PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND

HUMAN VALUES

[Link]
AP/EEE
 COURSE OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, the student will be able to,
• Identify the core values that shape the ethical behavior of an
engineer.

• Utilize opportunities to explore one’s own values in ethical

issues.

• Apply codes of ethics and standards in the engineering field.

• Explore various safety issues and ethical responsibilities of an

engineer.

• Recognize and resolve global issues.

 SYLLABUS
UNIT-I HUMAN VALUES

Morals, Values and Ethics – Integrity – Work Ethics –

Service Learning – Civic Virtue – Respect for Others –
Living Peacefully – Caring – Sharing – Honesty –
Courage – Valuing Time – Co-operation – Commitment –
Empathy – Self-Confidence – Character – Spirituality.
 UNIT -II ENGINEERING ETHICS

Senses of Engineering Ethics – Variety of moral

issues – Types of inquiry – Moral Dilemmas – Moral
Autonomy – Kohlberg’s theory – Gilligan’s theory –
Consensus and Controversy – Profession and
Professionalism – Professional Ideals and Virtues –
Theories of Right action- Uses of Ethical Theories.
 UNIT-III ENGINEERING AS SOCIAL
EXPERIMENTATION

Engineering as Experimentation – Contrasts with

standard experiments- Engineers as Responsible
Experimenters – Importance and limitations of Codes
of Ethics - Industrial Standards - A Balanced Outlook
on Law – Case Study: Space shuttle challenger
disaster.
UNIT-IV SAFETY, RESPONSIBILITIES AND RIGHTS
Safety and Risk – Types of risk - Assessment of Safety
and Risk – Risk Benefit analysis-Reducing Risk – Case
Studies - Chernobyl and Bhopal plant disaster.

Collegiality and Loyalty –Collective Bargaining –

Confidentiality – Conflicts of Interest – Occupational
Crime – Importance and consequences of whistle blowing
- Professional Rights – Employee Rights – Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) – Discrimination.
 UNIT-V GLOBAL ISSUES

Multinational Corporations – Environmental Ethics –

Computer Ethics and Internet- Engineers and
Technological progress – Weapons Development –
Engineers as Managers – Consulting Engineers –
Engineers as Expert Witnesses and Advisors – Moral
Leadership – Participation in professional societies-
Sample Code of Conduct (pertaining to specific
professional societies).
 UNIT-I HUMAN VALUES
1.0 OBJECTIVES (WHY ENGINEERING ETHICS?)
The objectives of this course on ‘Professional Ethics and
Human Values are:
(a) To understand the moral values that ought to guide the
Engineering profession.
(b) Resolve the moral issues in the profession.
(c) Justify the moral judgment concerning the profession. It
is intended to develop a set of beliefs, attitudes and
habits that engineers should display concerning morality.
 1.1 MORALS
• Morals are the welfare principles said clearly by the wise
people, based on their experience and wisdom.

• They were edited, changed or modified in accordance

with development of knowledge in science and
technology and with time.
Morality is different from Ethics in the following ways:
Morality Ethics

1. More general and prescriptive based 1. Specific and descriptive. It is a critical

on customs and traditions. reflection on morals.

2. More concerned with the results of 2. More concerned with the results of a
wrong action, when done. right action, when not done.

3. Thrust is on judgment and 3. Thrust is on influence, education,

punishment, in the name of God or training through codes, guidelines, and
by laws. correction.

4. In case of conflict between the 4. Less serious, hence second priority

two, morality is given top priority, only. Less common. But relevant
because the damage is more. It is today, because of complex
more common and basic. interactions in the modern society.
 1.2 VALUES
Definition:
• Humans have the unique ability to
define their identity, choose their
values and establish their beliefs.
• All three of these directly
influence a person’s behavior.
• People have gone to great lengths
to demonstrate the validity of their
beliefs, including war and
sacrificing their own life!
• A value is defined as a principle that promotes well-
being or prevents harm.” Another definition is: Values
are our guidelines for our success.

• Personal values are defined as: “Emotional beliefs in

principles regarded as particularly favorable or
important for the individual.”

• Our values associate emotions to our experiences and

guide our choices, decisions and actions.
Types of Values
Values related to RIGHT CONDUCT
» SELF-HELP SKILLS: Care of
possessions, diet, hygiene, modesty,
posture, self reliance and tidy appearance.

» SOCIAL SKILLS: Good behavior, good

manners, good relationships, helpfulness,
No wastage and good environment.

» ETHICAL SKILLS: Code of conduct,

courage, dependability, duty and
efficiency.
 Values related to PEACE
Attention, calmness, dignity, discipline,
equality, faithfulness, focus, gratitude,
happiness, harmony, humility, inner silence,
optimism, patience, satisfaction, self-
acceptance, self-confidence, self-control,
self-discipline, self-esteem, self-respect,
sense control, tolerance and understanding.
Types of peace:
1. Internal
2. External
Values related to TRUTH

Accuracy, discernment, fearlessness,

honesty, integrity (unity of thought,
word, and deed), justice, optimism,
purity, self-analysis, sincerity, sprit
of enquiry, synthesis, trust and
truthfulness.
 Values related to LOVE

Acceptance, affection, care, compassion,

consideration, dedication, devotion,
empathy, forbearance, forgiveness,
friendship, generosity, gentleness,
humanness, interdependence, kindness,
patience, patriotism, reverence, sacrifice,
selflessness, service, sharing, sympathy,
tolerance and trust.
Values related to NON-VIOLENCE
 PSYCHOLOGICAL
Compassion, concern for others, consideration, forbearance,
forgiveness, manners, happiness, loyalty, morality and
universal love.

SOCIAL
Appreciation of other cultures and religions, brotherhood, care
of environment, citizenship, equality, harmlessness, national
awareness and social justice.
 ACCURACY
It means freedom from mistake or error; conformity to
truth or to a standard or model and exactness. Accuracy is
defined as correctness, exactness, authenticity, truth,
closeness to truth (true value) and carefulness. The value of
accuracy embraces a large area and has many implications.
PERSEVERANCE
It is defined as persistence, determination, resolution,
tenacity, dedication, constancy, steadfastness, stamina and
endurance.
 DISCERNMENT

(i) It means discrimination, perception, penetration and

insight.
(ii) Discernment means the power to see what is not
obvious to the average mind.
(iii) It stresses accuracy, especially in reading character or
motives.
(iv) Discrimination stresses the power to distinguish or
select what is true or genuinely excellent.
 Few statements to analyze
1. A feeling you have on a Sunday morning as you sit on a deck in the woods and
watch the birds.
2. After many years of war, people on both sides were longing for _________

3. Ram is working in a cell phone manufacturing unit and his friend enquires
about a mobile which is out of model at present and ram replies his friend with
all the drawbacks about the mobile his friend seeking for.

4. Ajay is a school teacher and on his own interest he does the works in his farm
every morning before he goes to the school.

5. Anitha cares the elders in the orphanage and help them daily to do their daily
routines.
6. Leena is a christian and she helped the small girl who
caught out with fire inside a temple.
7. He should appear neat and pleasing.
8. Lavanya is sympathetic towards all living beings.
9. One should not break an earlier promised agreement.
10. Balu, a 12 year old boy were made to work in a
crackers manufacturing company due to his poor family
background.
11. Ajay being a good citizen, he does not force to bring
about political or social change.
 Evolution of Human Values
The human values evolve because of the following
factors:
• The impact of norms of the society on the
fulfillment of the individual’s needs or desires.
• Developed or modified by one’s own awareness,
choice, and judgment in fulfilling the needs.
• By the teachings and practice of Preceptors
(Gurus) or Saviors or religious leaders.
• Fostered or modified by social leaders, rulers of
kingdom, and by law (government).
 1.3 ETHICS
• Ethics is the word that refers to morals, values and
beliefs of the individuals, family or the society.

• The word has several meanings. Basically it is the

conducting of activity and process of inquiry.

• Secondly, it is different from non-moral problems,

when dealing with issues and controversies.

Few examples of ethics:

1. Integrity in personal and professional matters

2. Honesty, truthfulness and sincerity

3. Responsibility, reliability, dependability and loyalty

4. Self discipline , kindness and respect for others.

 1.4 INTEGRITY
• Integrity is defined as the unity of thought,
word and deed (honesty) and open
mindedness.

• It includes the capacity to communicate

the factual information so that others can
make well-informed decisions.

• It yields the person’s ‘peace of mind’ and

hence adds strength and consistency in
character, decisions and actions.

• A man of integrity is the highest

complement anyone can get.
 Integrity in day to day life
1. Go back to a store and pay for something you forgot to pay for.
2. Never betray a friend’s trust even if you get into trouble.
3. Do not gossip or talking badly about someone.
4. Do not let someone else take the blame for something you did.
5. When in a serious relationship, don't keep secrets from each
other.
6. Inform the cashier he gave you too much change back.
 Integrity in the Workplace
1. Show respect to coworkers with appropriate conversation and
empathy.
2. If you are in management, keep your employees informed so
they will know what is coming and what needs to be done.
3. Adhere to company policies and procedures.
4. Be responsible. Do what you say you will do.
5. Use materials for work and not personal use.
6. Work together as a team. This builds trust and shows integrity.
7. Never steal supplies from the workplace.
1.5 WORK ETHICS
• Work ethics is defined as a set of attitudes concerned

with the value of work, which forms the motivational

orientation.

• The ‘work ethics’ is aimed at ensuring the economy

(get job, create wealth, earn salary), productivity

(wealth, profit), safety (in workplace), health and

hygiene (working conditions), privacy (raise family),

security (permanence against contractual, pension,

and retirement benefits), cultural and social

development (leisure, hobby and happiness.

 Many complex social problems exist in the industrial/business scenario,
because:

1. The people desire to be recognized as individuals and treated with dignity.

2. Pay as well.

3. Privacy (personal freedom) of the employee.

4. Security during job and upon retirement.

5. Recognition to non-work activities.

6. Hard work and productivity.

7. Employee isolation.

Main example for work ethics is MUMBAI DABBAWALA.

 Few more examples for work ethics
• Honesty.
• Regard for safety.
• Professionalism.
• Motivated.
• Tolerance.
• Flexibility.
• Desire to learn.
• Dependability.
 1.6 SERVICE LEARNING
• Service-learning is an educational approach
that combines learning objectives with
community service in order to provide a
progressive learning experience while
meeting societal needs.

• It is of two types. One is selfless service in

the interest of community welfare and the
other is to serve with a profit motive.
 Key Components of Service-Learning
• Preparation.

• Action.

• Reflection.

• Self - What are you feeling?

• Other - Whom did you serve?

• Assessment

eg: School students collect trash from an urban streambed.

 1.7 VIRTUES
• Virtues are positive and preferred values.

• Virtues are desirable attitudes or character traits,

motives and emotions that enable us to be successful
and to act in ways that develop our highest potential.
• Virtues are tendencies which include, solving
problems through peaceful and constructive means
and follow the path of the golden mean between the
extremes of ‘excess and deficiency’.

• They are like habits, once acquired, they become

characteristics of a person.
 Civic Virtues
• Civic virtues are the moral duties and rights, as a
citizen of the village or the country or an integral part
of the society and environment. An individual may
exhibit civic virtues by voting, volunteering and
organizing welfare groups and meetings.
Identify the duties and rights?
1. To pay taxes to the local government and state, in time.
2. To vote the local or state government.
3. To keep the surroundings clean and green.
4. To contest in the elections to the local or state government.
5. Not to pollute the water, land and air by following hygiene and
proper garbage disposal.
6. To seek a public welfare facility such as a school, hospital or a
community hall .
7. To follow the road safety rules.
8. To establish a green and safe environment, pollution free, corruption
free and to follow ethical principles.
These virtues are divided into four categories:

➢Civic Knowledge

➢Self-Restraint

➢Self-Assertion

➢Self-Reliance
 1.8 RESPECT FOR OTHERS
This is a basic requirement for nurturing friendship, team
work, and for the synergy it promotes and sustains. The
principles enunciated in this regard are:

• Recognize and accept the existence of other persons as

human beings, because they have a right to live, just as you
have.
• Respect others’ ideas (decisions), words and labor
(actions). One need not accept or approve or award them,
but shall listen to them first.

• Appreciate colleagues and subordinates on their positive

actions.
• Show ‘goodwill’ on others. Love others. Allow others to
grow.

Respect is not a gift. You have to earn it.

 1.9 LIVING PEACEFULLY
• To live peacefully, one should start install peace within (self).
Charity begins at home. Then one can spread peace to family,
organization where one works and then to the world, including the
environment.

• Only who are at peace can spread peace. You can not gift an article
which you do not possess.
 Nurture

1. Order in one’s life (self-regulation, discipline, and duty).

2. Pure thoughts in one’s soul (loving others, blessing others, friendly, and not

criticizing or hurting others by thought, word or deed).

3. Creativity in one’s head (useful and constructive).

4. Beauty in one’s heart (love, service, happiness, and peace).

Get

5. Good health/body (physical strength for service).

Act

6. Help the needy with head, heart, and hands (charity). Service to the poor is

considered holier than the service to God.

7. Not hurting and torturing others either physically, verbally, or mentally

• Identify the internal and external peace?
1. Conducive environment (safe, ventilated, illuminated and comfortable).
2. Secured job and motivated with ‘recognition and reward’.
3. Absence of threat or tension by pressure due to limitations of money or
time.
4. Absence of unnecessary interference or disturbance, except as guidelines.
5. Healthy labor relations and family situations.
6. Service to the needy (physically and mentally-challenged) with love and
sympathy.
 1.10 CARING
• Caring is feeling for others.

• It includes showing respect to the feelings of others, and

also respecting and preserving the interests of all others
concerned.

• Caring is reflected in activities such as friendship and

through various transactions in the family, community and
country.

• It is a process which looks into the welfare of others with

fairness, impartiality and justice in all activities, among the
employees.

• Caring means being kind, considerate, courteous, helpful,

friendly and generous to others, and being compassionate
by treating others as you would like to be treated.
 1.11 SHARING
• Primarily, caring influences ‘sharing’.

• Sharing is a process that describes the sharing of feelings of others,

transfer of knowledge, ideas and thought (teaching, learning, and
information), experience (training), profit and facilities with others.

• The ‘happiness and wealth’ are multiplied and the ‘crimes and
sufferings’ are reduced by sharing.

• In profession, as colleagues work is shared and people don’t mind

working beyond hours to help a colleague in need during the
fulfillment of tasks.

• Sharing responsibilities at home will make the people mind set easy
to accept while sharing work load of others at time of necessity.

• Sharing of water by states, sharing of technology, sharing of

knowledge among colleagues must be smooth.
 1.12 HONESTY
Honesty is a virtue, and it is exhibited in two aspects
namely,

• Truthfulness.

• Trustworthiness.
• Truthfulness is to face the responsibilities upon telling truth. One
should keep one’s word or promise. By admitting one’s mistake
committed (one needs courage to do that!), it is easy to fix them.
• Reliable engineering judgment, maintenance of truth, defending
the truth, and communicating the truth, only when it does ‘good’
to others, are some of the reflections of truthfulness.
• Trustworthiness means deserving
of trust and reliable.

• People abide by law and live by

mutual trust.

• They play the right way to win,

according to the laws or rules
(legally and morally).
Honesty is mirrored in many ways. The common
reflections are:

• Beliefs (intellectual honesty).

• Communication (writing and speech).

• Decisions (ideas).

• Actions (Timing, place and the goals).

Honesty is the best policy

 As against this, some of the actions of an engineer that
leads to dishonesty are:
1. Lying.
2. Deliberate deception.(judging in which not familiar)
3. Withholding the information.
4. Not maintaining confidentiality .
5. Giving professional judgment under the influence of
extraneous factors such as personal benefits and
prejudice.
 1.13 COURAGE
• Courage is doing what others afraid to do.

Courage is classified into three types, based on the types of risks, namely:

➢ Physical courage

• The thrust is on the adequacy of the physical strength, including the muscle

power.

• People with high adrenalin, may be prepared to face challenges for the mere

‘thrill’.

➢ Social courage

• The decisions and actions to change the order, against certain social behaviors.

• This requires leadership abilities and motivate the followers, for the social cause.

➢ Intellectual courage

• It is inculcated in people through acquired knowledge, experience, education and

training.
 The courageous people own and have shown the
following characteristics, in their professions:

(a) Perseverance (sustained hard work)

(b) Experimentation (preparedness to face the challenges,

that is, unexpected or unintended results)

(c) Involvement (attitude, clear and firm resolve to act)

(d) Commitment (willing to get into action and to reach

the desired goals by any alternative but ethical means).
 1.14 VALUING TIME

• Time is rare resource.

• Once it is spent, it is lost for ever.
• It can not be either stored or recovered.
• Hence, time is the most perishable and
most valuable resource too.
• This resource is continuously spent,
whether any decision or action is taken or
not.
Time and tide waits for none
• To realize the value of one year, ask the student who has failed in the examinations.

• To realize the value of one month, ask the mother who has delivered a premature

baby.

• To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of weekly.

• To realize the value of one day, ask the daily-wage laborer.

• To realize the value of one hour, ask the friends longing to meet.

• To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who has missed the train.

• To realize the value of one second, ask the person who has survived an accident.

• To realize the value one milli second, ask the person who has won the bronze medal

in Olympics.

• To realize the value of one micro second, ask the NASA team of scientists.

• To realize the value of one nano-second, ask a Hardware engineer.

 1.15 COOPERATION
• It is a team-spirit present with every individual engaged in
engineering.
• Co-operation is activity between two persons or sectors that aims
at integration of operations (synergy), while not sacrificing the
autonomy of either party.
• Further, working together ensures, coherence, i.e., blending of
different skills required, towards common goals.
• According to professional ethics, cooperation should exist
or be developed and maintained at several levels
• Between the employers and employees, between the
superiors and subordinates, among the colleagues,
between the producers and the suppliers (spare parts) and
between the organization and its customers.
• The absence of cooperation leads to lack of
communication, misinformation, void in communication,
and undue delay between supply, production, marketing,
and consumption.
 The impediments to successful cooperation are:

1. Clash of ego of individuals.

2. Lack of leadership and motivation.

3. Conflicts of interests, based on region, religion,

language and caste.

4. Ignorance.
 1.16 COMMITMENT
• Commitment means quality of being
dedicated to a cause, activity.

• First of all, one must believe in one’s

action performed and the expected end
results (confidence).

• Holding sustained interest and firmness, in

whatever ethical means one follows, with
the fervent attitude and hope that one will
achieve the goals, is commitment.
• It is the driving force to realize success.
 1.17 EMPATHY

• Empathy is social radar. Sensing what others feel about,

without their open talk, is the essence of empathy.

• Empathy begins with showing concern, and then obtaining and

understanding the feelings of others, from others’ point of
view.

• It is also defined as the ability to put one’s self into the

psychological frame or reference or point of view of another,

to know what the other person feels.

• It includes the imaginative projection into other’s feelings and
understanding of other’s background such as parentage,
physical and mental state, economic situation, and association.
This is an essential ingredient for good human relations and
transactions.
To practice ‘Empathy’, a leader must have or develop in him, the following
characteristics:
• Understanding others: Sensing others feelings and perspectives
• Service orientation: Recognition and meeting the needs of the clients or
customers.
• Developing others : One should get the feed back, analyze the strength and
coach the individual, by informing about what was wrong, and giving correct
positive feedback.
➢ Leveraging diversity: Bringing up the opportunities from diverse people
➢ Political awareness: Ability to read political and social currents in an
organization

The benefits of empathy include:

1. Good customer relations (in sales and service, in partnering)

2. Harmonious labor relations (in manufacturing)

3. Good vendor-producer relationship (in partnering)

1.18 SELF-CONFIDENCE
• Certainty, one’s own capabilities, values, and
goals, is self-confidence.
• These people are usually positive thinking,
flexible and willing to change.
• They respect others so much as they respect
themselves.
• Self-confidence is positive attitude, wherein the
individual has some positive and realistic view
of himself, with respect to the situations in
which one gets involved.
The self-confidence in a person develops a sense of partnership,
respect, and accountability, and this helps the organization to
obtain maximum ideas, efforts, and guidelines from its
employees. The people with self-confidence have the following
characteristics:
• A self-assured standing.
• Willing to listen to learn from others and adopt (flexibility).
• Frank to speak the truth.
• Respect others’ efforts and give due credit.
The factors that shape self-confidence in a person are:

• Heredity (attitudes of parents) and family environment

(elders).

• Friendship (influence of friends/colleagues).

• Influence of superiors (role models)

• Training in the organization (e.g., Training by Technical

people at Infosys Technologies).
 1.19 CHARACTER

• Character is the expression of the

personality of a human being, and that it
reveals itself in one’s conduct

• Character includes attributes that determine

a person’s moral and ethical actions and
responses.

• Character is determined by the expectations

of society.
 Types of Character
(a) The sensitive (humble and emotional)

(b) The active (great and the mediocre)

(c) The apathetic (with no interest or dull)

(d) The intelligent.

 Building Character in the Workplace
Managers have to influence and employ creative means
of stressing the importance of good character in the
workplace, in the following ways:
➢ Employee Hiring, Training and Promotion Activities
➢ Internal Communication
➢ External Communication
➢ Financial and Human Resources
1.20 SPIRITUALITY
• Spirituality is a way of living that emphasizes
the constant awareness and recognition of the
spiritual dimension (mind and its development)
of nature and people, with a dynamic balance
between the material development and the
spiritual development.
• This is said to be the great virtue of Indian
philosophy and for Indians. Sometimes,
spirituality includes the faith or belief in
supernatural power/ God, regarding the worldly
events. It functions as a fertilizer for the soil
‘character’ to blossom into values and morals.
 Spirituality in the Workplace
1. Verbally respect the individuals as humans and recognize their values
in all decisions and actions.
2. Get to know the people with whom you work and know what is
important to them. Know their goals, desires, and dreams too.
3. State your personal ethics and your beliefs clearly.
4. Support causes outside the business.
5. Encourage leaders to use value-based discretion in making decisions.
6. Demonstrate your own self-knowledge and spirituality in all your
actions.
7. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
The spiritual traits to be developed for excellence in corporate
activities are listed as follows:
➢ Self-awareness
➢ Being visionary and value based
➢ Holism
➢ Compassion
➢ Respect for diversity
➢ Moral Autonomy
➢ Creative thinking and constant reasoning
➢ Ability to analyze and synthesize