American Heritage  Dictionary 's definition of a whistleblower as “one who reveals wrongdoing within an organization to the public or to those in positions of authority.” This suggests two characteristics of whistleblowing:(1) One reveals information that the organization does not want to be revealed to the public or some authority and (2) one does this out of approved channels.

Some practical considerations on protesting organizational wrongdoing-

First, take advantage of any formal or informal processes your organization may have for making a protest. Second, determine whether it is better to keep your protest as confidential as possible or to involve others in the process. Third, focus on issues, not personalities. Fourth, keep written records of the process.