Enron Corporation an American energy company was based in Houston, Texas before its decline in 2001. In the company, over twenty thousand employees were contracted in this organization. More particular, Civil Engineer were contracted in the field of Natural gas and other field operations, professionalism of these employees was in doubt that they led to bankruptcy of the whole company. The financial condition of the company was sustained through an institutionalized creatively planned financial fraud referred as the Enron Scandal. The corporation has since been a famous example of a willful corporate and corruption (Rapoport, 2004). In modern world, professionalism must be aligned with ethics to ensure sustainability. Engineers must evict from corrupt practices to avoid malpractices.
Indeed, corruption at Enron led to decline of the company. To avoid this, professionalism require professionals to consider standards in their positions and task they’re in involved. Profession-Related challenges, arguments, as well as dilemmas cannot be avoided and take an ethical information to making informed decisions. The work of civil engineers is determined by limitations. The two significant limitations include a) working boundary, a worker or personal-employed practitioner, and b) job limitation, where the overall physical, scope, and scale boundaries of work are set. Professionals have the duty to adhere to ethical and hold rules that are put in place by the authority. Another boundary, boundary three is directed to data associate as well as how it is expressed in a specific way. The details about the whole scheme, either local or in a broader context is availed to the society. Engineers have the task of deciding the information to relay and to make the best presentation of it to ensure it is precisely understood in the increasingly complicated world. The society requires professional that can recognize limitations and increase above the focused interests of stakeholders (Midgette, 1991).
Enron members ignored basics of technology in the duties. In the modern world, use of complicated computer software is the greatest modification in the practice compared with the last decades. Computer models in civil engineering profession ensure clarity. Despite this development, it leads to a misguided decision making whereby the type and the information that is provided is not perceived correctly by the intended people (Mantell, 1964).
Enron is well-known corruption stricken Corporation, professionals must avoid it. Professionals, whether employed or not should deliver services to make sure that the needs of the clients are achieved in the right manner. Also, engineering professionals should guide their clients to know better what’s needed in solving a problem. When the engineer is contracted to a private or a public organization, it means that their employer’s needs are obeyed in the right way. The professional ensures that the client as well as the project customer are served well. This should be reflected the society as well, the society needs should be prioritized. The locals need the opportunity and time to argue for their basic views as they deal with dilemmas that arise from alternative ideas and interests.
Engineers should be facilitators of projects; they are responsible for financing and getting political acceptance thus playing the role of the client and progressing the society. The question that often arise is who the client is. A scholarly explanation of what civil engineering mean to the society is described as; “the society for advancement of the mechanical science, more particularly in the promotion of the acquisition of knowledge that constitutes the civil engineer. An task of directing great power sources for use and importance of an individual as a way of creation and traffic in the society for external trade as used to construct bridges, roads, canals, docks, river navigation among others. Construction of port harbors, and lighthouses, navigation of artificial power, and construction are significances of civil engineering in the society.”
Engineers in the community acknowledge and address the present and future problems. Their fundamental l role in the society solves the immediate problems to evict future problems. Civil engineers align their responsibility to the society often with environment to create sustainability in the community. For instance, most of the past engineering projects such as damaged roads and broken bridges had been pathetic to environment as well as the people around these places. Engineers align their professionalism with their duty by solving these problems to prevent similar ones in future. Also, non-renewable energy sources of energy are replaced with lower carbon materials to prevent degradation of the environment (Larson, 1979).
The sustainability charter of 2003 defines civil engineering contribution to the society as “an art that works with great sources in the environment for the wellbeing of the entire society.”(Harris, Pritchard, & Rabins, 2009). This indicates the emphasis on societal and environmental sympathetic aspectof the profession’s mission.” Ethical dimension of civil engineering endeavor is stated on six principles. A) Contribution to creating a current and future sustainable society; b) take leadership responsibility, apply professionalism in judgments; c) comply with legislations; d) effectively and efficient use of resources; e) seek a variety of ideas to solving sustainability problems; and f) manage risk to reduce adverse effects to the people and the environment (Walesh, 2012).
It is unfortunate that many civil engineers, particularly in large firms, are forced by their employers to apply its principles. Corporate responsibility serves similar principles as a professional civil engineering professionals. Environmental perspective. Civil engineers can, therefore, balance their tasks successfully evicting transgression of codes of their ethics and profession conduct.
Civil engineers can claim that they stand in a particular place in ‘directing forces of the environment for the benefits of humankind.” The work done by their forebears have always helped humanity, and helping the client (Great Britain, 2009). Today, multiplicity of infrastructure-related professions needs a new approach to collaboration with others to come up with the 21st-century civil engineer. Today’s challenges and opportunities require the move from basic engineering decrement of the complicated phenomena into simpler elements for the society to enjoy the work of their minds and hands (Dougherty, 1959).
Lastly, civil engineering profession is only useful to the society if individual professionals contribute to the wellbeing of the community. Civil Engineers should adopt ethics and professionalism in their endeavors to make the community and the entire world a better place to be (American Society Of Civil Engineers, 1983). Enron Corporation “died” as a result of malpractices of the responsible staff, professionals must employ honesty in their professionalism to avoid termination of their employment.
References
American Society Of Civil Engineers. (1983). Journal of professional issues in engineering. New York, N.Y., American Society of Civil Engineers.
Dougherty, N. W. (1959). Engineers' Council for Professional Development: Your approach to professionalism. New York,
Great Britain. (2009). Engineering, turning ideas into reality: the fourth report of session 2008-09. London.
Harris, C. E., Pritchard, M. S., & Rabins, M. J. (2009). Engineering ethics: concepts and cases. Belmont, CA, Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Larson, M. S. (1979). The rise of professionalism: A sociological analysis. Berkeley, Calif: University of California Press.
Mantell, M. I. (1964). Ethics and professionalism in engineering. New York, Macmillan.
Midgette, N. S. (1991). To foster spirit of Professionalism: The Southern Scientists and state academies of science. Tuscaloosa u.a, Univ. of Alabama Press.
National Society of Professional Engineers. (1968). Professional engineer. Washington, D.C.,
Noble, D. F. (1979). America by design: science, technology, and the rise of corporate capitalism. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Rapoport, N. B. (2004). Enron: corporate fiascos and their implications. New York, Foundation Press.
Walesh, S. (2012). Engineering Your Future the Professional Practice of Engineering. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons.
