FACULTY OF MECHANICAL & MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING

MANAGEMENT & PROFESSIONAL ETHICS(BDU20503)

Members:

AMAL IQMAL B. ADNAN AD110189

MUHAMMAD HAZWAN B. AB RASHID AD110095

NIK MUHAMMAD HISHAMUDDIN B. NICK HAMASHOLDIN AD110140

Ethical theories does not reflect on the ethical

values, but it does try to bring a systematic

thinking to bear the phenomenon of ethic.

Many people had evaluate and criticize some

of these opinions and practices to provide a

reflective account of an essential human

activity.

There are several ethics theories and each

theories have their own ideas and flaw.

Some of the famous theories is as follow:

1) Natural Law

2) Deontology

3) Virtue theory

4) Utilitarianism

5) Right Ethic Theory

6) Casuist

Attributed to Aristotle (man should live

according to an inherent human nature).

Can be contrasted with man-made or judicial

law.

But both may change over time.

State that people should adhere their

obligations when analyzing an ethical

dilemma.

He/she must follow the obligations because

it is consider ethically correct.

The flaw with this theory is there is no

rationale or logical basis in deciding any

duty.

The fact that sometimes a person’s duties

conflict.

Asks what a “good person” would do in that

situation.

It discuss such timeless and cross-cultural

virtues such as courage, temperance,

wisdom, justice, faith, and charity.

A weakness of this theory is it does not take

into consideration a person’s change in moral

character.

Utilitarianism is divided into 2 categories:-

1) Act Utilitarianism

2) Rule Utilitarianism

A person performs the acts that benefit the

most people, regardless of personal feelings

or the societal constraints such as laws.

Takes into account the law ad is concerned

with fairness which means it seek to benefit

the most people but through the fairest and

most just means available

The flaw with this theory is that it is associated

with predicting the future.

No human can be certain that their predictions will

be true.

This will lead to unexpected results making this

theory unethical as time passes because his/her

choice did not benefit the most people as he/she

predicted.

Right are considered to be ethically correct

and valid since a large or ruling population

endorses them.

For example, a person may say that her

friend may borrow the car for the afternoon,

therefore, the friend now has a right to the

car for the afternoon.

The major flaw of this theory is however that one

must decipher what the characteristics of a right

are in society.

Therefore, in order for this theory to be useful, it

must be used in conjunction with other theory that

will consistently explain the goals of the society.

Compares a current ethical dilemma with

examples of similar ethical dilemma and

their outcomes.

This will allow a person the create a best

possible solution according to other’s or past

experience.

The downside of this theory is that there may not

be a set of similar examples for the given ethical

dilemma.

Also, this theory assume that the result of the

current ethical dilemma will be similar to results in

the examples.

Analysis of Issues in Ethical Problems

Understand all of the issues involved.

Once these issues are determined, frequently a solution to the problem becomes apparent.

Issues Involved in understanding Ethical Problem

Inquiries

Factual

Moral Conceptual

They involve what is actually known about a case.

Though seem easy but are not always clear and may be controversial.

Abortion rights (its an unclear fact)

Ex: Abortion issue. There is great controversy over the point at which point life begins and at which point a fetus can be legally protected.

Ex: Global warming. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap heat in the atmosphere and cause global warming. It is thought that the majority of this gas emanates from industrial plants and cars. If this is the case, engineers may be asked to design better products and redesign older ones. However the global warming procedure is barely understood and the need of curtailment of the emission of these gases is still controversial.

To do with the meaning or applicability of an idea.

What constitutes a bribe as opposed to an acceptable gift?

In case of bribe the value of the gift is probably a well known fact. What isn't known is whether accepting it will lead to unfair influence on a business decision.

Not clear cut and lead controversies as well.

Relate to morals of an act/individual etc

Once the factual and conceptual issues are resolved, it is usually clear which moral concept applies.

E.g: A bribe offered by a sales representative, once its determined whether it is simply a bribe or is really a bribe, then the appropriate action is obvious.

If we determine that is indeed a bribe, then it cannot ethically be accepted.

… Factual issues

Can be resolved through research to establish the truth. It is not always possible to achieve a final determination of the truth that everyone can agree on, but generally further research helps clarify the situation, can increase the areas of an agreement and can sometimes achieve consensus on the facts.

… Conceptual Issues:

Can be resolved by agreeing on the meaning of terms and concepts, sometimes agreement isn't possible but as with factual issues further analysis of the concepts at least clarifies some of the issues and helps to facilitate agreement.

… Moral Issues:

Can be resolved by agreement as to which moral principles are pertinent (important) and how they hold be applied.

Useful for situations in which the applicable moral principles are clear but there seems to be great deal of gray area about which ethical principle applies.

It is performed by drawing a line along which various examples and hypothetical situations are placed.

Our company would like to dispose of slightly toxic (Poisonous) waste by dumping it into a local lake from which a nearby town gets its drinking water.

How can we determine if this practice is acceptable ?

Let start by defining the problem and the positive and negative paradigm.

… Problem:

A company dumps waste in lake.

The lake water supply for a village

Dump concentration 5 ppm (parts per million)

Environmental Protecting Agency (EPA) limit 10 ppm

At 5 ppm no health problems and consumers would not be able to detect compound in their drinking water is expected.

… Positive Paradigm

The water supply for the town should be clean and safe.

Negative Paradigm

Toxic levels of waste are put into the lake.

Negative Paradigm (NP) Positive Paradigm (PP)

Dump toxic levels

of waste in lake

Water should be

clean and safe

1. The company dumps the chemical into the lake. At 5 ppm the chemical will be harmless but the town water will have an unusual taste.

2. The chemical can be effectively removed by the towns existing water treatment system.

3. The chemical can be removed by the town with new equipment that will be purchased by the company.

4. The chemical can be removed by the town with new equipment for which the taxpayer will pay.

… 5) Occasionally exposure to the chemical can make people feel it

but this only lasts for an hour and is rare

6) At 5 ppm, some people can get fairly sick but the sickness only lasts a week and there is no long term harm.

7) Equipment can be installed at the plant to further reduce the waste level to 1 ppm

(One could go on for a long time creating more and more test examples. Generally where your problem fits along the line is obvious with only a few examples but the exercise should be continued with more examples until it is clear what the proper resolution is.)

6 5 4 1 7 2,3

NP PP

... It may be clear that there is a gap in the knowledge.

In this case the organization might need more information on seasonal variations in waste concentration and water usage of the town.

Information on potential interactions of the chemical with other pollutants such as runoff of pesticides from local farms.

Note that there is some subjectivity in determining exactly where along the line each of the examples fit.

… Our problem can be inserted in between 1 and 7 along

the line.

6 5 4 1 P 7 2,3

… Ti is clear that dumping the toxic waste is probably a

morally acceptable choice since no humans will be harmed and the waste levels will be well below those that could cause any harm.

Since it is somewhat far from the positive paradigm there are probably better choices that can be made and the company should investigate these alternatives.

Problem with Line Drawing

It can be used to reach

false conclusion.

It will be helpful for analyzing a variety of cases, especially those in which there is a sequence of events to be considered or a series of consequence that flows from each decision.

It gives a visual picture of a situation and allows you to readily see the consequences that flow from each decision.

One has to be as objective as possible. Otherwise it will be possible to draw any conclusion one wants even one that is clearly wrong.

The flow chart should be much larger and more. Of

course, complex to thoroughly cover the entire problem.

The key to effective use of flow charts for solving ethical problems is to be creative in determining possible outcomes and scenarios and also to do not be shy about getting a negative answer and deciding to stop the project.

References: 1. Source: Fleddermann, C. B., Engineering

Ethics, 2nd Edition, 2004, Pearson

Education, India.

No duty of the engineer is more important than duty to

protect the safety and well being of the public. Safety

must be so importance to the engineer.

Definition of Safety, Risks and accident

Safety and risk factor

Safety and engineer

Designing for safety

What is SAFETY?

The condition of being safe,

freedom from danger, risk, or

injury.

the condition of being protected against

physical, social, spiritual, financial,

political, emotional, occupational,

psychological, educational or other types

or consequences of failure,

damage, error, accidents, harm or any

other event which could be considered

non-desirable.)

Engineers have a responsibility to society to produce

products that are safe.

Safety is a very unclear term. But also very precise.

Unclear because safety is a value judgment

Safety must come with the concept of risk. It is

imposibble to build anything to be completely risk-

free.How much risk is appropriate? How safe is safe

enough?

What is RISK?

A probability or threat of damage, injury, liability, loss, or any

other negative occurrence that is caused

by external or internal vulnerabilities

the potential that a

chosen action or activity

(including the choice of in

action) will lead to a loss

(an undesirable outcome))

And spend of your substance in the cause of Allah, and make not your own hands contribute to (your) destruction but do good for Allah loveth those who do good.

Voluntary vs. involuntary risk Many consider something safer if they knowingly take on the

risk, but find it unsafe if forced to do so. If the property values are low enough, some people will be tempted to buy a house near a plant that emits low levels of a toxic waste into the air.

Short term vs. long term consequences Something that might cause a short-lived illness or disability

seems safer than something that will result in permanent disability. An activity which may cause a leg to be broken is preferred to spinal fracture. A broken leg will recover in a couple of months. Spinal fractures, however, can lead to permanent disability.

Expected probability Swimming at a beach where jelly fish is abundant would be

unacceptable. However, at the same beach, the risk of a shark attack is low enough that it doesn’t deter anybody from swimming

Reversible effects Something will seem less risky if the bad effects are ultimately

reversible

Threshold levels for risk Something that is risky only at high exposures will seem safer than

something with uniform exposure to risk. An activity whose harm is delayed for many years will seem much less risky than something with an immediate effect

Delayed vs. immediate risk Smoking cigarette kills slowly vs. skydiving will kill immediately. Is

skydiving more risky?...

How can we be sure that our designs as

engineers are safe?

There are four criteria that must be met to

ensure a safe design:

A design must comply with the applicable laws.

An acceptable design must meet the standard of “accepted

engineering practice.”

Alternative designs that are potentially safer must be explored.

The engineer must foresee potential misuses of the product by

the customer.

How should safety be incorporated into the engineering design procedure?

1. Define the problem. Needs, requirements, constraints

2. Generate several solutions

3. Analyze each solution to determine the pros and cons of

each.

4. Test the solutions

5. Select the best solution

6. Implement the chosen solution

What is

ACCIDENT?

An unplanned, uncontrolled

event which has led to or could

have led to injury to people,

damage to plant, machinery or

the environment or some other

loss.

unforeseen and unplanned event or

circumstance, often with lack of

intention or necessity. it usually implies a

generally negative outcome which may

have been avoided or prevented

had circumstances leading up to the

accident)

Procedural, engineered or systemic

› Procedural (most common; didn’t follow

procedures)

› Engineered (flaws in design)

› Systemic (complex systems)

Better to prevent accidents

If accident occurs, thorough study needed, and

results circulated

Physical and non-physical Physical examples of accidents include unintended collisions

or falls, being injured by touching something sharp, hot, or

electrical, or ingesting poison.

Non-physical examples are unintentionally revealing a secret or otherwise saying something incorrectly, forgetting

an appointment, etc

By activity Accidents during the execution of work or arising out of it are

called work accidents

In contrast, leisure-related accidents are mainly sports injuries