Instructor Blog #10: Ethics
Submitted by rpweber on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 12:27.
Ethics are so important that I feel bad relegating them to the final week of the class. After the scandals at Enron and other companies, business schools and corporations are taking renewed interest in ethics, so don't be surprised if your new job spends a lot of time focusing on ethics. And it should. Ethics work best if everyone lays the groundwork and the expectations from the beginning. In fact, be worried if your new job doesn't stress ethics right away. If they don't, you will want to research your company policies on your own to make sure that you understand them. Saying "I didn't know that was wrong" is never an excuse, especially when the ethical blends over into the legal.
Many people define an ethical dilemma as "a choice among two or more unsatisfactory courses of action." This is a worthwhile definition, but I see this as only one part of ethics. It is, however, a very important aspect. This is the aspect of ethics full of those choices you know are right but don't always want to make. This is the kind of ethics that the Ford motor company violated in the 1970's during the production of the Pinto. Ford executives knew that the fuel tank, set in the back of the vehicle, could explode easily on impact. However, Ford decided that it would be cheaper to pay the lawsuits from families of victims than to redesign the car (the current design saved about $8 per vehicle.) Needless to say, people started dying, and the details eventually came to light. Ford recalled all of the Pintos and suffered terrible public relations.
Ultimately, Ford would have been better off just fixing the cars to begin with, because it cost more to recall the cars and repair the public relations damage than the projected cost of the original fix. There are several lessons from this famous ethics case. The first is that companies need to be careful weighing human lives against costs. Many companies do this to an extent, but the flagrant disregard for human life demonstrated by Ford is unjustifiable. But to me, the more important lesson is that it is usually more profitable to do the ethical thing right away. It is rarely easy, as it usually involves sacrifice, but in the end the ethical thing is often the most successful thing. I'm sure that Ken Lay of Enron thought his fraud would lead to personal and corporate success, and for a while it did, but he ended up dying in disgrace after a prison conviction, while Enron suffered a terrible blow. In the end, most ethical violations come back to bite you in the ass, so it's better to just avoid them altogether. Furthermore, one ethical lapse usually forces another (destroying evidence of the original transgression, continuing the same violation as a matter of practice, etc), and these compounded violations will ultimately be too much to cover up.
So, how do you know what the ethical thing to do is in this situation? There are several popular questions to ask yourself when considering a course of action:
- What does the law and company policy say about this action?
- Would I want this action to appear in the newspaper?
- Could I defend myself against this action in court?
- How would my mother/spouse/kids react if I told her this course of action?
- How would my religious leader/mentors react if I told them this decision?
- How would our customers feel if they knew about this action?
- What people or groups does this action affect? (Who are the stakeholders?) Do I understand what each of them needs/wants from this situation?
- Who does this action benefit? Who does it hurt?
Usually, one or all of these questions will help you determine an appropriate course of action. There are other guides as well. Some people mistakenly believe that everyone determines their own ethical standards and decides for him or herself what is right or wrong. This is absolutely untrue. Regardless of your personal feeling about what absolute truths humans must adhere to, there are plenty of social contracts which humans must follow. Federal and state law, company policy, and professional organizations have already made decisions about what is ethical, and as a citizen, employee, and member of a profession, you are obliged to follow them. If you don't, you do not belong in that profession. One of the best sources for ethical decisions are the standards set by professional organizations in your field. Every field has a few key organizations which are authorities in that profession. Organizations like the IEEE have already determined the ethics of your field, so please use them as a resource for determining ethical actions. These standards and organizations are also excellent resources when your company asks you engage in unethical behavior.
However, while one component of ethics is choosing between unsatisfactory situations, another aspect is choosing between competing goods. There are some shady people out there who do unethical things to benefit themselves, and I do not want you to become one of those people. But there are also plenty of people who genuinely advocate doing something they believe to be right and find themselves bumping up against someone else who believes something else to be right. Some people argue, for instance, that worker salaries should be raised for the benefit of low paid workers, while others argue that this increase will hurt the customer and ultimately end up excluding from employment the very people it hopes to benefit. While there are some selfish bastards in this conversation who just don't want to pay people more, there are also a number of very concerned and thoughtful people on both sides who believe their course of action is best for society as a whole. You cannot always instantly demonize those who disagree with you. Instead, ethical decisions must often be made by weighing to competing and mutually exclusive benefits. Our country is facing this dilemma right now by weighing the benefits of security and civil liberties. Both of those are excellent things that tend to conflict. In your jobs, and your lives, many of your ethical decisions will be of this variety. Consider dilemmas involving competing goods carefully, and do some research, discussion, and deliberation to support your conclusions.
Lastly, because this is a writing class, I'd like to discuss a few ethics specific to writing. Again, bodies like the Society for Technical Communication have already determined ethical standards. I want to emphasize a few specifics. First, as we discussed during the instructions project, technical communication must provide all relevant information to product users, especially safety information and warnings. Failure to clearly and properly warn users of dangers to equipment or themselves is an ethical, and often legal, violation, even if the omission was accidental. Secondly, writing which is deliberately unclear in order to confuse or exploit readers, such as contracts where key information is awkwardly worded or buried in fine print, is unethical. Writing can often be complex or confusing out of necessity, but writers who purposely attempt to confuse readers for personal or corporate gain are behaving unethically. Thirdly, any writer who uses another writers ideas or phrasing without citation is plagiarizing. If you use someone else's words, quote them. Otherwise, you have violated ethical standards.
Ethics are not easy, which is why there have been so many ethical violations recently. Regardless, Purdue and all of your instructors, including me, demand ethical behavior from you throughout your careers. Making the ethical decision is sometimes hard, but it is often an ultimately rewarding, effective, and successful way to do business. Stay vigilant, because even one ethical lapse can stain a lifetime of ethical behavior.
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Ethics Response
Ethics is definitely a key item employees MUST understand. In today's world, ethics play a large role in company and individual morals. When I co-oped with Toyota, I had to go through special (and lengthy) training dealing with 'diversity' which is basically a huge part of ethics. I saw people fired because they broke some of these rules that we learn in training. Understanding ethics is not like a class; you can not kind of understand ethics and slide by. It's not like thermodynamics or physics where you can totally study until your blue in the face what will be on the next test - and slide by with a B+ when you really didn't understand much. You have to practice ethics. One of the items from my diversity training that I remember most was about e-mails - but can be applied to just about any type of situation. As mentioned above, we learned in our training that before we do something that we are questioning, such as an e-mail with blonde or racist jokes, we should ask, "what would my mom think if she saw this on the news?" It sounds funny, but it works. I have almost sent joke e-mails before but then realized if I got in trouble or even fired for this, my mom would think I was an idiot!
Ethics is everywhere and must be practiced. Today some guy at a four way stop - when it was obviously my turn because three other cars went before me - peeled out in front of me to get across the intersection. That is rude, sure, but if you are the type of person to do this, you may be practicing bad ethics daily and not even realize it. If you would cut in front of someone, or cheat someone, if you knew you could get away with it - you are not practicing good ethics, and this could (and well should) catch up with you. Like I said, ethics is everywhere in all of our lives and must be practiced. As with anything else, if practiced enough, ethics can become habit.
Excellent Information
I think this was a great post, Ryan. I immediately want to point out and second you're statement that:
"Some people mistakenly believe that everyone determines their own ethical standards and decides for him or herself what is right or wrong. This is absolutely untrue."
I cannot agree more, and I happen to believe this applies outside the workplace, too. But I digress.
I actually have a little story that reflects the benefits of being truthful and ethical in one's actions. The company at which I am an intern uses an online third-party relocation expense reimbursement service. As an intern, there are certain expenses I can submit in an online form, and the third party will directly deposit the approved reimbursements into my bank account.
A question arose as to how much per month I was allowed to submit. I was told I was allowed to submit a larger amount than I had last time I interned here. I could have just ignored it, but I emailed my contact just to make sure I was submitting for the ethically correct value.
It turns out the amount I was allowed to submit for had been raised, so I submitted for the higher amount. My contact really appreciated that, and since then she has been very helpful and quick to process my online expense reports. People appreciate ethics (especially, I think, people in her line of work), and it's worth it to hold to them--for others' benefit, for the company's benefit, and for one's own benefit.
Ethics and Integrity
The two go hand in hand, and greatly affect your credibility as a writer when it relates to writing but also dramatically affect your credibility as a leader/employee/person when it comes to anything else in life. I once heard a speech from Purdue's president and one of the things that really stuck with me was emphasizing how easy it is to lose your credibility and how hard it is to get back. The last statement of this post is right in line with this message, and definitely is something to keep in mind.
Ethics and Credibility
You're right about ethics going hand in hand with credibility. In fact, ethos, which is Aristotle's term for the credibility of the writer, is directly related to ethics and has as much relation to virtue and knowledge. For Aristotle, ethics are developed as habits (and the word ethos refers to the habits of people and communities). People and organizations develop good behavior by consistently practicing and modeling it over time.
Ethics Comments
Ethics is everywhere and will be present in any future career. I wish there was a greater portion of this course material that explicitly focused on this topic; it is a practice that should be continuously studied due to its vast applications. As an engineer, ethics are an extremely relevant topic due to the goal of attempting to find a balance between efficiency and cost, which was the case with the example of Ford. In past design courses, it was a requirement to create a design notebook, which contained all ideas, data, schematics, etc… of a project. This practice is one way to consider and be aware of ethics in a design plan, by evaluating potential consequences of a decision, and is a source of evidence if any issues arise. I also agree that considering a proven professional list of ethics is a good approach in a decision process, since I am pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree, I am aware of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) Code of Ethics. I completely agree that when making an ethical decision, it is important to consider what people will think of you or react after making that choice; this may be the most powerful and immediate ethic influence on any decision. In almost any situation, there is “no right answer.” In such cases, one must consider all possibilities and weigh all positive and negative consequences, choose the most favorable option, and then have solutions for problems that may result from that choice. Sometimes making the “right” decision could cost one their job, but also such a choice could potentially save lives. I believe that it is poor decision making to not considering many of the possible consequences, and only to make a choice for personal or business gain, as proven historically. Overall, I think a rule that should be followed when considering ethics when a decision is needed to be made, the decision should be a choice that you can live with and can represent you as individual, and you feel that the decision is for the greater benefit.
Ethics
Before coming to Purdue, I had no idea how big ethics really were. I just kind of assumed that most people make honest judgments, and that there were some companies that did not. After I heard a lot of ethical stories, such as the NASA incident about the O-Rings and this Ford incident, I realized how big of deal it actually is. Ethics aren't always about taking short cuts to gain money, it can cost people their lives! Over the summer, my friends and I were hanging out and I just kind of joked around saying that I had to take an Ethics class (That's basically what ME 290 was). To my surprise, two out of the three friends in the room also took ethics classes. One is a pharmacy major at Butler and one is a business major at IU (boo!). I knew that it was bigger than I thought. I think that the last statement of the post is very true. I don't want to say that all the Enron people involved were angels, but they might have been good people throughout their lives and made good choices. That is, until they decided one day to make some extra money. Their reputations were forever tarnished. I know that if you get caught cheating at Purdue it's two strikes and you’re gone. The first strike goes on your permanent record and all of your future employers will see it. That will really make it harder for you to find a job.
Ethics and golden rule
I agree completely with how ethics and credibility go hand in hand. How ethical a person is affects all aspects of their lives. Others observe how people handle situations, and if they are ethical and aware of what they are doing and consequences which can arise they are a step ahead. Also, I think that if you are ethical and do what is moral even if it isn’t the most profitable for the business or best in other areas it will come back to you. Just like the “golden rule” do unto others as you would have done to you or what goes around comes around. In the Ford example given if they had done the correct and right thing the company might have lost a bit more money but would not have lost any respect from the public’s eye which in their case is the most important.
Response to Ethics Blog
I think this blog is a very good idea to include with this class. Many people do not think about ethics on a day to day basis and do not realize that simple things like lying on a time card or making the quick fix are ethical violations.
Unlike many companies, where I currently work we manually input the time we worked on each project and this time is then used to determine if we worked more or less than 40 hours for which we are paid. It would be real easy to lie on the time card because our boss does not verify the times that we input which makes it very easy to just add a few hours extra in here and there to collect the overtime. I think this is one of the biggest ethical problems people face on a day to day basis because everyone wants a few extra dollars on their pay check and it is so easy to pull off because the company does not have any direct oversight of people time cards at the time of submission.
Another dilemma that I have seen here at work is related to part failures. We currently are investigating a part failure and are running tests to try to find out what the root cause of the problem is. The tests have been on going for a while now with no idea what the root cause is. The supplier has decided that they don’t care what the root cause is and they want to just change a material that is used and they say it will definitely fix the problem. We, on the other hand, know that we need to find the root cause in order to correctly fix the problem. They can not guarantee that the fix will work without knowing what is actually causing a problem. In my mind they are violating ethical rules by just trying to go forward and not correctly fixing the problem which could end up causing more failures and costing the companies more money.
This blog post actually
This blog post actually really helped me understand a little bit more how ethics are very important, and that they build upon each other. I guess you can say its like stealing for some, or lying for others... Once you do it one time, you will do it more and more without even knowing. Then the "habit" is very hard to break. So from the beginning you should practice good ethics, and continue to do so. The Ford story is kinda crazy, I never actually heard of it but now that I did, I see yet another scenario of terrible ethics. All the people who died just so Ford could save $8 on their car, thats kinda sick. Purdue has already taught me many ethics to practice as well as life in general.
I agree with the above posts on how when your credibility is ruined it's VERY hard to get that back. There are so many aspects in life just like that, when you screw up its not easy to get back to where you were... Take my Sophomore year grades for example (haha), it's insane how hard it is to get your GPA back up to what it should have been after screwing up in one semester. So no matter what or where you are in life, having good ethics will help you in the long run.
John Dumakowski
Ethics
Ethics is probably one of the most important things to learn before entering the working world. In fact, I'm a little surprised that we have not discussed ethics in this class until now. I have worked a few co-ops and I am interning right now, and one of the first things they have new employees do is complete a whole bunch of training. Every time that I have started a new job, ethics has been a required course. This is for a variety of reasons. First, like mentioned in the blog, having good business ethics may mean the difference between something as serious as life and death. If a company decides to sacrifice safety features just to save a few bucks, it could have some very serious consequences. Not only does this seam inhumane, but it also looks very bad for the company. It could result in serious lawsuits, loss of business, and most of all, loss of credibility.
I’m sure that most of us who have been working for a little while are aware of the importance of ethics, since it is definitely stressed by most companies. But, the one thing that seams much harder to learn is how to actually make ethical decisions. We will all most likely come across a situation where we are not so sure how to act, or what to do. Therefore, it’s not only important to understand that we all should be ethical, but it is crucial to understand how to be ethical. Fortunately, most if not all companies probably have a system of resources set up where you can go for help and advice on making ethical decisions.
Business Ethics Comment
Ethics is so controversial it makes my head spin. The even more crazy part is that ethics is completely and truly an opinion. Everyone has different opinions on different subjects and this could be the main reason why ethics is so confusing. One of the biggest examples of ethic violation that has caused so much controversy is the lawsuit against McDonalds for not, in writing, warning the customer that a cup of coffee is hot. Some people might think that is should certainly be labeled for everyone to read and be warned but others might believe that she was just an idiot. All educated people should know that coffee is hot. Luckily for us, there is a group that has set standards for us all to follow that lays down the law for ethic manners.
The first part of this blog does a good job of letting readers know how important ethics are in the business world. When I first started my job this summer, I was immediately trained about business ethics and in fact, you cannot further your career with this company unless you pass a test at the end of the ethics training. In today’s society, it is easy to be unethical according to ethics laws laid down by a company or organization, but one must understand them all. For if these rules are not followed, serious legal consequence can follow. This blog absolutely does not belong at the end of this class and I am extremely disappointed that it was brought to attention as the class ends. Though I’m glad it was discussed, next time students should have this brought to attention sooner.
Ethics Comment
That blog contained a lot of excellent information. Ethics is such a controversial subject now, so it was refreshing to read an article stressing it's importance. I strongly agree with the statement, "Writing can often be complex or confusing out of necessity, but writers who purposely attempt to confuse readers for personal or corporate gain are behaving unethically." Whenever I am about to sign a contract, I always get so frustrated because I believe they are trying to trick me, or confuse me with their words. It is a shame how the world works these days. It would be a perfect world if everyone behaved ethically...but obviously, that is not the case. Therefore, it is important to be careful and consider every action you make that will affect others.
Ethics: Where is the line drawn?
Ethics. We learn about them all the time, yet people still disregard them. I have not run into any problems yet at work, but I can see where they can develop. An example that comes to mind is when I watch TV. I always see these commercials about psychics that can tell you everything over a text message. Then, in small font, they say that once you send a text once, you are charged 10 dollars each month until you block your texting. I haven’t done this personally, but somehow I was signed up for something similar and I had trouble stopping the texts. I see this as unethical because they show you the terms in small text and only for a second, just to sucker you in.
As for work ethics, I am a member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME, and have had to read their ethics that they say should be followed. If these ethics are followed, I can see the work place being a better environment, but not everybody is ethical. The problem now-a-days is that everyone just wants to better their own life. Though this may not have to do with ethics, just look at all the inconsiderate people driving on the road. Only thinking for themselves, and getting to where they want to go, not caring about others. If people act like that on the road, I assume they act like that in the work place.
I think it is important for a company to have lectures or mandatory meetings for new employees and talk about ethics and rules of the company. I know Purdue pressures their students to be ethical, but they can only do so much. Once we are on our own and see how hard life really can be, I think we will need to be reminded what is ethical and what is not.
Andrew Garland
Blog 10 response
Regarding your statement... "Some people mistakenly believe that everyone determines their own ethical standards and decides for him or herself what is right or wrong."
I think ethics can be defined for each person by their own beliefs. However, their beliefs and moral standards are shaped by their upbringing and interactions with others, such as their parents, friends, and teachers. Maybe even by what they see in the media, though that's another debate. I think each person processes those interactions from their environment and develops their own ethical and moral standards.
For example, society as a whole knows that murder and robbery is wrong and unethical. However, someone who is raised in a crime-filled neighborhood grows up with violence as a part of their life and may not see it as such an unethical solution to a problem. The law says that violence and murder is wrong, but the person who has grown up with it sees it differently.
Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that was my reaction to that statement.
I think the questions listed in the middle of the blog are good questions to ask yourself when deciding if a course of action is ethical. Sometimes considering the morals of another person ("What would this person think if I did this?") can be a big influence.
Personal Ethics
I understand what you're saying about everyone determining their own ethical standards, and certainly people have vastly different opinions on what is right and wrong. The point of the blog, however, is that there are times when that simply doesn't matter. It may be a worker's opinion that insider trading is perfectly ethical - certainly someone could make that case, since you would be hard pressed to argue that insider trading is absolutely, universally wrong. However, an opinion that insider trading is wrong is irrelevant in the workplace, because the community and law have determined that it is an ethical breach. People have all kinds of opinions about what is and isn't ethical, but if those people's opinions don't square with the standards and laws of their community, they're acting unethically (unless they can persuade enough people otherwise to change the standards and laws). The point I'm really making here is to make sure you know the standards and laws of your industry, because those are the codes that you will be held accountable for.
Career Ethics
After reading the post and some of the comments, I would like to comment on the credibility of writers and how hard it is to regain lost credibility. The example of Ford given is a great example of this because, although eight dollars per car can be a significant savings, the bad press given to the company after the exposure of the problem was worth much more than that. I am sure the lost sales alone could account for that figure. With that said, it is important to remember the Ford story when writing because if you lose credibility, it is very difficult to regain it and that could mean the end or at least a major step backwards in your career. So, if you do not give attention to ethics just for the sake of others or maintaining a code, do it for your career.
Never going away
I have to be honest with you. Ethics is a word that scares a lot of people in the workplace but it doesn’t phase me. Everyone is caught up in how far we can push or stretch the line of acceptable actions when they should be worried about performing their job to the best they can for the benefit of both yourself and the company. With new regulations seemingly formed every day, I always ask myself if you have to wonder if you are being making a good ethical decision then you probably know you’re doing something that you shouldn’t be doing. I am interning this summer at Prudential Financial home office in Newark, New Jersey and throughout my 7 plus weeks so far they have made a heavy effort to instill good ethical practices while working for prudential. I understand how important ethics is, and I know it’s been taken to a new level of awareness with the Enron scandal. Our generation will forever be linked with the words: Enron Scandal and Sarbannes-Oxley act.
I think the Ford case that is displayed in the blog brings up an interest point that seems to be a growing trend in American ethical cases: Pay whatever you can to get rid of the problem. Especially when this article references Kenneth Lay and Enron, the long term effect is always going to cause more problems than financial success. I am a firm believer that you always need to take the necessary precautions in today’s business world because you never know what rules and regulations you have to abide by. I personally feel ethical issues are never going to go away within the workplace within America because of our desire and greed to become extremely wealthy and powerful at any costs. I hope that I can lead a professionally ethical live and live up to all regulations that are there to protect myself and any corporation I work for.
Response
I really enjoyed this post. It was very clear that the the writer feels strongly about this topic. Very strong language and the very upset conversational tone prove that this topic is extremly important to the writer.
This is a great topic for us as students. The section about having our ethical decisions governed by something other than our personal beliefs was an invaluable point. Ethical decisions in business are goverened (as stated by the article) by many things. The most important governing ethical body, with the most impact, tends to be the professional society for a profession (such as ASME and the IEEE).
The best way, I've found, to form an 'ethical' decision is to check every related policy. Starting off checking company policy, then profesisonal policy, then state and local laws tend to provide an answer to any ethical dillemia at hand.