The document discusses engineering ethics and responsibilities to employers. It covers topics like organizational culture, dimensions of culture, managerial ethos, virtues like collegiality and loyalty. It emphasizes that engineers have dual responsibilities - to their employer as well as to the public. Professional responsibilities to ensure safety and welfare of the public should take precedence over loyalty to employers if there is a conflict. Identification loyalty to employers is desirable only if they treat employees fairly and as partners in progress.

1. Engineering Ethics-Responsibility to Employers Presented by Prof.K.Prabhakar [email_address]

2. Context Employer(who?) Organization (what?) Past organizations (HMT, Dynora,ECTV,Lambertta Etc) Present organizations(WIPRO, Infosys,Bajaj, Microsoft ) Future organizations (Wal-Mart?, 3M?,Citicrop?, Coke?)

3. Organization People Processes Technology Leadership It defines the relationships between roles inorder to reduce internal and external uncertainty

4. What is Culture? International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences defines “Culture or civilization taken in this wide ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief,art, morals,law, custom and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.

5. What is organizational culture ? Organizational culture is relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by members , influences their behaviour and can be described in terms of values of a particular set of characteristics of organization- RenatoTaguire

6. Dimensions of Culture Individual Autonomy Position Structure Reward Orientation Consideration, Warmth and Support Conflict Progressiveness and Development Risk Taking and Control

7. Determinants of Culture Economic Condition Leadership Style Organizational Policies Managerial Values or ethos Organizational Structure Characteristics of Members Organizational size

8. Managerial Ethos? Ethos refer to habitual character and values of individuals, groups, races,etc. Managerial ethos is concerned with the character and values of managers as a professional group. Contemporary managers hold some specific values that affect their work they are autonomy, equity, security and opportunity.

9. We come to Ethics-Employer Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio It is designed by Engineers with average age of 27years. For what you attribute to its success?Success was attributed to employees ego satisfaction, money that could buy things for their families ,that is self esteem and financial benefits. But what is the reality?

10. Engineers Actual Motive They wanted the thrill comes from knowing that what they designed works, works to the requirement that they wanted, infact it has become a part of their extensions. The “soul” of the machine was the engineers personal commitment and caring. It was their creation! Mr..Sundaram of Karur designing a machine

11. How these Engineers from different disciplines worked? The Quality Function Deployment has given tradeoffs Finance want Low cost (5.5Lakhs the lowest in the world for a SUV) Conflicts, deadlines, competition Success is the result of technical excellence and good Ethics. What ethics?

12. Other success Stories Moserbaer Technical Excellence Shantha Biotech Provoked by Passion Love for country 950 Rs Vs 32Rs

13. What Ethics? Ethics of Team Play among the professionals who shared the common goal of the organization The responsibility of team play ie professional responsibilities are matched with the responsibilities towards other public.

14. We will discuss the team play Virtues First Collegiality Loyalty Respect for authority Collective bargaining means of improving working condition

15. Collegiality Engineers shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects, practice or employment of other engineers non untruthfully criticize other engineer’s work. Engineers who believe others are guilty of unethical or illegal practice shall present such information to the proper authority.

16. How do we operationalize Collegiality?

17. What is not Collegiality? It is not mere self group interest who engage in gross misconduct are not to be supported It should be directed towards public good

18. Loyalty Loyalty encompasses two dimensions Agency Loyalty Identification Loyalty

19. Agency Loyalty It is acting to fulfill one’s contractual duties to an employer. These are specified in the terms of particular tasks for which one is paid, as well as more generally it is a matter of “ ACTIONS ”.

20. IDENTIFICATION LOYALTY Identification loyalty deals with attitudes, emotions, and sense of personal identity with actions. It implies seeking one’s moral duties to a group willingly, with personal attachment and affirmation. People who grudgingly do their work are not having identification loyalty.

21. OBLIGATIONS OF LOYALTY Agency loyalty is a contractual obligation, it is the sum total of the obligations to employers. It is obligatory Identification loyalty-Is it obligatory? It will be obligatory only if it meets two goals

22. What are the two goals? Pleasures of affiliating with the group Recognition from the group that one’s contributions are valuable, and sense of worth and accomplishment in pursuing the goals Employees treated fairly, each receiving his or her share of benefits and burden. If these are met then the organization can expect ‘IDENTIFICATION LOYALTY’.

23. IDENTIFICATION LOYALTY IS A VIRTUE If the employer thinks that employees are only producers of profit only, he can expect only agency loyalty If the employer thinks that they are partners in progress then you can have identification loyalty.

24. The example our President A.P.J.Abdul Kalam 1979 Incident of Failure

25. When it becomes Misguided? It should be for the whole organization It should not be for a small project or for a small group The example of Ford Motor Company The Clean Air Act wanted to conduct 50,000km test The test results were rigged A specialist in computer Department has brought out the truth to Lee Iacocca

26. Professionalism Vs Loyalty If there is a conflict between professional responsibility and loyalty to company then professional responsibility to public comes first. It is not loyalty to immediate current superiors An engineer has obligations to both public and to employer. But the interest of public comes first.

27. Questions? How to frame questions Caselets

28. Authority What is Institutional authority? Institutional Authority is acquired, exercised may be defined as the institutional right given to a person to exercise power based on the the resources of the organization. It gives a person “right to get things done for the organization”.

29. Institutional Duties? They deal with the activities and functions. Project Engineers have to be given the reqired authority and responsibility to complete the task in the given time. Can Authority and responsibility can be delegated ? Yes or No

30. Yes, But not Accountability

31. Institutional Vs Expert Authority Expert Authority is the possession of special knowledge ,skill, or competence to perform some tasks or to give advice. Sometimes Engineers can have expert authority and not institutional authority.

32. Morally Justified Authority Vs Morally justified duties If the duties assigned are not morally justified, an Engineer need not follow them.