Professional Practice and Ethics

HUMN 501
Instructor: Fahad Anwar
Email: faafarooqi@iau.edu.sa

Lecture 01
 Course Introduction
• Course title and code:
Professional Practice and Ethics, HUMN 501

• Credit hours:
2 hrs (2;0)

• Program(s) in which the course is offered.

Civil and Construction Engineering; Environmental Engineering; Traffic and Transportation
Engineering

• Level/year at which this course is offered

st th
1 Semester – 5 Year (Senior)

• Pre‐requisites for this course (if any)

Introduction to Engineering, ENG 251

• Co‐requisites for this course (if any)

None
 Course Description
• Examination of the non-technical issues dealt with by design
professional
• Professional ethics
• Marketing and business development
• Professional engagement
• Personnel and project management
• Risk management
• Professional liability insurance
• Dispute resolution
 Learning Outcomes
Summary of the main learning outcomes for students enrolled in the course

• Fundamentals of engineering and the principles and practice of engineering

examinations
• Integrating theory and practice
• Confirming career choices
• Become a better graduate to be more attractive to employers
• Earning money and helping students to finance their education
• Acquisition of knowledge by learning new concepts, and governing rules.
 Schedule of Assessment Tasks for Students
During the Semester

Tasks % Grade
Attendance 10
Class Activities (Discussion + Quizzes) 20
Home works 10
Midterm Exam 20
Final Exam 40
 References
Required Text(s):
• American Institute of Architects The Architect's Handbook of
Professional Practice. Wiley & Sons, Inc.;

Essential References:
• Christine M. Piotrowski Professional Practice for Interior Designers
Wiley;
• The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, Student Edition
(Architecture Student's Handbook of Professional Practice) by The
American Institute of Architects

• Selected handouts and reference materials on course subjects will

be provided as part of course material.
 Class Rules
• No use of cell phone, keep at least to the
silent mode & in your pockets
• No talking, whispering or noise in the class
• Always carry necessary items with you
• Be present and attentive in the class
• You can stop me at any point to ask question/s
 Contents
• Ethics
– Types of Ethics
• Professional Ethics
– Components/Qualities of Professional Ethics
 Ethics
• Ethics can be defined as
moral principles that govern
a person's behavior or the
conducting of an activity.

What are moral principles or Morality?

• Standards or principles
concerning the distinction
between right and wrong
or good and bad behavior.
 Types of Ethics

• Meta‐ethics
• Normative ethics
• Applied ethics
• Descriptive ethics
 Meta‐ethics
Meta‐ethics is the branch of ethics that
seeks to understand the nature of ethical
properties, statements, attitudes, and
judgments.
 Normative ethics
Normative Ethics deals with “norms” or set of
considerations how one should act. Thus, it’s a
study of “ethical action” and sets out the
rightness or wrongness of the actions.
 Applied ethics
Applied ethics is the philosophical
examination, from a moral standpoint, of
particular issues in private and public life
that are matters of moral judgment.
There are six key domains of applied physics

• Decision ethics {ethical decision making process}

• Professional ethics {for good professionalism}
• Clinical Ethics {good clinical practices}
• Business Ethics {good business practices}
• Organizational ethics {ethics within and among
organizations}
• Social ethics {deals with the rightness or wrongness of social
issues}
 Descriptive ethics
Descriptive ethics deals with
what people actually believe (or
made to believe) to be right or
wrong, and accordingly holds up
the human actions acceptable or
not acceptable or punishable
under a custom or law.
Engineering Ethics
Engineering ethics is the field of
applied ethics which is related
to the system of moral
principles that apply to the
practice of engineering. The
field examines and sets the
obligations by engineers to
society, to their clients, and to
the profession.
Ethics in Engineering Profession
 Engineers uphold and advance
the integrity, honor, and
dignity of the profession by
using their knowledge and
skills for the enhancement of
human welfare.

 Engineers should maintain the

safety, health and welfare of
the public in the performance
of their professional duties.

 Engineers actually carry on their shoulders the responsibility of

ratifying the principles of sustainable growth in a safe and
healthy environment.
Professional Ethics
“Professional ethics are principles that govern the behavior of a
person or group in a business environment. Like
values, professional ethics provide rules on how a person should
act towards other people and institutions in such an
environment”

 Unlike values, professional ethics is often described as a set of

rules, which a particular group of people use.
 This means that all those in a particular group will use the same
professional ethics, even though their values may be unique to
each person.
Components of Professional Ethics

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Transparency
• Accountability
• Confidentiality
• Objectivity
• Respectfulness
• Obedience to the Law
HONESTY
 HONESTY
Honesty is the aspect of moral character which
denotes positive, righteous attributes such as
integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness
along with the absence of lying, cheating, or
theft.

“Honesty is the best policy. If I lose mine honor, I lose myself.”

‐William Shakespeare
INTEGRITY
 INTEGRITY
 Integrity is an internal system of principles which guides our behavior.
It is a choice rather than an obligation.
 Integrity is influenced by upbringing and exposure, it cannot be forced
by outside sources.
 Integrity conveys a sense of wholeness and strength.
 When we are acting with integrity, we do what is right ‐ even when no
one is watching.

“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge

without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”

‐ Samuel Johnson
TRANSPARENCY
 TRANSPARENCY
• Transparency is operating
in such a way that it is easy
for others to see what
actions are performed.

• It is implemented by a set of policies,

practices and procedures.
ACCOUNTABILITY
 ACCOUNTABILITY
 Accountability is the obligation of individual or organization
for its activities, accept responsibility for them, and to
disclose the results in a transparent manner.
 It also includes the responsibility for money or other
entrusted property.
 If you take responsibility for your own actions, you
show accountability

“When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his
fingers are pointing at himself.”
— Louis Nizer
 Types of Accountability
• Political accountability  accountability of the government, civil
servants, politicians to the public.
• Ethical accountability  practice of improving overall personal and
organizational performance}
• Administrative accountability  internal rules or mechanisms to hold
civil servants within the administration of government accountable.
• Individuals within organization  individuals accountable for the design
of the organization.
• Constituency relations  within this perspective, a particular agency of
the government is accountable
• Accountability in education  The responsibility for student learning to
teachers, school administrators, and obey school and classroom rules
CONFIDENTIALITY
 CONFIDENTIALITY
• Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a
promise usually executed
through confidentiality agreements that limits
access or places restrictions on certain types
of information.
• Confidentiality means keeping a client’s
information between you and the client, and
not telling others including co‐workers, friends,
family, etc.
 CONFIDENTIALITY
Confidentiality regarding:

1. Whose interests
2. Which interests

Confidential information of:

1. Worker
2. Employer
3. Colleague
4. Competitor

“In intelligence work, there are limits to the amount of information one can share.
Confidentiality is essential.”
‐Gijs de Vries
OBJECTIVITY
 OBJECTIVITY
The principle of objectivity
imposes an obligation on all
professionals not to compromise
their professional or business
judgement because of bias,
conflict of interest or under the
influence of others.
RESPECTFULNESS
 RESPECTFULNESS
“Respectfulness is the regard for people’s feelings; in difference to your wishes”

• Respect gives a positive feeling of esteem for a person and conduct representative
of that esteem.

• Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of the one
respected.

• Rude conduct is usually considered to indicate a lack of respect, disrespect,

whereas actions that honor somebody or something indicate respect.

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the
president of the university.”
‐Albert Einstein
OBEDIENCE TO LAW
 OBEDIENCE TO LAW
• Law is the set of enforced rules under which a society is governed.

• Law is one of the most basic social institutions‐and one of the most
necessary.

• The law thus establishes the rules that define a person's rights and
obligations. The law also sets penalties for people who violate these
rules.

• In fact, laws frequently are changed to reflect changes in a society's

needs and attitudes.

• Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through

social institutions to govern behavior.