Management – Answering Questions
A professional is obliged to ensure that he or she does not proceed to offer a service to the client if there is a fault that will cause injury to the client. For instance, an engineer is supposed to be a whistleblower whenever he detects that there is a fault that will harm the client. Failure to be keen more on the fatal designs that may lead to accidents is unethical for a professional engineer. Therefore, it is vital for the engineer to be in the frontline whenever he or she is offering a service. There should be no negligence during service delivery as that leads to serious ethical issues in the profession. For instance, in case such faults occurs and an engineer is held liable he may face the force of law. According to the profession, the safety of the client is significant during service delivery. Safety should never be overlooked, and it is, therefore, the responsibility of the engineer to be a whistleblower whenever is detected any fault design system that can lead to a possible damage.
Moral Responsibility
There are four parts of moral responsibility in engineering, and they include:
Role Responsibility – In this case, engineers are expected to be responsible in whatever task they undertake
Causal Responsibility – Being the cause of the ethical problem to occur.
Liability Responsibility – In this regard the engineer handles the damages he causes while undertaking his duties.
Capacity Responsibility – this is simply the psychological capability needed in legal competencies.
Chap 3
Explain at least three ethical theories discussed in the text. What are the key aspects of this theories?
Utilitarianism Theory
According to this theory, production of the most utility to the client is a satisfactory requirement. The key aspect of this theory is that an engineer need to understand the balance of the good and bad consequences. Therefore, before undertaking a duty, it is significant for the engineer to consider the consequences.
Duty Ethics Theory
In this regard, an engineer has a duty of not injuring others and treating others fairly during the execution of a particular task. The key aspect here is that regardless of the consequence, others must be fairly treated.
Right Ethics Theory
The key aspect of this theory is that every individual has a moral right, and any attempt or action that leads to the valuation of such rights is unethical.
Virtue Ethics Theory
The key aspect here is that goods actions promote virtue ethics while bad actions are the causes of vices that in most cases can lead to unethical behavior.
What does utilitarianism tell us about the challenge case?
It is significant for the professional to weigh the benefits and consequences resulting from the undertaking of a particular task. If the consequences are severe, the professional should advise or seek further clarification to avoid causing any damage. In case the damage occurs, the professional will be liable for the damages.
Chap 4:
How Flowcharting can be used to solve ethical problems
Flowcharting is significant in engineering classes as it provides an overview of a step by step activities and the consequences resulting from each decision. Therefore, by closely studying the flow chart, an engineer can be in a position to identify areas that are likely to be difficult to execute or which may lead to damage. Therefore, before undertaking such a task an engineer will formulate the best strategy to execute such duties, and this will prevent any hazard from happening. Therefore, flow charts can help engineers analyze and identify any area thought to go against moral ethics in the profession.
An overview of the line drawing technique
The line drawing technique in engineering is vital especially when the provided applicable moral ethics are precise. However, the biggest challenge is to know exactly where a particular principle is to be applied, and such areas are referred to as a gray area. Significantly, by using hypothetical situations, an engineer will have higher chances of applying the right principle to the right situation. For instance during the drawing, the positive side may imply that the principal is morally accepted, and the negative end will provide a morally unacceptable situation.
Delineation between a gift and a bribe
A gift is something given in return of appreciation, and it is morally accepted. In most cases, a gift is viewed as a present for doing something good, and it is acceptable. However, a bribe is a present given to achieve something illegally, and this is unethical and immoral.
