Ch 4 - Managing Ethical Challenges Flashcards
Define ethics in the technical workplace.
Systems of moral, social, or cultural values that govern the conduct of an individual or community.
Define ethical dilemma.
Offers a choice among two or more unsatisfactory courses of action.
What are the three ethical systems?
Personal - from family, culture, and faith
Social - from constitutional, legal, utilitarian and caring sources
Conservation - protect and serve our ecosystem
Define Manuel Velasquez’s four-part categorization of social ethical situations in ranked order.
- Rights - human (life, liberty) and constitutional (bear arms, free speech)
- Justice - ensures people are treated equally and fairly - corporate policies serve this function on company scale
- Utility - utilitarianism is “the greatest good for the greatest number of people”
- Care - suggests each situation should be judged on its own, with welfare of people and relationships taking precedence (friends and family sometimes taking priority over utility, justice, or rights)
What is “land ethic”?
Concept developed by Aldo Leopold that includes the environment into the definition of “community” when considering ethics.
Name the steps to Resolving Ethical Dilemmas.
1) Analyze - using all three ethical systems, identify the ethical tensions in an issue
2) Make a decision
3) React appropriately when disagreeing w/employer
What is ethical tension?
The point where two or more ethical stances are incompatible.
What are the questions to ask when making an ethical decision?
Do any laws or rules govern my decision?
Do any corporate or professional codes of ethics offer guidance?
Are there any historical records to learn from?
What do my colleagues think?
What would moral leaders do?
What are the options for addressing ethical disagreements with employers.
Persuasion through costs and benefits (unethical practices are usually costly in the long term) Seek legal advice Mediation (human resources) Memos to file Whistle-blowing Resign
Name a good source for ethical case studies.
Online Ethics Center at the National Academy of Engineering
When addressing intellectual property for products, instead of fighting over who owns what, what’s a better way?
Establish and expand market share before competitors can.
What do Patents cover?
Inventions (product or process) - item must be demonstrably unique.
US Patent and Trademark Office
What does Copyright Law cover?
literary, musical, and artistic works
Article I of the US Constitution
Title 17 of the US Code
US Copyright Office
What do Trademarks cover?
Symbol, word, or phrase - claimed by a company as their property.
Registered (R) trademarks are filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office - allows exclusive rights
What’s required to obtain a Copyright?
Nothing - in the US, a work is copyrighted as soon as it exists in written form. The copyright symbol is not required to protect a work.
Registering with the US Copyright Office makes who owns a work easier if it’s worth suing over.
