PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS
TEAMWORK Ethical issues can arise when working on projects in groups or teams. Many of your engineering classes are designed so that labs or projects are performed in groups. Successful performance in a group setting is a skill that is best learned early in your academic career since most projects in industry involve working as part of a team.
In order for a project to be completed successfully, cooperation among team members is essential. Problems can arise when a team member doesn’t do a good job on his part of the project, doesn’t make a contribution at all, or doesn’t complete his assignments on time. There can also be a problem when one team member tries to do everything. This shuts out teammates who want to contribute and learn. An analogy can be made here to team sports: clearly one individual on the team who is not performing his role can lead to a loss for the entire team. Equally true, individuals who try to do it all—“ballhogs”— can harm the team. Ethical teamwork includes performing the part of the work that you are assigned, keeping to schedules, sharing information with other team members, and helping to foster a cooperative and supportive team atmosphere so everyone can contribute.
Chapter 3 Understanding Ethical Problems 53
Cost–benefi t analysis Duty ethics
Rights ethics Utilitarianism
Virtue ethics
KEY TERMS
REFERENCES
Charles E. Harris , Jr., Michael S. Pritchard , and Michael J. Rabins , Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases , Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont, CA, 2000.
Roland Schinzinger and Mike W. Martin, Introduction to Engineering Ethics , McGraw-Hill, New York, 2000.
Non-Western Ethical Traditions
Wong, David, “Chinese Ethics,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2008 Edition) , Edward N. Zalta (ed.); available at: http://plato.stanford.edu/ archives/fall2008/entries/ethics-chinese/ .
Gunapala Dharmasiri, Fundamentals of Buddhist Ethics, Golden Leaves, Antioch, CA, 1989.
Dwight Donaldson, Studies in Muslim Ethics, S.P.C.K., London, 1963. I.C. Sharma and Stanley Daugert, Ethical Philosophies of India, George Allen &
Unwin Ltd., London, 1965.
Bhopal
Philip Elmer-DeWitt, “What Happened at Bhopal?” Time, April 1, 1985, p. 71. “Bhopal Disaster—New Clues Emerge,” US News and World Report, February 4,
1985, p. 12. Peter Stoler, “Frightening Findings at Bhopal,” Time, February 18, 1985, p. 78. Fergus M. Bordewich, “The Lessons of Bhopal,” Atlantic Monthly, March 1987,
p. 30.
Aberdeen Three
Steven Weisskopf, “The Aberdeen Mess,” The Washington Post, January 15, 1989, p. 55.