Role of Ethics in Business and Engineering Report
Ethics has diverse definitions depending on the field in which it is applied. From a universal perspective, ethics encompasses well-established standards of wrong and right acts that human beings should avoid and do. The standards include instances of honesty, societal benefits, fairness, and particular virtues. Moreover, ethics revolves around the development of the aforementioned standards in ensuring that institutions study their own ethical standards.Role of Ethics in Business and Engineering Report
This ethical theory holds that the end justifies the means no matter the repercussions that result from the actions. Ethical practices are not limited to the laws and social norms. For that reason, a lawful act may not be ethical. Ethics is applicable in several fields and it has the historical, modern, and postmodern theoretical perspectives. This branch of philosophy encourages honesty, accountability, respectfulness, integrity among other discrete components.
In the engineering case study, the Ford Pinto Company released a vehicle that that it knew will cause accidents by arguing that it was a costly initiative to correct the fuel tank defects. The ethical component of caring is applicable to this case study given that the final product from Ford Pinto was affecting human beings’ lives.Role of Ethics in Business and Engineering Report
Ethically, mechanics should not supply products that are likely to cause harm to the lives of the public. Clients purchasing Ford vehicles expected the company to make moral decisions regarding the overall safety of the automobiles by considering the value of their lives above other parameters. From the case study, the company viewed the entire process in terms of the benefits that it intends to receive. This reveals the company’s less concern for the lives of its clients in relation to its direct benefits.
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The Ford Pinto’s decision failed to take into concern aspects of safety of the final users of the products. The case represents a clear failure on the part of the company’s designers. Even at the time of releasing the vehicle to the market, technocrats had it in mind that buyers will automatically have accidents given the unstable conditions of the fuel tank filler neck. In this case, Ford Pinto did not consider the cost of compensating their buyers against damages that could arise from defects of the design.
As a future civil engineer, I believe that ethical practices should first consider the lives of human beings irrespective of the benefits ideas bring to a given party. No life should be lost in the process of designing structures to save on cost of production, as this will not only be unethical from the biblical perspective but also detrimental to the image of an engineering firm.Role of Ethics in Business and Engineering Report
At this point, the CEO and other managerial officers should instill ethical practices into the entire firm processes. For example, if corruption practice arises in the engineering field, there should be offices where one can report such acts. Moreover, a code of conduct that guides operations within the firm should protect whistleblowers from victimization. An overall neutral body should also monitor the relationships among a construction company, its competitors, consultants, employees, and clients.
For successful execution of ethical practices, customers, employees and the management ought to be reporting any act that can harm general interest. In addition, continuous training and information dissemination among workers should be in existence at all times to enable professional engineers to commit themselves to high standards ethical of conduct that consider the welfare of the majority.Role of Ethics in Business and Engineering Report
