The On The Cutthroat Economy

However, there is no illegality here since this action ties in with the regulations of the company. Although we are unable to conclude on any evidence, the professional skepticism level should rise.

It is important to look at ethical dilemmas in a systematic way, thus increasing the chance of achieving a solution that gives the best possible outcome. An ethical problem solving model taken from American sources (Paradise and Siegelwaks, 1982; Austin et al., 1990) was used to develop a six-step process to follow, in order to achieve this (Bond 2010, pg. 227). This process informs this paper, and I am in the role of counsellor.

A number one bestseller many say is grasping in amazement: Freakonomics is said to unravel the untold stories of life. Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner break common misconceptions of economics by revealing its true science. Freakonomics shatters the view of economics being an arid study of finance and markets. They pull in information to make inferences on past occurrences subtly influence on the present. Freakonomics packs punches with its countless number of tables and figures, serving as concrete data to make their assumptions. Levitt & Dubner in the beginning identify the fundamental Latin phrase post hoc ergo propter hoc in the sentence, “…just because two things are correlated does not mean that one causes the other”, due to

As we all know, ethics play a major role in the construction industry. Many contractors and other construction related companies today are being judged not only on their quality of work, but by their professional reputation as well. Owners are coming to the conclusion that although they may not provide the absolute lowest price, the more professionally rated contractors provide a better experience throughout the construction process. Ethics are at the root of a construction company’s reputation. Those involved in the industry, whether it be a general contractor, design professional, subcontractor, or owner’s agent, are often aware of which companies are known for unethical actions. As well, transparency with regard to ethical behavior is more prevalent for construction companies operating on a larger scale. Unethical behaviors such as overbilling for work in place, proceeding with unauthorized change orders, non-payment to subcontractors, bid shopping, and bid peddling occur far too often in the construction industry. However, efforts are currently underway, and have been for some time, to reduce these concerns. Organizations such as the American Institute of Constructors (AIC), as well as the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA), and the Associated General Contractors (AGC), have each established a code of ethics and bylaws by which construction professionals should abide by. Companies that affiliate themselves with these organizations are expected to

In the above case study the ethical dilemma is whether to give the contract to company A which is a fair option among the two or give the contract to company B because it is run by Nirmal’s friend Devraj.

This case study analyzes the experiences of Courtland Kelley at General Motors (GM). Courtland Kelley a third generation GM worker put his job on the line by pushing the GM managers and executives to fully respond to the safety issues found while working as a safety inspector at the company. Kelley along with his supervisor Bill McAleer first discovered the issues while auditing GM cars at rail yards across the country, a spot check of vehicles before the cars were cleared to be delivered to the dealers. McAleer was taken off the audit as a result, who subsequently sued the company seeking whistle-blower protection. The case was eventually dismissed by a judge in favor of GM. The judgement only increased Kelley’s

The economy is like a watch, each gear grinds together in order to allow the hands to rotate flawlessly. What happens if one of those gears may get stuck? Starting in the early 1970s, middle and working class wages in America stagnated. From the 1970s to today, the average hourly wage "has only risen 9 percent" (Saez) while the dollar has inflated approximately five-hundred and five percent (US Inflation Calculator). These wages have continued to stagnate as the top twenty-percent wealthiest Americans have had their wages quadrupled since the 1980s (Inequality.org). This disproportionate growth of wealth in society 's elite classes have left the economy in freefall.

Can the modern-day economy be reverted to the Great Depression era? Since the 1930’s, the economy had reached an all-time high -12.9% in gross domestic product growth rate. The country Gdp growth rate has always fluctuated when the major event that occurred. Who is responsible for the economic status of United States of America? The government has the ability and resources to keep the economy healthy. The two agencies that has the power to create laws and regulation to manipulate the economy to improve is the federal government and the Federal Reserve Bank. Though, the government cannot influence the decisions of the Fed, the fed must act in the best interest of the economy.

In all professional practices, engineers often have to face various ethical dilemmas. Under the OSH (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) Act, employers are required to provide a safe and healthy workplace while complying with all applicable OSHA standards. However, such standards and regulations are not always abided by the industries, especially in areas where corruption is common. Engineers are often faced with difficult moral decisions. There are conflicts between engineers’ ethical obligations, “Engineers shall avoid deceptive acts, conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession,” and their obligation to remain as “faithful agents or trustees” for their employers and clients. In this paper I will discuss engineers’ obligations to their company, the ethical aspect of bribery, and problematic cases involving “facilitating payments”.

“ Buying Influence or engaging in Conflict of Interest”, Is one of the ethical dilemmas mentioned. Darlene was in charge of contracting airplane manufactures for defense contracts. She often dealt with Boeing Inc. through which she got to know many Boeing mangers. When her daughter and son-in-law could not find new employment, she tried to influence Boeing managers to hire them by indicating that she would be favorable towards

Tim, I enjoyed reading your tread. A few weeks ago I was invited to a meeting by one of the VP’s in the organization I work for. When entering the conference room I noticed a company that was invited to the meeting; this company and the VP are part of the good ole boy system. The VP started the meeting by letting everyone in the room know he would not be accepting any other bids for IT infrastructure cabling. The company he invited had done work for IT in the past but it was substandard. For the past several years I have been standardizing the products used and how the work is installed. To receive this type of information in front of the consultant without talking among our internal team first was very unprofessional an unethical of him. Yesterday

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code of Ethics expects engineers to act as faithful agents to both clients and employers as one of the Code’s fundamental canons (National Society of Professional Engineers, 2007) (American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2012). A conflict has the potential to arise when an engineering firm employs a professional engineer for contractual work. The firm seeks to maximize profits while the client desires a high quality solution to a problem. Hypothetically, the engineer’s superiors could require that the engineer specify lower quality equipment, materials, or components for the design in order to increase margins. If this situation were to occur, the engineer cannot act as a faithful agent to his company’s client while satisfying his manager’s request. On the other hand, the engineer could ignore his boss in order to create a desirable design for the client, which puts the engineer in the position of not acting faithfully to his employer. The question then becomes, how does an engineer act faithfully to both parties involved in this situation? This paper delves into this predicament and strives to find an answer. In order to maximize the benefits for all concerned factions and to focus on the engineer’s duty in this situation, the analysis utilizes both a utilitarian and Kantian perspective throughout the essay.

The challenge presented regarding applied engineering ethics, is to plan a solution where a comprehensive consideration of all relevant ethical principles, is conducted. Due to the inherently ambiguous nature of applied ethics, its respective application to the aforementioned scenario will occur in reference to the IPENZ Code of Ethical Conduct.

A moral dilemma is typically a case in which the available choices highlight conflicting moral values. In such cases the decision-making agent must usually choose one option at the expense of the others—thereby effectively choosing one set of perceived values over the others. Consequently, it is often the case in moral dilemmas that the decision made remains morally questionable no matter which option was pursued. One particularly poignant moral dilemma can be found in the ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ scenario—often presented as so:

Throughout history there has been multiple example of ethics in engineering, both good and bad. The following case studies are examples of how ethics play an important role in engineering and whether or not the subjects of discussion acted in an ethical way or not. We will examine the ethical issues involved in each case and how they impacted society and other in the field of engineering. This will also include my personal opinion on each case study and what ethical issues I believe are involved in each case.