civil engineering

When Is a Gift a Bribe? When Is a Gift a Bribe? Frequently, the boundary between a legitimate gift and a bribe is very subtle. Gifts of nominal value, such as coffee mugs or calendars with a vendor’s logo and phone number on it, are really just an advertising tool. Generally, there is no problem […]

What are the ethical reasons for not tolerating bribery? By defi nition, a bribe is something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to someone in a position of trust in order to induce him to act dishonestly. It is some- thing offered or serving to infl uence or persuade. What are the

AN APPLICATION OF PROBLEM-SOLVING METHODS: BRIBERY/ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS AN APPLICATION OF PROBLEM-SOLVING METHODS: BRIBERY/ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS One of the many gray areas of engineering ethics is the acceptance of gifts from ven- dors or the offering of gifts to customers to secure business. The diffi culty here comes because of the potential for gifts to

The hard choice is what Lund made.  The hard choice is what Lund made. He chose to risk the launch, perhaps because the data were ambiguous. He might also have wanted to help ensure the future health of the shuttle program and to save the jobs of the Thiokol workers. As we know, his gamble

Are other safety systems operating? Figure 4.6 Application of a simple fl ow chart to the Bhopal case, emphasizing potential decisions made during consideration of locating a plant in India. Maintenance needed on flare tower Is MIC tank filled? Go ahead No Are other safety systems operating? Yes Yes Yes Will these other systems adequately

Are safety laws in India as strict as in U.S.? CONFLICT PROBLEMS An area of ethical problem solving that we will frequently encounter in this book relates to problems that present us with a choice between two confl icting moral values, each of which seems to be correct. How do we make the correct choice

FLOW CHARTING Flow charts are very familiar to engineering students. They are most often used in developing computer programs, also fi nd application in other engineering disci- plines and are often used to describe business processes and procedures. In engi- neering ethics, fl ow charting will be helpful for analyzing a variety of cases, especially

Where does our situation there is a flaw, customers are not informed, and the magnitude of the problem is minimized it on this line? There is a long history of the improper use of this technique. In its early days, a precursor to this method was known as “casuistry,” a term that eventually came to

‘Example of line drawing showing the placement of the negative and positive paradigms. Let’s illustrate this technique using a hypothetical situation. Our company would like to dispose of a slightly toxic waste by dumping it into a local lake from which a nearby town gets its drinking water. How can we determine if this practice

Is it alright to be deceptive if doing so allows your company to get a contract? The moral issues then include the following: Is lying an acceptable business prac- tice? Is it alright to be deceptive if doing so allows your company to get a contract? The answers to these questions are obvious: Lying and