CONTENTS

Chapter: 1
Class Subject: Introduction to Ethics Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Basic terminologies- Moral, Ethics 1
02 Basic terminologies- Ethical dilemma, Emotional intelligence 1
03 Kohlberg’s Moral development theories 1
04 Piaget’s Moral development theories 1
05 Aristotle’s theory on ethics & Governing factors of an 1
individual value system
06 Personal and professional ethics 1

Chapter 2:
Class Subject: Profession and Professionalism Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Clarification of the concepts: Profession, Professional, 1
Professionalism,
02 Professional accountability, Professional risks 1
03 Profession and Craftsmanship 1
04 Conflict of interest 1
05 Distinguishing features of a professional 1
06 Role and responsibilities of professionals 1
07 Professionals’ duties towards the organization and vice-a- 1
versa

Chapter 3:
Class Subject: Ethical Theories Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Various ethical theories and their application- 1
Consequentialism, Deontology, Virtue theory,
02 Rights Theory, Casuist theory 1
03 Ethical terms: Moral absolutism, Moral Relativism, Moral 1
Pluralism
04 Resolving Ethical Dilemma 1

Chapter 4:
Class Subject: Ethics in Engineering Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Purpose and concept of Engineering Ethics 1
02 Engineering as social experimentation 1
03 Types of inquiry 1
04 Issues in engineering ethics 1

Chapter 5:
Class Subject: Engineers' Responsibility and Safety Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Safety, Risk, Underestimating the risk, Over estimating the 1
risk,
02 Risk-benefit analysis 1
03 Causes of an accident and Identification of the preventive 1
measures to be taken

.Chapter: 6
Class Subject: Global Ethical Issues Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Different ethical issues in business- 1
,,
02 Issues in Environmental ethics 1
 03 Issues in Information & Technology 1
04 Issues in Bioethics 1
05 Issues in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) 1
06 Issues in Research ethics 1
07 Issues in Media ethics 1
08 Issues in Corporate Social Responsibility 1

Chapter: 7
Class Subject: Ethical Codes Page No of Date & time
No classes
01 Meaning and the significance of ethical codes 3
02 The limitations of ethical codes. 1

Chapter: 8
01 Case studies 4
 CHAPTER - 1 INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
MODULE - I
1. Introduction:
Professional ethics may be understood as professionally acknowledged measures of individual and
organizational conduct, values, and guiding principles. Professional ethics is nothing but a code of
conduct applicable to different professions and is set up by the expert members of such profession or
professional organizations. The underlying philosophy of having professional ethics is to make the
persons performing in such jobs to follow the sound, uniform ethical conduct. Some of the important
components of professional ethics that professional organizations necessarily include in their code of
conduct are integrity, honesty, transparency, respectfulness towards the job, confidentiality, objectivity
etc.

1.1. Objective of professional ethics:

The objectives of this course on ‘Professional Ethics’ are:
 To understand the moral values that ought to guide the Engineering profession,
 To resolve the moral issues in the profession, and
 To justify the moral judgment concerning the profession.

It is intended to develop a set of beliefs, attitudes, and habits that engineers should display concerning
morality. The prime objective is to increase one’s ability to deal effectively with moral complexity in
engineering practice. Alternatively, the objectives of the study on Professional Ethics may be listed as:
1.1.1. Improvement of the cognitive skills (skills of the intellect in thinking clearly)
 Moral awareness (proficiency in recognizing moral problems in engineering)
 Cogent moral reasoning (comprehending, assessing different views)
 Moral coherence (forming consistent viewpoints based on facts)
 Moral imagination (searching beyond obvious the alternative responses to issues and being
receptive to creative solutions)
 Moral communication, to express and support one’s views to others.
1.1.2. To act in morally desirable ways, towards moral commitment and responsible conduct
 Moral reasonableness i.e., willing and able to be morally responsible.
 Respect for persons, which means showing concern for the well-being of others & self.
 Tolerance of diversity i.e., respect for ethnic and religious differences, and acceptance of
reasonable differences in moral perspectives.
 Moral hope i.e., believing in using rational dialogue for resolving moral conflicts.
 Integrity, which means moral integrity, and integrating one’s professional life and personal
convictions.

2. BASIC TERMINOLOGIES:
To understand the subject of professional ethics, it is desired to have the basic understanding about some
of the terminologies and concepts used in this. The major concepts related to this are, Morals, Ethics,
ethical dilemma, emotional intelligence, etc. let discuss all this in detail.

2.1. BELIEFS:
If we ask a question, what is a snake? Answer may be like; its poisonous, having venoms, it may kills
anybody, etc.
So when you put that together the entire sentences the idea of the word belief could be understood like
this;
Belief means to be in the state of happy, willing or glad of the occurrence or existence of a situation.
Belief doesn’t mean you have to know for a fact, all you have to do is happy or glad for it. It takes
concrete knowledge, which is a cognitive process and changes it to be happy or glad, which is a function
of the heart. A true belief is something that resonates both in heart and mind.
One’s beliefs will dictate its action, if we believe in a cause; we will fight to realize it.
If one believes in his religion, he will try to live with it. If we believe in others, we will support and uplift
them. Beliefs drive us for an action irrespective of its validity and reality.
Successful people think differently and believe differently than most of the world. These beliefs that they
adopt lay the foundation for the level of success they experience. You see, beliefs are not necessarily what
are true or factual in the real world. The power of each belief comes only from the individual believer.
That means you can believe whatever you want to believe. As long as you believe it to be true, it will be
true in your life. Consequently, you will attract events, experiences and people in your life to match your
beliefs.

2.1.1. Formation of belief system:

Beliefs can come from two sources:
 Our own experience and reflections, or
 As a blind acceptance of what other people tell us.
These are very different methods and are often based on very different preferences and attitudes to the
world and people around us.
 Self-generated belief: Self-generated beliefs are those we create ourselves. People who generally
prefer to self-generate are often open, confident and curious. They seek truth over comfort and
social acceptance.
 Experience: Trying things for ourselves is how we start out as children and we continue to use
this approach to some degree through our lives. The extent to which we continue to seek truth
through experience depends on a range of factors, including parental guidance and the level and
style of education we received.
 Experiment: Experience may come from things that happen to us. It may also be deliberately
sought, in particular when we try out various experiments.
 Reflection: Reflection includes general musing about things and building internal mental models
which help to explain the external world. In some ways reflection is opposite to experience in that
it is internal rather than external.
 Generalization: A key part of self-created beliefs is when we take the results of experience and
experiment, and (often through reflection) generalize this to assume that what we have discovered
in one context is equally applicable elsewhere.
 Externally generated belief: The alternative to finding things out for oneself is to take on board
things that others have found out. People who generally prefer to accept beliefs from others
typically have a greater need for a sense of control. They tend to seek certainty and rapid closure,
avoiding the uncertainty of exploration. They also are likely to have a greater tendency to trust
others and to seek trustworthiness, although perhaps only in specific areas.
 Experts: Experts are people who have proven them to have knowledge in particular areas. They
may have qualifications or demonstrable and skills. They are often professionals who are paid for
their expertise. When they tell you something, you have good reason to believe it.
 Authority: The difference between an expert and an authority is that you believe the authority
because of their position or charismatic powers and not because of any reasonable proof that they
know well what they are talking about.
 Canons: A 'canon' is an unchallenged set of 'truths' as set out in literature from religious texts to
scientific papers. It is the set of 'truths' that most people working in the given area believe and
accept without challenge.

Figure: 1

2.2. VALUES:
These are the derivatives of beliefs; they don’t come in to existence unless there are pre-existing beliefs.
The same relation is expressed in the figure 1.
Humans have the unique ability to define their identity, choose their values and establish their beliefs. All
three of these directly influence a person’s behavior. People have gone to great lengths to demonstrate the
validity of their beliefs, including war and sacrificing their own life! Conversely, people are not motivated
to support or validate the beliefs of another, when those beliefs are contrary to their own.
 2.2.1. Definition of Values:
Values refer to the important and enduring beliefs or principles, based on which an individual makes
judgments in life. It is at the centre of our lives which act as a standard of behaviour. They severely affect
the emotional state of mind of an individual. These can be of Individual, Group, Organizational values at
different levels and personal, cultural or corporate values at different situations.
According to the dictionary, values are “things that have an intrinsic worth in usefulness or
importance to the possessor,” or “principles, standards, or qualities considered worthwhile or desirable.”
However, it is important to note that, although we may tend to think of a value as something good,
virtually all values are morally relative – neutral, really – until they are qualified by asking,.

A value is defined as”a principle that promotes well-being or prevents harm.”

Another definition is: Values are our guidelines for our success our paradigm about what is acceptable.”
Personal values are defined as: “Emotional beliefs in principles regarded as particularly favorable or
important for the individual.”
Our values associate emotions to our experiences and guide our choices, decisions and actions, in this
aspect it can be said that; “Values are the scales we use to weigh our choices for our actions, whether to
move towards or away from something.”
2.2.2. TYPES OF VALUES:
Personal values: Personal values are those you take for yourself and which constitute a critical part of
your values and are apparent in attitudes, beliefs, and actions.
Personal values may be prioritized, such as honesty then responsibility then loyalty and so on.
Social values: Social values are those which put the rights of wider groups of people first. This may
include equality, justice, liberty, freedom, and national pride. These are often instilled into us when we
were young.
Political values: Political values are ideological beliefs about the best way to govern a country or
organization, for example through welfare, democracy and civic responsibility.
Economic values: Economic values are those around money, and may include beliefs around ownership
of property, contributing to the common good (taxes!), the balance of supply and demand and so on.
Religious values: Religious values are spiritual in nature and include beliefs in how we should behave,
including caring of one another and in worship of our deity or deities.

2.3. MORALS:
Morals are basically based on one’s value system (as presented in figure 1), it is not a universal concept
rather it varies with situation, person, place, religion, culture etc. Hence mostly is expressed as, the moral
values, not the moral belief. Moral values are relative values that protect life and are respectful of the dual
life value of self and others. The great moral values, such as truth, freedom, charity, etc., have one thing
in common. When they are functioning correctly, they are life protecting or life enhancing for all. But
they are still relative values. Our relative moral values must be constantly examined to make sure that
they are always performing their life-protecting mission.
2.3.1. Where Does Morality Come From?
The principles of moral can be learned or injected into any individual. Ethical businesses recognize the
power of conducting businesses in socially responsible ways and they realize that doing so leads to
increase in profits, customer satisfaction and decrease in employee turnover. For detail discussion let take
three case studies which will explain how the morality is formed and how it is further classified in to
different types.
Cases;
 Case 1. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is the moral duty of an organization to serve the
people in need out of their surplus profits from their business.
 Case 2. While entering our religious place, we used to follow the traditions. It is neither asked nor
forced by any person; still we maintain the traditions due to our moral responsibility which we
learned from others.
 Cse3. While travelling, if someone find there as an accident on the way, one supposed to stop and
look into the matter. Besides he /she try to help the affected persons, this says about one’s morality.
From the above three example we may get two types of conditions, those are;
 In case number one for CSR we follow a rule set by the government, to accomplish the task. For
example it is 2% of Profit After Tax (PAT) under some said conditions (read CSR norms from
external source)
 In case number two, following the religious tradition is learned by an individual, and he/she
voluntarily obeys those rules.
 In the third case, helping others in trouble is an universal philosophy, and it cannot differ by
situations, like nationality, location, age, gender, income, religion, beliefs etc. for example, in case
number one, the CSR it not universal and it differ by different countries. While in case number two,
religious morality differ by different religion, one is more sensitive towards own religion than that of
others.
There does not seem to be much reason to think that a single definition of morality will be applicable to
all moral discussions. One reason for this is that “morality” seems to be used in two distinct broad senses:
a descriptive sense and a normative sense. More particularly, the term “morality” can be used either
The finding of above three examples can bring a conclusion that; morality could of two different types as
given in figure 1.
 Descriptive morality and
 Normative morality.
Descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or,
a) some other group, such as a religion (Case no 1)
b) accepted by an individual for her own behavior (Case no 2)
Normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all
rational persons. (Case no 3)
2.3.2. Types of morality:
Which of these two senses of “morality” a theorist is using plays a crucial, although sometimes
unacknowledged, role in the development of an ethical theory. If one uses “morality” in its descriptive
sense, and therefore uses it to refer to codes of conduct actually put forward by distinct groups or
societies, one will almost certainly deny that there is a universal morality that applies to all human beings.
The descriptive use of “morality” is the one used by anthropologists when they report on the morality of
the societies that they study
2.3.2.1. Descriptive morality:
Any definition of “morality” in the descriptive sense will need to specify which of the codes put forward
by a society or group count as moral. Even in small homogeneous societies that have no written language,
distinctions are sometimes made between morality, etiquette, law, and religion. And in larger and more
complex societies these distinctions are often sharply marked. So “morality” cannot be taken to refer to
every code of conduct put forward by a society.
2.3.2.2. Normative morality:
In the normative sense, “morality” refers to a code of conduct that would be accepted by anyone who
meets certain intellectual and volitional conditions, almost always including the condition of being
rational. That a person meets these conditions is typically expressed by saying that the person counts as a
moral agent. However, merely showing that a certain code would be accepted by any moral agent is not
enough to show that the code is the moral code. It might well be that all moral agents would also accept a
code of prudence or rationality, but this would not by itself show that prudence was part of morality

2.3.3. Definitions:
“Morality” is an unusual word. It is not used very much, at least not without some qualification.
People do sometimes talk about “Christian morality,” “Nazi morality,” or about “the morality of the
Greeks,” but they seldom talk simply about morality all by itself. Anthropologists used to claim that
morality, like law, applied only within a society. They claimed that “morality” referred to that code of
conduct that is put forward by a society. This account seems to fit best those societies that have no written
language,
Hence morality is a purely situational one; it may have a universal acceptance or accepted by a
specific society, religion or group.
When the term “morality” is used in this descriptive sense is there something that it actually
refers to, namely, a code of conduct put forward by a society.
Ethical relativists are primarily concerned with denying that there is any universal morality that
should be used by people in all societies to guide their own conduct and to make judgments about the
conduct of others.
In small homogeneous societies people do not belong to groups which put forward guides to
behavior that conflict with the guide put forward by their society. There is only one guide to behavior that
is accepted by all members of the society and that is the code of conduct that is put forward by the
society. For such societies there is no ambiguity about which guide “morality” refers to.
However, in those large societies where people often belong to groups that put forward guides to
behavior that conflict with the guide put forward by their society, they do not always accept the guide put
forward by their society. If they accept the conflicting guide of some specific group to which they belong,
often a religious group, cast, class, rather than the guide put forward by tee society.
 Hence the descriptive morality may conclude the moralities referred that, it be a code of conduct
that is put forward by a society and that it be used as a guide to behavior by the members of that society.
As against the descriptive definition, the normative morality is the universal morality, which claims that
it is a code of conduct that all rational persons would put forward for governing the behavior of all moral
agents.
Morality as applying to behavior that affects no one but the agent, he recognizes that it is
commonly related to behavior that affects other people
Being there are differences between normative and descriptive view, the common assumption could also
be developed between two definitions. It stands a common consensus that;
Morality prohibits actions such as killing, causing pain, deceiving, and breaking promises.
For some, morality also requires charitable actions, but it does not require a justification for not being
charitable on every possible occasion.
For others, morality only encourages charitable actions, and no justification is ever needed for not
being charitable. Rather, being charitable is supererogatory: it is always morally good to be charitable, but
it is not morally required to be charitable.
Hence from the above definitions we could come to a conclusion regarding the while defining the is as
following;
Morality as a universal guide that all rational persons would put forward for governing the
behavior of all moral agents, it is concerned with promoting people living together in peace and
harmony, not causing harm to others, and helping them.
Morality is an informal public system applying to all rational persons, governing behavior that
affects others, and has the lessening of evil or harm as its goal.
Morals are the welfare principles enunciated by the wise people, based on their experience and
wisdom. They were edited, changed or modified or evolved to suit the geography of the region, rulers
(dynasty), and in accordance with development of knowledge in science and technology and with time.

Morality is concerned with principles and practices of morals such as:

 What ought or ought not to be done in a given situation?
 What is right or wrong about the handling of a situation?
 What is good or bad about the people, policies, and ideals involved?

In a broad sense, morality is a set of rules that shapes our behavior in various social situations. It is more
sensitive doing the good instead of the bad, and therefore, it establishes a level of standard for virtuous
conduct.

2.4. ETHICS:
The term 'Ethics' comes from the Greek word 'ethos', which means 'character'. The origin of an ethical
concept based on a pre-existing moral value as presented in the figure 1.
 Ethics concerns with the moral behavior of humans and seeks to resolve questions dealing with
human morality/concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime.
 Ethics is an attempt to guide human conduct and it is also an attempt to help man in leading good life
by applying moral principles. Ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe
what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or
specific virtues.
 Ethics is related to issues of propriety, rightness and wrongness. What is right is ethical and what is
wrong is unethical. The words ‘proper’ 'fair' and 'just' are also used in place of 'right‟ and 'ethical'. If
it is ethical, it is right, proper, fair and just.
 Ethics is a matter of practical concern, it tries to determine the good and right thing to do; choices
regarding right and wrong, good and evil; questions of obligation and value.
 Ethics is to consider the practice of doing right actions or what we may call the art of living the good
life. It is also defined as the science of the highest good. So, it is clear that ethics is the study which
determines rightness or wrongness of actions.

2.4.1. Definitions:
Ethics as a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms
sentient creatures". (Tomas Paul and
Linda Elder)
The word 'ethics' is interchangeable with 'morality' and sometimes it is used to mean the moral principles
of a particular tradition, group or individual. (The Cambridge Dictionary of
Philosophy)
Ethics as the study of what is right or good in human conduct or the science of the ideal involved in
conduct. It is a branch of philosophy, specially the moral philosophy that studies the evolution of
concepts; such as right or wrong behaviour. So, it is clear that ethics is the study which determines
rightness or wrongness of actions.
(Mackenzie)
By the term ‘ethics’ we mean a branch of moral philosophy a sense of rightness or wrongness of actions,
motives and the results of these actions. In short, it is a discipline that identifies good or evil, just or
unjust, fair or unfair practices, about moral duty. It is well-based standards that a person should do,
concerning rights, obligations, fairness, benefits to society and so on. The standard puts a reasonable
obligation to stop crime like stealing, assault, rape, murder, fraud and so on.
2.4.2. Characteristic features:
Ethics then, we may say, discusses men’s habits or customs, or in other words their characters, the
principles on which the habitually act and considers what it is that constitutes the rightness or
wrongness of these principles, the good or evil of these habits. Ethics is the word that refers to morals,
values, and beliefs of the individuals, family or the society.
The word has several meanings.
 First, it is an activity and process of inquiry.
 Second, it is different from non-moral problems, when dealing with issues and controversies.
 Third, ethics refers to a particular set of beliefs, attitudes, and habits of individuals or family or
groups concerned with morals.
 Fourth, it is used to mean ‘morally correct’.

2.4.3. Types of Ethics:

The system addresses the questions of the human morality, such as;
 What should be a standard way for people to live? Or
 What are the appropriate actions in the given situations?
 What should be an ideal human conduct? etc.
 Under Ethics there are four important subject areas of study:

2.4.3.1. Meta ethics: (origin of ethical principle)

It deals with origin of ethical principles that govern the specification of right and wrong behaviour. A
major issue of debate in this category is whether ethical principles are eternal truths that evolved from a
spiritual world or simply created by the humans.
2.4.3.2. Descriptive ethics: (moral beliefs)
It refers to the study of moral beliefs of the people. It is a field of empirical research into what people
or societies consider right or wrong.
2.4.3.3. Normative ethics: (self moral conduct)
It is concerned with arriving at set of moral conduct rules against which behaviour are judged. This
further carries three different types of theories for how an individual may behave in a particular situation.
These are: Virtue theory, Duty theory and Consequentiality theory ( these are explained in later chapters)
2.4.3.4. Applied ethics: (Normative principles in application)
The ethical principles are designed or written for implementation in a specific situation.
 Bio ethics: These are the ethical principles or codes for maintaining normal livelihood.
 Medical ethics: The ethical principles or codes designed for a medical profession.
 Computer ethics: The ethical principles or codes designed for a medical profession.
 Engineering ethics: The ethical principles or codes designed for an engineering
profession.
 Business ethics: The ethical principles or codes designed for a business operation
 Legal ethics: The ethical principles or codes designed for maintaining a legal system

2.5. VIRTUES:
The word virtue comes from the Latin root vir, for man. At first virtue meant manliness or valor, but over
time it settled into the sense of moral excellence. Virtue can also mean excellence in general. One of your
virtues might be your generous willingness to help out your friends. Virtue “is a pattern of thought and
behavior based on high moral standards.” It encompasses chastity and moral purity i.e. Moral excellence.
Virtue, by definition, is the moral excellence of a person. A morally excellent person has a
character made-up of virtues valued as good. He or she is honest, respectful, courageous, forgiving, and
kind, for example. Because of these virtues or positive character traits, he or she is committed to doing the
right thing no matter what the personal cost, and does not bend to impulses, urges or desires, but acts
according to values and principles. Some might say that good qualities are innate and developed through
good parenting, which they are, but we’re not perfect. Virtues need to be cultivated to become more
prevalent and habitual in daily life. With the habit of being more virtuous, we take the helm of our own
life, redirecting its course towards greater fulfillment, peace and joy.

2.5.1. Importance of Virtue:

Virtues are universal and recognized by all cultures as basic qualities necessary for our well-being and
happiness. Necessary because when we practice virtues and build the “character muscle,” we will attract
what may have been missing in our life such as fulfilling relationships, achievement of meaningful goals,
and happiness. The moment we declare, “I am persevering to achieve this goal in spite of all obstacles,
self-doubt and fear,” a shift occurs where we naturally become more focused, determined, and
courageous, leading us to success.
Often we know that it takes perseverance to reach our goals, and we still never get there. We know if we
forgive someone then we may not be as angry and uptight, and we know it takes courage to accomplish
great things. So why then, if we know what to do, do we still stay stuck? Because we have not yet
consciously and boldly applied a virtue to a given situation so as to alter its outcome, from what has
always been to what can be. Here are some examples where practicing a virtue in a given situation
shapes an outcome:
 Discipline enables a person to achieve the goal of running a 25-mile race, creating better health.
 Kindness towards someone who is having a bad day can make him or her smile and build rapport.
 Creativity can result in an idea that changes how people relate to one another such as social media.
 Trust in a relationship fosters dependability and intimacy, creating valuable, meaningful
relationships.
 Gratitude in a job loss can shift our focus from feeling low to how we can have a new, more
fulfilling career.
 Service to others can change lives, better neighborhoods and create stronger nations.

Historically, virtue theory is one of the oldest normative traditions in Western philosophy, having
its roots in ancient Greek civilization. Plato emphasized four virtues in particular, which were later called
cardinal virtues: wisdom, courage, temperance and justice.
Other important virtues are fortitude, generosity, self-respect, good temper, and sincerity. In
addition to advocating good habits of character, virtue theorists hold that we should avoid acquiring bad
character traits, or vices, such as cowardice, insensibility, injustice, and vanity. Virtue theory emphasizes
moral education since virtuous character traits are developed in one's youth. Adults, therefore, are
responsible for instilling virtues in the young.

2.6. ETHICAL DILEMMA:

The purpose of the Ethical Dilemmas is to encourage students to develop their awareness of
ethical issues in the workplace and the managerial challenges they present. The dilemmas are set up
to present situations in which there is no clear ethical choice.
Ethical dilemmas are situations where a decision suggested/ take as a solution to an ethical problem
becomes controversial. Many such problems are still being debated hotly around the worlds.
E.g. Death penalty to a situational convict, Euthanasia (mercy killing) is killing of terminally ill
persons suffering acutely with no hope of survival.

2.6.1. There are three types of complexities (Dilemmas):

Vagueness: This complexity arises due to the fact that it is not clear to individuals as to which moral
considerations or principles apply to their situation.
Conflicting reasons: Even when it is perfectly clear as to which moral principle is applicable to
one’s situation, there could develop a situation where in two or more clearly applicable moral
principles come into conflict.
Disagreement: Individuals and groups may disagree how to interpret, apply and balance moral
reasons in particular situations.

2.6.2. Ethical dilemma theories:

2.6.2.1. Rule-Based or Utilitarian Ethical Theory:
"The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by its utility"
Utilitarian theory was first formulated in the eighteenth century by Jeremy Bentham and later refined by
John Stuart Mill. Utilitarian’s look beyond self-interest to consider impartially the interests of all persons
affected by an action. The theory emphasizes consequences of an action on the stakeholders. The
stakeholders are those parties affected by the outcome of an action. Utilitarian recognize that trade-offs
exist in decision making.
Utilitarianism is divided into two main schools of thought: Act and Rule.
Act utilitarianism is the idealistic form, where an action's status as right or wrong is measured by it's
utility. Rule-based Utilitarianism is a more practical theory, where actions are not based on their own
merits but upon a set of rules that were made to maximize utility
Utilitarian theory is concerned with making decisions that maximize net benefits and minimize
overall harms for all stakeholders. It is similar to cost-benefit analysis decision making. The ultimate
rule to follow is the “Greatest Good for the Greatest Number.”

2.6.2.2. Virtue-Based Ethical Theory:

"The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by the virtues, or moral character"
Virtue theory dates back to the ancient Greek philosophers, especially Plato and Aristotle.
Judgment is exercised not through a set of rules, but as a result of possessing those dispositions or
virtues that enable choices to be made about what is good and holding in check desires for something
other than what will help to achieve this goal.
Thus, virtue-based ethics emphasizes certain qualities that define appropriate behavior and the right action
to take. Unlike the other standard ethical theories discussed, virtue theory does not establish a set of
criteria to evaluate potential decisions. Rather, it emphasizes the internal characteristics of an individual
with whom we would want to enter into a relationship of trust. The ultimate goal is for "the decision
maker to do the right thing in the right place at the right time in the right way."

2.6.2.3. Rights-Based Ethical Theory:

"The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by some rights, both positive and negative,
that all humans have based only on the fact that they are human"
The evolution of rights theory dates back to the seventeenth century in writings of Thomas Hobbes and
John Locke. Modern rights theory is associated with the eighteenth-century philosopher Immanuel Kant.
Rights theory assumes that individuals have certain entitlements that should be respected such as freedom
of speech, the right of privacy, and due process. Kant’s theory establishes an individual’s duty as a moral
agent toward others who possess certain rights. It is based on a moral principle that he calls the
categorical imperative. One version of the categorical imperative emphasizes the universality of moral
actions. The principle is stated as follows: "I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will
that my maxim (reason for acting) should become a universal law." The ultimate guiding principle is, “I
should only act in a way in which I would be happy if everyone in that situation would act the
same.”

2.6.2.4. Justice-Based Ethical Theory:

"The belief that the value of a thing or an action is determined by justice to an individual or justice to the
mass"
Formulations of justice theory date back to Aristotle and Plato in the fifth century B.C. An important
modern contributor to the theory of justice is John Rawls. The major components of justice theory are
equity, fairness, and impartiality. These concepts require that actions taken reflect comparative treatment
of individuals and groups affected by the action. The ultimate question here is, “Are the processes by
which decisions are made and the outcomes of those decisions equitable, fair, and impartial?”

2.6.3. Steps in confronting ethical dilemmas:

Following are the steps to resolve the ethical dilemma.
Step 1 Identify the relevant ethical factors and reasons.
Step 2 Gather all available facts that are pertinent to the ethical factors involved.
Step 3 Rank the ethical considerations in the order of their importance as they apply to the situation.
Step 4 Consider alternative course of action, tracing the full implications of each, as ways of solving it.
Step 5 Talk with colleagues, seeking the suggestions and perspectives of the dilemma.
Step 6 Arrive at a carefully reasoned judgment by weighing all the relevant moral factors and reasons in
light of facts.
All the above steps are distinct, even though they are inter-related and can often be taken jointly

2.7. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE:

Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to monitor one's own and other people's
emotions, to discriminate between different emotions and label them appropriately and to use
emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.
Emotional intelligence also reflects abilities to join intelligence, empathy and emotions to
enhance thought and understanding of interpersonal dynamics. However, substantial disagreement exists
regarding the definition of EI, with respect to both terminology and operationalizations.
Currently, there are three main models of EI

2.7.1. The models of EI:

 Ability model
 Mixed model (usually subsumed under trait EI)
 Trait model

2.7.1.1. Ability model:

Salovey and Mayer's conception of EI strives to define EI as “The ability to perceive emotion, ntegrate
emotion to facilitate thought, understand emotions and to regulate emotions to promote personal growth."
After pursuing further research, their definition of EI evolved into "the capacity to reason about
emotions, and of emotions, to enhance thinking. It includes the abilities to accurately perceive emotions,
to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional
knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth."
The model proposes that individuals vary in their ability to process information of an emotional
nature and in their ability to relate emotional processing to a wider cognition. This ability is seen to
manifest itself in certain adaptive behaviors. The model claims that EI includes four types of abilities
as given in figure 2
Figure: 2:

 Perceiving emotions: Through facial expression, body language, pictures, voices, and so
on, a person can recognize the emotions of others. This also includes the individual's
ability to recognize and identify their own emotions as well. Emotion perception is
generally thought to be a very basic aspect of Emotional Intelligence, because it is
necessary to complete any of the other processes involved in the Ability Model..
 Understanding emotions: This ability is built upon an understanding of the complexity of
emotions. While many people have the ability to recognize basic facial expressions, fewer of
them are able to predictably recognize and understand emotion language and to appreciate the
nuances of complex emotional relationships. A lower ability to understand emotions may
present itself in someone who struggles with understanding why a death or divorce may result in
seemingly conflicted emotions all at the same time.
 Using emotions: The third activity proposed by the Ability Model relates to a person's ability to
use emotions -- whether it is their own emotions or another person's emotions -- in order to
achieve a desired outcome. When thinking and problem-solving, emotions often must be
considered, and a person skilled at using emotions can typically make decisions based primarily
on the emotions or moods of themselves or others.
 Managing emotions: Managing emotions relates more specifically to someone's ability (or lack
thereof) to regulate emotions in both themselves and others. As the highest level of ability in the
Ability Model, someone with high Emotional Intelligence would be expected to be able to
manipulate the moods of themselves or others, essentially harnessing the mood and managing it
to achieve their goals.
 2.7.1.2. . Mixed model:
The model introduced by Daniel Goleman focuses on EI as a wide array of competencies and skills
that drive leadership performance. Goleman's model outlines five main EI constructs as given in figure
3 (for more details see "What Makes a Leader" by Daniel Goleman, best of Harvard Business Review
1998):
Figure: 3

 Self-awareness: the ability to know one's emotions, strengths, weaknesses, drive values and
goals and to recognize their impact on others.
 Self-regulation: involves controlling or redirecting one's disruptive emotions and impulses and
adapting to changing circumstances.
 Social skill: managing relationships to move people in the desired direction
 Empathy: considering other people's feelings especially when making decision
 Motivation: being driven to achieve for the sake of achievement.
Goleman includes a set of emotional competencies within each construct of EI. Emotional
competencies are not innate talents, but rather learned capabilities that must be worked on and can be
developed to achieve outstanding performance.
Goleman proposed that individuals are born with a general emotional intelligence that determines
their potential for learning emotional competencies.

2.7.1.3. Trait model:

Konstantinos Vasilis Petrides ("K. V. Petrides") proposed a conceptual distinction between the ability
based model and a trait based model of EI (Emotional Intelligence) and has been developing the latter
over many years in numerous publications.
He proposed that, Trait EI is "a constellation of emotional self-perceptions located at the lower levels of
personality." In lay terms, trait EI refers to an individual's self-perceptions of their emotional abilities.

This definition of EI encompasses behavioral dispositions and self-perceived abilities and is measured by
self report, as opposed to the ability based model which refers to actual abilities, which have proven
highly resistant to scientific measurement.
Trait EI should be investigated within a personality framework. An alternative label for the same
construct is trait emotional self-efficacy. For most people, emotional intelligence (EQ) is more important
than one’s intelligence (IQ) in attaining success in their lives and careers. As individuals our success and
the success of the profession today depend on our ability to read other people’s signals and react
appropriately to them.
2.7.2. Measurement of the Trait EI model:
He developed the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (TEIQue) is an open-access measure that
was specifically designed to measure the construct comprehensively. The TEIQue provides an
operationalizations for Petrides and colleagues' model that conceptualizes EI in terms of personality. The
test encompasses different subscales organized under four factors; Well-Being, Self-Control,
Emotionality, and Sociability as expressed in figure 4
Figure: 4
 The fifteen sub classes under each individual’s traits are as follows;
Well-being:
 Self-esteem: Successful and self-confident
 Trait happiness: Cheerful and satisfied with their lives.
 Trait optimism: Confident and likely to “look on the bright side” of life.
Self control:
 Emotion regulation: capable of controlling their emotions.
 Stress management: Capable of withstanding pressure and regulating stress.
 Impulse control: Reflective and less likely to give in to their urges.
Emotionality:
 Emotion perception (self and others): Clear about their own and other people’s feelings.
 Emotion expression: Capable of communicating their feelings to others.
 Trait empathy/Adaptability: Flexible and willing to adapt to new conditions.
 Relationships: Capable of having fulfilling personal relationships.

Sociability:
 Assertiveness: Forthright, frank, and willing to stand up for their rights.
 Social awareness: Accomplished networkers with excellent social skills.
 Emotion management (others): Capable of influencing other people’s feelings

Therefore, each one of us must develop the mature emotional intelligence skills required to better
understand, empathize and negotiate with other people particularly as the economy has become more
global. Otherwise, success will elude us in our lives and careers.
Beside above model, it is also to know the Big Five Personal traits are five broad factors (dimensions) of
personality traits expressed as OCEAN. They are as follows:
Openness:
This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to
have a broad range of interests. People who are high in this trait tend to be more adventurous and creative.
People low in this trait are often much more traditional and may struggle with abstract thinking.
Conscientiousness:
Standard features of this dimension include high levels of thoughtfulness, with good impulse control and
goal-directed behaviors. Those high on conscientiousness tend to be organized and mindful of details.
Extraversion:
Extraversion is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness and high amounts of
emotional expressiveness. People who are high in extroversion are outgoing and tend to gain energy in
social situations. People who are low in extroversion (or introverted) tend to be more reserved and have to
expend energy in social settings.
Agreeableness:
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection and other pro-
social behaviors. People who are high in agreeableness tend to be more cooperative while those low in
this trait tend to be more competitive and even manipulative.
Neuroticism:
Neuroticism is a trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional instability. Individuals who are
high in this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, moodiness, irritability and sadness. Those low
in this trait tend to be more stable and emotionally resilient.

It is important to note that each of the five personality factors represents a range between two extremes.
For example, extraversion represents a continuum between extreme extraversion and extreme
introversion. In the real world, most people lie somewhere in between the two polar ends of each
dimension.

2.7.3. Evaluation of the Trait Theory:

Every theory has some strengths, limitations and implications, hence the trait theory do have. These are
discussed below.

2.7.3.1. Strengths/Advantages of Trait Theory:

 It is naturally pleasing theory.
 It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and basis of the theory.
 It serves as a yardstick against which the leadership traits of an individual can be assessed.
 It gives a detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader element in the leadership process.

2.7.3.2. Limitations of the Trait Theory:

 There is bound to be some subjective judgment in determining who is regarded as a ‘good’ or
‘successful’ leader
 The list of possible traits tends to be very long. More than 100 different traits of successful leaders in
various leadership positions have been identified. These descriptions are simply generalities.
 There is also a disagreement over which traits are the most important for an effective leader
 The model attempts to relate physical traits such as, height and weight, to effective leadership. Most
of these factors relate to situational factors. For example, a minimum weight and height might be
necessary to perform the tasks efficiently in a military leadership position. In business organizations,
these are not the requirements to be an effective leader.
 The theory is very complex

2.7.4. Implications of Trait Theory:

The trait theory gives constructive information about leadership. It can be applied by people at all
levels in all types of organizations. Managers can utilize the information from the theory to evaluate their
position in the organization and to assess how their position can be made stronger in the organization.
They can get an in-depth understanding of their identity and the way they will affect others in the
organization. This theory makes the manager aware of their strengths and weaknesses and thus they get
an understanding of how they can develop their leadership qualities.

Moral development theories of Kohlberg and Piaget 1.3 View on ethics by Aristotle 1.4

3. MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIES:

Moral development theories are concerned with the development of moral principles in humans.
Since a very young is, a child develops some moral perceptions of what is right or wrong.
E.g. some children would be willing to share things with other children where as some throws it away if it
is even touched by other children.
Hence moral development theories try to such questions;
Why does it happen? Do parents have a role to play in such behaviour? What role does education play in
this situation?
Now days, there is increased violence among the common people due to an acute crisis of morals.
Fortunately, systematic research and scholarship on moral development has been going on since a long
time. We will discuss two of such moral development theories in our present chapter.

3.1. PIAGET’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY:

Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s,
where his job was to develop French versions of questions on English
intelligence tests. He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their
wrong answers to the questions that required logical thinking. He believed that
these incorrect answers revealed important differences between the thinking of adults and children.
Piaget (1936) described his work as genetic epistemology (i.e. the origins of thinking). Genetics is the
scientific study of where things come from (their origins). Epistemology is concerned with the basic
categories of thinking, that is to say, the framework or structural properties of intelligence.
Piaget was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions
include a theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children,
and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.
Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less
competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different ways
compared to adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited and
evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge is based.
Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:
 It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
 It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning of information
or specific behaviors.
 It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather than a gradual
increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts, ideas, etc.
The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child,
develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of
biological maturation and environmental experience. Children construct an understanding of the world
around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in
their environment.

3.1.1. Basic Components of Piaget's Cognitive Theory:

The cognitive development of Jean Piaget is basically understood under two parts. In the first part he
introduced a concept called Schema, and explained the stages how a schema is developed in an
individual. In the second part he explained the steps of cogitation development in an individual. The
detail discussion is as follows.
Schemas: A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and
knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that
knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously
existing schemas.
For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole
experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four
legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog. The child will take in this new
information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new observations. He proposed a
systematic steps how this a schema is developed as presented in figure 5.

Figure: 5

3.1.1.1. Assimilation:
The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as assimilation. The
process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and information slightly to fit in
with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of
assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema as given in picture: 1
Picture: 1
In the above picture, a child assimilates its knowledge regarding a dog are; its Brown in color, has two
Black Eyes, One Black nose, One Twisted Tail, four Legs, Small in Size, Two Long Ears, they are Cute,
They are Friendly.
3.1.1.2. Accommodation:
Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information,
a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves modifying existing schemas, or ideas, as a
result of new information or new experiences as given in picture 2. New schemas may also be developed
during this process.
Picture: 2

With the reference to the above axample, the new informations regarding a dog are; it is White in Color,
it has two Red Eyes, one Gray Nose, they are Larege in Size, they have two Small Ears, they are Furious,
They are not friendly.
3.1.1.3. Equilibration:
Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which
is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress through the stages of
cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge
(assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). This is presented
in picture 3, where the child has to bring equilibrium between above two. The equilibrium is; dogs are
both brown as well as white, in the same way, the eye is both black and red, nose is black and grey, size is
large and small, ears are small and large, they are cute as well as cute, also friendly and non friendly too.
In the same process a child makes equilibrium between assimilation and accommodation.

Picture: 3

Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one stage of thought into the next.

3.1.1.4. Final Thoughts:

One of the most important elements to remember of Piaget's theory is that it takes the view that creating
knowledge and intelligence is an inherently active process. "I find myself opposed to the view of
knowledge as a passive copy of reality," Piaget explained. “I believe that knowing an object means acting
upon it, constructing systems of transformations that can be carried out on or with this object. Knowing
reality means constructing systems of transformations that correspond, more or less adequately, to
reality." Picture 4 represents the final thought of what a dog is all about.

Picture: 4

3.1.2. Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development:

According to psychologist Jean Piaget, children progress through a series of four critical stages of
cognitive development. These are as follows.
 Sensorimotor,
 Pre-operational,
 Concrete operational,
 Formal operational.
Each stage is marked by shifts in how kids understand the world.
Piaget believed that children are like "little scientists" and that they actively try to explore and make sense
of the world around them.
Through his observations of his children, Piaget developed a stage theory of intellectual development that
included four distinct stages as presented in figure: 6
 The Sensorimotor stage, from birth to age 2
 The preoperational stage, from age 2 to about age 7
 The concrete operational stage, from age 7 to 11
 The formal operational stage, which begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood.

Figure: 6

3.1.2.1. The Sensorimotor Stage:

During this stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating
objects. It was his observations of his daughter and nephew that heavily influenced his conception of this
stage. At this point in development, a child's intelligence consists of their basic motor and sensory
explorations of the world. Piaget believed that developing object permanence or object constancy, the
understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, was an important element at
this point of development. By learning that objects are separate and distinct entities and that they have an
existence of their own outside of individual perception, children are then able to begin to attach names
and words to objects.
3.1.2.2. The Preoperational Stage:
At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of
other people. They also often struggle with understanding the ideal of constancy. For example, a
researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and then give a child the choice
between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is rolled into a compact ball while the other is
smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely
choose that piece even though the two pieces are exactly the same size.
3.1.2.3. The Concrete Operational Stage:
Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically, but their thinking can also be very rigid.
They tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts. At this point, children also become less
egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete
operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone
else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
3.1.2.4. The Formal Operational Stage:
The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and
an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people become capable of seeing multiple potential
solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.
It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative
process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they
get older. Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they
gradually process through these four stages.
A child at age 7 doesn't just have more information about the world than he did at age 2; there is a
fundamental change in how he thinks about the world.
Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children.
Based on his observations, he concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply
think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of
it."

3.2. KOHLBERG’S MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORY:

Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed Lawrence Kohlberg (1958) agreed with Piaget's (1932) theory of
moral development in principle but wanted to develop his ideas further.
He used Piaget’s storytelling technique to tell people stories involving moral
dilemmas. In each case he presented a choice to be considered, for example,
between the rights of some authority and the needs of some deserving
individual who is being unfairly treated.

One of the best known of Kohlberg’s (1958) stories concerns a man called
Heinz who lived somewhere in Europe.
[Heinz’s wife was dying from a particular type of cancer. Doctors said a new drug might save her. The
drug had been discovered by a local chemist and the Heinz tried desperately to buy some, but the chemist
was charging ten times the money it cost to make the drug and this was much more than the Heinz could
afford.
Heinz could only raise half the money, even after help from family and friends. He explained to the
chemist that his wife was dying and asked if he could have the drug cheaper or pay the rest of the money
later.
The chemist refused, saying that he had discovered the drug and was going to make money from it. The
husband was desperate to save his wife, so later that night he broke into the chemist’s and stole the drug.]
Kohlberg asked a series of questions such as:
 Should Heinz have stolen the drug?
 Would it change anything if Heinz did not love his wife?
 What if the person dying was a stranger, would it make any difference?
 Should the police arrest the chemist for murder if the woman died?
By studying the answers from children of different ages to these questions Kohlberg hoped to discover the
ways in which moral reasoning changed as people grew older. The sample comprised 72 Chicago boys
aged 10–16 years, 58 of whom were followed up at three-yearly intervals for 20 years.
Each boy was given a 2-hour interview based on the ten dilemmas. What Kohlberg was mainly interested
in was not whether the boys judged the action right or wrong, but the reasons given for the decision. He
found that these reasons tended to change as the children got older.
He identified three distinct levels of moral reasoning each with two sub stages. People can only pass
through these levels in the order listed. Each new stage replaces the reasoning typical of the earlier stage.
Not everyone achieves all the stages.

3.2.1. Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development:

Moral development in human being occurs overage and experience. Kohlberg suggested there are three
levels of moral development, namely pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional, based on
  The type of reasoning what is right and what is wrong
 View of others to their actions and
 The motivation of the individuals in response to moral questions.
The same is explained below in detail and also presented in the figure 7
Figure: 7

3.2.1.1. Level 1 - Pre-conventional morality:

In the pre-conventional level, right conduct for an individual is regarded as whatever directly benefits
oneself. At this level, individuals are motivated by obedience or the desire to avoid punishment or to
satisfy their own needs or by the influence by power on them. All young children (between 3 to 7 years)
exhibit this tendency don’t have a personal code of morality. Instead, our moral code is shaped by the
standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. Authority is outside the
individual and reasoning is based on the physical consequences of actions.
• Stage 1. Punishment Avoidance: The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a
person is punished, they must have done wrong.
• Stage 2. Individual Interest and Reward: At this stage children recognize that there is not just one
right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints.

3.2.1.2. Level 2 - Conventional morality:

At the conventional level, people respect the law and authority. Rules and norms of one’s family or group
or society are accepted, as the standard of morality. Individuals (between 8-13 years) in this level want to
please or satisfy, and get approval by others and to meet the expectations of the society, rather than their
self interest (e.g., good boy, good girl). Loyalty is regarded as most important. Many adults do not go
beyond this level (most adolescents and adults), we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued
adult role models.
Authority is internalized but not questioned and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the
person belongs.
• Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships: The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a
good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others.
• Stage 4. Obedience to Authority: The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society so
judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.

3.2.1.3. Level 3 - Post-conventional morality:

At the post-conventional level, people (acutance) are called autonomous. They think originally and want
to live by universally good principles and welfare of others. They have no self-interest. They live by
principled conscience. They follow the golden rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you’. They maintain moral integrity, self-respect and respect for others.
Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights
and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. Only 10-
15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post-conventional morality).
That is to say most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority thinks
through ethical principles for themselves.
• Stage 5. Difference between Moral and Legal Rights: The child/individual becomes aware that while
rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against
the interest of particular individuals or duty towards any person or authority.
The issues are not always clear cut. For example, in Heinz’s dilemma the protection of life is more
important than breaking the law against stealing.
• Stage 6. Universal Principles: People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines
which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g. human rights, justice and
equality.
The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of
society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg
doubted few people reached this stage.
Kohlberg believed that individuals could only progress through these stages, one stage at a time. He
believed that most of the moral development occurs through social interactions.

3.3. VIEW ON ETHICS BY ARISTOTLE:

Aristotle's view on ethics could be batter understood from his book The Nicomachean
Ethics, it is the most important study of personal morality and the ends of human life,
and has remained for many centuries been a widely-read and influential book. Though
written more than 2,000 years ago, it offers the modern reader many valuable insights
into human needs and conduct.
Nicomachean Ethics:
Scholars do not agree on where the name for the Nicomachean Ethics comes from. Both Aristotle’s father
and his son were named Nicomachus, so it is possible that the book is dedicated to either one. Other
scholars suggest that Aristotle’s son may have edited the book after Aristotle died, so that the title
“Nicomachean” may refer to this particular edition of Aristotle’s ethical works.
Among its most outstanding features are Aristotle's insistence that there are no known absolute
moral standards and that any ethical theory must be based in part on an understanding of psychology and
firmly grounded in the realities of human nature and daily life.
The rules of conduct and explanations of virtue and goodness that he proposes can all help
modern man to attain a fuller and more satisfying understanding of his responsibilities as a member of
society and the purpose of his existence. For this alone Aristotle's book is still worth reading.
Main Points of Aristotle's Ethical Philosophy
 The highest good and the end toward which all human activity is directed is happiness, which can be
defined as continuous contemplation of eternal and universal truth.
 One attains happiness by a virtuous life and the development of reason and the faculty of theoretical
wisdom. For this one requires sufficient external goods to ensure health, leisure, and the opportunity
for virtuous action.
 Moral virtue is a relative mean between extremes of excess and deficiency, and in general the moral
life is one of moderation in all things except virtue. No human appetite or desire is bad if it is
controlled by reason according to a moral principle. Moral virtue is acquired by a combination of
knowledge, habituation, and self-discipline.
 Virtuous acts require conscious choice and moral purpose or motivation. Man has personal moral
responsibility for his actions.
 Moral virtue cannot be achieved abstractly it requires moral action in a social environment. Ethics
and politics are closely related, for politics is the science of creating a society in which men can live
the good life and develop their full potential.

4. GOVERNING FACTORS OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S VALUE SYSTEM:

As human beings, we all have our own values, beliefs and attitudes that we have developed throughout
the course of our lives. Our family, friends, community and the experiences we have had all contribute to
our sense of who we are and how we view the world. As community services workers, we are often
working with people who are vulnerable and/or who may live a lifestyle that mainstream society views as
being different or unacceptable. If, as community services workers, we are to provide a service that meets
the needs of our target groups and helps them to feel empowered, we need to be aware of our own
personal values, beliefs and attitudes and be prepared to adopt the professional values of our industry—
and not impose our own ideas on our clients.
4.1. What are values?
Values are forces that cause an individual to behave in a particular manner. It sets our priorities in
life, i.e. what we consider in the first place. It is a reason behind the choices we make. It reflects what is
more important for us. So, if we are true to our values and make our choices accordingly, then the way we
live to express our core values. Moreover, if you understand an individual’s values, you can easily
identify what is important for them.
Values are principles, standards or qualities that an individual or group of people hold in high regard.
These values guide the way we live our lives and the decisions we make. A value may be defined as
something that we hold dear, those things/qualities which we consider to be of worth.
A ‘value’ is commonly formed by a particular belief that is related to the worth of an idea or type of
behaviour. Some people may see great value in saving the world’s rainforests. However a person who
relies on the logging of a forest for their job may not place the same value on the forest as a person who
wants to save it.
Values can influence many of the judgments we make as well as have an impact on the support we give
clients. It is important that we do not influence client’s decisions based on our values. We should always
work from the basis of supporting the client’s values.
Examples:
 Manners: are they old fashioned? Do they hold a high or low value in your life?
 Pride: are there things you need to be proud of? Do you value pride or do you value humility?
 Clothes: how important are clothes at work? At play?
 Behaviour on the sports field: what behaviors do you value? Sportsmanship? Winning? Team spirit?
Individuality?
 Family life? What do you value about family life?

4.2. Where do values come from?

Our values come from a variety of sources. Some of these include:
 family
 peers (social influences)
 the workplace (work ethics, job roles)
 educational institutions such as schools or TAFE
 significant life events (death, divorce, losing jobs, major accident and trauma, major health issues,
significant financial losses and so on)
 religion
 music
 media
 technology
 culture
 Major historical events (world wars, economic depressions, etc).

4.3. Dominant factors influencing an individual’s values:

Dominant factors are those that are widely shared amongst a group, community or culture. They are
passed on through sources such as the media, institutions, religious organizations or family, but remember
what is considered dominant in one culture or society will vary to the next.

4.3.1. PERSONAL FACTORS:

The personal factors which influence the individual behaviour can be classified into two categories:
 Biographic Characteristics
 Learned Characteristics
4.3.1.1. Biographical Characteristics:
All the human beings have certain characteristics which are genetic in nature and are inherited. These are
the qualities which the human beings are born with. These are the characteristics which cannot be
changed; at the most, these can be refined to some extent. All these characteristics are explained in detail
as follows:
 Physical Characteristics: Some of these characteristics are related to height, skin, complexion,
vision, shape and size of nose, weight etc. Example: Tall and slim people are expected to dress
well and behave in a sophisticated manner and fat people are supposed to be of a jolly nature.
 Age: Age is considered to be an inherited characteristic because it is determined by the date of
birth. Psychologically, younger people are expected to be more energetic, innovative,
adventurous, ambitious and risk taking. Whereas old people are supposed to be conservative, set
in their own ways and less adaptable.
 Gender: Being a male or female is genetic in nature and it is considered to be an inherited
feature. The traditional view was that man is tougher than woman or women are highly emotional
than men.
 Religion: Though there are no scientific studies to prove it and we cannot generalize it, but
religion and religion based cultures play an important role in determining some aspects of
individual values, especially those aspects which concern morals, ethics and a code of conduct.
  Marital Status: There are not enough studies to draw any conclusion as to whether there is any
relationship between marital status and job performance. Research has consistently indicated that
married people are more serious than those of unmarried.
 Experience: The next biographical characteristic is tenure or experience. The impact of seniority
on job performance is an issue which is subject to a lot of misconceptions and speculations.
 Intelligence: Generally, it is considered that intelligence is an inherited quality. Some people are
born intelligent or in other words intelligent parents produce intelligent children.
 Ability: Ability refers to the capacity or capability of an individual to perform the various tasks
in a job. Ability is the criterion used to determine what a person can do. Ability of an individual
can be of two types; Intellectual Ability and Physical ability

4.3.1.2. Learned Characteristics:

Learning is defined as, “a relatively permanent change in values resulting from interactions with the
environment.”
Some of these learned characteristics are as follows:
 Personality: By personality we don’t mean the physical appearance of a person. Psychologists
are not concerned with a smart person, with a smiling face and a charming personality. They
consider personality as a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person’s
whole psychological system. Rather than looking at parts of the person, personality looks at some
aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.
 Perception: Perception is the viewpoint by which one interprets a situation. In other words,
“perception is the process by which information enters our minds and is interpreted in order to
give some sensible meaning to the world around us. Psychology says that different people see and
sense the same thing in different ways.
 Attitude: Attitude is just like perception but with a frame of reference. It is a tendency to act in a
certain way, either favorably or unfavorably concerning objects, people or events.
 Group Values: Group Values are global beliefs that guide actions and judgments across a variety
of situations. Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct is personally or
socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct.” Group Values carry an individual’s ideas as
to what is right, good or desirable. All of us have a hierarchy of values that form our value
system. This system is identified by the relative importance we assign to some values like
freedom, self respect, honesty, obedience, equality and so on.

4.3.2. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:

The external environment is known to have a considerable impact on a person’s behaviour.
A brief description of the external factors follows:
4.3.2.1. Economic Factors:
The value of an individual is affected to a large extent by the economic environment.
A few economic factors which directly or indirectly affect the individual behaviour are as explained
below:
 Employment Level: The employment opportunities which are available to the individuals go a
long way in influencing the individual values. If the job opportunities are less, the individual will
have to stick to a particular organisation even though he does not have job satisfaction. He may or
may not ‘ be loyal to the management but he will remain in the organisation for monetary benefits
only. On the other hand if the job opportunities are more, the employees’ turnover will be more.
They will continue changing their jobs till they find the ideal job, which gives them maximum
satisfaction, monetary as well as psychological.
 Wage Rates: The major consideration of every employee who is working in the organisation is
his wages. Though job satisfaction is very important, but what a person will get in money terms,
is the major factor affecting the decision of a worker to stay in a particular organisation or shift to
another one which will pay more wages.
 General Economic Environment: Some employees who are working in Government offices or
public sector undertakings are not affected by economic cycles. Whatever the economic position
of the organisation, they will receive their salaries. Whereas, the employees, who work in the
organizations, which are severely affected by economic cycles are subjected to layoffs and
retrenchment.
 Technological Development: Though technology is not an economic factor, but we include it in
the economic factors because of the impact it has on the individual job opportunities. The
technological development has made the job more intellectual and upgraded.
 4.3.2.2. Socio-cultural Factors:
The social environment of an individual includes his relationship with family members, friends,
colleagues, supervisors and subordinates. The behaviour of other people not with the individual, but in
general, is also a part of his social environment. Similarly, every individual has a cultural background,
which shapes his values and beliefs. Work ethics achievement need, effort-reward expectations and
values are important cultural factors having impact on the individual behaviour.
4.3.2.3. Political Factors:
Political environment of the country will affect the individual values not directly, but through several
other factors. In a politically stable country there will be a steady level of employment (both in quantity
and quality) and high level of capital investment. The political ideology of a country affects the individual
values through the relative freedom available to its citizens.
4.3.2.4. Legal Environment:
Rules and laws are formalized and written standards of behaviour. Both rules and laws are strictly
enforced by the legal system. Laws relate to all the members of the society e.g. Murder is a crime which
is illegal and punishable by law and applies to all the people within the system. Observing the laws
voluntarily allows for predictability of individual values.

4.3.3. ORGANISATIONAL FACTORS:

Individual values are influenced by a wide variety of organizational systems and resources.
These organizational factors are as explained below:
4.3.3.1. Physical Facilities: The physical environment at a work place is the arrangement of people and
things so that is has a positive influence on people. Some of the factors which influence individual values
are noise level, heat, light, ventilation, cleanliness, nature of job, office furnishing, number of people
working at a given place etc.
4.3.3.2. Organisation Structure and Design:
These are concerned with the way in which different departments in the organisation are set up. What is
the reporting system? How are the lines of communication established among different levels in the
organisation. The values of the individual are influenced by where that person fits into the organizational
hierarchy.
4.3.3.3. Leadership:
The system of leadership is established by the management to provide direction, assistance, advice and
coaching to individuals. The human value is influenced to a large extent by the behaviour of the superiors
or leaders. Behaviour of the leaders is more important than their qualities.
4.3.3.4. Reward System:
The values of the individuals are also influenced by the reward system established by the organisation to
compensate their employees.

5. PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL ETHICS:

Ethics could be studied under two major core groups’ i.e. personal and professional ethics.
5.1. PERSONAL ETHICS:
Personal ethics refer to a person’s personal or self-created values and codes of conduct. From the very
beginning, these ethics are instilled in an individual, with a large part having been played by their parents,
friends, and family. Common examples may include honesty, openness, commitment, unbiased behavior,
and sense of responsibility. What a person develops regarding fairness or learns during childhood remains
with him all through his life and is reflected by his actions and words. No matter if he is talking to a
friend or his relatives or an elderly, his ethics would be clear from what he says and how he says it. A
person’s personal ethics are revealed in a professional situation through his behavior.
Features of Professional Ethics:
 Refrain from causing harm to others
 Be benevolent or good to others
 Be a well-wisher to others
 Respect individual freedom
 Ensure justice to all, without discrimination
 Respect law and code of conduct
 Follow noble practices like honesty, integrity, truthfulness etc.
 Free and fair to all
 Practice non-violence
 Help the people in need
 Help the poor.
5.2. PROFESSIONAL ETHICS:
Professional ethics are those values and principles that are introduced to an individual in a professional
organization. Each employee is meant to strictly follow these principles. They do not have a choice. Also,
this approach is imperative in professional settings as it brings a sense of discipline in people as well as
helps maintain decorum in offices. Some examples may include confidentiality, fairness, transparency
and proficiency. These ethics make employees responsible.
Features of professional ethics:
 Openness
 Transparency
 Privacy
 Impartial
 Practical and un-biased
 Loyal
 Co-operative
 Objective oriented

5.3. Personal vs. Professional Ethics:

What’s the difference between personal and professional ethics?
The ethics that you adhere to in your personal life and those that you comply with in your professional
life are different in certain aspects. Without certain ethics, human beings would be incomplete and
shallow. Thus, they have different systems of ethics in different places.
The biggest difference between personal and professional codes of conduct is perhaps the strictness with
which people conform to them. The values that you define for yourself are up to you to be followed or not
to be followed. However, those defined in a company or by a profession must be followed by you, since
breach of these principles or rules may harm your reputation and status. But if you do not adhere to your
personal ethics, it might hardly make a difference, depending on the circumstances. Even then, you must
keep in mind that violation of your own rules may harm others around you. A comparison chart is given
for making the discriminations between personal and professional ethics, depicted in table 1.

Table: 1. Comparison Chart: Personal vs. Professional ethics

Attributes Personal ethics Professional ethics

Meaning it refers to the sense of rights and guidelines that are imposed on employees
wrongs of a person within the industrial setting
Flexibility An individual has the choice of No choice
changing his personal ethics
Accountability the accountability is on the individual it is not only one the individual but also the
alone organization as well
Priority In personal life personal ethics In profession, the professional ethics
Grooming Incorporation by family, friends and Learnt when you are a part of a professional
surroundings since your childhood setting or when you are being trained or
educated for working there
Includes One’s personal values and moral Rules imposed on an employee in a
qualities company, or as a member of. a profession.
Follows Not conforming to these may harm or Not adhering to these may harm your
hurt others. professional reputation.

Objective They satisfy your personal needs
Results Following these ethics result in a clear
conscience, positive attitude, and a
contented spirit.
Reliability They rely only on the individual.
Responsibility Limited mainly to those people closest
to you, such as your family, friends or
neighbors.
Example Honesty, care, and sincerity
They satisfy your corporate needs
The results are more predictable, common,
and obvious in this scenario. Following
these ethics may result in you being honored
as a diligent employee and sincere worker
They rely on the organization.
Require you to put family above all else,
such as your job
No gossiping, time management,
punctuality, confidentiality, transparency.
EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. Define moral, what are its types, what is its source of origin?
2. Define ethics, explain its types, what are its characteristic features.
3. What is ethical dilemma? Steps to resolve it. Also explain its different theories.
4. What is emotional intelligence? Explain its different models?
5. What is a Trait; explain the trait model of emotional intelligence, what are its strengths and
weaknesses?
6. Explain Kohlberg’s moral development theory with citing examples.
7. Explain the Piaget’s stages of moral development theory, illustrating examples.
8. Compare and contrast moral development theory of Kohlberg and. Piaget.
9. What is a value in sociology? What are its different types and explain the factors influencing an
individual’s value system.
10. Compare and contrast, Personal vs. Professional ethics.

Short Questions:
1. What is professional ethics? Explain its objectives.
2. Define the term Belief, factors influencing it.
3. What is virtue? Explain its importance.
4. Write short note on any one of the following; Rule based, Virtue based, Right based or Justice
based ethical theory.
5. Write short note on any one of the following; Ability model, mixed model or trait model of
emotional intelligence.
6. Write a short note on Aristotle’s view on ethics.
7. What is personal ethics? What are its features?
8. What is professional ethics? Explain its characteristic features.
CHAPTER - 2 PROFESSION &
MODULE – II PROFESSIONALISM
1. CLARIFICATION OF THE CONCEPTS:
Introduction:
The word “profession” means different things to different people. But at its core, it’s meant to be an
indicator of trust and expertise.
Traditionally, a “professional” was someone who derived their income from their expertise or specific
talents, as opposed to a hobbyist or amateur. This still carries through to fields today, such as sport.
But given today’s fast-changing environment of knowledge and expertise, it’s now generally understood
that simply deriving an income from a particular task might make you an “expert” or “good at your job” –
but if you’re a “professional”, this has a broader meaning.
There’s a long history of attempts to clarify this meaning, and to define the functions of professions.
These attempts typically centralize around some sort of moral or ethical foundation within the practice of
a specific and usually established expertise.
This section is designed to give you an insight into some of the historic and academic ways of
understanding and defining the terms like; profession, professions, professionalism, etc.

1.1. PROFESSION:
Profession is defined as any occupation/job/vocation that requires advanced expertise (skills and
knowledge), self regulation, and consorted service to the public good. It brings a high status, socially and
economically. The characteristic features of a profession are;
 Advanced expertise: many profession requires sophisticated skills (do-how) and theoretical
knowledge (know how and why), formal education, training, continuing education, updating are
needed.
 Self regulation: professional society plays important role in setting standards for admission to
profession, drafting codes of ethics, enforcing standards of conduct, and representing the profession
before the public and government.
 Public good: the occupation provides some important public good, by consorted efforts to maintain
ethical standards. For example, a physician promotes health, a lawyer protects the legal rights, an
engineer provides a product or a project for use by the public towards their health, welfare, and
safety. Teaching is also claimed as a profession as it helps shaping and training the m9nds of the
students, young as well as old.

Above three features are highly essential to define a profession, missing of any one of it may deviated
from the term Profession. To understand it batter let take few examples;
Example: 1. suppose the question is , if Terrorism is a profession? Let treat it with the above factors;
First, are they having advanced expertise? Yes they are expertise in terrorism
Second, if they are self regulated? Yes they are self regulated and highly organized among themselves.
Third, are they for public good? The answer here is no, hence terrorism cannot be a profession.

Example: 2. Suppose a person work as a temporary Driver for few days and in exchange he took the
charges. So question is, if he shall be called as a professional?
First: regarding advanced expertise, he is expert in driving so he is being haired
Second: for answering the self regulation part, being he is part time there is no scope of self regulation,
and his activities are not controlled by any professional organization.
Hence once again, he cannot be called as a professional and its not a profession, just a job.

So we can further explain the profession as something a little more than a job, it is a career for someone
that wants to be part of society, who becomes competent in their chosen sector through training;
maintains their skills through continuing professional development (CPD); and commits to behaving
ethically, to protect the interests of the public.

A profession can be distinguished from a job with following points;

Job: Jobs are activities that are performed in exchange of a monetary value. A job is often short-term and
only done as a person requires money to live. Jobs do not make a significant impact to society of the
person’s life and are commonly short-term. If a person is unhappy with a job, they tend to move on to a
better one. There are also various different types of jobs including full-time, part-time, seasonal,
temporary, odd jobs and self-employment. Jobs, depending on the type, may also require a specialized
study. The hours of the job also depend on the type of job it is, it also can range from an hour to 9 hours.
Profession:
A profession, on the other hand, is a vocation that is based on specialized educational training and for
public good. Usually, the profession is regulated by a governing body of some sort and may require the
person to pass a regulating exam in order to be considered as qualified in that profession. The person may
or may not be also required to undertake regulated training, apprenticeship or internship. For example: a
doctor who has to study for a number of years, pass the boards and complete a residency before he can be
qualified as a doctor.

1.2. PROFESSIONAL:
Professional relates to a person or any work that a person does on a profession, and which requires
expertise (skills and knowledge), self regulation, and results in public good. The term professional means
a person as well as a status.
A person can be called as a professional based on the standards of education, training, specific knowledge
and skill he possesses in order to fulfill the requirements of a particular task assigned to him. Engineering
is an important and learned profession as it has direct and dynamic impact on the quality of life of people.
Professional Ethics can be considered as the personal, social, organizational and corporate ideologies of
behaviors expected from a professional. Ethics is considered as a mandatory competency for a
professional and as a standard of performance and service the general public can expect to receive from a
professional practitioner. Ethics distinguishes professionals from others in the marketplace.

1.3. PROFESSIONALISM:
It is the status of a professional which implies certain attitude or typical qualities that are expected for a
professional. According to Macintyre, professionalism is defined as the services related to achieving the
public good, in addition to practices of the knowledge of moral ideals.
The short definition is that professionalism means behaving in an ethical manner while assuming
and fulfilling your rightful responsibilities in every situation every time, without fail.
To get a bit more granular, one can say that it means, in part, conducting your affairs in such a way as to
engender trust and confidence in every aspect of your work. It means having the requisite ability to be
worthy of the confidence others place in you. It means having already made the right choices so that you
attract the right sort of client and work under good circumstances rather than having to continually make
the best of bad circumstances and take whatever is tossed your way, regardless of its quality.
Perhaps most importantly, professionalism means, in every situation, willfully gathering
responsibility rather than avoiding it. Doing so is important because if you don't acknowledge and assume
the onus of responsibility in every aspect of your work you will seldom if ever make the right choice to
do what is necessary to achieve consistent success for your employer, your employees, your clients, or
yourself.
1.3.1. The fundamental characteristics of a profession:
Advanced expertise:
The expertise includes sophisticated skills and theoretical knowledge in exercising judgment. This means
a professional should analyze the problem in specific known area, in an objective manner.
Self-regulation:
One should analyze the problem independent of self-interest and direct to a decision towards the best
interest of the clients/customers. An autonomous judgment (unbiased and on merits only) is expected. In
such situations, the codes of conduct of professional societies are followed as guidance.
Public good:
One should not be a mere paid employee of an individual or a teaching college or manufacturing
organization, to execute whatever the employer wants one to do. The job should be recognized by the
public. The concerted efforts in the job should be towards promotion of the welfare, safety, and health of
the public.
Great responsibility:
Professionals deal in matters of vital importance to their clients and are therefore entrusted with grave
responsibilities and obligations. Given these inherent obligations, professional work typically involves
circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or breach of ethics would be significantly damaging
to the client and/or his fortunes.
Accountability:
Professionals hold themselves ultimately accountable for the quality of their work with the client.
The profession may or may not have mechanisms in place to reinforce and ensure adherence to this
principle among its members. If not, the individual professionals will (e.g. guarantees and/or contractual
provisions).
Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge:
Professionals render specialized services based on theory, knowledge, and skills that are most often
peculiar to their profession and generally beyond the understanding and/or capability of those outside of
the profession. Sometimes, this specialization will extend to access to the tools and technologies used in
the profession (e.g. medical equipment).
Institutional preparation:
Professions typically require a significant period of hands-on, practical experience in the provisional
period, ongoing education toward professional development is compulsory. A profession may or may not
require formal credentials and/or other standards for admission.
Autonomy:
Professionals have control over and, correspondingly, ultimate responsibility for their own work.
Professionals tend to define the terms, processes, and conditions of work to be performed for clients
(either directly or as preconditions for their ongoing agency employment).
Clients rather than customers:
Members of a profession exercise discrimination in choosing clients rather than simply accepting any
interested party as a customer (as merchants do).
Direct working relationships
Professionals habitually work directly with their clients rather than through intermediaries or proxies.
Ethical constraints:
Due to the other characteristics on this list, there is a clear requirement for ethical constraints in the
professions. Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or ethics specific to the distinct profession (and
sometimes the individual). Professionals also aspire toward a general body of core values, which are
centered upon an uncompromising and un-conflicted regard for the client's benefit and best interests.
Merit-based:
In a profession, members achieve employment and success based on merit and corresponding voluntary
relationships rather than on corrupted ideals such as social principle, mandated support, or extortion (e.g.
union members are not professionals). Therefore, a professional is one who must attract clients and profits
due to the merits of his work. In the absence of this characteristic, issues of responsibility, accountability,
and ethical constraints become irrelevant, negating any otherwise-professional characteristics.
Capitalist morality:
The responsibilities inherent to the practice of a profession are impossible to rationally maintain without a
moral foundation that flows from a recognition of the singular right of the individual to his own life,
along with all of its inherent and potential sovereign value; a concept that only capitalism recognizes,
upholds and protects.

1.4. PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY:

Accountability means the obligation of one party to provide a justification and to be held responsible for
its actions by another interested party.
There are many models of accountability, but one way to view it is as having three components:
 The individual's professional accountability for the quality of his or her own work.
 The accountability for own health of professionals within the organizations in which they work.
 Accountability (with others), as a member of staff, for the organization’s performance.
1.4.1. Characteristic features of a professional accountability.
 The capacity to understand and act on moral reasons
 Willingness to submit one’s actions to moral scrutiny and be responsive to the assessment of others.
 It includes being answerable for meeting specific obligations, i.e., liable to justify (or give reasonable
excuses) the decisions, actions or means, and outcomes (sometimes unexpected), when required by
the stakeholders or by law.
 Conscientiousness: It means:
 Being sensitive to full range of moral values and responsibilities and
 The willingness to upgrade their skills, put efforts, and reach the best balance possible among
those considerations, and lastly
 Blameworthy/Praiseworthy: it means: Own the responsibility for the good or wrong outcomes.
Courage to accept the mistakes will ensure success in the efforts in future.

Professional accountability is the accountability of a worker or employee in an organization to others in

areas related to professional judgment and activities.
It is ensuring professionals and non-professionals practice in a sound and sustainable manner, maintain
accountability for their practices and are held accountable for any deficiencies in their professional
activities.

1.5. PROFESSIONAL RISKS:

When we talk of professional risks, we are not talking about safety and risk in doing a professional job.
We are talking about the personal risks involved in the performance of one’s duties as a professional.
Examples:
Actors, for instance are always in always in public eye and their personal lives are often a subject of
popular debate among fans, in online forum and social networking sites. This is an actor’s professional’s
hazard. Murder or physical injury of a person due to his over honesty in a profession is his professional
risk.
A government employee, in a job is having the risk of public agitations against the government may cause
a physical risk or risk of injury or life.
A bus driver is always having the risk of accident, and his life is not secured.
1.5.1. Types of Professional risks:
There are several different ways to split risk exposures according to the risk types involved are;
  Risks of nature (external environment)
 Risks related to human nature (theft, burglary, embezzlement, fraud)
 Man-made risks
 Risks associated with data and knowledge
 Risks associated with the legal system (liability
 Intellectual property risks
 Reputational risk
 Brand risk
 Credit risk
 Legal risk
 Physical damage risk
 Innovational or technical obsolesce risk
 Operational risk
 Strategic risk
 Mortality and morbidity risk at the individual level
 Market risk
 Regulatory risk
 Environmental risk
 Political risk

1.6. PROFESSION AND CRAFTSMANSHIP:

To understand the word professional craftsmanship, one must consider professional as being the outer
shell of your mission. This is the suit, the office, and the manner in which you conduct business, which
means many things to many people.
Craftsman (or craftswoman, or craftsperson), on the other hand, focuses on the job in hand, not the outer
shell. If I have to get my suit dirty or use an inferior pen to sign my name, then so be it. It is the idea of
using the tools you have to your advantage. This is nowhere more evident than in skilled manual trades
such as electricians, plumbers, and joiners. This is because the tools are more obvious, they are integral to
the job, and it is easier to see when the job itself is done well.
There is an intersection between these two where neither is it its extreme.
Professionalism without tools or methods is an empty shell, albeit a pretty one, which can only
deceive for a short while. Craftsmanship without professionalism leaves tools going blunt and rusty
through lack of care, jobs finished untidily and in an untimely fashion, leaving the customer or client less
willing to put up with the craftsman, no matter how good they are with their tools.
So a healthy blend of both sides should be observed to get the best out of a situation: the ideal of
craftsmanship is the ideal of “best practice”. Look after your tools and take an interest in getting the best
tools for the job, or at least the best out of the tools you do have for the job. To encompass the
professionalism ideal is to wrap all your hard work in values that reflect everything positive about your
industry and your real work and clearly demonstrating them.
In short, I am a professional when I have shared values with my community and demonstrate these values
consistently, and I am a craftsman when I care about and for the tools and processes which are integral to
my work.

Crafted is a product, handmade by the skills, techniques, and hand selected materials of the craftsman.
Craftsmanship is the quality that comes from creating with passion, care, and attention to detail. It is a
quality that is honed, refined, and practiced over the course of a career. It is the quality that defines the
difference between a Timex and a Rolex.

1.6.1. Characteristic feature of Professional craftsmanship:

A professional craftsman:
 Has been trained in the basic skills of the profession –
 Engages in continuous re-education in the basics of the profession.
 Keeps abreast of changes and new techniques in performing work.
 Individualizes their work by putting a personal touch into the work.
 Adjusts the work/service to meet the client’s needs rather than change the client to meet the product
service.
 Puts the full time necessary into completing the work/service.
 Does not compromise in quality or material going into the work/service, where material might be the
intellectual property required to create the service product, such as the contents of a legal brief in a
litigation example.
 Spends more time understanding the needs, desires, and goals of the client.
 Creates a product/service and experience without mistakes or issues.

1.6.2. Basic principles:

Craftsmanship is based on three rather simple principles:
1.6.2.1. First, in order to build self-esteem and give an individual a sense of purpose, we need to
acknowledge, “Man must lead a worthy life.” This means people should be given meaningful work to
perform, thereby creating the desire to master one’s craft. However, not everyone can be a wood worker,
machinist, or watchmaker. Instead, they must find meaning in their chosen profession, which leads to our
next principle…
1.6.2.2. Second, “There is dignity in all forms of work.” We should never look down our noses at
anyone’s profession, assuming they are doing it competently and professionally. Regardless of the task, it
is always a pleasure to be among people who know what they are doing, and perform it seemingly with
little effort and a sense of class. In contrast, there are also workers who are apathetic, put forth minimal
effort, and only watch the clock as opposed to the work product they are assigned to. Personally, it is
difficult to respect such people.
1.6.2.3. Third, a simple recognition there are “right” and “wrong” ways for performing tasks. It takes
discipline not to skip steps and put the work product in jeopardy. Understanding the differences between
“right” and “wrong” is more than just training and experience, it also represents the morality of the
worker. One reason craftsmanship is in decline is because of the eroding moral values of the country,
such as the inclination to cheat.
These principles highlight the fact that craftsmanship is universally applicable. We can find it in
any industry and any type of work, be it janitors, waitresses, programmers, managers, assembly line
workers, hairdressers, teachers, engineers, athletes, musicians, the medical community, you name it.
Craftsmanship is a state of mind. Think about it, who has impressed you not only by the job they
did, but how they went about doing it? Inevitably, it is someone you respect, someone you will gladly
give a reference to, someone you would like to emulate.
Craftsmanship requires more than just talent, it is a determination to be the best someone can be.
Not surprising, there is a close relationship between craftsmen and the products they produce. Expressions
such as “I built that” or “That was mine,” denote the pride they take in their work. Conversely, when
someone makes a compliment about a product or service, the craftsman takes it as a personal compliment.
The bond between craftsman and work product is so strong, the worker sees the product as
tangible proof of their quality of work.
Over the years though, we have drifted away from apprenticeships. Today, we rely on
certification programs and college degrees, but this does not necessarily make someone a craftsman. It
only denotes the student has learned something and passed tests and exams. Rarely does it give us insight
into a person’s mastery of a craft, which cannot normally be evaluated until it is put into practice and
studied over time.
In terms of skills, the craftsman must master several things:
* The resources used in the product. For example, a wood worker will know the differences
between types of wood, their strengths and weaknesses, their suitability for the product, and how to work
with it. Likewise, a machinist will understand the nature of the different metals he must use in his work.
* The methodologies to produce the product, representing the steps or processes of the project.
* The tools and techniques to be used in the development of the product, all of which may change
over time. This means the craftsman is a student of his profession and possesses a sense of history to his
craft.
Craftsmanship is something we have taken for granted for many years. Consequently, it has been fading
from view. Interestingly, when I teach these concepts to students and business professionals, they are
usually surprised by the simplicity of the concepts involved. I warn them though that craftsmanship
requires a personality which includes such things as discipline, an intuitive mind, pride in workmanship, a
willingness to be the best in your chosen profession, and some good old fashioned morality.
Craftsmanship is not for everybody, but we should celebrate those willing to lead such an existence, for
they are the people who create the products we admire and cherish.
Examples:
Software craft, Hardware craft, Water craft, Wood craft, Stone craft Handicraft
 1.7. CONFLICT OF INTEREST:
Conflict of interest can be define as “a situation in which a person, such as a public official, an employee,
or a professional, has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise
of his or her official duties. ” There are three key elements in this definition.
First, there is a private or personal interest: Often this is a financial interest, but it could also
be another sort of interest, say, to provide a special advantage to a spouse or child. Taken by themselves,
there is nothing wrong with pursuing private or personal interests, for instance, changing jobs for more
pay or helping your daughter improve her golf stroke.
Second, there is a official duty: The problem comes when this private interest comes into
conflict with the second feature of the definition, an “official duty” quite literally the duty you have
because you have an office or act in an official capacity. As a professional you take on certain official
responsibilities, by which you acquire obligations to clients, employers, or others. These obligations are
supposed to trump private or personal interests.
Third, conflicts of interest: It interfere with professional responsibilities in a specific way,
namely, by interfering with objective professional judgment. A major reasons clients and employer’s
value professional is that they expect professionals to be objective and independent.

1.7.1. Types of Conflict of Interest:

Conflict of interest by an individual is the conflict between the personal and professional interest. Based
on this concept the conflict of interest could be of three types
1.7.1.1. Actual conflict of interest:
There is a real compromise of professional interest for the sake of personal interest (personal interest
outweighs the professional interest) and the conflict of interest exists in real. It is the Situation where the
objectivity is lost in the decision making, and the inability to discharge the duty of the employer. It is the
result of weaker judgment and service.
Example; corruption in real by a Government employee
1.7.1.2. Apparent conflict of interest:
At this stage, it appear that the professional conflict of interest is compromised for the sake of personal
interest (personal interest outweighs the professional interest) , while in reality it is not true. It is the
situation where the actual COI does not exists, but looks like there are some conflicts of interests.
Example: Some Official posts or positions or professions are generally perceived to be corrupted, like
state and central Administrative officers, Police, etc.
1.7.1.3. Potential conflict of interest:
Here, the position or post has the capacity or chances of compromising the professional interest for the
sake of personal interest (personal interest outweighs the professional interest) . At present if no such
conflicts exists, but in future it may happen. It is the situation where the interest of an employee extends
beyond the current employer and into interest of one’s personal interest (bribe, gift, nepotism,
moonlighting, insider information etc.)
Example: any posts that carries enough power of taking decision.

Factors, like private and personal interests, that either interfere or appear likely to interfere with
objectivity are then a matter of legitimate concern to those who rely on professionals be they clients,
employers, professional colleagues, or the general public. So it is also important to avoid apparent and
potential as well as actual conflicts of interests. An apparent conflict of interest is one which a reasonable
person would think that the professional’s judgment is likely to be compromised. A potential conflict of
interest involves a situation that may develop into an actual conflict of interest.
With this in mind, consider the following types of typical conflicts of interest listed by Canadian
political scientists Ken Kernighan and John Langford in their book, “The Responsible Public Servant”.
1.7.2. Categories of Conflict of Interest:
 Self-dealing: For example, you work for government and use your official position to secure a
contract for a private consulting company you own. Another instance is using your government
position to get a summer job for your daughter.
 Accepting benefits: Bribery is one example; substantial [non token] gifts are another. For
example, you are the purchasing agent for your department and you accept a case of liquor from a
major supplier.
 Influence peddling: Here, the professional solicits benefits in exchange for using her influence to
unfairly advance the interests of a particular party.
  Using your employer’s property for private advantage: This could be as blatant as stealing
office supplies for home use. Or it might be a bit more subtle, say, using software which is
licensed to your employer for private consulting work of your own. In the first case, the
employer’s permission eliminates the conflict; while in the second, it doesn’t.
 Using confidential information: While working for a private client, you learn that the client is
planning to buy land in your region. You quickly rush out and buy the land in your wife’s name.
 Outside employment or moonlighting: An example would be setting up a business on the side
that is in direct competition with your employer. Another case would be taking on so many
outside clients that you don’t have the time and energy to devote to your regular employer. In
combination with [3] influence peddling, it might be that a professional employed in the public
service sells private consulting services to an individual with the assurance that they will secure
benefits from government: “If you use my company, I am sure that you will pass the
environmental review.”
 Post-employment: Here a dicey situation can be one in which a person who resigns from public
or private employment and goes into business in the same area. For example, a former public
servant sets up a practice lobbying the former department in which she was employed.

1.8. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF PROFESSIONALS:

The distinguishing features of the ‘profession’ as distinct from ‘non-professional occupation’ are listed as
follows:
1.8.1. Extensive Training:
Entry into the profession requires an extensive period of training of intellectual (competence) and moral
(integrity) character. The theoretical base is obtained through formal education, usually in an academic
institution. It may be a Bachelor degree from a college or university or an advanced degree conferred by
professional schools.
1.8.2. Knowledge and Skills:
Knowledge and skills (competence) are necessary for the well-being of the society. Knowledge of
physicians protects us from disease and restores health. The lawyer’s knowledge is useful when we are
sued of a crime, or if our business is to be merged or closed or when we buy a property. The Chartered
Accountant’s knowledge is important for the success of recording financial transactions or when we file
the income return. The knowledge, study, and research of the engineers are required for the safety of the
air plane, for the technological advances and for national defense.
1.8.3. Monopoly:
The monopoly control is achieved in two ways:
 The profession convinces the community that only those who have graduated from the professional
school should be allowed to hold the professional title.
 The profession also gains control over professional schools by establishing accreditation standards by
persuading the community to have a licensing system for those who want to enter the profession. If
practicing without license, they are liable to pay penalties.
1.8.4. Autonomy in Workplace:
Professionals engaged in private practice have considerable freedom in choosing their clients or patients.
Even the professionals working in large organizations exercise a large degree of impartiality, creativity
and discretion (care with decision and communication) in carrying their responsibilities. Besides this,
professionals are empowered with certain rights to establish their autonomy.
Accordingly physicians must determine the most appropriate medical treatments for their patients
and lawyers must decide on the most successful defense for their clients. The possession of specialized
knowledge is thus a powerful defense of professional autonomy.
1.8.5. Ethical Standards:
Professional societies promulgate the codes of conduct to regulate the professionals against their abuse or
any unethical decisions and actions (impartiality, responsibility) affecting the individuals or groups or the
society.

1.9. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF PROFESSIONALS:

1.9.1. Different roles of the professionals:
Personal role:
Professionals are human beings a have personal life. They play many roles in their personal lives, such as
son, daughter, husband, wife, father, mother just like others. We are looking at whether professional spirit
and professionalism has any influence on its personal life or not?
The personal role is also important for their professional image. There are many factors which influence
the personal life of a professional, these are, religion, culture, social status, educational qualification,
financial standard, legal constraints etc. in addition, they have to set their own moral and ethical standards
to be followed.
Social role:
A professional is not only the a member of professional association but also lives in a community and
hence is also a member of a society and community. The social roles includes, Welfare of the community
Problem solver of the community, etc. For these the professional must have, knowledge, skills, strengths
and special training to handle different roles.
Ethical role:
Many ethical issues are related to profession in everyday life. A professional must promote ethical
behaviour among the people or community in which he/she lives.
Professional Role:
Professional role is what we will be dealing with one’s responsibilities as a professional or in terms of
different roles one plays in the practise of one’s profession, these are,
 Leader:
 Colleague;
 Subordinate:
 Savior: The engineer as a savior, save the society from poverty, illiteracy, wastage, inefficiency,
ill health, human (labor) dignity and lead it to prosperity, through technological development and
social planning.
For example: MS Swaminathan
 Guardian: He guards the interests of the poor and general public. As one who is conversant with
technology development, is given the authority befitting his expertise to determine what is best
suited to the society.
For example: APJ Abdul Kalam
 Bureaucratic Servant: He serves the organization and the employers. The management of an
enterprise fixes its goals and assigns the job of problem solving to the engineer, who accepts the
challenge and shapes them into concrete achievements.
For example, Jamshedji Tata
 Social Servant: It is one who exhibits social responsibility. The engineer translates the interest
and aspirations of the society into a reality, remembering that his true master is the society at
large.
For example, Sir M.Viswesvarayya
 Social Enabler and Catalyst: One, who changes the society through technology,. The engineer
must assist the management and the society to understand their needs and make informed
decisions on the desirable technological development and minimize the negative effects of
technology on people and their living environment. Thus, he shines as a social enabler and a
catalyst for further growth.
For example: Sri Sundarlal Bahuguna
 Game Player: He is neither a servant nor master. An engineer is an assertive player, not a
passive player who may carry out his master’s voice. He plays a unique role successfully within
the organization, enjoying the excitement of the profession and having the satisfaction of surging
ahead in a competitive world.
For example: Narayanamurthy, Infosys

1.9.2. Different responsibilities of professionals:

1.9.2.1. SENSES:
There are different senses of responsibility, such as:
 Characteristic Quality: Primarily responsibility implies duty with care and efforts.
 Obligations: These are one’s moral responsibility i.e., duty to act right and in moral ways. The
obligations such as honesty, fairness, and decency are incumbent on every one. In addition to this,
we have role responsibilities assigned by taking up various roles, such as parents, inspectors, and
employees.
For example, a Safety Engineer has a responsibility to make regular inspections in a factory
shops.
 General Moral Capacity: One has the general capacity for moral agency, including the
understanding and action on moral reasons.
  Liability and Accountability: Liability and Accountability for actions. It means that one is liable
(with a legal sense) to meet the obligations in better ways. The person is likely to respond legally,
if necessary. Accountable means that one is willing to justify or defend the decisions, actions or
means and outcomes. It could include offering a reasonable excuse or accepting the shame for not
having met the end results or accepting the guilt for harming others. One is also answerable to the
assessment by others on one’s actions (means) or outcomes.
 Praiseworthiness/Blameworthiness: When accountability for wrong actions or results is at
issue, responsibility means blameworthy. When the right conduct or successful result is at issue,
responsible is synonymous with praiseworthy.

1.9.2.2. TYPES:
Different types of responsibilities exhibited in human transactions are:
I. Moral Responsibility:
Moral responsibility as applied to a professional: A professional must be responsible morally, in creating
internal good or good outcomes, and eliminating /minimizing un- intended side-effects, from engineering
and technology. It includes:
 Obligations: A commitment to moral actions (primary obligation to protect the safety of the
human beings and respect their rights),
 Conscientious: A comprehensive perspective to accept the duties, and diligently do the right
things by putting their heart, head and hands (awareness of the experimental nature of the
product/project, anticipating possible and unexpected outcomes and putting efforts to monitor
them),
 Accountability: (being accountable for the decisions, actions, and the results of product/ project
including safety)
 Praiseworthy/Blameworthy: Applied to context of doing things right/doing things wrongly,
respectively.
II. Causal Responsibility:
It is being a cause of some event. For example, a child playing with matches cause a house to burn. The
child is causally responsible, but the parent who left the child with matches, is morally responsible.
III. Job Responsibility:
It consists of assigned tasks at the place of employment and achieving the objectives.
IV. Legal Responsibility:
It is the response required by law and includes legal obligations and accountability to meet them.
Many of these responsibilities overlap with moral responsibility.
V. Social Responsibility:
It consists of responsibilities of a professional towards the society within and beyond the organization.

1.9.3. Characteristic features of Responsible Professionalism:

This consists of five types of virtues, as follows:
1.9.3.1. Self-direction (Self-governance) virtues are fundamental and necessary in exercising moral
responsibility. On the basis of ‘understanding and cognition’, it includes self-understanding, humility
(proper assessment of one’s character), and good moral judgment (termed as ‘practical wisdom’ by
Aristotle). On the basis of ‘commitment and action’, it covers courage, self-discipline, perseverance, self-
respect, and integrity. Honesty a virtue common to both bases as it implies truthfulness in thoughts and
words and trustworthiness in actions.
1.9.3.2. Public-spirited virtues focus on the good of the clients and the public. It includes the respect for
rights (to make decisions and face the risk), non-malfeasance (not harming others intentionally).
Engineering codes go a step further and prescribe beneficence that includes preventing or removing harm
to others and also promoting the public safety, health, and welfare, generosity (helping the community by
voluntarily giving their time, talent, and money-voluntary service to the professional society and
community), and justice (unbiased) in all decisions and actions.
1.9.3.3. Team-work virtues enable the professionals to work successfully with others. They include
collegiality, cooperativeness, communicative ability, and respect for legitimate authority.
Responsible exercise of authority and the ability to motivate other to achieve are also the relevant to
team-work virtues.
1.9.3.4. Proficiency virtues, which mean the mastery of technical skills (called as Intellectual Virtue by
Aristotle). It includes competence (having qualified, licensed, and prepared to execute the job that is
undertaken), diligence (alert to dangers, careful attention, and avoidance of laziness or workaholic
nature), creativity (learning to respond to the changing technological society), excellence (perform at the
highest level), and self-renewal through continuing education.
1.9.3.5. Cardinal (chief) virtues: Wisdom (prudence), courage (fortitude), temperance and justice. Some
of these may overlap other virtues. They are called ‘cardinal’ (Latin: cardo, hinge) because they are
hinges on which all virtues depend. These are also called moral (Latin: mores, fixed values) because they
govern our actions, regulate our passions, and guide our conduct according to faith and reason. Wisdom is
perception of truth and ability to distinguish between the right and wrong. Courage means a firm and
elevated mind. Temperance represents order in words and actions. Justice is preserving humanity and
observing the faith of contracts. Although these virtues ring religious tones, they are very relevant to the
engineering practice.

1.10. PROFESSIONAL’S DUTIES TOWARDS THE ORGANIZATION AND VICE-A- VERSA:

The term professional duties towards the organization and vice a versa could be studied under two major
headings. First the professional’s duties towards the organizations, and second the organizations duties
towards the professionals, the explanations are follows;
1.10.1. Professional’s duties towards organization:
The duties of a professional towards the organization could be understood as following subheadings;
Collegiality:
 It is the tendency to support and cooperate with the colleagues. It is a virtue essential for the team
work to be effective. This consists of the following aspects:
 Respect to the ideas and works of others
 Commitment to the moral principles
 Connectedness
Loyalty:
It exhibited in two senses, namely
 Agency loyalty: contractual duties to the employer
 Attitude loyalty: concern with attitude, emotion and sense of personal identity
Authority:
It is personal responsibility and accountability and are of two types;
 Institutional authority:
 Expert authority:
Collective bargaining:
It is the bargain by the trade union for improving the economic interests of the worker members.
The process includes negotiation, threatening verbally, and declaration of ‘strike’. It is impossible to
endorse fully the collective bargaining of unions or to condemn. There exist always conflicting views
between the professionalism and unionism.
Faithful agent or trustee: e.g., as per NSPE code III, i.e., engineers shall not promote their own interest
at the expense of the dignity and integrity of the profession
Confidentiality:
The term confidentiality is further discussed under following duties;
 Respect for Autonomy
 Respect to promises
 Trustworthiness
 Respect for public welfare
Legal:
It speaks about the legal responsibility of a professional towards an organization, and it includes;
 Codes of conducts
 Legal laws
Interpersonal:
Interpersonal traits are the intrinsic traits which are to be within an individual while performing a duty as
a professional, these are;
Honesty, integrity, sincerity punctual, loyal etc

1.10.2. Organization’s duties towards its professionals:

Not only the professional or employees are directed to have duties towards the organization , but also the
organization also has to reciprocate in same way. An organization is also supposed to have many duties
towards its employees, these are as follows;
 Proper selection, training and promotion;
 Recognition of the value of human resource;
  Maintaining cordial relations with employees;
 Recognition and encouragement of constructive unionism;
 Fair wage in relation to the cost of living;
 Better working conditions;
 Initiating appropriate measures for the development of human resource;
 Increase in productivity and efficiency by recognition of merit by providing opportunities for
creative talent and incentives.

EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. Define the term Professionalism, explain its characteristic feature.
2. Define the term, Professional craftsmanship, its features and explain the basic principles.
3. What is conflict of interest? Explain its types and categories.
4. Explain different roles and responsibilities of a professional.
5. What are the profession’s duties towards an organization and vice-e-versa, explain with example.

Short Questions:
1. Define the terms; Profession, Professional and Professionalism.
2. What is professional accountability? What are its features?
3. What do you mean by Professional risk? What are its different types
4. Write a short note on distinguishing features of the professionals from the amateurs.
CHAPTER - 3 ETHICAL THEORIES
MODULE – II
3 Ethical Theories: 4

1. ETHICAL THEORIES:
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that, at its core, seeks to understand and to determine how human actions
can be judged as right or wrong. We may make ethical judgments, for example, based upon our own
experience or based upon the nature of or principles of reason. Those who study ethics believe that ethical
decision making is based upon theory and that these theories can be classified. The following are the basic
three classes of ethics as given in figure 1.
Various ethical theories and their application:
1.1. Importance of ethical theories:
The ethical theories are useful in many respects.
1. In understanding moral dilemma. They provide clarity, consistency, systematic and comprehensive
understanding.
2. It provides helpful practical guidance in moral issues towards the solution.
3. Justifying professional obligations and decisions, and
3. In relating ordinary and professional morality.

1.2. Characteristic features of ethical theories:

Different criteria may be applied for evaluating various ethical theories and deciding upon the best.
1. The theory must be clear and (coherent) formulated with concepts that are logically connected.
2. It must be internally consistent, i.e., none of its principles conflicts with any other
3. The theory and its defense must depend, only upon facts.
4. It must organize basic moral values in systematic and comprehensive manner. It is to fix priority of
values and provide guidance in all situations
5. It must provide guidance compatible with our moral convictions (judgments) about concrete situations.

1.3. Types of ethics:

The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts
of right and wrong behavior. Philosophers today usually divide ethical theories into three general subject
areas: Meta ethics, Normative ethics and Applied ethics.
1.3.1. Meta ethics:
Meta-ethics is concerned with the theoretical meaning of morality and ethical principles, i.e. what we
understand when we talk about what is right or wrong. Meta ethics is further proposed broadly by two
different theories i.e. cognitive and non cognitive
Meta ethics investigates where our ethical principles come from, and what they mean. Are they merely
social inventions? Do they involve more than expressions of our individual emotions? Meta ethical
answers to these questions focus on the issues of universal truths, the will of God, the role of reason in
ethical judgments, and the meaning of ethical terms themselves.
1.3.2. Normative ethics:
Normative ethics deals with the content of moral judgments i.e. determining the moral course of action
and includes the criteria for what is right or wrong, good or bad, kind or evil, etc. normative ethics is
supported by basic two different ethical theories i.e. Consequentialism and Non Consequentialism.
Further the theory of consequentialism is supported by two more ethical theories .i.e. Utilitarianism and
ethical egoism. Non-Consequentialism theory is supported by Rights theory and Duty theory or
deontology.
Normative ethics takes on a more practical task, which is to arrive at moral standards that regulate right
and wrong conduct. This may involve articulating the good habits that we should acquire, the duties that
we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior on others.
1.3.3. Applied ethics:
Applied ethics is concerned with the actions which a person is obliged to perform in a particular situation.
It is supported by Casuistry or Casuist Theory.
Applied ethics involves examining specific controversial issues, such as abortion, infanticide, animal
rights, environmental concerns, homosexuality, capital punishment, or nuclear war.
By using the conceptual tools of Meta ethics and normative ethics, discussions in applied ethics try to
resolve these controversial issues.
The lines of distinction between Meta ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics are often blurry.
For example, the issue of abortion is an applied ethical topic since it involves a specific type of
controversial behavior. But it also depends on more general normative principles, such as the right of self-
rule and the right to life, which are litmus tests for determining the morality of that procedure. The issue
also rests on Meta ethical issues such as, "where do rights come from?" and "what kinds of beings have
rights?"
Thus, ethics are the well-defined standards that impose obligations to refrain human beings from any
misconduct, which could be harmful to the self as well as for the society.
Each of the above study areas is described by different ethical theories as given in figure 1.
Figure: 1

Ethics encompass the human rights and responsibilities, the way to lead a good life, the language of right
and wrong, and a difference between good and bad. This means it is concerned with what is right or
wrong for the individuals and society. The term “ethics” have been derived from the Greek word “ethos”
which means character, habit, disposition or custom. Several philosophers have propounded different
types of ethical theories which are listed below:

2. CONSEQUENTIALISM:
Normative ethical theories further divided in to two types as per conduct and character of an individual.
Conduct deals with the external expression of an individual at a particular situation. While the character
deals with the intrinsic values which guides an individual to behave in a situation.
Consequentialism is a set of ethical strategies that share the following feature: they tell us to maximize the
sum of good consequences and minimize the sum of bad ones, or if some are good and some are bad,
maximizing the net consequences, i.e., the good ones minus the bad ones.
What I refer to here as "net consequences" is also sometimes known as the "balance"--in the checkbook
sense--of the good over the bad, or the benefits over the costs.
It is common for us to determine our moral responsibility by weighing the consequences of our actions.
According to Consequentialism, correct moral conduct is determined solely by a cost-benefit analysis of
an action's consequences:
Consequentialism: An action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than
unfavorable.
Consequentialism is normative principles require that we
 First tally both the good and bad consequences of an action.
 Second, we then determine whether the total good consequences outweigh the total bad
consequences.
 If the good consequences are greater, then the action is morally proper.
 If the bad consequences are greater, then the action is morally improper.
Hence, Consequentialism are the theories sometimes called teleological theories, from the Greek word
telos, or end, since the end result of the action is the sole determining factor of its morality.
Consequentialist theories became popular in the 18th century by philosophers who wanted a quick way to
morally assess an action by appealing to experience, rather than by appealing to gut intuitions or long lists
of questionable duties. In fact, the most attractive feature of Consequentialism is that it appeals to publicly
observable consequences of actions. Most versions of Consequentialism are more precisely formulated
than the general principle above. In particular, competing consequentialist theories specify which
consequences for affected groups of people are relevant. Three subtypes of Consequentialism emerge:
Ethical Egoism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than
unfavorable only to the agent performing the action.
Ethical Altruism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than
unfavorable to everyone except the agent.
Utilitarianism: an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than
unfavorable to everyone.
All three of these theories focus on the consequences of actions for different groups of people.
But, like all normative theories, the above three theories are rivals of each other. They also yield different
conclusions.
Consider the following example;
Suppose three friends (Ajay, Bhaskar and Chandan) are travelling for Puri (Jagannath temple), Ajay was
driving the car while rest two were accompanying him. On their way they hit a cow and injured it, but
unfortunately the spot of accident belongs to the village are so orthodox that they will not excuse them for
that incidence.
Now the question is what they shall do?
 Protect them and leave the situation on its fate. Or
 Help the cow and face the public and accept the punishments.
To come to a conclusion and to answer any one of the options, the solution could of three types.
Note: In the above example, Ajay is the agent, because he is driving the car.
Solution1: Ajay will not take the opinion of others, because he is the driver he just moves on. This is
called ethical egoism, as the action is more favorable than unfavorable to the agent (Ajay)
Solution2: Ajay asks other two friends; Bhaskar and Chandan to take a decision, without giving its own
consent. And he solely agree with other’s decision, this is called ethical altruism. Here the decision is
favorable to everyone except the agent (Ajay)
Solution3: three of them discuss and decision taken shall be by the consent of all three. This is called as
the Utilitarianism as the decisions taken are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone including the
agent (Ajay)

3. NON-CONSEQUENTIALISM:
A Non-Consequentialist theory of value judges the rightness or wrongness of an action based on
properties intrinsic to the action, not on its consequences. It is a type of normative ethical theory that
denies that the rightness or wrongness of our conduct is determined solely by the goodness or badness of
the consequences of our acts or of the rules to which those acts conform. The different theories under it
are of duty theory or rights theory; these are explained as follows.

3.1. DUTY THEORIES: (Deontology)

Many of us feel that there are clear obligations we have as human beings, such as to care for our children,
and to not commit murder. Duty theories base morality on specific, foundational principles of obligation.
These theories are sometimes called deontological, from the Greek word Deon, or duty, in view of the
foundational nature of our duty or obligation. They are also sometimes called non-consequentialist since
these principles are obligatory, irrespective of the consequences that might follow from our actions.
For example, it is wrong to not care for our children even if it results in some great benefit, such as
financial savings. There are four central duty theories.

it was first championed by 17th century German philosopher Samuel Pufendorf, who
classified dozens of duties under three headings:
Duties to God,
Duties to oneself, and
Duties to others
Concerning our duties towards God, he argued that there are two kinds:
 A theoretical duty to know the existence and nature of God, and
 A practical duty to both inwardly and outwardly worships God.
Concerning our duties towards one, these are also of two sorts:
 Duties of the soul, which involve developing one's skills and talents, and
 Duties of the body, which involve not harming our bodies, as we might through gluttony or
drunkenness, and not killing oneself.
Concerning our duties towards others, Pufendorf divides these between absolute duties, which are
universally binding on people, and conditional duties, which are the result of contracts between people.
Absolute duties are of three sorts:
 Avoid wronging others,
 Treat people as equals, and
  Promote the good of others.
Conditional duties involve various types of agreements; the principal one of which is the duty is to keep
one's promises.
A second duty-based approach to ethics is rights theory. Most generally, a "right" is a justified claim
against another person's behavior - such as my right to not be harmed by you (e.g. human rights).
Rights and duties are related in such a way that the rights of one person imply the duties of another
person.
For example, if I have a right to payment of Rs.10 by Ajit, then Ajit has a duty to pay meRs.10.
This is called the correlativity of rights and duties.

3.2. RIGHTS THEORY:

The evolution of rights theory dates back to the seventeenth century in writings of Thomas Hobbes and
John Locke. Modern rights theory is associated with the eighteenth century philosopher Immanuel Kant,
who focused on the individual’s right to choose for oneself.
According him, what makes human beings different from mere things is, that people
have dignity based on their ability to choose freely what they will do with their lives, and
they have a fundamental moral right to have these choices respected. People are not
objects to be manipulated; it is a violation of human dignity to use people in ways they do
not freely choose.
Other rights he advocated are:
 The right to access the truth: We have a right to be told the truth and to be informed about matters
that significantly affect our choices.
 The right of privacy: We have the right to do, believe, and say whatever we choose in our personal
lives so long as we do not violate the rights of others.
 The right not to be injured: We have the right not to be harmed or injured unless we freely and
knowingly do something to deserve punishment or we freely and knowingly choose to risk such
injuries.
 The right to what is agreed: We have a right to what has been promised by those with whom we have
freely entered into a contract or agreement.
In deciding whether an action is moral or immoral, we must ask, does the action respect the moral rights
of everyone? Actions are wrong to the extent that they violate the rights of individuals; the more serious is
the violation, the more wrongful is the action.
The RIGHTS theory as promoted by John Locke states that the actions are right, if they respect
human rights of every one affected. He proposed the three basic human rights, namely life, liberty, and
property.
His views were reflected in the modern American society, when Jefferson declared the basic rights as life,
liberty, and pursuit of happiness.
As per A.I. Malden’s theory based on rights, nature mandates that we should not harm others’
life, health, liberty or property. Melden allowed welfare rights also for living a decent human life.
He highlighted that the rights should be based on the social welfare system.
Human Rights: Human rights are explained in two forms, namely liberty rights and welfare rights.
Liberty rights are rights to exercise one’s liberty and stresses duties on other people not to interfere with
one’s freedom. The four features of liberty rights (also called moral rights), which lay the base for
Government Administration, are:
1. Rights are natural in so far as they are not invented or created by government.
2. They are universal, as they do not change from country to country.
3. They are equal since the rights are the same for all people, irrespective of caste, race, creed or sex.
4. They are inalienable i.e., one cannot hand over his rights to another person such as selling oneself to
slavery.
Welfare Rights: The Welfare Rights are the rights to benefit the needy for a decent human life, when one
cannot earn those benefits and when those benefits are available in the society.
Economic rights: In the free-market economy, the very purpose of the existence of the manufacturer, the
sellers and the service providers is to serve the consumer.
Rights ethics is distinctive in that it makes human rights the ultimate appeal the moral bottom line.
Human rights constitute a moral authority to make legitimate moral demands on others to respect
 3.3. THE VIRTUE THEORY:
Virtue-based ethics emphasizes certain qualities that define appropriate behavior and the right action to
take. Unlike the other standard ethical theories discussed, virtue theory does not establish a set of criteria
to evaluate potential decisions. Rather, it emphasizes the internal characteristics of an individual with
whom we would want to enter into a relationship of trust.
The ultimate goal is for “the decision maker to do the right thing in the right place as the right time in the
right way.”
Plato emphasized four virtues in particular, which were later called cardinal virtues, these are as follows:
 Wisdom,
 Courage,
 Temperance and
 Justice

Most virtue ethics theories take their inspiration from Aristotle who declared that a virtuous person is
someone who has ideal character traits. These traits derive from natural internal tendencies, but need to be
nurtured; however, once established, they will become stable. For example, a virtuous person is someone
who is kind across many situations over a lifetime because that is her character and not because she wants
to maximize utility or gain favors or simply do her duty.
Unlike deontological and Consequentialism theories, theories of virtue ethics do not aim
primarily to identify universal principles that can be applied in any moral situation. And virtue ethics
theories deal with wider questions “How should I live?” and “What is the good life?” and “What are
proper family and social values?”
Since its revival in the twentieth century, virtue ethics has been developed in three main directions:
Eudemonism,
Agent-based theories, and
The ethics of care
 Eudemonism bases virtues in human flourishing, where flourishing is equated with performing one’s
distinctive function well. In the case of humans, Aristotle argued that our distinctive function is
reasoning, and so the life “worth living” is one which we reason well.
 An agent-based theory emphasizes that virtues are determined by common-sense intuitions that we
as observers judge to be admirable traits in other people. The third branch of virtue ethics,
 The ethics of care was proposed predominately by feminist thinkers. It challenges the idea that ethics
should focus solely on justice and autonomy; it argues that more feminine traits, such as caring and
nurturing, should also be considered.

The virtue theory advocated by Aristotle, stressed on the tendency to act at proper balance between
extremes of conduct, emotion, desire, attitudes to find the golden mean (virtuous mean) between the
extremes of ‘excess’
or ‘deficiency’. The examples shown below illustrate the theory
:

In the mid 20th century virtue theory received special attention from philosophers who believed that more
recent ethical theories were misguided for focusing too heavily on rules and actions, rather than on
virtuous character traits.
Alasdair Macintyre (1984) defended the central role of virtues in moral theory and argued that virtues are
grounded in and emerge from within social traditions. He highlighted on the actions aimed at achieving
common good and social (internal) good such as social justice, promotion of health, creation of useful and
safe technological products and services. Five types of virtues that constitute responsible professionalism,
namely
 Public-spirited virtues,
 Proficiency virtues,
 Team-work virtues,
 Self-governance virtues, and
 Cardinal virtues

4. CASUIST THEORY:
Casuistry is a method of case reasoning especially useful in treating cases that involve moral dilemmas. It
is also a branch of applied ethics. Casuistry is the basis of case law in common law, and the standard form
of reasoning applied in common law.
Casuistry is an applied ethics term referring to case-based reasoning.
Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle
based reasoning and it is a case based reasoning.
The Four Principles of Casuist theory
Beauchamp and Childress’ Four Principles approach is one of the most widely used frameworks and
offers a broad consideration of ethical issues generally.
The Four Principles provide a general guide and leave considerable room for judgment in specific cases.
Respect for autonomy: respecting the decision-making capacities of autonomous persons; enabling
individuals to make reasoned informed choices.
Beneficence: balancing benefits of treatment against the risks and costs; the healthcare professional
should act in a way that benefits the people.
Non malfeasance: avoiding causing harm; the professionals should not harm the people.
Justice: respect for justice takes several forms:
• Distribution of a fair share of benefits
• Legal justice - doing what the law says
• Rights based justice, which deals in the language, and perhaps the rhetoric, of claimed human rights, and
hence goes beyond, though it includes, legal rights.
These principles are prima facie that is, each to be followed unless it conflicts with one or more of the
others - and non-hierarchical i.e. one is not ranked higher than another. In recent years however, respect
for patient autonomy has assumed great significance in the context of patient choice, underpinned by the
requirement to provide the patient with sufficient information to put him / her in a position to choose.
The ‘Four Principles’ are intended as an aid to balance judgment, not a substitute for it.
Examples
For example, while a principle-based approach might claim that lying is always morally wrong, the
casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, lying may or may not be illegal or
unethical.

5. ETHICAL TERMS:
5.1. MORAL ABSOLUTISM:
Moral absolutism is the philosophy that mankind is subject to absolute standards of conduct that do not
change with circumstances, the intent of the acting agent, or the result of the act. These standards are
universal to all humanity despite culture or era, and they maintain their relevance whether or not an
individual or a culture values them. It is never appropriate to break a law that is based on one of these
absolutes. Moral absolutism does not dictate which acts are moral or immoral; however, merely that
absolute morality does exist.
Moral absolutism is the main category of deontological ethics. Deontology bases an act’s
morality on its adherence to rules. While all categories of deontological ethics hold that absolute morality
does exist, not all of them believe that morality lies in the act alone, as moral absolutism teaches.
Kantian ethics (or duty ethics) is the other significant form of deontology and says that an act is moral if
it is done deliberately and with the right motives. Contemporary deontology says that doing harm is only
allowable if it is for a greater good. And the non-aggression principle bases morality on force; a person
may only use force or cause harm when defending against an aggressor.
The absolutes in moral absolutism come by their authority in several different ways.
Natural law theory says that human nature inexorably reveals some things as absolutely right or wrong.
For instance, torturing innocents is absolutely wrong, and any reasonable contemplation of human nature
would agree.
Contractarianism teaches that morality is determined by a mutual, voluntary agreement between parties.
The contract can be a legal document outlining the responsibilities of the parties involved or the assumed
civil duties a citizen takes on in exchange for the benefits of living in a society.
Divine command theory asserts that the morality of an action is dictated by God. Only God can
determine the rules, and we are obligated to follow every word that applies to us.
The Bible teaches moral absolutism in spirit, if not in specifics. We are to look to God’s Word,
not our own judgment, to know what right and wrong behavior looks like. But because God’s creation
reflects His character, it’s inevitable that men seeking wisdom would occasionally stumble upon His
truths.

5.2. MORAL RELATIVISM:

Moral relativism is more easily understood in comparison to moral absolutism. Absolutism claims that
morality relies on universal principles (natural law, conscience). Christian absolutists believe that God is
the ultimate source of our common morality, and that it is, therefore, as unchanging as He is.
Moral relativism asserts that morality is not based on any absolute standard. Rather, ethical
“truths” depend on variables such as the situation, culture, one's feelings, etc.
Several things can be said of the arguments for moral relativism which demonstrate their dubious nature.
First, while many of the arguments used in the attempt to support relativism might sound good at first,
there is a logical contradiction inherent in all of them because they all propose the “right” moral scheme
the one we all ought to follow. But this itself is absolutism.
Second, even so-called relativists reject relativism in most cases. They would not say that a murderer or
rapist is free from guilt so long as he did not violate his own standards.
Relativists may argue that different values among different cultures show that morals are relative to
different people. But this argument confuses the actions of individuals (what they do) with absolute
standards (whether they should do it).
If culture determines right and wrong, how could we have judged the Nazis? After all, they were
only following their culture's morality. Only if murder is universally wrong were the Nazis wrong.
The fact that they had “their morality” does not change that. Further, although many people have different
practices of morality, they still share a common morality. For instance, abortionists and anti-abortionists
agree that murder is wrong, but they disagree on whether abortion is murder. So, even here, absolute
universal morality is shown to be true.
Some claim that changing situations make for changing morality in different situations different
acts are called for that might not be right in other situations. But there are three things by which we must
judge an act: the situation, the act, and the intention. For example, we can convict someone of attempted
murder (intent) even if they fail (act). So situations are part of the moral decision, for they set the context
for choosing the specific moral act (the application of universal principles).
The main argument relativists appeal to is that of tolerance. They claim that telling someone their
morality is wrong is intolerant, and relativism tolerates all views. But this is misleading.
First of all, evil should never be tolerated. Should we tolerate a rapist's view that women are objects of
gratification to be abused?
Second, it is self-defeating because relativists do not tolerate intolerance or absolutism.
Third, relativism cannot explain why anyone should be tolerant in the first place. The very fact that we
should tolerate people (even when we disagree) is based on the absolute moral rule that we should always
treat people fairly but that is absolutism again! In fact, without universal moral principles there can be no
goodness.
The fact is that all people are born with a conscience, and we all instinctively know when we
have been wronged or when we have wronged others. We act as though we expect others to recognize this
as well. Even as children we knew the difference between “fair” and “unfair.” It takes bad philosophy to
convince
us that we are wrong and that moral relativism is true.

5.3. MORAL PLURALISM:

The term “Moral Pluralism” (also referred to as “ethical pluralism”) is used to designate a general
framework about how to arrive at sound ethical judgments. As such, it is meant as an example of a step
by- step procedure that has been developed in the field of Applied Ethics.
The moral pluralist argues that because ethical issues, problems and dilemmas can be highly complicated,
we likewise need a complicated set of tools with which to manage hard moral choices. The pluralist urges
that, when confronted with the need for a reasoned ethical decision, one should consider and apply as
many ethical concepts, principles and theories as are appropriate in order to resolve the ethical matter.
A failure to engage in such considerations and applications likely will result in an inadequate and
incomplete analysis. Because of its emphasis on multiple moral perspectives, this pluralist approach
seems to go against the contemporary mainstream where the desire is for a less complicated framework
for ethical decision making.
The call from practitioners and professionals is that they would like to see a ready-made formula for
ethical decision-making, a kind of heuristic device that will provide a reliable answer straightaway to the
various moral quandaries of the workplace. But, the moral pluralist resists such quick fixes. This is the
case because the pluralist understands that the realities of work (and of life itself) are such that no single
formula can embrace all of the complex ethical issues, problems and dilemmas.
So, the pluralist in moral matters holds that a more comprehensive application of the concepts, principles
and theories that comprise the history of ethics is a necessary ingredient in solid ethical decision-making.

5.3.1. Moral Pluralism and Traditional Ethics:

This view of moral reasoning also seems to run counter to the usual Western philosophical tradition in
which the design of a single ethical theory “ethical monism” characterizes the thinking of the
predominant traditional philosophers and ethicists. Among the monistic theories that Moral Pluralism
would include are:
• The Virtue Ethics of Aristotle:
Virtue ethics emphasizes the role of character and how one’s character might or might not dispose one to
act well. Aristotle thought that one’s moral education shapes how one acts and those who develop habits
toward behaving well would act ethically or virtuously, while those who developed poor habits of vice
would not.
• Kant’s Categorical Imperative:
Immanuel Kant holds that a “categorical imperative” should guide actions so that we should ask whether
our action could be universalized or not (Would I want everyone to act this way?). He also admonishes us
to engage in respecting others and never use them as a mere means to an end, but only as an end.
• Utilitarianism:
The utilitarian approach an ethical theory upon which capitalism and the workings of business
organizations are founded holds that actions should be measured and judged according to how well they
promote the greatest good for the greatest numbers.
But according to the moral pluralist, since these are but singular approaches, they are inadequate, stand
alone remedies. However, if they are taken together, says the Moral Pluralist, along with various other
key concepts, principles and ethical theories, they do form part of a more concerted effort to think and
thereby act ethically.
Typically Moral Pluralism includes these better-known theories, but also others. And in addition, a
complete analysis requires that such items as values, individual and group rights and the notion of
responsibility be included along with adequate considerations of justice, the risks and costs of benefits
and harms and any role that public scrutiny might play in how one’s action is perceived.
5.3.2. Moral Pluralism as a Framework in Business Decision-Making:
Moral Pluralism would seem to be a useful framework within the context of business. This is the case
since the kinds of ethical matters that are found in business are usually more complex than simple ones.
Questions about whistle blowing and one’s obligations to become a whistleblower, making technical
business decisions that have ramifications for stakeholders or bottom-line implications, using one’s
expertise to decide or advise about ethically laden issues such as the environment or corporate social
responsibility, these serve as examples of the level of moral complexity that can occur on the job.
As Moral Pluralism is better equipped to address such complexity than the single theory views of ethics,
it is decidedly more likely to be of helpful assistance to business professionals who have the need to sort
out a moral issue, problem or dilemma. And this pluralistic approach is very helpful in the justification of
a decision as well.
5.3.3. Using Moral Pluralism as a Checklist:
As a useful framework to assist in ethical decision-making, Moral Pluralism can be used like a checklist
where the user makes sure to apply the appropriate and pertinent element of Moral Pluralism to the moral
matter at hand. This can be done by posing pertinent questions that frame the matter, such as:
* What responsibilities need to be fulfilled? Have any gone unfulfilled?
* What consequences might be predicted as the result of a given action? Are these harmful or beneficial?
* Do the facts of the situation play a major role in determining what should be done?
* Which values need to be taken into consideration: Individual? Organizational? Social? Cultural? All?
* What should be done to create the greatest good or the common good? What is most useful?
* Are there any contracts broken or violated? What liabilities might be involved and for whom?
* Which character traits and virtues might be considered in the process of reaching a decision?
* How just and fair is the action being contemplated? How can justice and fairness be achieved?
* Are any moral or legal rights being denied or violated?
* Can the action being considered be universalized so that it might be considered acceptable in all such
similar circumstances with similar contingencies? (Kantian ethics)
* How would the public scrutinize the action being considered? What might a supervisor think of it?
What might a newspaper say of it?

6. RESOLVING ETHICAL DILEMMA:

An ethical dilemma is one in which a person has to choose between two options, both of which are
morally correct but in conflict. Ethics and morals are inseparable. They both deal with questions of right
and wrong. What constitutes ethical behavior is determined by societal or cultural norms. What
constitutes moral behavior is up to the individual to decide based on his own sense of right and wrong.

6.1. Essential Steps to resolve Ethical Dilemma:

6.1.1. Determine whether there is an ethical issue or/and dilemma. Is there a conflict of values, or
rights, or professional responsibilities? (For example, there may be an issue of self-determination of an
adolescent versus the well-being of the family.)
6.1.2. Identify: the key values and principles involved. What meanings and limitations are typically
attached to these competing values? (For example, rarely is confidential information held in absolute
secrecy; however, typically decisions about access by third parties to sensitive content should be
contracted with clients.)
6.1.3. Rank the values or ethical principles which - in your professional judgment - are most
relevant to the issue or dilemma. What reasons can you provide for prioritizing one competing
value/principle over another? (For example, your client's right to choose a beneficial course of action
could bring hardship or harm to others who would be affected.)
6.1.4. Develop an action plan that is consistent with the ethical priorities that have been determined
as central to the dilemma. Have you conferred with clients and colleagues, as appropriate, about the
potential risks and consequences of alternative courses of action? Can you support or justify your action
plan with the values/principles on which the plan is based? (For example, have you conferred with all the
necessary persons regarding the ethical dimensions of planning for a battered wife's quest to secure secret
shelter and the implications for her teen-aged children?)
6.1.5. Implement your plan, utilizing the most appropriate practice skills and competencies. How
will you make use of core social work skills such as sensitive communication, skillful negotiation, and
cultural competence? (For example, skillful colleague or supervisory communication and negotiation may
enable an impaired colleague to see her/his impact on clients and to take appropriate action.)
6.1.6. Reflect on the outcome of this ethical decision making process. How would you evaluate the
consequences of this process for those involved: Client(s), professional(s), and agency (ies)?
(Increasingly, professionals have begun to seek support, further professional training, and consultation
through the development of Ethics review Committees or Ethics Consultation processes.)

EXERCISE:

Long Questions:
1. What is ethics? What are its different types? Explain its features and importance for an individual.
2. Define ethics. Explain its different theories.
3. Write different theories under on Non-Consequentialist theories of ethics.
4. What is ethical dilemma; explain the steps to resolve it

Short Questions:
1. Write a short note on Consequentialist theories of ethics
2. Write a short note on any one of the following; Duty theory, Right’s theory, casuist theory or
Virtue theories of ethics.
3. Write a short note on; Moral absolutism, Moral relativism or Moral pluralism.
CHAPTER - 4 ETHICS IN ENGINEERING
Purpose and concepts:
MODULE –III
Introduction:
Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are
expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital
impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require
honest, impartiality, fairness and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health,
safety and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior which requires
adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.

1.1. ENGINEERING ETHICS CONEPTS:

Engineering Ethics is the study of moral issues and decisions confronting individuals and organizations
engaged in engineering. The Study related to questions about moral ideals, character, policies and
relationship of people and corporations involved in technological activity.
Engineering ethics is defined by the codes and standards of conduct endorsed by engineering
(professional) societies with respect to the particular set of beliefs, attitudes and habits displayed by the
individual or group.
Engineering ethics is the discovery of the set of justified moral principles of obligation, rights and ideals
that ought to be endorsed by the engineers and apply them to concrete situations.
Engineering is the largest profession and the decisions and actions of engineers affect all of us in almost
all areas of our lives, namely public safety, health, and welfare.
The scope of engineering ethics could better understand by seven major fields as given in the figure 1.

Figure: 1

 Engineering as social experimentation: Engineering ethics is based on the principles of social

experimentation, i.e. for the welfare of the society.
 Technological development: Engineering ethics sets the guidelines for explore and control of
technological developments in concurrent situations.
 Moral values: engineering ethics sets the moral values for the engineering professionals while
conducting the engineering practices.
 Promoting responsible conduct: engineering ethics is all about to promote the responsible conducts
of professionals in professional and personal life. It is also to prevent the irresponsible conducts by
them.
 Engineer’s responsibility of safety: engineering ethics guides the engineers to practice the
profession keeping the view of safety. This safety is related to both the safety of self and others.
 Ethical dilemma: ethical dilemma is a common phenomenon in every profession, hence in
engineering profession too. Engineering ethics assist a professional to resolve the dilemma and act in
a morally correct way.
 Macro and Micro issues: macro issues are the issues at larger picture, these are generally external in
nature, while micro issues are in minor pictures and are internal in nature. Hence engineering ethics
promote guidelines and principles to an individual or an organization to resolve these issues.
1.2. PURPOSE OF ENGINEERING ETHICS:
Engineers uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the engineering profession by:
 using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare;
 being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the public, their employers and clients;
 striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession; and
 Supporting the professional and technical societies of their disciplines.
The purposes of engineering ethics are twofold:
 Ethics of the workplace which involves the co-workers and employees in an organization.
 Ethics related to the product or work which involves the transportation, warehousing, and use, besides
the safety of the end product and the environment outside the factory. Engineering Ethics is the
activity and discipline aimed at;
 Understanding the moral values that ought to guide engineering profession or practice,
 Resolving moral issues in engineering, and justifying the moral judgments in engineering.
 It deals with set of moral problems and issues connected with engineering.
The purpose of engineering ethics relies on following points to practice an engineering profession;
 SAFETY: Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public in the
performance of their professional duties.
 SERVICE: Engineers shall perform services only in areas of their competence.
 TRUTH: Engineers shall issue public statements only in a subjective and truthful manner.
 FAITHFUL: Engineers shall act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents
or trustees, and shall avoid conflicts of interest.
 FAIRNESS: Engineers shall build their professional reputation on the merit of their services and shall
not compete unfairly with others.
 HONOR: Engineers shall act in such a manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity, and
dignity of the engineering profession.
 ADVANCEMENT: Engineers shall continue their professional development throughout their careers,
and shall provide opportunities for the professional development of those engineers under their
supervision.

2. ENGINEERING AS SOCIAL EXPERIMENTATION:

The concept “engineering as social experimentation could be studied under three subheadings i.e. a.
engineering as an experimentation, b. engineering experiments vs. standard experiment and c. engineers
as responsible experimenters.
The first two sentences speak about the engineering profession or practice, while the last statement speaks
about the engineers itself. The same is explained in detail as follows;

2.1. Engineering is experimentation:

Experimentation plays an important role in the design process. Preliminary tests are conducted from the
time when it is decided to make a product in the following order as given in figure 2.

Figure: 2

Step: 1 Define the problem

Step: 2 Do background research
Step: 3 Specify the requirements
Step: 4 Brainstorming, evaluation and choose a solution
Step: 5 Develop a prototype and solution
Step: 6 Test solution
Step: 7 Results
Step: 8 Communication of feed back
Step: 9 Change and follows brain storming or another prototype
Beyond the specific tests and experiments, however, each engineering project may be viewed as an
experiment. Before manufacturing a product or providing a project, we make several assumptions and
trials, design and redesign and test several times till the product is observed to be functioning
satisfactorily. We try different materials and experiments. From the test data obtained we make detailed
design and retests. Thus, design as well as engineering is iterative process

2.2. Engineering experiments vs. Standard Experiments:

We shall now compare the two activities, and identify the similarities and contrasts.
2.2.1.Similarities
 Partial ignorance:
The project is usually executed in partial ignorance. Uncertainties exist in the model assumed. The
behavior of materials purchased is uncertain and not constant (that is certain!). They may vary with the
suppliers, processed lot, time, and the process used in shaping the materials (e.g., sheet or plate, rod or
wire, forged or cast or welded). There may be variations in the grain structure and its resulting failure
stress. It is not possible to collect data on all variations. In some cases, extrapolation, interpolation,
assumptions of linear behavior over the range of parameters, accelerated testing, simulations, and virtual
testing are resorted.
 Uncertainty:
The final outcomes of projects are also uncertain, as in experiments. Sometimes unintended results, side
effects (bye-products), and unsafe operation have also occurred.
Unexpected risks, such as undue seepage in a storage dam, leakage of nuclear radiation from an atomic
power plant, presence of pesticides in food or soft drink bottle, an new irrigation canal spreading water-
borne diseases, and an unsuspecting hair dryer causing lung cancer on the user from the asbestos gasket
used in the product have been reported.
The uncertainties in the abstract model used for the design calculations,
 The uncertainties in the precise characteristics of the materials purchased,
 The uncertainties caused by variations in processing and fabrication of materials and
 The uncertainties about the nature of stresses the finished product will encounter
 Continuous monitoring:
Monitoring continually the progress and gaining new knowledge are needed before, during, and after
execution of project as in the case of experimentation. The performance is to be monitored even during
the use (or wrong use!) of the product by the end user/beneficiary.
 Learning from the past:
Engineers normally learn from their own prior designs and infer from the analysis of operation and
results, and sometimes from the reports of other engineers.
But this does not happen frequently. The absence of interest and channels of communication, ego in not
seeking information, guilty upon the failure, fear of legal actions, and mere negligence have caused many
a failure,

2.2.2. Contrasts
The scientific experiments in the laboratory and the engineering experiments in the field exhibit several
contrasts as listed below:
 Experimental control:
In standard experiments, members for study are selected into two groups namely A and B at random.
Group A are given special treatment. The group B is given no treatment and is called the ‘controlled
group’. But they are placed in the same environment as the other group A.
This process is called the experimental control. This practice is adopted in the field of medicine. In
engineering, this does not happen, except when the project is confined to laboratory experiments.
This is because it is the clients or consumers who choose the product, exercise the control. It is not
possible to make a random selection of participants from various groups. In engineering, through random
sampling, the survey is made from among the users, to assess the results on the product. .
 Humane touch:
Engineering experiments involve human souls, their needs, views, expectations, and creative use as in
case of social experimentation. This point of view is not agreed by many of the engineers. But now the
quality engineers and managers have fully realized this humane aspect.
 Informed consent:
Engineering experimentation is viewed as Societal Experiment since the subject and the beneficiary are
human beings. In this respect, it is similar to medical experimentation on human beings.
In the case of medical practice, moral and legal rights have been recognized while planning for
experimentation. Informed consent is practiced in medical experimentation. Such a practice is not there in
scientific laboratory experiments.
Informed consent has two basic elements:
Knowledge: The subject should be given all relevant information needed to make the decision to
participate.
Voluntariness: Subject should take part without force, fraud or deception. Respect for rights of minorities
to dissent and compensation for harmful effect are assumed here.
 Knowledge gained:
Not much of new knowledge is developed in engineering experiments as in the case of scientific
experiments in the laboratory. Engineering experiments at the most help us to
 Verify the adequacy of the design,
 To check the stability of the design parameters,
 Prepare for the unexpected outcomes, in the actual field environments.
From the models tested in the laboratory to the pilot plant tested in the field, there are differences in
performance as well as other outcomes.

2.3. Engineers as responsible experimenters:

The engineer, as an experimenter, owe several responsibilities to the society, namely,
 A conscientious commitment to live by moral values.
 A comprehensive perspective on relevant information. It includes constant awareness of the progress
of the experiment and readiness to monitor the side effects, if any.
 Unrestricted free-personal involvement in all steps of the project/product development (autonomy).
 Be accountable for the results of the project (accountability).
2.3.1. Conscientiousness:
Conscientious moral commitment means:
 Being sensitive to full range of moral values and responsibilities relevant to the prevailing situation
 The willingness to develop the skill and put efforts needed to reach the best balance possible among
those considerations. In short, engineers must possess open eyes, open ears, and an open mind (i.e.,
moral vision, moral listening, and moral reasoning).
This makes the engineers as social experimenters, respect foremost the safety and health of the affected,
while they seek to enrich their knowledge, rush for the profit, follow the rules, or care for only the
beneficiary. The human rights of the participant should be protected through voluntary and informed
consent.
2.3.2. Relevant information:
“Conscientiousness” is blind without relevant factual information. Hence showing moral concern,
involves a commitment to obtain and access all available information pertinent to meeting one’s moral
obligations. It is very difficult to anticipate all dangers because engineering projects are generally
experimental in nature. Individual engineers cannot privately conduct environmental and social impact
studies.
2.3.3. Comprehensive Perspective:
The engineer should grasp the context of his work and ensure that the work involved results in only moral
ends. One should not ignore his conscience, if the product or project that he is involved will result in
damaging the nervous system of the people (or even the enemy, in case of weapon development)
A product has a built-in obsolete or redundant component to boost sales with a false claim.
In possessing of the perspective of factual information, the engineer should exhibit a moral concern and
not agree for this design. Sometimes, the guilt is transferred to the government or the competitors. Some
organizations think that they will let the government find the fault or let the fraudulent competitor be
caught first. Finally, a full-scale environmental or social impact study of the product or project by
individual engineers is useful but not possible, in practice.
2.3.4. Moral autonomy:
Engineers are morally autonomous when their moral conduct and principles of action are of their own.
Engineering as social experimentation helps to be of autonomous participation in one’s work. As an
experimenter, an engineer exercises the sophisticated training that makes his or her identity as a
professional.
2.3.5. Accountability:
Responsible people accept moral responsibility for their actions. “Accountability”, sometimes is
understood with a sense of being faulty or blame worthy for misdeeds but the term “accountable”
generally means that one is willing to submit to one’s actions. One is to be open and responsive for the
assessment by others.
Submissions to an employer’s authority or any authority for that matter create a narrow sense of
accountability for the consequences of their actions. A psychologist says that there is strong psychological
tendency among people to abandon personal accountability when they are placed under authority.
The term Accountability means:
 The capacity to understand and act on moral reasons
 Willingness to submit one’s actions to moral scrutiny and be responsive to the assessment of others. It
includes being answerable for meeting specific obligations, i.e., liable to justify (or give reasonable
excuses) the decisions, actions or means, and outcomes (sometimes unexpected), when required by
the stakeholders or by law.
The tug-of-war between of causal influence by the employer and moral responsibility of the employee is
quite common in professions. In the engineering practice, the problems are:
 The fragmentation of work in a project inevitably makes the final products lie away from the
immediate work place, and lessens the personal responsibility of the employee.
 Further the responsibilities diffuse into various hierarchies and to various people. Nobody gets the
real feel of personal responsibility.
 Often projects are executed one after another. An employee is more interested in adherence of
tight schedules rather than giving personal care for the current project.
 More litigation is to be faced by the engineers (as in the case of medical practitioners). This
makes them wary of showing moral concerns beyond what is prescribed by the institutions. In
spite of all these shortcomings, engineers are expected to face the risk and show up personal
responsibility as the profession demands.

3. TYPES OF INQUIRIES:
Engineering ethics, like in general ethics combines the inquiries n to values, meanings and facts. To find
the answers to the moral dilemmas, knowing the different types of inquiry and theories will be of
immense help. In professional ethics, there are three types of inquiry, which can be used to solve the
ethical problem. These are; normative, conceptual and factual or
3.1. Normative Inquiry: It seeks to identify and justify the morally-desirable norms or standards that
should guide individuals and groups. It also has the theoretical goal of justifying particular moral
judgments.
Normative questions are about what ought to be and what is good, based on moral values. For example,
 How far does the obligation of engineers to protect public safety extend in any given situation?
 When, if ever, should engineers be expected to blow whistle on dangerous practices of their
employers?
 Whose values ought to be primary in making judgment about acceptable risks in design for a
public transport system or a nuclear plant? Is it of management, senior engineers, government,
voters or all of them?
 When and why is the government justified in interfering with the organizations?
 What are the reasons on which the engineers show their obligations to their employees or clients
or the public?
3.2. Conceptual Inquiry:
It is directed to clarify the meaning of concepts or ideas or principles that are expressed by words or by
questions and statements. For example;
 What is meant by safety?
 How is it related to risk?
 What is a bribe?
 What is a profession?
When moral concepts are discussed, normative and conceptual issues are closely interconnected
3.3. Factual or Descriptive Inquiry:
It is aimed to obtain facts needed for understanding and resolving value issues. Researchers conduct
factual inquiries using mathematical or statistical techniques. The inquiry provide important information
on business realities, engineering practice, and the effectiveness of professional societies in fostering
moral conduct, the procedures used in risk assessment, and psychological profiles of engineers. The facts
provide not only the reasons for moral problems but also enable us to develop alternative ways of
resolving moral problems. For example,
 How were the benefits assessed?
 What are procedures followed in risk assessment?
  What are short-term and long-term effects of drinking water being polluted?
 Who conducted the tests on materials?

4. ISSUES IN ENGINEERING ETHICS:

It would be relevant to know why and how do moral issues (problems) arise in a profession or why do
people behave unethically? The reasons for people including the employer and employees, behaving
unethically may be classified into three categories:
4.1. Resource Crunch:
Due to pressure, through time limits, availability of money or budgetary constraints, and technology
decay or obsolescence. Pressure from the government to complete the project in time (e.g., before the
elections), reduction in the budget because of sudden war or natural calamity (e.g., Tsunami) and
obsolescence due technology innovation by the competitor lead to manipulation and unsafe and unethical
execution of projects.
Involving individuals in the development of goals and values and developing policies that allow for
individual diversity, dissent, and input to decision-making will prevent unethical results.
4.2. Opportunity:
 Double standards or behavior of the employers towards the employees and the public.
 The unethical behaviors of World Com (in USA), Enron (in USA as well as India) executives in
2002 resulted in bankruptcy for those companies,
 Management projecting their own interests more than that of their employees. Some
organizations over-emphasize short-term gains and results at the expense of themselves and
others,
 Emphasis on results and gains at the expense of the employees,
 Management by objectives, without focus on empowerment and improvement of the
infrastructure.
This is best encountered by developing policies that allow ‘conscience keepers’ and whistle blowers and
appointing ombudsman, who can work confidentially with people to solve the unethical problems
internally.
4.3. Attitude:
Poor attitude in the employees due to,
 Low morale of the employees because of dissatisfaction and downsizing,
 Absence of grievance redressal mechanism,
 Lack of promotion or career development policies or denied promotions
 Lack of transparency
 Absence of recognition and reward system, and
 Poor working environments
 Giving ethics training for all, recognizing ethical conduct in work place, including ethics in
performance appraisal, and encouraging open discussion on ethical issues, are some of the
directions to promote positive attitudes among the employees.
 To get firm and positive effect, ethical standards must be set and adopted by the senior
management, with input from all personnel.
4.4. Common Issues:
Besides the above major issues, there are also other issues which influences the ethical practices in an
engineering profession, these are as follows.
 Common Morality
 Decision-Making Process
 Engineering Code of Conduct
 Engineering Education
 Humane Technologies
 International Law
 Professional Development

EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. Define engineering ethics, explain the concept and purpose of it
2. Explain the term “ Engineering as social experimentation”
3. What is an enquiry in engineering ethics? Explain its different types.
4. What is engineering ethics? Explain the issues involved in it.
CHAPTER - 5 ENGINEER’S
MODULE – III RESPONSIBILITY & SAFETY
1. Introduction to Safety and Risk:
We demand safety and services because we do not wish to risk our lives by potential harm, but also
realize that we may have to pay for safety of people. To what extent complicate matters, what may be safe
enough for one person may not be so for someone else either because of variety of perceptions about what
is safety and risk?
For example, A knife in the hands of a child is more hazardous to suffer rather it can be in hands of adults
and seniors. Safety and risk are the two things which should be understood by we people. Both are related
to each other.
If there is no safety risk raises more and if there is no risk, then it is defining safety itself. Safety or
absolute safety, in the sense of degree of safety that satisfies all individuals as groups under all conditions,
it’s neither attainable nor affordable.

Clarification of concepts:
1.1. RISK:
Risk is a key element in any engineering design. It is quite difficult to design anything to be completely
risk free. Every time there is a risk to work, operate and finish the scheduled work.
Let’s define the term in different concept. A thing is safe if its risk is judged to be acceptable.
This approach helps under sure the motion that judgment about safety is tacitly value judgment about
what is acceptable risk to a given person or group.
Steps for Risk Assessment
 Identification and characterization of risk: What can go wrong that could lead to an outcome of
hazard exposure?
 Quantification of risk, likelihood, and magnitude: How likely is this to happen?
 Scenario analysis: If it happens, what are the consequences? So scenarios are constructed and the
ways and means of facing the consequences are designed.

1.2. SAFETY:
Defining the term safety is consists of different meaning. Safety is defined as the risk that is known and
judged as acceptable. But, risk is a potential that something unwanted and harmful may occur. It is the
result of an unsafe situation, sometimes unanticipated, during its use.
Safety is directly related to people who live in this societies and it’s the prior concerned to evacuate the
people safety and learn skills than to make safer society. Safety is also linked with working.
We engineers, city designers, architects, and planners while working we have to go through for safety as
well as the other staff safety from incidents which may take all of sudden. Safety deals with overall safety
of staff and owns self at work.
Safety is both a vague and a very precise term. It is vague because, to some extent, safety is a vague
judgment, but precise because in many such cases, we can readily distinguish a safe design from an
unsafe one.
1.2.1. Steps to achieve safety in engineering:
Designing the safety, the following thing should be conducted:
 Define the problem (Includes determining the needs and requirements and often involves
determining the constraints)
 Generate several solutions
 Analyze each solution to determine the pros and cons of each involves determining the
consequences of each design solution and determining whether it solves the problem
 Test the results
 Select the best results to implementation
1.2.2. Evaluation of safety and risk:
Probability of safety = 1 – Probability of risk
Risk = Probability of occurrence × Consequence in magnitude
1.2.3. Criteria for a safety design:
There are four criteria that must be met to help ensure a safe design.
 First; the minimum requirement is that a design must comply with the applicable laws.
This requirement should be easy to meet since legal standards for product safety are generally well
known, are published, and are easily accessible.
 Second; an acceptable design must meet the standard of accepted engineering practice.
You cannot create a design that is less safe than what everyone else in the professional understands to be
acceptable.
To address this issue, an engineer must continually upgrade his/her skills by attending conferences and
short course, discussing issues with other engineers and constantly surveying the literature and trade
magazines for information on the current state of the art in the field.
 Third; alternative designs that are potentially safer must be explored.
This requirement is also difficult to meet since it requires a certain amount of creativity in seeking
alternative solutions.
This creativity can involve discussing design strategies with others in engineering field or other field and
brain storming new alternatives with them. The best way to know if your design is the safest available is
to compare it with other potential designs.
 Finally; the engineer must attempt to foresee potential misuses of the product by the consumer
and must design to avoid these problems.
Again, this requires a certain amount of creativity and research. It is always tempting to think that if
someone is stupid enough to misuse and its consequences should not bother you too much. However, an
engineer should execute designs in such a way as to protect even someone who misuses the product.
Of course, a court is not always concerned with the stupidity of the user and may pass severe strictures
and impose heavy penalty against you. If it feels that a product was not properly defined or designed.
Placing a warning label on products is not sufficient and is not a substitute for doing the extra engineering
works required to produce a safe design.

1.3. Underestimating the risk:

Difference is appraisals of safety are thus correctly seen as reflecting differences in values.
This can be shown if we consider different three kinds of situations that can arise while working and
living in the societies.
First, a case where we seriously underestimate the risk of something, say of using a excavator, we see at a
large scale. On the basis of that mistaken view, we judge it to be very safe and buy it for construction
work purpose.
Sometimes if unskilled driver with lack of knowledge try to operate it, it will risk his life as well as
people’s lives too and it can cause many insurance affects and more casualties and loss of its parts too.
Before buying any excavator, dozer, or such equipment, first we should have such staffs who know how
to operate it.
The result is that we often avoid taking on new challenges or proactively pursuing new opportunities
because we don’t trust sufficiently in our ability to rise to the challenges they involve. The truth is, you
are capable of more than you think you are, which includes your ability to manage risk and to intervene in
the event that plans start derailing.
e.g: drive in night.
1.3.1. Costs of underestimation
If a task is assumed to take long time than it actually needs, one of two things will happen. Either the task
gets done at lower quality, or the task doesn’t get done on time and any tasks dependent on it are pushed
out.

1.4. Overestimating risk:

The second case where we grossly overestimate the risks of something, as given below;
For example, we irrationally think fluoride is drinking water will kill a third of the populace it would,
however, be impossible for someone to provide that the water is actually safe.
The water became unsafe, the moment we judged the risks of using into be unacceptable for us. Since
safety is an essential aspect of our duties as engineers how can we be sure that our design are safe?
As Nobel Laureate and noted psychologist Daniel Kahneman found through years of research, when
we’re assessing risk, potential losses loom larger than potential gains. That is, we tend focus more on;
 What might go wrong?
 What we might lose?
 What might go right?
What we focus on magnifies in our imagination, and it causes us to misjudge (and over-estimate) the
likelihood of risks.
e.g. accidents associated with airplane
1.4.1. Cost of overestimation
Overestimation creates the problem that the estimate become self-fulfilling. The task takes longer than it
would have done with a more accurate estimate in place. There are two ideas behind this linked to how
people behave. Firstly, Student’s Syndrome states that people often won’t start working until very close to
a deadline. Secondly, Parkinson’s Law states that work expands to fill the time available. Therefore, if
you have a task with overestimated length, the impact is the task might take longer than it ‘should’ do.

2. RISK-BENEFIT ANALYSIS:
A risk–benefit ratio is the ratio of the risk of an action to its potential benefits.
Risk–benefit analysis is analysis that seeks to quantify the risk and benefits and hence their ratio.
Analyzing a risk can be heavily dependent on the human factor. A certain level of risk in our lives is
accepted as necessary to achieve certain benefits. For example, driving an automobile is a risk most
people take daily, also since it is mitigated by the controlling factor of their perception of their individual
ability to manage the risk-creating situation.
When individuals are exposed to involuntary risk (a risk over which they have no control), they make risk
aversion their primary goal. Under these circumstances individuals require the probability of risk to be as
much as one thousand times smaller than for the same situation under their perceived control (a notable
example being the common bias in the perception of risk in flying vs. driving).
2.1. Advantages:
Risk benefit analysis is a method that helps the engineers to analyze the risk in a project and to
determine whether a project should be implemented or not. In risk benefit analysis, the risks and benefits
of a product are allotted to money amounts, and the most benefit able ratio between risks and benefits is
calculated.
The major reasons for the analysis of the risk benefit are:
 To know risks and benefits and weigh them each
 To decide on designs, advisability of product/project
 To suggest and modify the design so that the risks are eliminated or reduced
2.2. Limitations:
There are some limitations that exist in the risk-benefit analysis. The economic and ethical limitations are
presented as follows:
1. Primarily the benefits may go to one group and risks may go to another group. Is it ethically correct?
2. Is an individual or government empowered to impose a risk on someone else on behalf of supposed
benefit to somebody else? Sometimes, people who are exposed to maximum risks may get only the
minimum benefits. In such cases, there is even violation of rights.
3. The units for comparison are not the same, e.g., commissioning the express highways may add a few
highway deaths versus faster and comfortable travel for several commuters. The benefits may be in terms
of fuel, money and time saved, but lives of human being sacrificed. How do we then compare properly?
4. Both risks and benefits lie in the future. The quantitative estimation of the future benefits, using the
discounted present value (which may fluctuate), may not be correct and sometime misleading.

2.3. Methods for analysis of risk:

Different methods are available to determine the risk (testing for safety)
1. Testing on the functions of the safety-system components.
2. Destructive testing: In this approach, testing is done till the component fails. It is too expensive, but
very realistic and useful.
3. Prototype testing: In this approach, the testing is done on a proportional scale model with all vital
components fixed in the system. Dimensional analysis could be used to project the results at the actual
conditions.
4. Simulation testing: With the help of computer, the simulations are done. The safe boundary may be
obtained. The effects of some controlled input variables on the outcomes can be predicted in a better way.

2.4. Types of risks:

Types of risks as per the evaluations of future risk can be:
 Real future risk, as disclosed by the fully matured future circumstances when they develop.
 Statistical risk, as determined by currently available data, as measured actuarially for insurance
premiums.
 Projected risk, as analytically based on system models structured from historical studies.
 Perceived risk, as intuitively seen by individuals. ^^
 2.5. The major reasons for the analysis of the risk benefit are:
 To know risks and benefits and weigh them each
 To decide on designs, advisability of product/project
 To suggest and modify the design so that the risks are eliminated or reduced

2.6. Ethical Implications of risk benefit analysis:

 When is someone entitled to impose a risk on another in view of a supposed benefit to others?
 Consider the worst case scenarios of persons exposed to maximum risks while they are reaping only
minimum benefits. Are their rights violated? Are they provided safer alternatives?
 Engineers should keep in mind that risks to known persons are perceived differently from statistical
risks
 Engineers may have no control over grievance redressal.

2.7. Conceptual difficulties in Risk-Benefit Analysis

 Both risks and benefits lie in future
 Heavy discounting of future because the very low present values of cost/benefits do not give a true
picture of future sufferings.
 Both have related uncertainties but difficult to arrive at expected values
 What if benefits accrue to one party and risks to another?
 Can we express risks & benefits in a common set of units?
 Risks can be expressed in one set of units (deaths on the highway) and benefits in another (speed of
travel)?

3. CAUSES OF AN ACCIDENT AND IDENTIFICATION OF THE PREVENTIVE

MEASURES TO BE TAKEN:
3.1. Causes of an accident:
An "accident" is an unplanned, undesired event which may or may not result in injury or property damage
that interferes with the completion of an assigned task. A "near miss" is a form of an accident that does
not result in injury or property damage.
While much effort and time is expended on accident investigation, this information tells us that we should
be focusing on accident prevention. The majorities of accidents are near-miss and may never be reported.
The causes of accidents can be broken down into two basic components;
 Unsafe conditions and
 Unsafe acts.
A worker needs a electrical switch rewired. A work request is submitted and the work scheduled for the
following week. The employee decides, I need this sooner and tries to rewire the switch.
The employee receives an electrical shock after failing to lock out the energy source.
This above example illustrates how an employee may cut corners and commit an unsafe act.
3.1.1. Unsafe conditions:
Unsafe conditions are hazardous conditions or circumstances that could lead directly to an accident.
 Every activity has certain inherent potential for accidents.
 Unless the care is taken the accidents are bound to happen
To avoid accidents steps are to be taken, such as
 Follow the defined procedures,
 Use the recommended safety gadgets
 Adhere to the safety instructions.
 In spite of adhering to the above, accidents may occur due to uncontrollable reasons and are
beyond the controls of the operator.
 Such accidents are said to be due to ‘Unsafe Conditions”.
3.1.1.1. Examples of Unsafe Conditions:
 Defective tools, equipment or supplies
 Inadequate supports or guards
 Congestion in the workplace
 Inadequate warning systems
 Fire and explosion hazards
 Poor housekeeping
 Hazardous atmospheric conditions
3.1.2. Unsafe Acts:
An unsafe act occurs when a worker ignores or is not aware of a standard operating procedure or safe
work practice designed to protect the worker and prevent accidents.
 These are due to the fault of the persons engaged in the work.
 They occur due to
 Non-adherence of the safety rules
 Non usage of proper safety gadgets.
The accidents due to unsafe acts can be avoided by strictly observing
 Laid down working procedures
 Laid down Instructions
 Using necessary safety gadgets,
 Being attentive and concentrating on the work.
3.1.2.1. Examples of Unsafe Acts
 Operating equipment without qualification or authorization
 Lack of/or improper use of equipments
 Operation equipment at unsafe speeds
 Failure of equipments
 Bypass or removal of safety devices
 Using defective equipment

Many attempts have been made to develop a prediction theory of accident causation, but so far none has
been universally accepted. Researchers from different fields of science and engineering have been trying
to develop a theory of accident causation which will help to identify, isolate and ultimately remove the
factors that contribute to or cause accidents. In this article, a brief outline of various accident causation
theories is presented, followed by a structure of accidents.

3.2. Accident Causation Theories:

3.2.1. The domino theory:
According to W.H. Heinrich (1931), who developed the so-called domino theory, 88% of all accidents are
caused by unsafe acts of people, 10% by unsafe actions and 2% by “acts of God”.
He proposed a “five-factor accident sequence” in which each factor would actuate the next step in the
manner of toppling dominoes lined up in a row. The sequence of accident factors is as follows:
 Ancestry and social environment
 Worker fault
 Unsafe act together with mechanical and physical hazard
 Accident
 Damage or injury.
In the same way that the removal of a single domino in the row would interrupt the sequence of toppling,
Heinrich suggested that removal of one of the factors would prevent the accident and resultant injury;
with the key domino to be removed from the sequence being number 3. Although Heinrich provided no
data for his theory, it nonetheless represents a useful point to start discussion and a foundation for future
research.
3.2.2. Multiple causation theory:
Multiple causation theory is an outgrowth of the domino theory, but it postulates that for a single accident
there may be many contributory factors, causes and sub-causes, and that certain combinations of these
give rise to accidents. According to this theory, the contributory factors can be grouped into the
following two categories:
3.2.3. Behavioral: This category includes factors pertaining to the worker, such as improper attitude,
lack of knowledge, lack of skills and inadequate physical and mental condition.
3.2.4. Environmental: This category includes improper guarding of other hazardous work elements
and degradation of equipment through use and unsafe procedures.
The major contribution of this theory is to bring out the fact that rarely, if ever, is an accident the result of
a single cause or act.
3.2.5. The pure chance theory:
According to the pure chance theory, every one of any given set of workers has an equal chance of being
involved in an accident. It further implies that there is no single discernible pattern of events that leads to
an accident. In this theory, all accidents are treated as corresponding to Heinrich’s acts of God, and it is
held that there exist no interventions to prevent them.
3.2.5. Biased liability theory:
Biased liability theory is based on the view that once a worker is involved in an accident, the chances of
the same worker becoming involved in future accidents are either increased or decreased as compared to
the rest of workers. This theory contributes very little, if anything at all, towards developing preventive
actions for avoiding accidents.

3.2.6. Accident proneness theory:

Accident proneness theory maintains that within a given set of workers, there exists a subset of workers
who are more liable to be involved in accidents. Researchers have not been able to prove this theory
conclusively because most of the research work has been poorly conducted and most of the findings are
contradictory and inconclusive. This theory is not generally accepted. It is felt that if indeed this theory is
supported by any empirical evidence at all, it probably accounts for only a very low proportion of
accidents without any statistical significance.
3.2.7. The energy transfer theory:
Those who accept the energy transfer theory put forward the claim that a worker incurs injury or
equipment suffers damage through a change of energy, and that for every change of energy there is a
source, a path and a receiver. This theory is useful for determining injury causation and evaluating energy
hazards and control methodology. Strategies can be developed which are either preventive, limiting or
ameliorating with respect to the energy transfer.
Control of energy transfer at the source can be achieved by the following means:
 Elimination of the source
 Changes made to the design or specification of elements of the work station
 Preventive maintenance.
The path of energy transfer can be modified by:
 Enclosure of the path
 Installation of barriers
 Installation of absorbers
 Positioning of isolators.
The receiver of energy transfer can be assisted by adopting the following measures:
 Imitation of exposure
 Use of personal protective equipment
3.2.8. The “symptoms versus causes” theory:
The “symptoms versus causes” theory is not so much a theory as an admonition to be heeded if accident
causation is to be understood. Usually, when investigating accidents, we tend to fasten upon the obvious
causes of the accident to the neglect of the root causes. Unsafe acts and unsafe conditions are the
symptoms—the proximate causes—and not the root causes of the accident.
3.3. Risk assessment:
Risk assessment is the cornerstone of the European approach to prevent occupational accidents and ill
health. It is the start of the health and safety management approach. If it is not done well or not at all the
appropriate preventative measures are unlikely to be identified or put in place.
Risk assessment can be defined as "the process of evaluating the risk to health and safety of workers
while at work arising from the circumstances of the occurrence of a hazard at the workplace".
The process can be described as a continuous improvement cycle which can be implemented in the
management processes in the company. The fundamental steps in risk assessment are:
Step 1: identifying hazards and those at risk
Step 2: evaluating and prioritising risks
Step 3: Deciding on preventive action
Step 4: Taking action
Step 5: Monitoring and reviewing

3.4. Prevention measures of reducing risks:

The engineer is faced with a difficult task of designing and manufacturing safe products. They have to
give a fair accounting of benefits and risks for those products. They have to meet production schedule and
help his or her company to maintain profits all the time. Of these objectives, the product safety is to be
given top priority. The various steps towards reducing risks are as follows:
Step 1 Elimination: Elimination of hazards refers to the total removal of the hazards and hence
effectively making all the identified possible accidents and ill health impossible. The term 'elimination'
means that a risk is reduced to zero without a shifting it elsewhere. Elimination is the ideal objective of
any risk management. This is a permanent solution and should be attempted in the first instance. If the
hazard is removed, all the other management controls, such as workplace monitoring and surveillance,
training, safety auditing, and record keeping will no longer be required.
Step 2 Substitution: Substitution means replacing the hazard by one that presents a lower risk.
The elimination is immediately combined with a shift to another but much lower risk.
Step 3 Engineering Controls: Engineering controls are physical means that limit the hazard.
These include structural changes to the work environment or work processes, erecting a barrier to
interrupt the transmission path between the worker and the hazard. Local exhaust ventilation (LEV) to
control risks from dust or fume is a common example as is separation of the hazard from operators by
methods such as enclosing or guarding dangerous items of machinery/equipment. Priority should be given
to measures which protect collectively over individual measures.
Step 4 Administrative Controls: Also known as organizational measures administrative controls
reduce or eliminate exposure to a hazard by adherence to procedures or instructions.
Documentation should emphasize all the steps to be taken and the controls to be used in carrying out the
activity safely.
Step 5 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): PPE should be used only as a last resort, after all
other control measures have been considered, or as a short term contingency during emergency /
maintenance / repair or as an additional protective measure. The success of this control is dependent on
the protective equipment being chosen correctly, as well as fitted correctly, worn at all times and
maintained properly.
.
3.4.1. Examples of improved safety
1. The “magnetic door catch” introduced on refrigerators. This prevents death by suffocation of children
trapped in them. The catch provided to the door makes possible, door to be opened from the inside
without major effort. This is also cheaper compared to old type of latches.
2. The “Dead man-handle” used by the engineer (engine-driver) to control train’s speed. The train is
accelerated only as long as some pressure is applied on the handle. If the engine driver reduces the
pressure on the handle, the speed of the train also comes down. When the pressure is zero, the train
automatically stops.
3. A car “safety belt” is a simple attachment on the door ensures that the belt automatically goes into the
position whenever one enters the car.

EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. What is safety in engineering ethics? Steps to achieve safety in engineering, also explain the
criteria for a safety design.
2. What is risk benefit analysis in engineering ethics? What are its advantages and limitations?
Explain the methods to analyze it
3. What is risk in engineering ethics? What are its types? What are the steps to assess the risk?
4. What are the causes of an accident in engineering? Also explain the preventive measure for it.

Short Questions:
1. Define the terms; underestimating the risk or overestimating the risk.
CHAPTER - 6 GLOBAL ETHICAL ISSUES
MODULE – IV
Introduction:
Ethics means different things to different people, but it generally boils down to a basic sense of societal
right and wrong. Within the business context, it involves making decisions that align with that sense of
right and wrong, as well as with the law. Various examples of ethical dilemmas exist in today’s business
environment. Business ethics can be defined as “the application of ethical values to business behavior,”
explains the Institute of Business Ethics. It is a comprehensive term, covering everything from human
resources to financial strategies to accounting practices. To understand how to effectively implement
good ethical practices within organizations, managers and employees can familiarize themselves with the
types of ethical issues facing businesses today. From factory working conditions at the turn of the 20th
century, to today’s emphasis on diversity training, the history of workplace ethics is the ongoing story of
the relationship between employees and employers. According to the National Business Ethics Survey of
2013, managers are to blame for workplace misconduct the majority (60%) of the time, and senior
managers are more likely than those on a lower level to break the rules. Here are some of the ethical
issues that businesses face and real-world cases of how these ethical issues have affected companies.
1.1. Importance of global business ethics:
There may be many reasons why business ethics might be regarded as an increasingly important area of
study, whether as students interested in evaluating business activities, or as managers seeking to improve
their decision-making skills.
It is generally viewed that good business ethics promote good business.
 The power and influence of business in society is greater than ever before. Business ethics helps
us to understand why this is happening, what its implications might be, and how we might
address this situation.
 Business has the potential to provide a major contribution to our societies, in terms of producing
the products and services that we want, providing employment, paying taxes, and acting as an
engine for economic development and thereby increases the goodwill.
 Business malpractices have the potential to inflict enormous harm on individuals, on communities
and on the environment. Through helping us to understand more about the causes and
consequences of these malpractices, business ethics helps to create mutual trust and confidence in
relationship.
 The demands being placed on business to be ethical by its various stakeholders are constantly
becoming more complex and more challenging. Business ethics provides the means to appreciate
and understand these challenges more clearly, in order that firms can meet these ethical
expectations more effectively.
 Business ethics can help to improve ethical decision making by providing managers with the
appropriate knowledge and tools that allow them to correctly identify, diagnose, analyze, and
provide solutions to the ethical problems and dilemmas they are confronted with.
 A business can prosper on the basis of good ethical standards and it helps to retain the business
for long years.
 Business ethics can provide us with the ability to assess the benefits and problems associated with
different ways of managing ethics in organizations.
 In the age of complexity in business fields, competition is increasing day by day Good ethical
standard helps the business to face the challenges
1.2. Characteristic features of global business ethics:
The following are the important features of global business ethics:-
Business ethics are the principles, which govern and guide business people to perform business functions
and in that sense business ethics is a discipline
 It is considered both as a science and an art.
 It continuously test the rules and moral standards and is dynamic in nature
 It is based on theological principles such as sincerity, human welfare, service, good behavior etc.
 It is based on reality and social customs prevailing in business environment.
 It studies the activities, decisions and behavior which are related to human beings
 It has universal application because business exists all over the world
 Many of the ethical principles develop the personal dignity
 Business ethics keeps harmony between different roles of businessman, with every citizen,
customer, owner and investors.
1.3. Principles of Global business ethics:
Principles of Global business ethics are the golden rules on which a sound organizational ethics are
maintained, and are as follows;
Sacredness of means and ends: The first and most important principles of business ethics emphasize
that the means and techniques adopted to serve the business ends must be sacred and pure. It means that a
good end cannot be attained with wrong means, even if it is beneficial to the society.
Not to do any evil: It is unethical to do a major evil to another or to oneself, whether this evil is a means
or an end.
Principle of proportionality: This principle suggests that one should make proper judgment before doing
anything so that others do not suffer from any loss or risk of evils by the conducts of business.
Non co-operation in evils: It clearly points out that a business should with any one for doing any evil
acts.
Co-operation with others: this principles state that business should help others only in that condition
when other deserves for help
Publicity: According to W. Wilson, anything that is being done or to be done, should be brought to the
knowledge of everyone. If everyone knows, none gets opportunity to do an unethical act.
Equivalent price: According to W. Wilson , the people are entitled to get goods equivalent to the value
of money that he will pay.
Universal value: According to this principle the conduct of business should be done on the basis of
universal values.
Human dignity: As per this principle, man should not be treated as a factor of production and human
dignity should be maintained.
Non violence: If businessman hurts the interests and rights of the society and exploits the consumer by
overlooking their interests this is equivalent to violence and unethical act.

1.3. Major ethical issues in global business:

The following are few of the issues in an international or global platform.
Supplier/Customer Relations:
Business owners in particular must consider whether it is ethical to do business with suppliers who have
unethical practices. When dealing with customers or clients, business people must ensure that they use
their information correctly, do not falsely advertise a product or service, and do not intentionally do sub-
standard work.
Accounting:
“Cooking the books” and otherwise conducting unethical accounting practices is a serious problem,
especially in publicly traded companies.
Social Media:
The widespread nature of social media has made it a factor in employee conduct online and after hours. Is
it ethical for companies to fire or otherwise punish employees for what they post about? Are social media
posts counted as “free speech”? The line is complicated
Harassment and Discrimination:
Racial discrimination, sexual harassment, wage inequality – these are all costly ethical issues that
employers and employees encounter on a daily basis across the country.
Health and Safety:
The International Labor Organization (ILO) states that states that 6,300 people die every day from
occupational accidents or work-related diseases. This results in more than 2.3 million deaths per year.
Technology/Privacy:
With developments in technological security capability, employers can now monitor their employees’
activity on their computers and other company-provided electronic devices. Companies can legally
monitor your company email and internet browser history; in fact, 66% of companies monitor internet
connections,
Conflicts of Interest:
Conflicts of interest arise when a person’s professional or personal obligations come up against a
competing professional or personal obligation.
Side Deals:
You're a business manager with an employment contract. The contract requires you to work solely for
your employer and use your talents to attract new clients to the business. If you don't, at minimum,
disclose the idea to your employer, you will likely be in breach of both your contractual and ethical
duties.
Partners:
You're a partner in a business and see a great deal of profitability on the horizon. You don't believe that
your partner deserves to profit from the business' future success, because you don't like his personality.
You may wonder if you could simply take his name off the bank accounts, change the locks and continue
without him.
Gross Negligence:
You're on the board of directors for a publicly traded corporation. As a board member, you have a duty to
exercise the utmost care respecting decisions that affect the corporation and its shareholders. Failing to
properly investigate a matter that affects their interests could be viewed as gross negligence supporting a
breach of your ethical and legal duty of care.
Transparency:
At one time, transparency meant simply “owning up to a mistake or righting a wrong,” explains
Entrepreneur. While these practices continue to be important, the concept of transparency now covers so
much more.
Child Labor:
Although many companies attempt to address issues of child labor, violations still persist. This is
particularly true in large companies where leadership is far removed from manufacturing and other
ground-level operations
Environmental Protection:
The crucial importance of large companies engaging in environmentally sustainable practices is now
practically common knowledge. Companies need to balance their desire to earn profits with adopting
processes of sustainable operations.
Fundamental Issues:
The most fundamental or essential ethical issues that businesses must face are integrity and trust. A basic
understanding of integrity includes the idea of conducting your business affairs with honesty and a
commitment to treating every customer fairly.
Diversity Issues:
The world is a rich and diverse place full of interesting cultures and people, who should be treated with
respect and from whom there is a great deal to learn." An ethical response to diversity begins with
recruiting a diverse workforce, enforces equal opportunity in all training programs and is fulfilled when
every employee is able to enjoy a respectful workplace environment that values their contributions.
Decision-Making Issues:
Ethical decision-making processes should center on protecting employee and customer rights, making
sure all business operations are fair and just, protecting the common good and making sure individual
values and beliefs of workers are protected.
Compliance and Governance Issues:
Businesses are expected to fully comply with environmental laws, federal and state safety regulations,
fiscal and monetary reporting statutes and all applicable civil rights laws.

2. ISSUES RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS:

Environmental ethics is the study of;
 Moral issues concerning the environment, and
 Moral perspectives, beliefs, or attitudes concerning those issues.
Engineers in the past are known for their negligence of environment, in their activities. It has become
important now that engineers design eco-friendly tools, machines, sustainable products, processes, and
projects.
These are essential now a days in present global prospective to;
Protection: ensure protection (safety) of environment
Prevention: prevent the degradation of environment, and
Control: slow down the exploitation of the natural resources, so that the future generation can survive.
Engineers as experimenters have certain duties towards environmental ethics, namely:
Environmental impact assessment: One major but sure and unintended effect of technology is wastage
and the resulting pollution of land, water, air and even space. Study how the industry and technology
affects the environment.
Establish standards: Study and to fix the tolerable and actual pollution levels.
Counter measures: Study what the protective or eliminating measures are available for immediate
implementation
Environmental awareness: Study on how to educate the people on environmental practices, issues, and
possible remedies.
2.1. Major ethical issues related to environment:
The following are few of the major ethical issues related to environment
Pollution: Pollution of air, water and soil require millions of years to recoup. Industry and motor vehicle
exhaust are the number one pollutants. Heavy metals, nitrates and plastic are toxins responsible for
pollution. While water pollution is caused by oil spill, acid rain, urban runoff; air pollution is caused by
various gases and toxins released by industries and factories and combustion of fossil fuels; soil pollution
is majorly caused by industrial waste that deprives soil from essential nutrients.
Global Warming: Climate changes like global warming is the result of human practices like emission of
Greenhouse gases. Global warming leads to rising temperatures of the oceans and the earth’ surface
causing melting of polar ice caps, rise in sea levels and also unnatural patterns of precipitation such as
flash floods, excessive snow or desertification.
Overpopulation: The population of the planet is reaching unsustainable levels as it faces shortage of
resources like water, fuel and food. Population explosion in less developed and developing countries is
straining the already scarce resources. Intensive agriculture practiced to produce food damages the
environment through use of chemical fertilizer, pesticides and insecticides. Overpopulation is one of the
crucial current environmental problem.
Natural Resource Depletion: Natural resource depletion is another crucial current environmental
problems. Fossil fuel consumption results in emission of Greenhouse gases, which is responsible for
global warming and climate change. Globally, people are taking efforts to shift to renewable sources of
energy like solar, wind, biogas and geothermal energy. The cost of installing the infrastructure and
maintaining these sources has plummeted in the recent years.
Waste Disposal: The over consumption of resources and creation of plastics are creating a global crisis of
waste disposal. Developed countries are notorious for producing an excessive amount of waste or garbage
and dumping their waste in the oceans and, less developed countries. Nuclear waste disposal has
tremendous health hazards associated with it. Plastic, fast food, packaging and cheap electronic wastes
threaten the well being of humans. Waste disposal is one of urgent current environmental problem.
Climate Change: Climate change is yet another environmental problem that has surfaced in last couple
of decades. It occurs due to rise in global warming which occurs due to increase in temperature of
atmosphere by burning of fossil fuels and release of harmful gases by industries. Climate change has
various harmful effects but not limited to melting of polar ice, change in seasons, occurrence of new
diseases, frequent occurrence of floods and change in overall weather scenario.
Loss of Biodiversity: Human activity is leading to the extinction of species and habitats and and loss of
bio-diversity. Eco systems, which took millions of years to perfect, are in danger when any species
population is decimating. Balance of natural processes like pollination is crucial to the survival of the eco-
system and human activity threatens the same. Another example is the destruction of coral reefs in the
various oceans, which support the rich marine life.
Deforestation: Our forests are natural sinks of carbon dioxide and produce fresh oxygen as well as helps
in regulating temperature and rainfall. At present forests cover 30% of the land but every year tree cover
is lost amounting to the country of Panama due to growing population demand for more food, shelter and
cloth. Deforestation simply means clearing of green cover and make that land available for residential,
industrial or commercial purpose.
Ocean Acidification: It is a direct impact of excessive production of CO2. 25% of CO2 produced by
humans. The ocean acidity has increased by the last 250 years but by 2100, it may shoot up by 150%. The
main impact is on shellfish and plankton in the same way as human osteoporosis.
Ozone Layer Depletion: The ozone layer is an invisible layer of protection around the planet that
protects us from the sun’s harmful rays. Depletion of the crucial Ozone layer of the atmosphere is
attributed to pollution caused by Chlorine and Bromide found in Chloro-floro carbons (CFC’s). Once
these toxic gases reach the upper atmosphere, they cause a hole in the ozone layer, the biggest of which is
above the Antarctic. The CFC’s are banned in many industries and consumer products. Ozone layer is
valuable because it prevents harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth. This is one of the most
important current environmental problem.
Urban Sprawl: Urban sprawl refers to migration of population from high density urban areas to low
density rural areas which results in spreading of city over more and more rural land. Urban sprawl results
in land degradation, increased traffic, environmental issues and health issues. The ever growing demand
of land displaces natural environment consisting of flora and fauna instead of being replaced.
Public Health Issues: The current environmental problems pose a lot of risk to health of humans, and
animals. Dirty water is the biggest health risk of the world and poses threat to the quality of life and
public health. Run-off to rivers carries along toxins, chemicals and disease carrying organisms. Pollutants
cause respiratory disease like Asthma and cardiac-vascular problems. High temperatures encourage the
spread of infectious diseases like Dengue.
Genetic Engineering: Genetic modification of food using biotechnology is called genetic engineering.
Genetic modification of food results in increased toxins and diseases as genes from an allergic plant can
transfer to target plant. Genetically modified crops can cause serious environmental problems as an
engineered gene may prove toxic to wildlife. Another drawback is that increased use of toxins to make
insect resistant plant can cause resultant organisms to become resistant to antibiotics.

3. COMPUTER (IT) ETHICS:

Computer ethics is defined as;
 Study and analysis of nature and social impact of computer technology,
 Formulation and justification of policies, for ethical use of computers.
This subject has become relevant to the professionals such as designers of computers, programmers,
system analysts, system managers, and operators. The uses of computers have raised a host of moral
concerns such as free speech, privacy, intellectual property right, and physical as well as mental harm.
There appears to be no conceptual framework available on ethics, to study and understand and resolve the
problems in computer technology.
3.1. Types of Issues
Different types of problems are found in computer ethics.
Below I have detailed topics on major Ethical Challenges of Information Technology
3.1.1. Security Issues:
With tools like the internet, hackers have found it very easy to hack into any computer or system as long
as it is connected on internet. Hackers can easily use an IP (Internet Protocol) address to access a user’s
computer and collect data for selfish reasons. Also the wide spread of internet cookies which collect
information whenever we use the internet , has exposed IT users to high risks of fraud and conflicting
interests. Many big companies use these cookies to determine which products or service they can
advertise to us. When it comes to online banking, the transfer of money can easily be interrupted by a
hacker and all the money will be transferred to their desired accounts , which affects both the bank and
the customers who is using online banking technology.
The ethical features involved in computer crime are:
 Physical Security
Health hazard: The computers pose threat during their use as well as during disposal
The computers are to be protected against theft, fire, and physical damage..
 Logical security
The aspects related are;
Hacking: The software is stolen or information is accessed from other computers. This may cause
financial loss to the business or violation of privacy rights of the individuals or business.
In case of defense information being hacked, this may endanger the security of the nation.
Spreading virus: Through mail or otherwise, other computers are accessed and the files are erased or
contents changed altogether. ‘Trojan horses’ are implanted to distort the messages and files beyond
recovery. This again causes financial loss or mental torture to the individuals. Some hackers feel that they
have justified their right of free information or they do it for fun. However, these acts are certainly
unethical.
But these have also been attacked and bye-passed. But this problem is not been solved completely.
Major weaknesses in this direction are:
 The difficulty in tracing the evidence involved and
 Absence of stringent punishment against the crime.
The origin of a threat to the Central Government posted from an obscure browsing center, remained
unsolved for quite a long time. Many times, such crimes have been traced, but there are no clear cyber
laws to punish and deter the criminals.
3.1.2. Privacy Issues:
As much as information technology has enabled us to share and find relevant information online,. It has
also exploited our freedom of privacy. Their so many ways our privacy is exploited,
 Use of internet webcams, experienced computer users can turn on any webcam of any computer
online and they will have access to your private life, many celebrities have been victims of these
online stalkers.
 use of social networks, the main concept of these networks is to connect with new and old
friends then share your life with them, however, the loop hole in this, is that whenever someone
access your shared life data like photos , they can like it and send it their friends who are not your
 friends, which might expose you to users with wrong intentions to use your data, also some
companies are known for spying on their employees via these social networks.
 The privacy of the individuals or organizations,
 confidentiality& integrity issue related to modification of data or program are done by the
authorized persons,
 Uninterrupted service, provisions, and protection against hacking that causes dislocation or
distortion.
3.1.3. Copyright Infringement:
Information technology has made it easy for users to access any information or artifact at any given
time. With the increased development of music sharing networks and photo bookmarking sites, many
original creators of these works are losing the credibility of their works, because users of IT can easily
gain access and share that data with friends.
Free music and file downloading sites are popping up on internet every day, lots of original work like
music albums, books, are being downloaded for free. In this case one legitimate user will purchase the
book, software, web template or music album, and they will submit it to a free download site where others
will simply just download that data for free.
3.1.4. Increased pressure on IT experts:
Since information technology systems have to run all the time, pressure is mounted on IT experts to
ensure the accuracy and availability of these systems. Many big organizations which need to operate 24
hours will require a standby IT team to cater for any issues which might arise during the course of
operation. This pressure results into stress and work overload which some times results into
Imperfection.
3.1.5. Digital divide:
Information technology has many opportunities and it has shaped many industries in developed countries;
however, developing countries have difficulties of enjoying the same benefits of Information
technology. To get these benefits they have to train their labor and users should also adopt the new
culture which is a bit costly in these developing countries. In some remote areas they do not even have
power, so information technology tools like computers cannot be used. In other sectors like education,
most of these developing countries have poor old education systems, so a student will not be aware of
new information technologies.
The ethical problems initiated by computers in the workplace are:
Elimination of routine and manual jobs: This leads to unemployment, but the creation of skilled and IT-
enabled service jobs are more advantageous for the people. Initially this may require some up gradation of
their skills and knowledge, but a formal training will set this problem right. For example, in place of a
typist, we have a programmer or an accountant.
3.1.6. Property Issues related to computers:
The property issues concerned with the computers are:
 Computers have been used to extort money through anonymous telephone calls.
 Computers are used to cheat and steal by current as well as previous employees.
 Cheating of and stealing from the customers and clients.
 Violation of contracts on computer sales and services.
 Conspiracy as a group, stealing the identity and to forge documents.
 Violation of property rights

4. BIOETHICS:
Bioethics is a rather young academic inter-disciplinary field that has emerged rapidly as a particular moral
enterprise against the background of the revival of applied ethics in the second half of the twentieth
century.
What are the general goals of bioethics? As a discipline of applied ethics and a particular way of ethical
reasoning that substantially depends on the findings of the life sciences, the goals of bioethics are
manifold and involve, at least, the following aspects:
Discipline: Bioethics provides a disciplinary framework for the whole array of moral questions and issues
surrounding the life sciences concerning human beings, animals, and nature.
Inter-disciplinary Approach: Bioethics is a particular way of ethical reasoning and decision making
that;
Integrates empirical data from relevant natural sciences, most notably medicine in the case of medical
ethics, and considers other disciplines of applied ethics such as research ethics, information ethics, social
ethics, feminist ethics, religious ethics, political ethics, and ethics of law in order to solve the case in
question.
4.1. Characteristic features of Bioethics:
The following are the characteristic features of a relevant Bioethics;
4.1.1. Ethical Guidance:
Bioethics offers ethical guidance in a particular field of human conduct.
4.1.2. Clarification:
Bioethics points to many novel complex cases, for example, gene technology, cloning, and human-animal
chimeras and facilitates the awareness of the particular problem in public discourse.
Structure:
Bioethics elaborates important arguments from a critical examination of judgments and considerations in
discussions and debates.
4.1.3. Internal Auditing:
The combination of bioethics and new data that stem from the natural sciences may influence−in some
cases −the key concepts and approaches of basic ethics by providing convincing evidence for important
specifications, for example, the generally accepted concept of personhood might be incomplete, too
narrow, or ethically problematic in the context of people with disability and, hence, need to be modified
accordingly.
In other words, bioethics is concerned with a specific area of human conduct concerning the animate (for
example, human beings and animals) and inanimate (for example, stones) natural world against the
background of the life sciences and deals with the various problems that arise from this complex
amalgam.
Furthermore, bioethics is not only an inter-disciplinary field but also multidisciplinary since bioethicists
come from various disciplines each with its own distinctive set of assumptions. While this facilitates new
and valuable perspectives, it also causes problems for a more integrated approach to bioethics.
4.2. Sub-disciplines in Bioethics:
Bioethics is a discipline of applied ethics and comprises three main sub-disciplines;
 Medical ethics,
 Animal ethics,
 Environmental ethics, etc.
Even though they are “distinct” branches in focusing on different areas namely, human beings, animals,
and nature they have a significant overlap of particular issues, vital conceptions and theories as well as
prominent lines of argumentation.
Solving bioethical issues is a complex and demanding task. An interesting analogy in this case is that of a
neural network in which the neural knot can be compared to the bioethical problem, and the network itself
can be compared to the many different links to other vital issues and moral problems on different levels
(and regarding different disciplines and sub-disciplines). Sometimes it seems that the attempt to settle a
moral problem stirs up a hornets’ nest because many plausible suggestions cause further (serious) issues.
However, a brief overview of the bioethical sub-disciplines is as follows.
4.2.1. Medical Ethics:
The oldest sub-discipline of bioethics is medical ethics which can be traced back to the introduction of the
Hippocratic Oath (500 B.C.E.). The Hippocratic Oath is a compilation of ancient texts concerning the
proper behaviour of physicians and the relationship between physician and patient. It also contains some
binding ethical rules of utmost importance such as the well known principle of
Non-malfeasance (“primum non nocere”) and the principle of
Beneficence (“salus aegroti suprema lex”); furthermore, doctor-patient confidentiality and the
prohibition on exploiting the patient (including sexual exploitation) are important rules that are still valid.
4.2.2. Animal Ethics:
The idea that animals should be part of the moral community mainly evolved in the context of the ethics
of utilitarianism in the nineteenth century, most notably spearheaded by Jeremy Bentham, who famously
argued that it does not matter morally whether animals can reason but rather whether they can suffer.
4.2.3. Environmental Ethics:
Generally speaking, environmental ethics deals with the moral dimension of the relationship between
human beings and non-human nature animals and plants, local populations, natural resources and
ecosystems, landscapes, as well as the biosphere and the cosmos. Strictly speaking, human beings are, of
course, part of nature and it seems somewhat odd to claim that there is a contrast between human beings
and non-human nature.
5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:
Intellectual property (IP) is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for
which property rights are recognized and the corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law,
owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and
artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of
intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets in
some jurisdictions.
Intellectual property rights are a legal concept that confers rights to owners and creators of the work, for
their intellectual creativity. Such rights can be granted for areas related to literature, music, invention etc,
which are used in the business practices. In general, the intellectual property law offers exclusionary
rights to the creator or inventor against any misappropriation or use of work without his/her prior
knowledge. Intellectual property law establishes equilibrium by granting rights for limited duration of
time.
5.1. Scope of IPR:
Every nation has framed their own intellectual property laws. But on international level it is governed by
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property in 1883 and the 'Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works'
in 1886 were first conventions which have recognized the importance of safeguarding intellectual
property. Both the treaties are under the direct administration of the WIPO. The WIPO convention lays
down following list of the activities or work which are covered by the intellectual property rights
 Industrial designs
 Scientific discoveries
 Protection against unfair competition
 Literary, artistic and scientific works
 Inventions in all fields of human endeavor
 Performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts
 Trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations
 All other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic
fields.
5.2. Types of Intellectual Property Rights:
Intellectual Property Rights signifies to the bundle of exclusionary rights which can be further categorized
into the following heads.
5.2.1. Copyright:
Copyright, one of the forms of intellectual property right, offers exclusive rights for protecting the
authorship of original & creative work like dramatic, musical and literary in nature. Symbolized as "©",
here the term.
The copyright is a specific and exclusive right, describing rights given to
creators for their literary and artistic works. This protects literary material,
aesthetic material, music, film, sound recording, broadcasting, software,
multimedia, paintings, sculptures, and drawings including maps, diagrams,
engravings or photographs. There is no need for registration and no need to seek lawyer’s help for
settlement. The life of the copyright protection is the life of the inventor or author plus 50 years.
 Copyright gives protection to particular expression and not for the idea. Copyright is effective in
preventing others from copying or reproducing or storing the work,
 publishing and selling the copies,
 performing the work in public, commercially
 to make film
 to make translation of the work, and
 to make any adaptation of the work.
Copying the idea is called ‘plagiarism’ and it is dealt with separately.
5.2.2. Patent:
A patent is termed as the exclusionary rights given by the government or the authorized authority to its
inventor for a particular duration of time, in respect of his invention. It is the part of the
intellectual property right. Patent is a contract between the individual (inventor) and the
society (all others). Patents protect legally the specific products from being manufactured
or sold by others, without permission of the patent holder. Patent holder has the legally-
protected monopoly power as one’s own property. The validity is 20 years from the date
filing the application for the patent. It is a territorial right and needs registration.
5.2.3. Trademark:
The trademark or trade mark, symbolized as the TM and ®, is the distinctive sign or indication which is
used for signifying some kind of goods or/and services and is distinctively used across the business.
Trademark is a wide identity of specific good and services, permitting
differences to be made among different trades. It is a territorial right,
which needs registration. Registration is valid initially for 10 years,
and renewable. The trademark or service mark may be registered in
the form of a device, a heading, a label, a ticket, a letter, a word or
words, a numeral or any combination of these, logos, designs, sounds, and symbols. Trademark should
not be mistaken for a design, e.g., the shape of a bottle in which a product is marketed, cannot be
registered as a trademark. Trademarks Act 1999 made in compliance with TRIPS agreement, provides
further details.
There are three functions of trademark:
 Just as we are identified by our names, good are identified by their trademarks. For example, the
customer goes to the shop and asks for Lux soap. The word ‘Lux’ is a trade mark.
In other words it shows the origin or source of the goods.
 The trademark carries with it an inherent indication or impression on the quality of goods, which
indirectly demonstrates that it receives the customer’s satisfaction.
 The trademark serves as silent sales promoter. Without a trademark, there can be no
advertisement. In other words, it serves as a medium for advertising the goods.
The marks should be distinctive i.e., it should be able to distinguish from one good to the other.
The terms used for trademarks are usually generic, descriptive, and suggestive. Some of the term which
are not distinctly distinguishing the goods or services from others, are called generic term and are eligible
for protection under trademarks. The descriptive term should clearly indicate or convey the specific
purpose, function, physical characteristic and the end use of the product. Relatively, the suggestive
5.2.4. Trade Secrets:
Trade secret points towards a formula, pattern, any instrument, design which is kept
confidential and through which any business or trade can edge over its rival and can enjoy
economic gain. Trade secrets can be.

5.2.5. Utility Model:

The utility model is the intellectual property right for protecting the inventions. It is somehow described
as the statutory monopoly which is bestow upon for the fixed duration of time in exchange to the inventor
for.
5.2.6. Geographical Indication:
Geographical Indication (GI) signifies to the name or sign, used in reference to the
products which are corresponding to the particular geographical area or somewhat related
to the origin like town, region or nation. Example Darjeeling tea, Assam tea etc.

5.2.7. Industrial Design Rights:

Industrial design rights are defined as the part of the intellectual property rights which confers the rights
of exclusivity to the visual designs of objects which are generally not popular utilitarian. It safeguards the

5.3. Advantages of Intellectual Property Rights:

Intellectual property rights help in providing exclusive rights to creator or inventor thereby induces them
to distribute and share information and data instead of keeping it confidential. It provides legal protection
and offers them incentive of their work. Rights granted under the intellectual property act helps in socio
and economic development.

5.4. Advantages of IPR:

IP plays an essential role to stabilize and develop the economy of a nation. This protection actually
stimulates creativity, research, and innovation by ensuring freedom to individuals and organizations to
benefit from their creative intellectual investments.
The IP serves many purposes, namely
 It prevents others using it,
 Prevent using it for financial gain,
 Prevent plagiarism
 Fulfill obligation to funding agency.
 Provides a strategy to generate steady income.
5.5. Challenges:
Some of the challenges in the acquisition of IP are:
 Shortage of manpower in the industry.
 High cost of patenting and lengthy procedure.
 Lack of strong enforcement mechanism.

6. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RESEARCH:

We are going through a time of profound change in our understanding of the ethics of applied social
research. From the time immediately after World War II until the early 1990s, there was a gradually
developing consensus about the key ethical principles that should underlie the research endeavor.
Two marker events stand out (among many others) as symbolic of this consensus.

The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial following World War II brought to public view the ways German
scientists had used captive human subjects as subjects in oftentimes gruesome experiments.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study involved the withholding of known effective
treatment for syphilis from African-American participants who were infected. Events like these forced the
reexamination of ethical standards and the gradual development of a consensus that potential human
subjects needed to be protected from being used as 'guinea pigs' in scientific research.

By the 1990s, the dynamics of the situation changed. Cancer patients and persons with AIDS fought
publicly with the medical research establishment about the long time needed to get approval for and
complete research into potential cures for fatal diseases.
In many cases, it is the ethical assumptions of the previous thirty years that drive this 'go-slow' mentality.
After all, we would rather risk denying treatment for a while until we achieve enough confidence in a
treatment, rather than run the risk of harming innocent people (as in the Nuremberg and Tuskegee events).

But now, those who were threatened with fatal illness were saying to the research establishment that they
wanted to be test subjects, even under experimental conditions of considerable risk.
You had several very vocal and articulate patient groups who wanted to be experimented on coming up
against an ethical review system that was designed to protect them from being experimented on.
Although the last few years in the ethics of research have been tumultuous ones, it is beginning to appear
that a new consensus is evolving that involves the stakeholder groups most affected by a problem
participating more actively in the formulation of guidelines for research. While it's not entirely clear, at
present, what the new consensus will be, it is almost certain that it will not fall at either extreme:
protecting against human experimentation at all costs vs. allowing anyone who is willing to be
experimented on.
6.1. Characteristic feature:
There are a number of key phrases that describe the system of ethical protections that the contemporary
social and medical research establishment has created to try to protect better the rights of their research
participants.
6.1.1. Voluntary participation:
The principle of voluntary participation requires that people not be coerced into participating in research.
This is especially relevant where researchers had previously relied on 'captive audiences' for their subjects
prisons, universities, and places like that.
6.1.2. Informed consent:
Closely related to the notion of voluntary participation is the requirement of informed consent.
Essentially, this means that prospective research participants must be fully informed about the procedures
and risks involved in research and must give their consent to participate.
6.1.3. Risk of harm:
Ethical standards also require that researchers not put participants in a situation where they might be at
risk of harm as a result of their participation. Harm can be defined as both physical and psychological.
There are two standards that are applied in order to help protect the privacy of research participants.
6.1.4. Confidentiality:
Almost all research guarantees the participant’s confidentiality; they are assured that identifying
information will not be made available to anyone who is not directly involved in the study.
6.1.5. Anonymity:
The stricter standard is the principle of anonymity which essentially means that the participant will
remain anonymous throughout the study even to the researchers themselves.
Clearly, the anonymity standard is a stronger guarantee of privacy, but it is sometimes difficult to
accomplish, especially in situations where participants have to be measured at multiple time points (e.g., a
pre-post study).
6.1.6. Right to service:
Increasingly, researchers have had to deal with the ethical issue of a person's right to service. Good
research practice often requires the use of a no-treatment control group a group of participants who do not
get the treatment or program that is being studied. But when that treatment or program may have
beneficial effects, persons assigned to the no-treatment control may feel their rights to equal access to
services are being curtailed.
6.2. Institutional Review Board (IRB):
Even when clear ethical standards and principles exist, there will be times when the need to do accurate
research runs up against the rights of potential participants. No set of standards can possibly anticipate
every ethical circumstance. Furthermore, there needs to be a procedure that assures that researchers will
consider all relevant ethical issues in formulating research plans. To address such needs most institutions
and organizations have formulated an Institutional Review Board (IRB), a panel of persons who reviews
grant proposals with respect to ethical implications and decides whether additional actions need to be
taken to assure the safety and rights of participants. By reviewing proposals for research, IRBs also help
to protect both the organization and the researcher against potential legal implications of neglecting to
address important ethical issues of participants.

7. GLOBAL MEDIA ETHICS:

Media ethics are a complex topic because they deal with an institution that must do things that ordinary
people in ordinary circumstances would not do. Media ethics draw on a range of philosophical principles,
including basic Judeo-Christian values, Aristotle’s ideas about virtue and balanced behaviors (the golden
mean), Kant’s categorical imperative, Mill’s principle of utility, Rawls’s veil of ignorance, and the
Hutchins Commission’s social-responsibility ethics. Reporters face a range of ethical issues on a regular
basis. Those issues include the following:
7.1. Ethical Guidelines:
7.1.1. Truthfulness:
Journalists need to make a commitment to telling the truth. This includes not giving false or made-up
reports, and telling truthful stories that are not intended to deceive the audience. This may require
reporters to provide not only the facts but also the context surrounding them. Truthfulness requires a
commitment not only from the journalist but also from the organization he or she works for.
7.1.2. Conflicts of interest:
The interests of a corporation that owns a news organization may sometimes be at odds with the nature of
the news being reported. Journalists need to be careful not only to portray their parent company in an
accurate light but also to give no special favors to companies connected to the organization’s parent
company.
7.1.3. Sensationalism:
News organizations sometimes emphasize news that is interesting but unimportant. This happens when
reporters put more effort into attracting and pleasing an audience than into reporting on the critical issues
of the day. This can happen because of the increased pace of the news business brought about by cable
television, the Internet, and the parent company’s desire for profits.
7.1.4. Authenticity and appropriateness of photographs:
Photos can be among the most controversial media materials, both because of their disturbing content and
because they can be altered with digital editing tools.
Journalists and their employers can apply a variety of methods for enforcing and implementing ethical
behavior. These include employing an ombudsman, requiring commitment to ethical behavior on the part
of all employees, and adhering to a code of ethics.

7.2. The Major Violations of Media:

 Misleading definitions: Prejudicing readers through language.
 Imbalanced reporting: Distorting news through disproportionate coverage.
 Opinions disguised as news: Inappropriately injecting opinion or interpretation into coverage.
 Selective omission: Reporting certain events over others, or withholding key details.
 Using true facts to draw false conclusions: Infecting news with flawed logic.
 Distortion of facts: Getting the facts wrong.
 Lack of transparency: Failing to be open and accountable to readers.
7.3. Components of global media ethics
The development of global journalism ethics has the following tasks.
7.3.1. Conceptual tasks:
New philosophical foundations for a global ethics, which include:
 Global re-interpretation of the ethical role and aims of journalism
 Global re-interpretation of existing journalism principles and standards, such as objectivity,
balance and independence
 Construction of new norms and “best practices” as guides for the practice of global journalism
7.3.2. Research tasks
More research into the state of journalism, amid globalization:
 studies of news media in various regions of world
 studies on the evolution and impact of globalization in news media, with a focus on ownership,
 technology and practice
 studies on the ethical standards of new media in different countries
 studies on news coverage of international problems and issues
7.3.3. Practical tasks
Actions to implement and support global standards:
 application of this global perspective to re-define the coverage of international events and issues
 coalition-building among journalists and interested parties with the aim of writing a global code
of ethics that has wide-spread acceptance
 Initiatives to defend and enhance free and responsible news media, especially in areas where
problems are the greatest.

8. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:

Now that companies are concerned with society's welfare, corporate social responsibility is a
controversial topic. In this lesson, learn the two theories of social responsibility and the arguments for and
against the practice.
Once upon a time in the late-20th century, big business noticed that they were losing productivity due to
employee health, accidents on the job, and personal issues. Once corporations began responding to
employee’s needs, greater requests were then demanded, such as helping society as a whole. Then, in the
1950s, there were the births of very large corporations, such as General Motors, Chrysler, U.S. Steel,
Amoco, and Firestone. At the same time, America faced very difficult issues of poverty, unemployment,
and pollution.
Pre-1950, there were some organizations that provided charitable work and donations, but the idea of
social responsibility was not truly formed. In this lesson, you will learn about where and when the idea of
social responsibility originated. Social responsibility is the use of a business's resources to help solve
social problems and achieve social goals. Companies need to look outside of their primary stakeholders
and feel a responsibility to society as well. Let's take a journey back in time to see how the idea of social
responsibility developed.
8.1. Historic Social Responsibility
81.1. Ancient history: Even in the earliest days of commerce, owners felt that it was very important to
take care of stakeholders. For example, back in the Middle Ages, lords were concerned about exploitation
of resources, such as forests and animals, for business profits. The idea of social responsibility began in
the United States. Colonial America found prosperous merchants donating to schools, orphanages,
poorhouses, and churches. Early-19th century history showed how unhappy workers (children included)
with poor living conditions and health would result in poor productivity. During the late 1800s and
evolved into philanthropists, or business owners who help others through the donation of time and money.
8.1.2. Modern Social Responsibility
20th century - The 20th century ushered in a different view of business. Society felt as though
corporations needed to be held accountable for society's problems and help with the solutions. Business
owners were viewed as having numerous responsibilities, such as:
 Acting as trustees to protect stakeholders
 Balancing the needs of all stakeholders
Between 1900 and the 1960s, society started to doubt big business and wonder if they would offer any
sort of responsibility towards improving and helping society as a whole. In America, between the 1960s
and 1970s, most people felt that companies were only concerned with profits and did not care about
society, whether it was ignoring social issues or contaminating the environment with production.
The first mention of CSR, or corporate social responsibility, was in the 1960s. This is where people
want businesses to stop causing problems, such as environmental polluting and contamination, and start
solving problems, such as protecting resources and ending poverty. After all, without the support of
society, those businesses would not have customers, sales, or profits.

8.1.3. Concept of Corporate Social responsibility:

The title corporate social responsibility has two meanings.
 First, it’s a general name for any theory of the corporation that emphasizes both the responsibility to
make money and the responsibility to interact ethically with the surrounding community.
 Second, corporate social responsibility is also a specific conception of that responsibility to profit
while playing a role in broader questions of community welfare.
Archie B Carroll, Carroll devised a four-part model of CSR as given in figure 1: economic responsibility,
legal responsibility, ethical responsibility and philanthropic responsibility. According to Carroll, the
pyramid of responsibilities should be seen as a whole and the different parts should not be separated.
True CSR requires satisfying all four parts consecutively.
From this, Carroll offers the following definition of CSR:
CSR encompasses the economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic expectations placed on organizations by
society at a given point in time.
Economic responsibility: Figure: 1
 Shareholders demand a reasonable return. Carroll’s Pyramid
 Employees want safe and fairly paid jobs.
 Customers demand quality at a fair price.
Legal responsibility:
 The law is a base line for operating within society.
 It is an accepted rule book for company operations.
Ethical responsibility:
 This relates to doing what is right, just and fair.
 Actions taken in this area provide a reaffirmation of social
legitimacy.
 This is naturally beyond the previous two levels.
Philanthropic responsibility:
 Relates to discretionary behaviour to improve the lives of others.
 Charitable donations and recreational facilities.
 Sponsoring the arts and sports events.
To be profitable as a company, minimize cost and maximize sales or make sensible strategic decisions are
at the base of economic responsibilities. Economic performance is required by the society.
The second layer is the legal responsibilities and it is also required by society. In these responsibilities
companies are expected to obey the law, because the law mirrors show the society regards as accepted or
unaccepted. The difference of the ethical responsibilities from the first two responsibilities is that the
ethical responsibilities are not required but expected by society. To assert ethical leadership, avoid
questionable practices or operate above the minimum standard of the law could be examples for the
ethical responsibilities. The philanthropic responsibilities stand at the top of the pyramid and to be a
good corporate citizen and improve the quality of life for the society is the aim of these responsibilities.
Corporate contributions, to support the community by providing programs or engagement in volunteerism
can be example for the philanthropic responsibilities. To some extent the philanthropic responsibilities are
desired and expected by the society.

8.2. Importance of CSR:

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes a vision of business accountability to a wide range of
stakeholders, besides shareholders and investors. Key areas of concern are environmental protection and
the wellbeing of employees, the community and civil society in general, both now and in the future.
The concept of CSR is underpinned by the idea that corporations can no longer act as isolated economic
entities operating in detachment from broader society. Traditional views about competitiveness, survival
and profitability are being swept away.
Some of the drivers pushing business towards CSR include:
 The shrinking role of government:
In the past, governments have relied on legislation and regulation to deliver social and environmental
objectives in the business sector. Shrinking government resources, coupled with a distrust of
regulations, has led to the exploration of voluntary and non-regulatory initiatives instead.
 Demands for greater disclosure:
 There is a growing demand for corporate disclosure from stakeholders, including customers,
suppliers, employees, communities, investors, and activist organizations.
 Increased customer interest:
There is evidence that the ethical conduct of companies exerts a growing influence on the purchasing
decisions of customers. In a recent survey, more than one in five consumers reported having either
rewarded or punished companies based on their perceived social performance.
 Growing investor pressure:
Investors are changing the way they assess companies' performance, and are making decisions based
on criteria that include ethical concerns. International revealed that more than a quarter of share-
owning Americans took into account ethical considerations when buying and selling stocks. (More on
socially responsible investment can be found in the 'Banking and investment' section of the site.)
 Competitive labor markets:
Employees are increasingly looking beyond paychecks and benefits, and seeking out whose
philosophies and operating practices match their own principles. In order to hire and retain skilled
employees, companies are being forced to improve working conditions.
 Supplier relations:
As stakeholders are becoming increasingly interested in business affairs, many companies are taking
steps to ensure that their partners conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner. Some are
introducing codes of conduct for their suppliers, to ensure that other companies' policies or practices
do not tarnish their reputation.

8.3. Benefits:
Some of the positive outcomes that can arise when businesses adopt a policy of social responsibility
include:
8.3.1. Benefits to the Company:
 Improved financial performance;
 Lower operating costs;
 Enhanced brand image and reputation;
 Increased sales and customer loyalty;
 Greater productivity and quality;
 More ability to attract and retain employees;
 Reduced regulatory oversight;
 Access to capital;
 Workforce diversity;
 Product safety and decreased liability.
8.3.2. Benefits to the community and the general public:
 Charitable contributions;
 Employee volunteer programmes;
 Corporate involvement in community education, employment and homelessness programmes;
 Product safety and quality.
8.3.3. Benefits to the Environment
 Greater material recyclability;
 Better product durability and functionality;
 Greater use of renewable resources;
The concept of corporate social responsibility is now firmly rooted on the global business agenda. But in
order to move from theory to concrete action, many obstacles need to be overcome. A key challenge
facing business is the need for more reliable indicators of progress in the field of CSR, along with the
dissemination of CSR strategies. Transparency and dialogue can help to make a business appear more
trustworthy, and push up the standards of other organizations at the same time.

EXERCISE;
Long Questions:
What is it? And explain the concept and issues involved in any one of the following; Environment, IT
or Computer , Bioethics, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Research, Media, Corporate Social
Responsibility Issues.
CHAPTER - 7 ETHICAL CODES
MODULE – IV
ENGINEERING CODES OF ETHICS
Introduction:
Ethical codes of conduct contain general principles and ethical standards of conduct that guide the
behavior of a licensed health care professional. These codes vary across disciplines and state licensing
bodies. For example, ethical codes of conduct may differ for a psychologist and a physician, or for a
psychologist.

1.1. Meaning and definition of ethical codes:

The codes of ethics have to be adopted by engineering societies as well as by engineers. These codes
exhibit the rights, duties, and obligations of the members of a profession.
Codes are the set of laws and standards.
A code of ethics provides a framework for ethical judgment for a professional.
A code cannot be said as totally comprehensive and cover all ethical situations that an engineer has to
face. It serves only as a starting point for ethical decision-making.
A code expresses the circumstances to ethical conduct shared by the members of a profession.
It is also to be noted that ethical codes do not establish the new ethical principles.
They repeat only the principles and standards that are already accepted as responsible engineering
practice.
A code defines the roles and responsibilities of professionals.
The codes of ethics also changes from time to time, and there is an evolution from past to the present, for
example the early codes are based on;
 Codes of personal behavior
 Codes for honesty in business dealings and fair business practices
 Employee/employer relations
While the new codes are characterized as following;
 Emphasize commitments to safety, public health and environmental protection
 Express the rights, duties and obligations of members of the Profession
 Do not express new ethical principles, but coherently restate existing standards of responsible
engineering practice
 Create an environment within the Profession where ethical behavior is the norm
 Not legally binding; an engineer cannot be arrested for violating an ethical code, but may be
expelled from or censured by the engineering society.

1.2. Types of ethical codes:

Regardless of size, businesses count on their management staff to set a standard of ethical conduct for
other employees to follow. When administrators adhere to the code of ethics, it sends a message that
universal compliance is expected of every employee. The codes of ethics are broadly classified in to two
types;
1.2.1. Compliance-Based Codes of Ethics:
For all businesses, laws regulate issues such as hiring and safety standards. Compliance-based codes of
ethics usually not only set out guidelines for conduct, but also lay out penalties for violations.
In some industries, including banking, specific laws govern business conduct. These industries tend to
formulate compliance-based codes of ethics to ensure that legalities are being followed. Employees
usually undergo formal training to learn the rules of conduct. Because noncompliance can create legal
issues for the company as a whole, individual workers within a firm may face penalties for failing to
follow guidelines.
To ensure that the aims and principles of the code of ethics are followed, some companies appoint a
compliance officer. This individual is tasked with keeping up to date on changes in regulation codes and
monitoring employee conduct to encourage conformity.
This type of code of ethics is based on clear-cut rules and well-defined consequences rather than
individual monitoring of personal behavior. Therefore, despite strict adherence to the law, some
compliance-based codes of conduct do not promote a climate of moral responsibility within the company.
1.2.2. Value-Based Codes of Ethics:
A value-based code of ethics deals with a company's core value system. It may discuss standards of
responsible conduct as they relate to the larger public good and the environment. Value-based ethical
codes may require a greater degree of self-regulation than compliance-based codes.
Some codes of conduct contain language that addresses both compliance and values. For example, a
grocery store chain might create a code of conduct that discusses the company's commitment to strict
adherence to health and safety regulations above financial gain. The chain might also include a statement
about refusing to contract with suppliers that feed hormones to livestock or raise animals in inhumane
living conditions.

1.3. General Principles:

All ethical codes of conduct contain general principles of behavior. The general principles are guidelines
that professionals should aspire to meet. The guidelines are not laws that are enforceable, but rather ideal
standards that professionals should aspire to uphold. Good examples of general principles include those
listed as follows:
 Beneficence and non-malfeasance: help others and do no harm.
 Fidelity and responsibility: be trustworthy. Uphold professional standards. Take responsibility
for one's own actions.
 Integrity: be honest and truthful.
 Justice: be fair and aware of one's own biases and limitations.
 Respect for people's rights and dignity: respect the worth and dignity of others and their ability
to make health decisions.
1.4. Structure of an ethical code:
There must be a specific structure which an organization needs to follow, the content and concepts
changes but the structure changes. The basic structure starts from preamble and ends in rules of practices,
the same is given as follows;
Preamble, Fundamental canons, Rules of practices and professional obligations.
1.4.1. Preamble:
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's
purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite
historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute. It is distinct from the long title or enacting formula
of a law.
1.4.2. Fundamental canons:
Fundamental canons are the weapons of an ethical code, these are the major philosophy of practice
designed by an organization. These are designed in specific requirement by an organization, it changes as
per organization and situation. For example, the fundamental canons of a medical code of conduct in
comparison to that engineering codes.
1.4.3. Rules of practices:
Rules of practices are the practical guidelines to achieve the fundamental canons. It is implementation
part of an ethical philosophy. There are several rules of practices under each fundamental canon, and
designed to achieve each of it.
1.4.4. Professional obligation:
Professional obligation is the unwritten part of codes of ethics, it is the moral obligation of the individuals
in an organization to follow it codes of conduct or ethics.

1.5. Code of Ethics for Engineers:

The Fundamental Principles of codes of ethics
Engineers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor, and dignity of the engineering profession by:
 Using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of the human race;
 Being honest and impartial and serving with fidelity the public, their employers, and clients;
 Striving to increase the competence and prestige of the engineering profession.
 Supporting the professional and technical societies of their discipline.
The Fundamental Cannons
Engineers shall
 Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public in the performance of their
professional duties;
 Perform service only in areas of their competence;
 Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner;
 Act in professional matters for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees, and shall
avoid conflicts of interest;
  Build their professional reputations on the merits of their services and shall not compete unfairly
with others
 Act in such manner as to uphold and enhance the honor, integrity and dignity of the profession;
 Continue their professional development throughout their careers, and shall provide opportunities
for the professional development of those engineers under their supervision.

2. SIGNIFICANCE:
The significance of codes of ethics is multidisciplinary in nature; the detail of following is given as
below;
Resolving ethical issues:
Attempt to resolve ethical issues by self-correction or by bringing it to the attention of the professional
who is violating the standard. Unresolved issues must be reported to the licensing board. Example
violation: Er. Rajesh reports to the licensing board that his colleague is practicing without a license.
Competence:
Codes allow the space for competitive atmosphere in an organization, irrespective of experience or
qualification. For an example, the code only allow a new employee in an organization to compete with the
senior persons or experienced persons.
Human relations:
Codes decides the interpersonal relation among different employees in an organization, it maintain the
hierarchy in an organization. It also sets the rules for organization to behave properly in an humanitarian
aspect.
Privacy and confidentiality:
Codes ensure that the organization and employees shall maintain some standard of confidentiality and
privacy. In the absence of these codes the privacy and confidentiality shall be breached.
Inspiration and Guidance:
Codes give a convinced motivation for ethical conduct and provide a helpful guidance for achieving the
obligations of engineers in their work. Codes contribute mostly general guidance as they have to be brief.
Specific directions may also be given to apply the code in morally good ways.
Support:
Codes always support an engineer who follows the ethical principles. Codes give engineers a positive, a
possible good support for standing on moral issues. Codes also serve as a legal support for engineers.
Deterrence and Discipline:
Codes act as a deterrent because they never encourage acting immorally. They also provide discipline
among the Engineers to act morally on the basis of codes does not overrule the rights of those being
investigated.
Education and Mutual Understanding:
Codes have to be circulated and approved officially by the professionals, the public and government
organizations which concern with the moral responsibilities of engineers and organizations.
Contributing to the profession’s Public Image:
Codes help to create a good image to the public of an ethically committed profession. It helps the
engineers in an effective manner to serve the public. They also give self-regulation for the profession
itself.
Protecting the Status Quo:
Codes determine ethical conventions which help to create an agreed upon minimum level of ethical
conduct. But they can also suppress the disagreement within the profession.
Promoting Business Interests:
Codes help to improve the business interests. They help to moralize the business dealings to benefit those
within the profession.

3. LIMITATIONS OF CODES OF ETHICS

 Codes are restricted to general and vague wording. They cannot be straightaway applied to all
situations. It is impossible to foresee the full range of moral problems that can arise in a complex
profession.
 It is easy for different clauses of codes to come into conflict with each other.
 Usually codes provide no guidance as to which clause should have priority in those cases, creating
moral dilemmas.
 They cannot serve as the final moral authority for professional conduct. If the code of a professional
society is taken as the last word, it means that we are getting into a particular set of conventions.
 The current codes are by no means perfect, but are definitely steps in the right direction.
 Codes are restricted to general and vague wordings. Due to this limitation they cannot be applicable
to all situations directly. It is also impossible to analyze fully and predict the full range of moral
problems that arises in a complex profession.
 Engineering codes often have internal conflicts. So they can’t give a solution or method for resolving
the conflict.
 They cannot be treated as the final moral authority for any professional conduct. Codes represent a
compromise between differing judgments and also developed among heated committee
disagreements.
 Only a few practicing engineers are the members of Professional Societies and so they cannot be
compelled to abide by their codes.
 Many engineers who are the members of Professional Societies are not aware of the existence of the
codes of their societies and they never go through it.
 Codes can be reproduced in a very rapid manner.
 Codes are said to be coercive i.e., implemented by threat or force.

4. EXEMPLARY CASES:

4.1. CASE 1: Code of Ethics (National Society For Professional Engineers –NSPE,USA),
Preamble:
Engineering is an important and learned profession. As members of this profession, engineers are
expected to exhibit the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Engineering has a direct and vital
impact on the quality of life for all people. Accordingly, the services provided by engineers require
honesty, impartiality, fairness, and equity, and must be dedicated to the protection of the public health,
safety, and welfare. Engineers must perform under a standard of professional behavior that requires
adherence to the highest principles of ethical conduct.
I. Fundamental Canons:
Engineers, in the fulfillment of their professional duties, shall:
1. Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
2. Perform services only in areas of their competence.
3. Issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
4. Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
5. Avoid deceptive acts.
6. Conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor,
reputation, and usefulness of the profession.
II. Rules of Practice:
1. Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.
 If engineers' judgment is overruled under circumstances that endanger life or property, they shall
notify their employer or client and such other authority as may be appropriate.
 Engineers shall approve only those engineering documents that are in conformity with applicable
standards.
 Engineers shall not reveal facts, data, or information without the prior consent of the client or
employer except as authorized or required by law or this Code.
 Engineers shall not permit the use of their name or associate in business ventures with any person or
firm that they believe is engaged in fraudulent or dishonest enterprise.
 Engineers shall not aid or abet the unlawful practice of engineering by a person or firm.
 Engineers having knowledge of any alleged violation of this Code shall report thereon to appropriate
professional bodies and, when relevant, also to public authorities, and cooperate with the proper
authorities in furnishing such information or assistance as may be required.
2. Engineers shall perform services only in the areas of their competence.
 Engineers shall undertake assignments only when qualified by education or experience in the specific
technical fields involved.
 Engineers shall not affix their signatures to any plans or documents dealing with subject matter in
which they lack competence, nor to any plan or document not prepared under their direction and
control.
 Engineers may accept assignments and assume responsibility for coordination of an entire project and
sign and seal the engineering documents for the entire project, provided that each technical segment is
signed and sealed only by the qualified engineers who prepared the segment.
3. Engineers shall issue public statements only in an objective and truthful manner.
 Engineers shall be objective and truthful in professional reports, statements, or testimony. They shall
include all relevant and pertinent information in such reports, statements, or testimony, which should
bear the date indicating when it was current.
 Engineers may express publicly technical opinions that are founded upon knowledge of the facts and
competence in the subject matter.
 Engineers shall issue no statements, criticisms, or arguments on technical matters that are inspired or
paid for by interested parties, unless they have prefaced their comments by explicitly identifying the
interested parties on whose behalf they are speaking, and by revealing the existence of any interest the
engineers may have in the matters.
4. Engineers shall act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees.
 Engineers shall disclose all known or potential conflicts of interest that could influence or appear to
influence their judgment or the quality of their services.
 Engineers shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for
services on the same project, or for services pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances
are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties.
 Engineers shall not solicit or accept financial or other valuable consideration, directly or indirectly,
from outside agents in connection with the work for which they are responsible.
 Engineers in public service as members, advisors, or employees of a governmental or quasi-
governmental body or department shall not participate in decisions with respect to services solicited
or provided by them or their organizations in private or public engineering practice.
 Engineers shall not solicit or accept a contract from a governmental body on which a principal or
officer of their organization serves as a member.
5. Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts:
 Engineers shall not falsify their qualifications or permit misrepresentation of their or their associates'
qualifications. They shall not misrepresent or exaggerate their responsibility in or for the subject
matter of prior assignments. Brochures or other presentations incident to the solicitation of
employment shall not misrepresent pertinent facts concerning employers, employees, associates, joint
venturers, or past accomplishments.
 Engineers shall not offer, give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any contribution to
influence the award of a contract by public authority, or which may be reasonably construed by the
public as having the effect or intent of influencing the awarding of a contract. They shall not offer any
gift or other valuable consideration in order to secure work. They shall not pay a commission,
percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except to a bona fide employee or bona fide
established commercial or marketing agencies retained by them.
III. Professional Obligations:
There are a total of major nine professional obligations, which are supposed to be followed by both the
individuals and the organization itself. Under each major obligation, there are multiple individual
guidelines to realize the major ones. E.g.
1. Engineers shall be guided in all their relations by the highest standards of honesty and integrity.
2. Engineers shall at all times strive to serve the public interest.
3. Engineers shall avoid all conduct or practice that deceives the public.
4. Engineers shall not disclose, without consent, confidential information concerning the business affairs
5. Engineers shall not be influenced in their professional duties by conflicting interests.
6. Engineers shall not attempt to obtain employment or advancement or professional engagements by
7. Engineers shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the professional
reputation, prospects, practice, or employment of other engineers.
8. Engineers shall accept personal responsibility for their professional activities.
9. Engineers shall give credit for engineering work to those to whom credit is due, and will recognize
the proprietary interests of others.
It is further noted that as made clear in the Supreme Court decision:
 Engineers and firms may individually refuse to bid for engineering services.
 Clients are not required to seek bids for engineering services.
 Federal, state, and local laws governing procedures to procure engineering services are not affected,
and remain in full force and effect.
 State societies and local chapters are free to actively and aggressively seek legislation for professional
selection and negotiation procedures by public agencies.
 State registration board rules of professional conduct, including rules prohibiting competitive bidding
for engineering services, are not affected and remain in full force and effect. State registration boards
 with authority to adopt rules of professional conduct may adopt rules governing procedures to obtain
engineering services.
 As noted by the Supreme Court, "nothing in the judgment prevents NSPE and its members from
attempting to influence governmental action . . ."
NOTE: In regard to the question of application of the Code to corporations vis-à-vis real persons,
business form or type should not negate nor influence conformance of individuals to the Code. The Code
deals with professional services, which services must be performed by real persons. Real persons in turn
establish and implement policies within business structures. The Code is clearly written to apply to the
Engineer, and it is incumbent on members of NSPE to endeavor to live up to its provisions. This applies
to all pertinent sections of the Code.

4.2. CASE 2: Code of Ethics (The Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, USA)

Preamble:
We the members of the IEEE, in recognition of the importance of our technologies in affecting the quality
of life throughout the world, and in accepting a personal obligation to our profession, its members and the
communities we serve, do hereby commit ourselves to the highest ethical and professional conduct and
agree:
Fundamental canons:
1. To accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare
of the public, and to disclose prompt factors that might endanger the public or the environment.
2. To avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected
parties when they do exist.
3. To be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data.
4. To reject bribery in all its forms.
5. To improve the understanding of technology, its appropriate application, and potential consequences.
6. To maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only
if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations.
7. To seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to
credit properly the contributions of others.
8. To treat fairly all persons regardless of such factors as race, religion, gender, disability, age, or national
origin.
9. To avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action.
10. To assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in
following code of ethics.

4.3. CASE 3: Code of Ethics (Institution of Engineers -India)

Introduction
Engineers serve all members of the community in enhancing their welfare, health, and safety by a creative
process utilizing the engineers’ knowledge, expertise and experience.
The code of ethics is based on broad principles of truth, honesty, justice, trustworthiness, respect and
safeguard of human life and welfare, competence and accountability, which constitutes the moral values
every corporate member of the institution must recognize, uphold and abide by.
1.0 Preamble
The corporate members if the IEI are committed to promote and practice the profession of engineering for
the common good of the community bearing in mind the following concerns:
1. The ethical standard
2. Social justice, social order, and human rights
3. Protection of the environment
4. Sustainable development
5. Public safety and tranquility
2.0 The Tenets of the Code of Ethics
A corporate member
1. Shall utilize his/her knowledge and expertise for the welfare, health, and safety of the community
without any discrimination for sectional or private interests.
2. Shall maintain the honor, integrity and dignity in all his professional actions to be worthy of the trust of
the community and the profession.
3. Shall act only in the domains of his competence and with diligence, care, sincerity and honesty.
4. Shall apply his knowledge and expertise in the interest of his employer or the clients for whom he shall
work without compromising with other obligations to these tenets.
5. Shall not falsify or misrepresent his own or his associates qualification, experience etc.
6. Wherever necessary and relevant, shall take all reasonable steps to inform, himself, his employer or
clients, of the environmental, economic, social and other possible consequences, which may arise out of
his actions.
7. Shall maintain utmost honesty and fairness in making a statement or giving witness and shall do so on
the basis of adequate knowledge.
8. Shall not directly or indirectly injure the professional reputation of another member.
9. Shall reject any kind of offer that may involve unfair practice or may cause avoidable damage to the
eco-system.
10. Shall be concerned about and shall act in the best of his abilities for maintenance of sustainability of
the process of development.
11. Shall not act in any manner which may injure the reputation of the institution or which may cause any
damage to the institution financially or otherwise.
3.0 General Guidance
The tenets of the code of ethics are based on the recognition that-
1. A common tie exists among the humanity and that the Institution of Engineers (India) derives its value
from the people, so that the actions of its corporate members should indicate the member’s highest regard
for equality of opportunity, social justice and fairness
2. The corporate members of the institution hold a privileged position in the community so as to make it a
necessity for their not using the position for personal and sectional interests.

EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. What are codes of ethics? Define it, and explain its different types.
2. With citing an example, give aa detail of codes of ethics for an engineer.
3. Define codes of ethics, what are its significance and the limitations?
4. Analyze the codes of ethics of any one of the following professional bodies; NSPE, IEEE or IEI
5. What are codes of ethics? Explain its components and structure with citing an example
CHAPTER - 8 CASE STUDIES
MODULE – IV
CASE: 1
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
The Incident:
One of the most disastrous events since the history of chemical industry occurred in Bhopal, the capital
city of Madhya Pradesh, on the night of December 03, 1984, in the factory of Union Carbide of India Ltd.
(UC1L) due to leakage of 40 tonnes of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas into a sleeping, impoverished
community.
UCIL, a subsidiary of the multinational company Union Carbide Corporation (USA) was in the business
of manufacturing agricultural pesticides among other things. MIC was required in these manufacturing
activities and was therefore, manufactured and stored at the UCIL plant in Bhopal.
During the night of December 2-3, 1984, about 40 tonnes of MIC (Methyl Iso Cynate) gas leaked from
the UCIL (Union Carbide of India Ltd.) plant at Bhopal. MIC was stored in the underground tanks, which
became contaminated with water. The contamination produced chemical reaction, followed by a rise in
gas pressure and a subsequent leak.
The Actual Event:
December 2, 1984, was a routine day at the UCIL factory in Bhopal; MIC was stored in an underground
tank. The pipeline washing (Vent pipe with Water) started at 9:30 p.m. as a routine maintenance
operation. Between 10:30 - 11:00 p.m.: workers engaged in pipeline washing became aware of a leak.
Little attention was however paid considering it a normal leak (due to MIC in contamination with water.
A casual attempt was made to trace the source of leakage, but of no use.

Causal Factors:
There are a dozen of factors directly or indirectly responsible for the disaster. These are explained below
also depicted in Picture 1.

Picture: 1

 Three sides, the UCIL plant was-surrounded by slums and other poor settlements
 Workers engaged in pipeline washing became aware of a leak. Little attention was however paid
considering it a normal leak
 There was no warning or guidance to the general public around this time.
 A large number of people were rushing out of the town through the highways leaving Bhopal city
resulted in stampedes.
 The company‘s West Virginia plant was controlling the safety systems and detected leakages thro‟
computers but the Bhopal plant only used manual labor for control and leak detection.
 Storage tank of Methyl Isocyanate gas was filled to more than 75% capacity as against Union
Carbide‘s spec. that it should never be more than 60% full.
 Three protective systems out of service
 Plant was understaffed due to costs.
 Very high inventory of MIC, an extremely toxic material.
 The accident occurred in the early morning (2-3 AM).
 Most of the people killed lived in a shanty (poorly built) town located very close to the plant fence.

Immediate crisis management:

The pressure in the MIC tank (E610) about up to 55 pounds per square inch (which was the maximum the
gauge could read). The temperature had also shot up to 200 degree C and was increasing. An operator saw
that the concrete above the tank was cracking.
About 12:30 a.m., the relief valve of the tank gave away and large quantities of MIC gas leaked into the
atmosphere. The workers at the factory realized the risk of a massive disaster.
They took the following attempts to pacify the accident:
They tried to activate the safety systems available at the factory at about 12:30 a.m. The six safety
systems available within the factory and their condition at that time were as under:
 Turning on the flare tower to burn off toxic gas. This system was not in working condition as a piece
of pipeline leading to the tower had been removed for maintenance.
 Using the vent gas scrubber, this was considered the main line of defence. It was also not in an
operational condition (The scrubber was designed for flow rates, temperatures and pressures that were
a fraction of what was by this time escaping from the tank. The scrubber was as a result ineffective.)
 Transferring the MIC from the tank into a nearby spare tank. The gauge of the spare tank indicated
that the tank already contained something. This gauge indicator was found defective, later on.
 After failure in all the three safety systems, the workers attempted to douse the leaking gas with water
spray. The water spray reached a height of 100 ft. from the ground, while the leak was at 120, ft.
above the ground. Nothing could be done to stop the leak, the workers at the plant fled.
 They tried to turn on the plant refrigeration system to cool down the environment and slow the
reaction. (The refrigeration system had been drained of coolant weeks before and never refilled - - it
cost too much.)
 They tried to route expanding gases to a neighboring tank (E619). (The tank's pressure gauge was
broken and indicated the tank was full when it was really empty.)
Consequences:
At about 1.00 a.m. thousands of people living around the plant were awakened by the suffocating, burning
effects of the gas. As on three sides, the UCIL plant was-surrounded by slums and other poor settlements,
the people living in these colonies were the worst sufferers.
About 2.00 a.m., a large number of people were rushing out of the town through the highways leaving
Bhopal. The mad rush on the main roads of the city resulted in stampedes.
About two lakh people had fled the city by 3:30 a.m.. The gas clouds dissipated around 3:30 a.m.
By 4:00 a.m. hospitals were crowded with suffering people.
In the wake of the tragic disaster, a large number of people lost their lives and received injuries, many to
their lungs and eyes. According to the Government reports, 1754 persons had died and 200,000 were
injured. By other reports, the killing was 2,500 within a few days, 10000 permanently disabled and
injuring 100,000 people. Ten years later, it increased to 4000 to 7000 deaths and injuries to 600,000.
Present Status:
The Union Carbide factory is at halt since that incident, but the effects are rarely seen now-a-days. But
genetic problems are faced by people today also. The new born s come with different physical & also
mental disabilities till now.
And the factory area is not for use anymore, according to varied scientists that place is not at all usable till
its effect is gone. Not a thing is touchable over there, everything is crap and also dangerous.
Because the machines and pipes whatever assets residing there are harmful, anything plucked from there
will again generate a lot of harm. So nobody is allowed to go there and nobody goes there without high
permission or for any new experiments.
 CASE: 2
THREE MILES ISLAND DISASTER
The Incident:
On March 28, 1979 the most serious United States commercial nuclear power plant accident happened
outside of Middletown, Pennsylvania. Although no deaths occurred, the accident at Three Mile Island
Unit 2 was the worst in operating history. It highlighted the need for changes in emergency response
planning, reactor operator training, human factors engineering, and radiation protection. The accident was
a result of equipment malfunctions, worker errors, and design related problems that ultimately led to a
partial core meltdown and a small release of radioactivity.

The Actual Events:

Early morning on March 28, 1979 the Three Mile Island plant, which used pressurized water reactors,
“experienced a failure in the secondary, non-nuclear section of the plant” (NRC).
The accident began at 4:00 a.m. on March 28, 1979. For an unknown reason, the feed pump (in the
turbine water loop; see the schematic figure 2 as below) stopped operating. Without this pump, the turbine
water could not remove heat from the steam generator. When this happened, the control rods
automatically dropped into the reactor stopping the fission process. However, the radioactive fission
products still produce heat so the temperature and pressure started to rise. To reduce the pressure, the
valve on the pressurize, called the pilot-operated relief valve (PORV), opened. Up to this time, everything
operated as designed.
Picture: 2
Causal factors:

When the pressure in the pressurizer dropped to a prescribed value, the PORV was suppose to close; it did
not. The accident was now underway. The control panel had an indicator that showed the valve to be
closed, (i.e., power was going to the valve to close it) but there was no way to determine that the valve
was actually closed. With the valve open, steam and water escaped the pressurizer; this water flowed into
a drain tank.
When the feed pump failed, the emergency feed pump should have turned on to keep the turbine water
flowing. That pump was tested 42 hours prior and was functional. However, to perform the test, workers
must close a valve, perform the test, then open that valve. Apparently the workers forgot to open the valve
so the emergency water did not flow. Now the reactor was losing water and getting hotter. With the loss
of water (and no air or steam in the pressurizer) the pressure dropped.
When the pressure dropped, some of the water in the reactor turned to steam. This had two major
consequences;
First it forced water into the pressurizer and filled it completely, and
Second, steam rather than water surrounded some of the reactor fuel. Steam does not conduct heat as well
as water, so the fuel pellets heated up.
Immediate crisis management:
In case of an accident, a nuclear power plant has tanks of water with pumps that can quickly introduce
water to cool the reactor. One of these automatically started. This was noted by the operators, but then
they looked at the indicators for the pressurizer, these indicators were telling them that the pressurizer was
full of water (which it was because of the steam in the reactor core area). A full pressurizer means that the
operators cannot control the pressure, so they turned off the entering water.
Now the situation went from bad to worse. About 100 minutes after the accident started, steam bubbles
appeared in the coolant pumps, causing them to vibrate. Fearing a complete failure of these pumps, the
operators turned them off. With no water flowing into the reactor and water and steam escaping the
reactor, large portions of the reactor core became uncovered. With no water to remove the heat, the fuel
pellets started to melt, resulting in a partial meltdown.
Finally, one operator surveyed the data and concluded that the PORV was open, so at 6:18 a.m., they
closed the valve and then introduced water into the reactor, thus ending the immediate emergency.
However, between the time that the operators shut off the pumps and when the valve was closed, the core
was uncovered, enough to cause some fuel to melt. In fact, at the time of the accident, nobody thought
that a major portion of the fuel melted. When the reactor was opened months later, they were surprised to
find that about 60% of the core actually melted.
While the reactor core was melting, the hot zirconium (that held the fuel) was reacting with the water.
This chemical reaction produced hydrogen gas, which is combustible. Some of the hydrogen gas escaped
from the reactor and into the containment building. The operators were unaware of the presence of
hydrogen until something ignited the hydrogen about 2:00 p.m. The burn lasted for six to eight seconds,
but did no damage to any systems in the building. However, the reactor vessel still contained hydrogen,
but nobody seemed to address this problem in light of other, more serious, problems. When somebody
gave it some thought two days later, the great fear was that the hydrogen might explode causing a breach
of the reactor vessel and maybe of the containment building. Once the presence of hydrogen was verified,
the hydrogen was sent though neutralizers and by the fourth day most of the hydrogen was gone. Actually
the fear of an explosion was unfounded. To burn, hydrogen must combine with oxygen, but no oxygen
was present in the reactor vessel. However, the fear of an explosion caused many of the public to evacuate
the area around TMI.
During these first few hours of the accident, all the action occurred in the reactor building. However, the
water that escaped through the pressurizer valve had filled the drain tank and overflowed onto the floor in
the Auxiliary Building. Because the core had been uncovered resulting in some core melt, radioactivity
had escaped to the reactor water and some of that water was now in the Auxiliary Building. Some of the
radioactivity was xenon and krypton (noble gases) and iodine. The gasses could not be contained so they
soon leaked into the atmosphere, thus exposing the public to radiation from the radioactivity in the air.
Although the release stacks on the Auxiliary building contained radiation monitors, they were designed
for much smaller releases. Therefore the actual radioactivity that was released was never measured, but
from later calculations, the scientific community estimated that about 17 million Curies* escaped the
reactor and transported to the Auxiliary building. The Auxiliary building served as something like a
holding tank which allowed some of the radioactivity to decay before entering the atmosphere. As a
result, a little more than half, 9 million Curies, made it to the environment.

A short history:
Generally, Due to a mechanical or electrical failure, the central feed water pumps terminated and
“prevented the steam generators from removing heat” (NRC). As a consequence the turbine and reactor
shut down, this caused an increase in pressure within the system. When pressure increases in the primary
system a monitored pilot-operated relief valve (PORV) opens until pressure reaches an acceptable level
then shuts.
In the case of the Three Mile Island accident the pilot-operated relief valve never closed and no signal
was given to the operator. Consequently, the open valve poured out cooling water to assist in the lowering
of pressure “and caused the core of the reactor to overheat” (NRC).
The indicators which were designed to let the operator know when malfunctions were occurring provided
conflicting information. There was no indicator displaying the level of coolant in the core nor was there a
signal that the relief valve was open; therefore, the operators assumed the core was properly covered.
Alarms went off in the plant due to the loss of coolant but the operators were confused on what was
wrong thereby making the situation worse. The overheating caused a rupture in the zirconium cladding
and melting of the fuel pellets. Thankfully, the worst case consequences of a dangerous meltdown such as
a breach of the walls f the containment building or releases of large amounts of radiation did not happen.
Consequences:
The TMI 2 accident caused no injuries, and at least a dozen epidemiological studies conducted since 1981
have found no discernible direct health effects to the population in the vicinity of the plant.
A federal appeals court in December 2003 dismissed the consolidated cases of 2,000 plaintiffs seeking
damages against the plant’s former owners for health problems they alleged the accident caused. The
court said the plaintiffs had failed to present evidence they had received a radiation dose large enough to
cause possible health effects. Decades of research and scientific studies have shown no negative health
effects on the population surrounding the plant.

Learning form incidence:

The Three Mile Island accident prompted several upgrades in the maintenance and building of nuclear
power plants. As described by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Three Mile Island Fact
Sheet, some of the changes which occurred post accident are the following:
 Upgrading and strengthening of plant design and equipment requirements,
 Identifying human performance as a critical part of plant safety,
 Revamping operator training and staffing requirements,
 Improved instruction to avoid the confusing signals that plagued operations during the accident,
Enhancement of emergency preparedness,
 Regular analysis of plant performance, and
 Expansion of performance oriented as well as safety-oriented inspections.
In addition, the accident permanently changed the nuclear industry and the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s approach to regulation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) developed broader
and more vigorous regulations and inspections in order to circumvent the public’s worry and distrust.
Since the Three Mile Island accident, the NRC has expanded its method of regulation.

Present status:
According to the World Nuclear Association, no verifiable health effects were found. Instead:
 The Pennsylvania Department of Health followed the health of the 30,000 people who lived
within five miles of Three Mile Island. It was discontinued after 18 years when no evidence of
unusual health effects was shown.
 At least a dozen studies assessed the release of radiation and possible effects. None found adverse
health effects.
 CASE: 3
CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR PLANT DISASTER
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in on
April 26, 1986. It is considered the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. A nuclear meltdown in
one of the reactors caused a fire that sent a plume of radioactive fallout that eventually spread all over
Europe.
The Chernobyl station was situated at the settlement of Pripyat, about 65 miles north of Kiev in the
Ukraine. Built in the late 1970s on the banks of the Pripyat River, Chernobyl had four reactors, each
capable of producing 1,000 megawatts of electric power. On the evening of April 25, 1986, a group of
engineers began an electrical-engineering experiment on the Number 4 reactor. The engineers, who had
little knowledge of reactor physics, wanted to see if the reactor’s turbine could run emergency water
pumps on inertial power.
On April 26, 1986, a test was scheduled at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to test a method of keeping
the reactors properly cooled in the event of a power grid failure. If the test had gone as planned, the risk to
the plant was very small. When things did go wrong, though, the potential for disaster was miscalculated
and the test was continued even as serious problems arose. Meltdown occurred at 1:23 AM, starting a fire
that dispersed large quantities of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. The amount of radioactive
material released was 400 times more than the amount the atomic bombing of Hiroshima released. The
fallout would be detected in almost all parts of Europe.

The Actual Events:

The experiment was started at 1:23:04 AM. The steam to the turbines was shut off, causing the turbines to
start spooling down. Four of the eight cooling pumps were also shut down. The diesel generator was
started and began powering the cooling pumps after at 1:23:43. Between this time, the four pumps were
powered by the slowing steam turbines. As the turbines slowed down, their power output decreased,
slowing the cooling pumps. This lead to increased formation of steam voids in the core, reducing the
ability of the cooling water to absorb neutrons. This increased the power output of the reactor, which
caused more water to boil into steam, further increasing the reactor's power. However, during this time
the automatic control system was successful in limiting power increase through the insertion of control
rods.
At 1:23:40, a button was pressed that initiated the emergency shutdown of the reactor and the insertion of
all control rods. It is believed that this was done as a routine method to shut down the reactor to conclude
the experiment and not as an emergency measure.
The process of inserting the control rods was initiated, but it took about 20 seconds for the rods to be
completely inserted. A flawed design in the graphite-tip control rod meant that coolant was displaced
before the neutron absorbing material could be fully inserted and slow down the reaction. This meant that
the process of inserting the control rods actually increased the reaction rate in the lower half of the core.
A massive power spike occurred, causing the core to overheat. Some of the fuel rods fractured, causing
the control rods to become stuck before they were fully inserted. Within three seconds the core's power
output rose to above 500 MW. According to simulation, it is estimated that power output then rose to 30
GW, ten times the normal power output. This was caused by the rising power output causing massive
steam buildup, which destroyed fuel elements and ruptured their channels.
It is not possible to know precisely what sequence of events led to the destruction of the reactor. It is
believed that the steam buildup entered the reactor's inner structure and lifted the 2000 ton upper plate.
This steam explosion further ruptured fuel channels, resulting in more coolant turning into steam and
leaving the reactor core. This loss of coolant further increased the reactor's power. A nuclear excursion
(an increasing nuclear chain reaction) caused a second, even more powerful explosion.
The explosion destroyed the core and scattered its contents in the surrounding area, igniting the red-hot
graphite blocks. Against safety regulations, a flammable material, bitumen, had been used in roof of the
reactor. When this was ignited and scattered into the surrounding area, it started several fires on reactor 3.
Those working there were not aware of the damage that had been done and continued running the reactor
until it was shut down at 5:00 AM
 Picture: 3

Issues in events:
 The experiment would be resumed at 11:04 PM, by which time the day shift had departed and the
evening shift was about to leave. This meant that the experiment would be conducted in the middle of
two shifts, leaving very little time for the night shift employees to be briefed about the experiment
and told what to do.
 The power reduction of reactor 4 to 700 MW was accomplished at 00:05 AM on the 26th of April.
However, the natural production of a neutrino absorber, Xenon-135, led to a further decrease in
power. When the power dropped to about 500 MW, the night shift operator committed an error and
inserted the reactor control rods too far. This caused the reactor to go into a near-shutdown state,
dropping power output to around 30 MW.
 Since this was too low for the test, it was decided to restore power by extracting the control rods.
Power would eventually rise and stabilize at around 200 MW.
 The operation of the reactor at such a low power level would lead to unstable temperature and flow.
Numerous alarms and warnings were recorded regarding emergency measures taken to keep the
reactor stable. In the time between 0:35 and 0:45 AM, alarm signals regarding thermal-hydraulic
parameters were ignored in order to preserve the reactor's power level.
 The test continued, and at 1:05 AM extra water pumps were activated in order to increase the water
flow. The increased coolant flow rate led to an increase of the coolant temperature in the core,
reducing the safety margin. The extra water flow also led to a decrease in the core's temperature and
increased the neutron absorption rate, decreasing the reactor's power output. Operators removed the
manual control rods in order to maintain power.
 All these actions led to the reactor being in an unstable state that was clearly outside safe operation
protocol. Almost all the control rods had been removed, which reduced the effectiveness of inserting
safety rods in an emergency shutdown. The water was very close to boiling, which meant that any
power increase would cause it to boil. If it started boiling, it would be less effective at absorbing
neutrons, further increasing the reactor's power output.

Immediate crisis management:

 In the worst-hit parts of the reactor building, radiation levels were high enough to cause fatal doses in
a matter of minutes. However, all dosimeters available to the workers did not have the ability to read
radiation levels so high and thus read "off scale." Thus, the crew did not know exactly how much
radiation they were being exposed to. It was assumed that radiation levels were much lower than they
actually were, leading to the reactor crew chief to believe that the reactor was still intact. He and his
crew would try to pump water into the reactor for several hours, causing most of them to receive fatal
doses of radiation.
 Fire crew were called in to protect the remaining buildings from catching fire and to extinguish the
still burning reactor 4. While some firefighters were not aware of the harmful doses of radiation they
were receiving and had assumed it to be a simple electrical fire, others knew that they would probably
receive fatal doses of radiation. However, their heroic efforts were necessary in order to try to contain
the large amounts of radiation being released into the atmosphere.
 In order to prevent a steam explosion from occurring, volunteers were needed to swim through
radioactive water and drain a pool of water under the reactor core. While they were successful, they
would later succumb to the high doses of radiation that they had received.
 The worst of the radioactive debris was shoveled back into the reactor by crew wearing heavy
protective gear.
 In total, 600,000 people worked in the cleanup, about 250,000 of which received their lifetimes' limit
of radiation. It is estimated that over 10,000 eventually died from the radiation.
 By December, a concrete sarcophagus had been completed that sealed off the reactor. This was never
meant to be a completely permanent solution, however, and is now in danger of collapsing. A
collapse could cause a large amount of radioactive material to once again be released and spread
around the world. This is why it is necessary that a new structure be constructed to contain reactor 4.

Consequences:
 Soviet scientists reported that the Chernobyl 4 reactor contained about 190 metric tons of uranium
dioxide fuel and fission products. An estimated 13 percent to 30 percent of this escaped into the
atmosphere.
 Contamination from the accident scattered irregularly, depending on weather conditions. Reports
from Soviet and western scientists indicate that Belarus received about 60 percent of the
contamination that fell on the former Soviet Union.
 A large area in the Russian Federation south of Bryansk also was contaminated, as were parts of
northwestern Ukraine.
 Soviet authorities started evacuating people from the area around Chernobyl within 36 hours of the
accident. In 1986, 115,000 local people were evacuated. The government subsequently resettled
another 220,000 people.
 400 times more radiation was released by the disaster than had been by the atomic bombing of
Hiroshima. The radiation would later be detected in almost all parts of Europe. Over one million
people could have been adversely affected by the radiation.
 The radiation would cause numerous problems, including Down's Syndrome, chromosomal
aberrations, mutations, leukemia, thyroid cancer, and birth defects.
 The radiation would affect all parts of the environment surrounding the plant, killing plants and
animals and infecting the soil and groundwater.

Learning form incidence:

 With enormous public outrage around the world Chernobyl, suddenly a household name, spurred an
international push— even overcoming Cold War divisions—to improve atomic safety and reassure
the public.
 One of the most important steps was the 1989 creation of the World Association of Nuclear Operators
(WANO), which carries out "peer reviews" of 430 reactors around the world to detect problems.

Present status:
 Today, radiation levels are still higher than normal in the areas surrounding the plant, but have
dropped considerably from the levels that they were at twenty years ago. It is now considered safe to
visit the areas immediately surrounding the plant for short periods of time. However, it is estimated
that it will take 20,000 years for reactor 4's core to be completely safe.
 Life has returned to the area and seems to be flourishing, possibly due to the lack of human intrusion.
Remarkably, numerous species have been reported to have adapted to their environment and have
developed increased tolerance of radiation, making it possible for them to live with the radiation that
is still prevalent in the soil and plants around the plant. It has even been reported that radiotrophic
fungi have been growing on the walls of reactor 4.
 The region today is widely known as one of the world's most unique wildlife sanctuaries. Thriving
populations of wolves, deer, lynx, beaver, eagles, boar, elk, bears and other animals have been
documented in the dense woodlands that now surround the silent plant. Only a handful of radiation
effects, such as stunted trees growing in the zone of highest radiation and animals with high levels of
cesium-137 in their bodies, are known to occur
 CASE STUDY: 4
THE CHALLENGER SPACE SHUTTLE DISASTER
Challenger disaster-discuss.
The space shuttle by name “Challenger” was launched by “National Aeronautical Society of
America (NASA) in the year 1986. The main components of the space shuttle ‘challenger’ are:
 Main rocket
 Booster rocket
 Orbiter
 O-rings in the field joint
 Satellite
 Shuttle
Incidence:
The space shuttle Challenger was one of NASA's greatest triumphs. It was the second shuttle to reach
space, in April 1983. It successfully completed nine milestone missions.
But Challenger was also NASA's darkest tragedy. On its 10th launch, on Jan. 28, 1986, the shuttle
exploded 73 seconds after liftoff, killing the seven crewmembers. The accident changed the space
program forever.For launching satellites and other missions, U.S. Air Force was directed to use the
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) shuttle, instead of its own shuttle. Here is an
overview of what happened, how, and the consequences for NASA. The seven-astronaut crew of
Challenger's STS-51L mission consisted of commander Francis "Dick" Scobee, pilot Mike Smith,
mission specialists Judy Resnik, Ellison Onizuka and Ron McNair, and payload specialists Greg Jarvis
and Christa McAuliffe
Picture: 4
The actual events:
In the Space Shuttle, each orbiter has three main engines, fueled by a few million newtons of liquid
hydrogen. The fuel is carried in a very big external divided fuel tank, which is abandoned when becomes
empty.
During liftoff, immediately after firing, much of the thrust is supplied by two “booster rockets”.
These booster rockets are of the “solid-fuel type”, each burning about a million - newtons load of a
mixture of aluminum, potassium chloride and iron oxide.
The casing of each booster rocket is about 50 meters long and 4 meters in diameter. It consists of
cylindrical segments that are assembled at the launching site.
The four field joints use seals made of pairs of O-rings (Picture: 5), manufactured from vulcanized rubber
which is less heat-resistant. To make it more heat – resistant, a putty barrier made of zinc chromide is
provided.

Picture: 5

After unexpected delays, Challenger’s first flight was set for launching on Tuesday morning,
January 28th 1986. Mr. Alan J. McDonald, one of the Design Engineer at Cape Kennedy was worried
about the freezing temperature predicted for the night.
Also another design engineer of the solid booster rocket knew the difficulties that were experienced with
the field joints, on a previous cold-weather launch.
The seal experts explained to the NASA engineers that how of launching, the booster rocket walls will
bulge and the combustion gases will blow past both O-rings of the filed joints. The O-rings will fail, as
had been observed on many previous flights. In cold weather, the problem is still worse because the O-
rings and the putty packing are less pliable.
The NASA engineers agreed that there was a problem with safety. According to specifications, no
launching should take place at less than 53`F, but the temperature predicted at that night was very near to
freezing temperature. This made the engineers to postpone the launching.
In order to save the image of the company which fabricated booster rockets, its engineers thought that the
seals could not be shown to be unsafe. Considering the other factors the engineers expressed that the
launching will be unsafe, but their suggestion was not heeded.
Somehow, the NASA engineers decided to go ahead with launching of the space shuttle.
The temperature had risen to 29`F.
As the rockets carrying “challenger” rose from the ground, there was puffs of smoke that emanated from
one of the filed joints on the right side of booster rocket as given in the figure 4.
Soon these turned into a flame, which hit the external fuel tank. The hydrogen in the tank caught fire, and
the challenger’s wing was smashed. Within 75 seconds from liftoff, the challenger and its rockets had
reached 16,000 meters high and it was totally engulfed in flames.
The crew cabin separated and fell into the ocean, killing all the crew.
Thus the challenger’s disaster was totally not only a technological disaster but also a financial disaster.

Immediate crisis management:

The space shuttle that carried astronauts to the moon had three stage rockets safety point of view.
A similar design was suggested in case of Challenger, but it was rejected by the government sincere it
was too expensive.
The crew had no escape mechanism.
The shuttle programme was an experimental and a research undertaking.
Challenger astronauts were not informed about the problems such as the field joints.
They were not asked for their consent towards unsafe condition.
Another cause for the failure of the Challenger was the NASA’s scientists were unwilling to wait for
proper weather condition.
Weather was partially responsible for Challenger’s disaster.
Because, a strong wind shear may result in rupturing of the weak O-rings.
The safety concerns were ignored by the management.
One engineer said this “A small amount of professional safety effort and the support of the management
will cause an enormous quantum safety improvement with little expenses”. The important role of the
management is for safety first and the schedules second.
Consequences:
NASA's space shuttle Challenger accident was a devastating tragedy that killed seven astronauts and
shocked the world. Killed in the accident were Challenger commander Dick Scobee, pilot Michael Smith,
mission specialists Judy Resnik, Ronald McNair and Ellison Onizuka, payload specialist Gregory Jarvis
and Christa McAuliffe, who was set to become the first teacher in space.

Learning form incidence:

Learning outcome from this includes; some of the factual issues, conceptual issues and moral/normative
issues in the space shuttle challenger incident are highlighted hereunder for further study.
Moral/Normative Issues
1. The crew had no escape mechanism. Douglas, the engineer, designed an abort module to allow the
separation of the orbiter, triggered by a field-joint leak. But such a ‘safe exit’ was rejected as too
expensive, and because of an accompanying reduction in payload.
2. The crew were not informed of the problems existing in the field joints. The principle of informed
consent was not followed.
3. Engineers gave warning signals on safety. But the management group prevailed over and ignored the
warning.
Conceptual Issues
1. NASA counted that the probability of failure of the craft was one in one lakh launches. But it was
expected that only the 100000th launch will fail.
2. There were 700 criticality-1 items, which included the field joints. A failure in any one of them would
have caused the tragedy. No back-up or stand-bye had been provided for these criticality-1 components.
Factual/Descriptive Issues
1. Field joints gave way in earlier flights. But the authorities felt the risk is not high.
2. NASA has disregarded warnings about the bad weather, at the time of launch, because they wanted to
complete the project, prove their supremacy, get the funding from Government continued and get an
applaud from the President of USA.
3. The inability of the Rockwell Engineers (manufacturer) to prove that the lift-off was unsafe. This was
interpreted by the NASA, as an approval by Rockwell to launch.

EXERCISE:
Long Questions:
1. What is Bhopal Gas Tragedy? Analyze it in terms of safety and risk issues involved.
2. Explain the ethical issues involved in the challenger space shuttle disaster
3. What was the issue of three miles island disaster; explain with its relevance for future learning.
4. What was Chernobyl nuclear disaster? Explain the cause in relevance to safety and risk issues.