CHE 0602 ETHICS EXAM
Why are environmental issues so contentious?
The commission was created to address growing concern "about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development." In establishing the commission, the UN General Assembly recognized that environmental problems were global in nature and determined that it was in the common interest of all nations to establish policies for sustainable development. "Sustainability is based on a simple principle: Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and maintain the conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations."
Ethics - what was the issue in Palo Alto?
** I could be wrong but I am pretty sure Facebook and google are not doing anything to help with the flooding issues
Cognitive ethical skills, moral commitment/responsible conduct
*Cognitive Ethical Skills* 1. Moral awareness: Proficiency in recognizing moral problems and issues in engineering 2. Cogent moral reasoning: Comprehending, clarifying, and assessing arguments on opposing sides of moral issues 3. Moral coherence: Forming consistent and comprehensive viewpoints based on consideration of relevant facts 4. Moral imagination: Discerning alternative responses to moral issues and finding creative solutions for practical difficulties 5. Moral communication: Precision in the use of a common ethical language, a skill needed to express and support one's moral views adequately to others *Moral Commitment & Responsible Conduct* 1. Moral reasonableness: The willingness and ability to be morally reasonable 2. Respect for persons: Genuine concern for the well-being of others as well as oneself 3. Tolerance of diversity: Within a broad range, respect for ethnic and religious differences and acceptance of reasonable differences in moral perspectives 4. Moral hope: Enriched appreciation of the possibilities of using rational dialogue in resolving moral conflicts 5. Integrity: Maintaining moral integrity and integrating one's professional life and personal convictions
The recent Miami building collapse
*In the wake of the Miami building collapse, Universities seek to change how we teach building (June 24, 2021)* - legislative responses are commonly introduced when ethical practices have eroded or failed. - a cultural shift within engineering education and the relevant engineering professions - emphasizing a value on the ethical rather than solely technical consideration. - it is important to fully appreciate that professional engineering decisions are not constrained to highly formalized narrow technical tasks. - modern problems of humanity that call for engineering solutions are increasingly complex and multifaceted involving conflicting demands. -Ethical decision-making goes beyond what is legal, acceptable or common. Something may well be legal but still be unethical depending on a particular viewpoint - for example the interaction of aquifers and agriculture. -An ethical professional decision is not merely based on what is allowed and/or technically valid, but also what is judged to be right and fair. -Most critically, the deliberation must be conducted at the onset where it can influence decisions not after the fact to simply provide excuses. - engineers ascertain ethical skills to solve novel problems which may have never been encountered previously. Ideally, teaching them how to think, not what to think in order to avoid disaster.
What is moral absolutism? And moral relativism?
*Moral absolutism*: the view that ethical values have a source that is independent of individual humans and society; ethical values come from God, or nature; All known early forms of ethics are in this category. *Moral relativism*: the view that ethical values are determined by individuals and/or by human societies; what is morally right for one person may be morally wrong for another, or that what is right in one culture may be wrong in another culture.
What are "normative ethics" and "applied ethics"?
*Normative ethics* seeks to establish norms or standards of conduct; a crucial question in this field is whether actions are to be judged right or wrong based on their consequences or based on their conformity to some moral rule, such as "Do not tell a lie." *Applied ethics*, as the name implies, consists of the application of normative ethical theories to practical moral problems (e.g., stem cell research). Major fields of applied ethics include bioethics, business ethics, legal ethics, and medical ethics.
Rights of engineers
*Professional Rights* - Right of Professional Conscience • Moral right to exercise professional judgment in pursuing professional responsibilities - Right of Conscientious Refusal • Right to refuse to engage in unethical behavior and to refuse to do so solely because one views it as unethical - Right to Recognition • Monetary remuneration • Non-Monetary *Employee Rights* - Privacy - Equal opportunity (nondiscrimination, sexual harassment, affirmative action)
Which of the following is a right of an engineer working at a company?
*Professional Rights* - Right of Professional Conscience • Moral right to exercise professional judgment in pursuing professional responsibilities - Right of Conscientious Refusal • Right to refuse to engage in unethical behavior and to refuse to do so solely because one views it as unethical - Right to Recognition • Monetary remuneration • Non-Monetary *Employee Rights* - Privacy - Equal opportunity (nondiscrimination, sexual harassment, affirmative action)
Ethical challenges in your career
-Engineer is under constant pressure from multiple sources: employer demands, budget, time frame, customer requirements, regulatory compliance, engineering competence, standard practice, safety, personal goals, employer demands • Challenge is to balance all of these • How much weight should be given to each of these factors? • How much can the individual engineer affect these? • What is the engineer's accountability?
the following example illustrates what type of a win-win solution;
1. (*type*) Reasonable compromise or division -> (*example*) Negotiate reduction in fee from 20% to 10% 2. Level the playing field -> Agree on industry safety standards 3. Trade or exchange (logrolling) -> Integrate special payment into contract 4. Expand the pie -> Offer a share of any sales you make 5. Experiment -> Tie performance to compensation 6. Contingency -> Perform to spec or stop 7. Allocate to the neediest -> From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs 8. Advanced triage -> Allocate to the greatest good 9. Seniority -> Preferences to the most senior 10. Taking turns -> Rotate assignments 11. Random selection -> Randomly to all qualified
What are key ethical concepts in the workplace?
1. Ethical Corporate Climate 2. Loyalty to a Corporation 3. Collegiality 4. Executive Authority 5. Managing Conflict 6. Globalization 7. Workforce Diversity 8. Confidentiality 9. Continuing education 10. Conflict of Interest 11. Professional Rights 12. Employee Rights 13. Sexual Discrimination 14. Affirmative Action 15. Whistleblowing 16. Top management sets a moral tone in words, policies and by personal example
What is a defining feature of an ethical corporate climate?
1. Ethical values, in full complexity, are widely acknowledged and appreciated by managers and employees alike 2. Use of ethical language is honestly applied and recognized as a part of corporate dialogue a) Prominently display corporate code of ethics b) Statement of ethical responsibility in the PD 3. Top management sets a moral tone in words, policies and by personal example 4. Top management sets a moral tone in words, policies and by personal example
According to ABET, an important student outcome is Outcome 4...
4. an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
Non-competes:
A non-compete agreement is a legal agreement or clause in a contract specifying that an employee must not enter into competition with an employer after the employment period is over.
What did VW do that got the in so much trouble?
The company had manufactured and installed software (known as "defeat devices") that substantially reduced the effectiveness of the emissions control system of the diesel vehicles when on the open road. The violations spanned the course of six consecutive model years (2009-15) •Algorithm, installed in the emissions control module, detects when the cars were undergoing emissions testing (wheels not turning) • It ran the engine cleanly during tests and switched off emissions control during normal driving conditions.... • ...allowing the car to spew up to 40 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum allowed level of nitrogen oxides, air pollutants that cause respiratory problems and smog.
International ventures seem to be win-win, but they are more difficult to "pull off" than it appears (70% fail) because...
The number of international ventures that fail due to *cultural differences*
Milton Friedman vs Edward Freeman
• *Milton Friedman* says to maximize profit a) within the law and b) without violating social standards -so, in looking at a business decision (or analyzing a case), identify relevant laws and regulations -- also identify current social standards and opinions -maximize profit without breaking laws/regulations AND without "disturbing" society so much that it decreases profits • *Edward Freeman* says to a) identify stakeholder groups and b) make a decision that "takes them into account" -so, in looking at a business decision (or analyzing a case), identify all stakeholder groups -identify available options and determine the effect they will have on the stakeholders -select and apply an ethical theory to these options to determine the best one
How to deal with conflicts of interest
• People: Separate the people involved from the problem being faced • Interests: Focus on shared interests, not personal positions • Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do (rather than insisting on the solution that you brought to the table) • Criteria: Insist that the result (of the conflict resolution) be based on some objective standard (rather than a personal bias or the personality of those presenting the options)
Consider the Citicorp Tower Building in New York City.
• CitiCorp tower was opened October12, 1977 in NYC • 59 stories (915 feet) as headquarters for CitiCorp • Structural engineer was William LeMessurier • Unique cantilever design was used to accommodate a shared building for St Peter's Lutheran Church • Design features added to stabilize against wind • Design was later shown to be structurally unsound -Damper would not work without power -Lower safety design factor was used on trusses -Error in wind calculation • Although corrected, the error was kept secret for 20 years
Concerning difficult issues related environmental ethics
• Environmental issues raise many difficult ethical questions, including the ancient question of the nature of intrinsic value. • Concern for the environment also raises the question of obligations to future generations. How much do human beings living now owe to those not yet born? • Climate change in particular has also been conceived of as a question of global equity
Modern ethics environmental ethics - intrinsic value
• Environmental issues raise many difficult ethical questions, including the ancient question of the nature of intrinsic value. - Why it is so bad if dodoes become extinct or a rainforest is cut down? Are these things to be regretted only because of the experiences that would be lost to humans? - Do trees, rivers, species, and perhaps even ecological systems as a whole have a value independent of the instrumental value they may have for humans or animals? What should the basis for this value be?
Multinational corporations - Which of the following is typically a benefit to the US and foreign companies?
Benefits to U.S. Companies who do business in less economically developed countries: - Less expensive labor - Availability of natural resources - Favorable tax arrangements - Fresh markets for products Benefits to Participants in Developing Countries: • New jobs • Jobs with higher pay and greater challenge • Transfer of advanced technology • Social benefits from sharing wealth
the definition of ethics
Branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong.
Regarding confidentiality and non-compete agreement
Confidentiality agreement: common but difficult to enforce in many cases and can restrict an engineer to pursue their livelihood
The GM car problem; what was the problem?
• It took General Motors >10 years to issue a recall for over 2.6 million cars carrying an ignition switch now blamed for at least 124 deaths and 275 injuries. • In 2014, GM finally admitted that it failed to disclose that its small car ignition switch could turn off while being driven, lock the steering wheel and fail to set off the airbags in a crash. There were internal reports about this issue dating back to 2002 in the Saturn Ion, Reuters reported.
Loyalty and collegiality - Loyalty is typically regarded as...
• Loyalty to an Employer: - Agency Loyalty: acting to fulfil one's contractual duties to an employer - Attitude Loyalty: people who work grudgingly and spitefully are not loyal; despite the fact they may adequately perform all their work responsibilities and hence manifest agency loyalty • Codes of Ethics: - be loyal to employer... - NSPE: ...hold paramount the health, safety and welfare of the public...
Which example is NOT a conflict of interest for someone with a full time job is a company X?
Definition of *conflict of interest*: a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity • Most organizations require annual statement by all employees that identifies any potential conflict of interest - Example: ownership in a company that is bidding or supplying goods or services to their employer
something that is typically kept confidential
Definition: - Keep secret all information deemed desirable to be keep secret (re competition) by the employer and/or client - Secret with respect to value generation and/or reputation - Privileged information is difficult to completely define but ignorance of value is not relevant - Proprietary information includes trade secret such as *patents and or reverse engineering* - Other proprietary information is considered know-how or unique art and is not patented (since a patent by nature is a disclosure)
Many codes of professional ethics include the concept captured by this short phrase
Do no harm
Ford Explorer tires
During the late 1990s, reports began to multiply about the tread on Explorer tires separating from the rest of the tire, leading to blowouts and rollovers. • By 2002, estimates were that 300 people had died, and another 1,000 people were injured, and more recent estimates place the numbers much higher. • Ford and Bridgestone/ Firestone blamed each other for the problem, leading to the breakup of a century-old business partnership. As it turned out, the hazard had multiple sources. • Bridgestone/Firestone used a flawed tire design and poor quality control at a major manufacturing facility. • Ford chose tires with a poor safety margin, relied on drivers to maintain proper inflation within a very narrow range, and then dragged its feet in admitting the problem and recalling dangerous tires.
Sustainability - according to the Brundtland Commission
Environmental Ethics has had a formative impact on the modern movement towards 'sustainability', as reflected in its most commonly used definition (formulated by the 'Brundtland Commission'): "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
The McKinsey code of professional conduct
Guide to our values and policies in action and outlines the expectations we have for all firm members in the areas of: 1. Serving our clients with the highest professional standards 2. Creating a working environment that inspires and motivates our people 3. Fulfilling our responsibility to society 4. Managing risk to the firm5. Seeking advice and raising concerns
Serious concerns about McKinsey's perspective
In recent years, consultants have gained more notoriety than just harbingers of layoffs. In their ominously titled book, "When McKinsey Comes To Town," authors Walt Bogdanich and Michael Forsyth excoriate McKinsey & Co. for its role in promoting opioids, enabling authoritarian regimes, and other bad deeds.
When dealing with those investors who focus solely on money, one may have to...
Make profit the primary focus
AIChE Code of Ethics
Members of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering profession by: being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity their employers, their clients, and the public; striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession; and using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare. To achieve these goals, members shall: • Hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and protect the environment in performance of their professional duties. • Formally advise their employers or clients (and consider further disclosure, if warranted) if they perceive that a consequence of their duties will adversely affect the present or future health or safety of their colleagues or the public. • Accept responsibility for their actions, seek and heed critical review of their work and offer objective criticism of the work of others. • Issue statements or present information only in an objective and truthful manner. • Act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, avoiding conflicts of interest and never breaching confidentiality. • Treat fairly and respectfully all colleagues and co-workers, recognizing their unique contributions and capabilities. • Perform professional services only in areas of their competence. • Build their professional reputations on the merits of their services. • Continue their professional development throughout their careers, and provide opportunities for the professional development of those under their supervision. • Never tolerate harassment. • Conduct themselves in a fair, honorable and respectful manner.
What is Process intensification as illustrated in this course and CHE 400?
The Process Intensification paradigm ▪ Process improvement is incremental ▪ Process integration is connective ▪ Process intensification is transformative (contextual) Principles of Process Intensification ▪ Modular thinking ▪ Continuous thinking ▪ Change to integrative instead of sequential thinking ▪ Contextual design ▪ Methodological design Fusion of Chemical Engineering and business practices
three commonly cited sources of "moral values"
Moral values come from God, come from societies, or are determined by an individual's pleasure or pain
What makes debates so contentious?
Self-serving bias
Consider the recent Theranos Therapeutics debacle
Silicon Valley startup with CEO Elizabeth Holmes described as next Steve Jobs • The idea was to make blood tests cheaper, more convenient, and accessible to consumers. Simply by using a pin prick, blood could be analyzed quickly for diseases. Holmes believed the testing procedures were a revolution in the way diagnostics were done and preventative medicine. Using a machine called the Edison, pharmacies were able to use this portable blood test from a drop of blood. • Organization characteristics - Very secretive - High turnover - Suppressed internal 'whistle blowers" - Cult of the genius young founder • Issues appeared - Amount of blood samples could not contain the claimed information (simple mass balance could not be closed) - Not able to correlate results with comparable tests - Unwilling to submit for independent verification • Fraud occurred when raising over $700 MM based on fabricated information packets
Whistleblowing is such a serious issue that there are protections for whistleblowers that offer some form of protection
True ; OSHA enforces whistleblower statues the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 which applies specifically to federal employees, the No Fear Act of 2002 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which applies to the financial community
Engineers have professional rights:
True: - Right of Professional Conscience • Moral right to exercise professional judgment in pursuing professional responsibilities - Right of Conscientious Refusal • Right to refuse to engage in unethical behavior and to refuse to do so solely because one views it as unethical - Right to Recognition • Monetary remuneration • Non-Monetary
In general, which of the following is rises to the level of "whistleblowing"?
Typical topics include: • violations of workplace safety & health, financial, or security laws; • unethical manufacturing or advertising; • fraudulent manufacturing or composition issues; • gross mismanagement; • gross waste of funds any specific • substantial danger to public health and safety
When is it acceptable to use handbook values, or estimates?
When doing preliminary/initial design, never for detailed analysis
Example of something that one should consider becoming a whistleblower to reveal?
bribery, insider trading, fraud, theft, etc. (Part 2 Lecture)
What is sustainable development?
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs
What issues commonly serve to challenge the engineer?
employer demands, budget, time frame, customer requirements, regulatory compliance, engineering competence, standard practice, safety, personal goals, employer demands
Codes of ethics
formalized rules and standards that describe what a company expects of its employees • Useful for: - Reminding of ethical standards - Formally present norms to those new to profession - Basis for disciplinary action against violators • Problems: - Inadequate guidance in complex situations - Can lead to ethical minimalism - Poor guides during quick decisions - "traffic cop" often lacking for enforcement - Can change in unpredictable ways
Which of the following is NOT a part of the AIChE board-approved code of ethics?
https://www.aiche.org/about/governance/policies/code-ethics
The common problem of accepting unacceptable ethical behavior (for yourself or others) because it occurs slowly
normalization of deviance
Fraud Triangle
opportunity, pressure, rationalization
Confidentiality policies; what are aspects of confidentiality agreements?
• *Management Policies* - How to recognize the legitimate personal interests and rights of employees, while recognizing the rights of employers? - Employment contract (uncommon outside of academia and consulting) - Confidentiality agreement: common but difficult to enforce in many cases and can restrict an engineer to pursue their livelihood • *Justification* - Contract • provides autonomy (freedom and self-determination) of individuals and corporations • Recognize their legitimate control over private information concerning themselves - Confidentiality agreement provides some degree of protection to the corporation • Maintenance of secrets relates to the virtue of trustworthiness
Conflict of interest. In general, what is the best ethical strategy for conflicts of interest?
• People: Separate the people involved from the problem being faced • Interests: Focus on shared interests, not personal positions • Options: Generate a variety of possibilities before deciding what to do (rather than insisting on the solution that you brought to the table) • Criteria: Insist that the result (of the conflict resolution) be based on some objective standard (rather than a personal bias or the personality of those presenting the options) From SAChE: Balancing the achievement of objectives with risks at many levels with the allocation of resources, such as personnel, time, and money
The Ford Pinto
• Released 1970 • "not to weigh an ounce over 2000 pounds and not to cost a cent over $2000." - Lee Iacocca • 1972 Crash tests reveal defect in gas tank • Rear-end collisions over 25 mph resulted in rupture and explosion *Cost-Benefit Analysis of Dangerous Design* - According to Ford, the unsafe design would cause:• 180 Burn Deaths • 180 Serious burn injuries • 2100 Burned vehicles per year - Ford assumed it would have to pay • $200,000 per death • $67,000 per injury • $700 per vehicle
What is the utility of ethical universalism?
• Same standards of what is right and what is wrong are universal and transcend most cultures, societies and religions • Universal agreement on basic moral standards allows a multinational company to develop a code of ethics that is applied evenly across its worldwide operations
Stakeholders and different responsibilities
• The movement is reflected in what is called "stake-holder theory": corporations have responsibilities to all groups that have a vital stake in the corporation, including employees, customers, dealers, suppliers, local communities, and the general public.
The scale of the GM ignition switch incident; the cost to GM
• This deception cost the company over $1 billion, and 15 people lost their jobs. • GM reached a $900 million settlement with the U.S. Government to avoid criminal charges, plus $625 million that was set aside to cover compensation settlements.
Why are chemical engineers taught professional ethics?
•Engineering ethics course is not about preaching virtue; rather, our objective is to increase your ability as engineers to responsibly confront moral issues that arises in professional engineering practice • Increased awareness of importance from studying high profile engineering failures. • Engineering decisions can impact public health, safety, business practices and politics. • Engineers must be aware of moral implications as they make decisions in the workplace. • Behaving ethically includes: - Being Honest - Keeping promises - Doing your job well This section of ChE602 aims to: • Familiarize you with different professional codes of ethics (including AIChE, NSPE, ACS, ABET) and with University Policy. • Discuss ethical conduct in your professional career (process/design engineer, manager/CEO, entrepreneur, researcher, professor/educator, patent lawyer, technical writer/reporter, concerned citizen, etc.) Issues include plagiarism, fabrication and falsification, conflict of interest, whistle-blowing, assignment of credit. etc. • Assist you in developing a personal "toolbox" that will allow you to make informed decisions when ethical conflicts arise in your careers. • Prepare you to formulate, articulate, and explain your response to ethical conflicts. • And finally, to improve your communication skills in a "soft" engineering context.
Regarding Valeant Pharmaceuticals - What did they do that raised ethical concerns?
•Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection. The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars. • Turing's price increase is not an isolated example... there is also growing concern about huge price increases on older drugs, some of them generic, that have long been mainstays of treatment. • Although some price increases have been caused by shortages, others have resulted from a business strategy of buying old neglected drugs and turning them into high-priced "specialty drugs." Cycloserine, a drug used to treat dangerous multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, was just increased in price to $10,800 for 30 pills from $500 after its acquisition by Rodelis Therapeutics. Scott Spencer, general manager of Rodelis, said the company needed to invest to make sure the supply of the drug remained reliable. He said the company provided the drug free to certain needy patients. • In August, two members of Congress investigating generic drug price increases wrote to *Valeant Pharmaceuticals after that company acquired two heart drugs, Isuprel and Nitropress, from Marathon Pharmaceuticals and promptly raised their prices by 525 % and 212 % respectively*. Marathon had acquired the drugs from another company in 2013 and had quintupled their prices, • Doxycycline, an antibiotic, went from $20 a bottle in October 2013 to $1,849 by April 2014