In reference to John M. Lannon's chapter entitled "Weighing the Ethical Issues" in Technical Communication, address the question "Why should we consider ethics in the workplace/business?" Use Lannon to complement what you think, or if you disagree with what Lannon says, try to disprove what he has to say.
Please post your responses (less than one page, double spaced, if you were to type it in Microsoft Word) by Wednesday Feb. 3rd.
Daniel
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Ethics plays a large role in an engineer’s daily life. The reading covered conflicts of interest, plagiarism, etc. These all can be encountered during a consulting engineer’s career. For example, one could be assigned survey an area to determine if the construction of an on ramp is possible. If this area is near the engineer’s neighborhood, a conflict of interest is present. Engineers can experience pressure from various sources as well. For example, an engineer could be influenced by his company, the local government, his family, and his friends on a single project.
ReplyDeleteEngineers have an ethical code in which to abide by. The National Society of Professional Engineers has created this code of ethics. The code lays out cannons that musts be followed. These include: public safety awareness, performing work you are capable of, relaying information objectively, being a faithful employee, avoiding any kind of deceptive act, and finally conducting business honorably.
Ethics is very important to the daily practice of an engineer. Safety of the people living or working in a building you designed is an obvious reason for engineers to practice ethical work. Engineers are involved in many facets of the public’s lives. Thus, ethical performance is paramount in keeping safe roads, buildings, drinking water, and products.
For all professions, ethics in the workplace is extremely important. This is especially true in engineering. Not only does it keep you and your coworkers on the same playing field, but it also ensures happy clients, managers, and people in the general public. The number one priority for every engineer is the public because they are the ones at risk after every engineered product is completed. This is actually the number one fundamental canon of the National Society of Professional Engineers’ (NSPE) code of ethics. Making the right ethical decisions as an engineer almost guarantees a safe public.
ReplyDeleteIn engineering especially, claims of advancements in technology and falsifying data seem likely to occur at times. Clients that have deadlines for a project’s completion can put enormous pressure on the firm designing it, which may lead the firm to do things slightly unethically. Employees always want to do what’s best for the company, even if it’s something they wouldn’t normally do. They compromise their own ethical beliefs for the company’s goals. For example, an unlicensed engineer may use a professional engineer’s stamp on a set of drawings just so they could go to bid faster. Even if the PE approved of this, it is a violation of the NSPE code. Ethics are therefore highly important in engineering and all other fields.
I believe that ethical guidelines are only obeyed routinely at the most general level of society. For instance, when referring to humanity as a whole or with regard to a particular society. As a society, we as humans will not put up with genocide because it is against our moral obligation to let million of innocent people die. In contrast, ethical guidelines are routinely broken by every kind of employee from CEO’s to receptionists where people are going to do whatever they can to get ahead in the hierarchy while getting into as little trouble as possible. For instance, Lannon describes many instances where companies or employees might neglect to give important information for the sake of creating a better selling image for the product. Or as Lannon said, an employee might fear getting fired for speaking out due to their ethical belief that the company is doing something wrong. In this sense, ethics are important and should be more strictly enforced so as to prevent harmful products from entering the populous.
ReplyDeleteI would venture a guess to say that codes of ethics in the workplace are in place as a way to discourage law suits. By creating an image that the company is wholesome and good natured and the treatment of employees should be fair, reduces the chance of negativity and law suits being filed against the company. When you look at a prospective employer, do you ever think to ask to see their code of ethics? I know I don’t. That leads me to believe that ethic in general become obsolete with respect to a workplace. I'm not saying that individual people will throw their own ethics and morals out the window when they walk in the door, but they will certainly be more likely to break those ethics to make profits or grow their business.
Ethics in the workplace are extremely important but sometimes it is hard to draw the line on what is considered ethical and what is not. One point of interest I found particularly interesting was the section on confusing groupthink with teamwork. As someone who has worked in an office, I can identify with this. The confusion between whether teamwork is groupthink or not comes from the confusion on whether or not people are performing because they think there is pressure on them to perform a certain way, which is not voluntary. Some other instances of ethics in the workplace that might be considered vague might be the question on when it is okay to receive a gift or not. This is a situation that people might experience when on a business lunch or when receiving promotional items that might draw in business. It was also important to understand the idea of giving false information, giving vague information, or exaggerating on information. Representing a company or presenting a company in the wrong way, which is portraying the company wrongfully, is unethical to its customers and the public. Companies that portray something different or exaggerated can be unethical. The questions of ethics can sometimes be difficult because there are clear examples of what is unethical such as use of language or clothing, but also some examples of ethics that might be unclear to employees. An example of something unethical that one might not consider is the usage of computers. As an employee of the state, it is considered unethical to stream a certain amount of bandwidth on a state computer, such as listening to Pandora. Things like this might seem silly however if a company chose to look into it, one could really see the consequences.
ReplyDeleteEthics in a business or workplace are a foundation for a solid, successful company that will survive even the toughest economy. If a company hires employees that will adhere to a stringent ethical code they are likely to get productive, self motivated employees who have general concern for not only themselves but the company itself and their coworkers. Establishing a moral code of ethics makes the lives of the employees easier in that there are clear cut guidelines to which you should follow in the case of a tough decision.
ReplyDeleteIn the profession of engineering, ethics is much more important due to the magnitude of some of the projects being constructed in modern society. With mass production of millions of automobiles, other large vehicles and the tendency of cities to continuously grow upward the impact on human lives is enormous. The tendency to cut corners in order to save cost is an unfortunate habit that has caused many mass failures in the engineering community. These incidents typically do not arise until people begin to die in large numbers and could have easily been prevented if the manufacturer is willing to spend more money. Cases such as this are notably the Ford Pinto (explosions caused by rear end collisions) and the failure of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.
The Ford Pinto case is interesting in that although explosions were common occurrences during rear end collisions the accountants working for the ford company at the time came to the conclusion that fixing thousands of automobiles would be more expensive than paying out 5 million dollar lawsuits as they arose. From an engineering perspective this was clearly the wrong decision as there is no price that can be associated with a human life. The second situation of the World Trade Center was unfortunate as when designing a building there are many unforeseen problems that can arise (like planes crashing into them). Although this may not have been a foreseeable accident the lead engineer has taken responsibility for this accident and now is stricken with guilt for the lives lost.
I think that ethics (specifically a guideline for that particular business) is important in the workplace because it draws a line within the gray area. What I mean by that is that ethics is not black and white, it also differs for each person. The business itself should have its own guide of ethics and preferably before making a decision dealing with ethics. It comes down to what is right and wrong and although there seems to be different rights and wrongs per each situation there should be an established line in which is not to be crossed. That line will be different for each company/business since each business operates differently. For example, a car company verses a paper company, the car company really should have a clear line of ethics when it comes to safety, since car crashes is a top killer, whereas the paper company really has no worry for a safety ethics at least for its products.
ReplyDeleteChapter 5 of John M. Lannon’s Technical Communications titled “Weighing the Ethical Issues” expounds on the ways which ethical decisions play a part in all business activities. Recent business scandals have demonstrated the importance of business ethics. With short-sighted aims, cutting corners and being dishonest may increase profits, but successful businesses are built on longevity and trust. The more a company’s customers trust that company, the more likely the company is to continue doing business with those customers and have a reliable base from which to build.
ReplyDeleteLannon gives a good list of concerns which an employee can consult in order to make the most ethical decision. “Obligation to yourself, Obligation to clients and customers, Obligation to your company, Obligation to coworkers, Obligation to the community, and Obligation to society” is fairly comprehensive of the values which an employee relies upon to make decisions. I have been trying to decide if there is an order of importance to the list, but I believe that it depends on the situation. Obligation to oneself should always come first. If you feel that what you are doing is wrong in any way, shape, or form (including misrepresentation, omission, and plagiarism), then you should immediately cease. Next would logically be obligation to clients and customers, because the company’s needs will be met if the customers and clients are happy and willing to return. However, sometimes the customer is the one driving the unethical behavior. Ultimately, obligation to the community and society as a whole is the best way to determine what is an is not ethical because it disregards individual desires and takes large populations into account. If every employee asked him- or herself if their actions were benefiting their company, community, city, and country as a whole over the next fifty or one hundred years, then it is very likely that our business ethics issues would be solved.
Ethics in the workplace is not necessarily a critical part of business nor is it a restriction set up by the government or larger organization to control business decisions. It is however, a moral guide line which workers should follow as a form of common courtesy to their fellow man. This is not to be dismissed by a person who simply sees such things as a hindrance to their own advancement. If such a courtesy is infringed upon it may have real world consequences such as losing a client or gaining bad press and mistrust in the company that will ultimately lead to a decline in purchases or other effects that will hurt the business. Not only will following ethics prevent negative effects from happening to a company but if everyone had a good grasp on ethical business procedures than businesses could prosper because of other’s attention to ethical situations.
ReplyDeleteIn the reading it mentions that writing in a business setting should be accurate, honest, and fair. This means that a business is not trying to encourage customers to purchase their product, or mislead others by over exaggerating, use of unfair representation, or even flat out lying. The same principles apply to individual employees within a company. If everyone in the workplace abided by the same set of ethics than promotions and personal advancements would be less of a struggle because of unfair competition due to a lack of ethics.
Professionalism is a part of everyday life in the workplace today. Generally speaking, people are kind and devoted to performing individual tasks; however, this statement does not apply to all people in the workplace. To often unethical behavior and selfish acts cause individuals think poorly and make less then respectable decisions. For this reasons, ethics is one of the most important parts of day-to-day operations of any business because it gives employees a broad set of “rules” to abide by. Ethical behavior creates an environment of creativity and trust between employees and bosses, leaving people accountable for actions they have made.
ReplyDeleteEthics also brings a higher level of respect to any business. The best example would be a car mechanic; given their expertise in the field, people believe what they say in terms of vehicle problems. It is not in the best interest of the mechanic to lie to prospective customers because they will take their business elsewhere. Creating an ethical environment can create a much brighter image for a company which is almost a form of advertising.
Finally, ethical behavior creates an environment where employees are not “afraid” of each other and allows people to work together toward a common goal. Lannon discusses “groupthink”, where the majority of the group pressures others into accepting there idea. Ethics can make this situation much more avoidable for individuals thus making them more comfortable in the workplace.
Ethics is a great foundation for any company; it breeds creativity, honesty and unselfishness in the workplace ultimately helping employees feel more comfortable with themselves. Ethics can help companies with their image and keep customers coming back. Ethical behavior and companies ethical guidelines are extremely important in the workplace today.
Although most of the previous blogs cover ethics pretty thoroughly I believe it is most important to realize that ethics vary among individuals and firms. It is plain to see what can happen when big business trades in ethics for profit maxiizing. For the most part that is how our economy was crippled by wall street. It is important, however, to recognize that most of the empoyees, inside say AIG or Bear Stearns, were acting ethically. That is to say, it is unethical in the finance idustry to do anything except increase sharholder wealth. This mentallity lead to "financial engineering", a pretty fancy term for engaging in exremely risky financial leverage and derivative practices. At the time, however, these were accepted and used widely by investment bankers around the world. We know better now, and deem their conduct unethical, but I'm not so sure.Was it unethical for Einstein to invent the atom bomb, or was it unethical to use it?
ReplyDeleteThis is where the Lannon reading comes in. While the financial whizes that invented derivatives trading found it profit maximizing, and therefore ethical, they lacked full disclosure. As derivative trading became more and more prevalent Warren Buffet even came forward and called it a "financial weapon of mass destruction"...no one listened. Anyway, those are two good examples of ethical, and non ethical communication.
Ethics plays a vital role in the workplace/business world today; it can make the difference from getting in trouble or dogging a bullet that could have resulted in something more serious. In Lannon’s article it states, “sometimes, you may have to choose between doing something you know is right and doing what your employer or organization expects.” I agree with this one hundred percent because you’re supposed to do what your boss says but then at the same time don’t want to make a mistake. An example of this that I have seen and discussed before in another class was NASA’s launch of the Challenger. An engineer behind it specifically wrote a statement that said to not launch and if they did then he was not going to be responsible for anything. However, they did and it was a major failure, all because they didn’t listen to the engineer behind it all.
ReplyDeleteWhen researching my major, engineering, to familiarize myself with its code of ethics I found what was called the NPSE. This is an ethical code for the National Society of Professor Engineers and much like many other codes it has a criteria that must be followed and obeyed by engineers to insure everything goes smoothly. It states that engineers are expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty, integrity and most importantly, must be dedicated to the protection of the public health, safety, and welfare.
It is always important to have reasonable criteria that people will consider to be acceptable, moral, and agreed upon. When there are conflicts, they must be resolved with the intentions of how they will affect others as well as yourself. In Lannon’s article it discusses different obligations that are essential, although often conflicted with, to consider because it can not only impact yourself and your work, but the society, community, and coworkers too. All in all ethics is a crucial aspect of any job field and should not be taken lightly. There will always be conflicts and dilemmas that occur, but there should always be a thought of how this will affect others and their surroundings.
Why should we consider ethics in the workplace/business?
ReplyDeleteEthics are important in the workplace and in business because both being ethical and being unethical have repercussions. If you choose to be completely honest and ethical in your job by unveiling things that your clients don’t like about your product, you may suffer a sales or clientele loss. If you are completely ethical and it makes your company or boss look bad, you could be fired. The positive about being completely honorable and ethical is that you still have your personal pride and values intact.
The article stated that pressure to compromise personal ethics for company goals often occurs in the workplace. It also said that people are more likely to be unethical when in a company or group rather than when they represent themselves. So if you decide to lie about what your product really contains or how it works, customers can become seriously injured or ill if they don’t know the full disclosure of their purchase. Or if you lie about your business you can be sued and lose your job in that manner. To me the worst part about being unethical is having to live with the fact that you compromised your personal morals and values.
I thought the article brought up a lot of good points about the personal choices you must make about where your loyalty lies. I also agree that a worker has certain obligations to their work, themselves, their clients, the community, etc. One other obligation that may be more relevant today is one’s obligation to the environment. I like that the article said you must justify your decision on obligations, ideals and consequences involved, this seems like what I would do if I was put in a compromising situation. The checklist the article provided is also an easy way to see if you are making the right choice.
Ethics in the workplace and in life can only be defined by the individual in question. A particular set of ethical guidelines will be defined by each individual differently depending on their culture, profession, and beliefs, along with many other factors. Each individual will have their own opinion on what is ethical and what is not, the problem is how to find an overlap of individuals’ ethical boundaries that will be fair to everyone involved.
ReplyDeleteIn order to find this acceptable overlap, specifically in the business world, the ethical guidelines set by any laws and the company itself should serve as a baseline. This will be the standard by which an individual’s work will be reviewed for ethical compliance. Beyond this, it is a personal question for what additional work is necessary. In an ideal world, the higher ethical standard of the two, the professional or the personal, would be the one to follow. This is an ideal, and may not be practical or necessarily beneficial professionally, for many situations and individuals. Again, it is hard to find a standard to operate by in these situations and comes down to personal convictions.
Ethics are important in all interactions as individuals rely on them to evaluate each other. Individuals must keep their own ethical code, they must also not expect everyone else to follow the same code and be prepared for that reality. Lannon lays out different levels of obligation, to oneself, to a client, to a company, to coworkers, to a community, or to society in general. Companies, nations, and individuals will all have different orders in which to prioritize these obligations which will be reflected in their codes. Using the variety of ethical codes available, individuals can choose with whom to associate, and to avoid. Hence, in the workplace, ethics may define which business connections will work and which will not.
Ethics in the workplace is good thing to have. However, sometimes it is hard to decide whether doing certain thing is ethical or not. Even if you successfully identify what is ethical and what is unethical, sometimes you do not have a choice to follow this decision due to two reasons mentioned in John M. Lannon's Chapter 5 with the title of "Weighing the Ethical Issues" in Technical Communication. Therefore ethics in the workplace is not required. The first reason is the social pressure. Sometimes it is required to perform unethical work even though you know it is unethical because of pressures coming from employers or organization. If you do not follow the order, then it affects your position in a negative way. The second reason is the groupthink. The company requires a lot of teamwork in order to complete works. Teamwork is necessary thing for the company but working as a team could make you to think unethical works as ethical works. Also it can make people to have less responsibility. Because of these two reasons, I think that ethics in the workplace is not necessary.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of ethics is important to any job that you will have. Ever person has a set of ideals that they stand for. Often times these ideals may be contradicted by difficult choices, or ethical dilemmas. In the workplace, especially in engineering fields, a person’s ethics can have a huge impact on public safety and quality of life.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the text, people often will commit unethical acts for their company that they would never commit as individuals. In many cases employees are pressured by their employers to make these unethical decisions. Some unethical situations include exaggerating benefits of a product and downplaying risks, or sacrificing safety for production. Every company has an obligation to protect its customers and truthfully advertise their product or services. If companies and employees weren’t expected to uphold a standard of ethics, customers would suffer which would hurt society as a whole.
It is always important to make the most ethical decision when faced with a dilemma in order to uphold your obligation to yourself, company/clients, co-workers, and your community/society as a whole. As mentioned above, ethical issues are especially critical in engineering because there is often a possibility of the loss of human life, sometimes on a very large scale.
Ethics are important in the working place as well as in business in general. If employees are acting unethical toward their own company, like cheating on the payroll, the company will experience financial problems and will not succeed. Employees at any company should be considerate of others around them, and not only the coworkers, but also their customers. The company, and every individual in that particular company has to carry responsibility toward their customers. The reputation of the company can be ruined very fast, by one unethical action. Honesty is one of the most important characteristics of ethics. Exaggerations and hiding of useful information is considered as serious as a lie, because these actions also can lead to dangerous results. However, that is exactly what many business are doing today. Through their advertisements, companies choose to publicize only information that will bring them profit, so drug commercials include happy people as the main focus of the dangerous side effects section of the advertisement. It is shocking to read Lannon’s examples of businesses getting around the ethics to sell their products, but eventually the truth in those companies comes out anyway. For this and many other reasons, companies should make ethical decisions.
ReplyDeleteOne reason ethics is important is because a lack of ethics can have dire consequences. The reading provided an example of an assistant structural engineer who found a crack in the floor of a nuclear containment unit. If he decides to “look over” the crack and not report it because the costs to the company would be substantial (an unethical decision), then radioactive waste may seep into the drinking water of nearby residents. His decision could lead to the illness and death of hundreds or thousands of people. Therefore, in extreme cases the lack of ethics could potentially cost lives.
ReplyDeleteOn a less dramatic note, ethics provide a guide for people to work by that fills the gap that laws or company rules do not cover. Many incidents can be unethical but still legal. An example of this in the journalism world is publishing the names of sexual assault victims. If a journalist has obtained the name legally, then it is legal to publish the name. However, this choice to publish or not falls within a personal or company ethical standard. In business, ethical ways of conducting business can lead to consumers’ trust. Trust leads to loyalty and loyal customers are always good for business.
In the journalism industry, ethics is also important when considering a conflict of interest. This concept was addressed in the reading, and I also experienced it first hand while writing for The Daily Evergreen. An ethical journalist should not report on or write a story about something they are involved in (e.g. a club) because their opinions may manifest in the story. A good, ethical news article is objective, and it can be hard to be objective when writing about something you are personally invested in.
Ethics in the workplace is an even more important topic and potential issue than ever. In this day in age people are being pushed harder and harder to achieve better results at work in less time with less resources. Not to mention how much pressure people are put under due to completion in the workplace. When someone is being pressured to keep getting better and better results while maintaining ethical and moral work is very hard. But to judge one on what is ethical you have to take into account for cultural relativism which suggests the there is no specific way to necessarily behave, what is ethical and not ethical is determined by what culture you are in. In the work place you have to take into account professionalism as well and be empathetic in the workplace at the same time. To place yourself in a co-worker or customers shoes and see if someone is really partaking in an ethical or unethical action. The most important aspect of participating in unethical business practices is the high risk involved. If you are taking short cuts or cheating people you could potentially inadvertently ruin someone’s life if not take their life. For example if you were manufacturing fasteners that held the wheels on a vehicle and you knew they did not meet the required specifications. Yet you let them be shipped and equipped on a whole shipment of cars that led to the deaths of hundreds of people would be a prime example of how easy one small unethical decision can impact an immense amount of people. Without the practice of ethics in the workplace you are looking at perpetuating a cycle that will only lead in harmful acts.
ReplyDeleteHaving a good code of ethics is one of the most important, if not the most important quality to have as an engineer because it instills a sense of trust amongst your peers as well as the general public (consumers). Good ethical practices are a necessity for engineers in the workforce since, due to the scope and magnitude of some projects undertaken, many lives can easily be put in jeopardy. As Wikipedia defines engineers: "Engineering is the discipline, art and profession of acquiring and applying technical, scientific, and mathematical knowledge to design and implement materials, structures, machines, devices, systems, and processes that safely realize a desired objective or invention." The key phrase in that description is: "safely realizes", which has a very ethical connotation.
ReplyDeletePart of practicing good ethics is sticking to them while always considering your "obligation to society." Part of our description is the phrase "... safely realize a desired objective." For many engineers, this means designing something that people will undoubtedly use in some way (designing a car to ride in, or a bridge to cross, etc.). If people are going to use it, it needs to be safe for them to use. From an ethical standpoint this is very important because, going back to earlier, it builds trust with your consumers and their best interests are conserved.
On a side note, I like how the author publicly gives examples at how big businesses are full of s*!@ on a lot of the stuff they say to us just to turn a profit. Along with that, I found it interesting that big businesses now rank lower than politicians for their ethical practices (in overall American confidence). This can be seen with more recent items like the record bonuses given to bank upper management, which goes to show how much animosity can be caused when the general public's interest is not served in such dire times.
This is Joe Westergreen:
ReplyDeleteEthics is very important in all work places. There have been many unethical business cases in the news in the last year and these don’t only hurt that company, but it also makes that business’s profession look bad as well. Also if a business does unethical things and this information gets out people will no longer trust that business and give them work in the future. There are some things that are obviously unethical such as large corporate scandals of money laundering, but a lot of ethical issues are not as black and white. Since ethical issues can be so complex with large gray areas it is important for businesses to have some kind of code of ethics set up within their company, and have a plan on how to deal with ethical problems when they arise. I think Lennon’s comments about mistaking groupthink for teamwork is a very common issue in business and shows how complex ethics can be in the work place. People often have to balance their personal values with what is best for the company.
In the engineering profession ethics is extremely important because engineering has direct impacts on the quality of life of all people. That is why the first cannon in the Code of Ethics for Engineers states “Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties shall: Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” This is also the reason all Civil Engineering students at WSU have to take a course where we look at different case studies and analyze them by comparing them the Code of Ethics for Engineers. I feel that ethics in a professional career like engineering or medicine is more important than at some other jobs because the work that they do can have such a direct effect on the public.
A clearly defined code of ethics is essential for any profession. As depicted in the reading by Lannon there are many conflicts in society that when a problem is presented it is very difficult to navigate through the external pressures. This makes it very difficult to perform for a job while maintaining your integrity as well as the integrity of the company you work for. The companies I have worked for in industry have had a very specific code of ethics, they had a standard procedure for almost every situation. Having this structure alowed for me to make desicions with out the fear of being repremanded from my company and if a customer disagreed with my desicions my company would back me 100%. This is the reason why a good code of ethics is HUGE when it comes down to decisions that could make or break your career.
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