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Ce195 CS02 1Q2021

This document contains 3 case studies related to ethics issues that engineers may face. The first case study involves an engineer, Bob, working during a strike at his plant over unsafe conditions. The second case study discusses a man who cheated on his PhD exam and confessed 32 years later. The third case study involves a new engineer asked to leave preliminary positive data out of a report for his company.

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Pzynae Florentino
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255 views1 page

Ce195 CS02 1Q2021

This document contains 3 case studies related to ethics issues that engineers may face. The first case study involves an engineer, Bob, working during a strike at his plant over unsafe conditions. The second case study discusses a man who cheated on his PhD exam and confessed 32 years later. The third case study involves a new engineer asked to leave preliminary positive data out of a report for his company.

Uploaded by

Pzynae Florentino
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CE195 – Civil Engineering Laws, Contracts, Specifications and Ethics

Name :
Student No./Program-Year :
Course/Section :
Date of Submission :
CASE STUDY NO. 02
1. A manufacturing enterprise pays their engineers overtime salary and a handsome bonus to work during a
strike period. The strike was organised by the union against the unsafe working conditions of the plant. Bob,
considered as a management man, believes that the conditions may be unsafe even though no government
regulations apply. What should Bob do?

Options
1. Refuse to work, because he thinks that the allegations of the union have merit (loyalty to the employer
vs. collegiality, rights).
2. Refuse to work because he believes that breaking the strike is unethical.
3. Continue to work, because he feels this is an obligation to the employees (obligation to the employer,
duty vs. collegiality).
4. Continue to work because it will help clear some of his pending commitments (collegiality vs. personal
obligation—to the family).
5. Work, because otherwise he is likely to be fired and can not get alternate job (personal obligation vs.
collegiality).
6. Any other e.g., being considered a management man, may initiate negotiation with the management,
pleading for meeting a few of the demands as an emergency measure, and bridging the two sides for
settlement over a time frame.

2. In 1968, Norm Lewis was a 51-year-old doctoral candidate in history at the University of Washington. While
taking his final exam in the program, he excused himself to go to the bathroom, where he looked at his notes.
For the next 32 years, Lewis told no one. At age 83, he decided to confess, and he wrote to the president of
the university admitting that he had cheated and that he had regretted it ever since.

Commenting on the case, Jeanne Wilson, president of the Center for Academic Integrity remarked, ‘‘I think
there is an important lesson here for students about the costs of cheating. He has felt guilty all these years,
and has felt burdened by this secret, believing that he never really earned the degree he was awarded.’’
Wilson’s position is that the University of Washington should not take action against Lewis, given his
confession, his age, and the fact that, after all, he did complete his coursework and a dissertation.

But, she added, ‘‘On the other hand, I think an institution might feel compelled to revoke the degree if we
were talking about a medical or law degree or license, or some other professional field such as engineering
or education, and the individual were younger and still employed on the basis of that degree or license.’’
Discuss the ethical issues this case raises, both for Dr. Lewis and for University of Washington officials.
Evaluate Jeanne Wilson’s analysis, especially as it might apply to engineers.

3. A recent graduate of Engineering Tech, you have been employed in the R & D Chemical Engineering Division
of Larom, Inc. for the past several months. You were hired because of the promising research you did with
catalysts as a student at Engineering Tech.

A meeting of your division is called by your supervisor, Alex Smith. He announces that your unit must make
a recommendation within the next two days on what catalyst should be used by Larom in processing a major
product. The overwhelming consensus of the engineers in your unit, based on many years of experience, is
that catalyst A is best for the job. But the research you have been conducting at Larom provides preliminary
evidence that catalyst B might be more reliable, more efficient, and considerably less costly. So, you ask if the
recommendation can be delayed another month to see if firmer evidence can be found.

Alex replies, "We don't have a month. We have two days." He then asks you to write up the report, leaving
out the preliminary data you have gathered about catalyst B. He says, "It might be nice to do some more
research on B, but we've already taken too much time on this project. This is one of those times we have to
be decisive--and we have to look decisive and quit beating around the bush. Management is really getting
impatient with us on this one. Besides, we've had a lot of experience in this area."

You like working for Larom, and you feel fortunate to have landed such a good job right out of Engineering
Tech. You have no desire to challenge your colleagues. Besides you don't necessarily disagree with them
about which catalyst is best. Still, you wish you had been given more time to work on catalyst B, and you feel
uncomfortable about leaving the preliminary data out of the report. What should you do?

1. Write up and sign the report as instructed.


2. Write up the report as instructed, but refuse to sign it.
3. Refuse to write up the report, threatening to go around Alex to the next level of management if a fully
accurate report is not made.
4. Others. Please explain.

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