MODULE V
GLOBAL ETHICAL ISSUES
GLOBALIZATION
➢ Integration of countries through commerce, transfer of
technology, and exchange of information and culture
➢ It includes acting together and interacting economies through
trade, investment, loan, development schemes and capital across
countries
➢ These flows include knowledge, science, technology, skills,
culture, information, and entertainment, besides direct human
resource, tele-work, and outsourcing.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 2
MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATIONS
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 3
❖ Organisations who have established business in more than one
country
❖ The Western organizations doing business in the less-
economically developed (developing,and overpopulated) countries
gain the advantage of inexpensive labor, availability of natural
resources, conducive-tax atmosphere, and virgin market for the
products.
❖ The developing countries are also benefited by fresh job
opportunities, jobs with higher remuneration and challenges,
transfer of technology, and several social benefits by the wealth
developed.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 4
❖ Some social and cultural disturbance:
Loss of jobs for the home country
Loss or exploitation of natural resources
Political instability for the host countries
❖ International Human Rights
➢ At international level, the organizations are expected to adopt
the minimum levels of (a) values, such as mutual support, loyalty,
and reciprocity, (b) the negative duty of refraining from harmful
actions such as violence and fraud, and (c) basic fairness and
practical justice in case of conflicts.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 5
➢ The ten international rights to be taken care of, in this context
are:
1. Right of freedom of physical movement of people.
2. Right of ownership of properties.
3. Freedom from torture.
4. Right to fair trial on the products.
5. Freedom from discrimination on the basis of race or sex.
6. Physical security.
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7. Freedom of speech and forming association.
8. Right to have a minimum education.
9. Right to political participation.
10. Right to live and exist (i.e., coexistence).
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 7
❖ Technology Transfer
➢ It is a process of moving technology to a new setting and
implementing it there.
➢ It may mean moving the technology applications from
laboratory to the field/factory or from one country to another.
➢ This transfer is effected by governments, organizations,
universities, and MNCs.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 8
❖ Appropriate Technology
➢ Identification, transfer, and implementation of most suitable
technology for a set of new situations.
➢ Depending on the availability of resources, physical conditions
(such as temperature, humidity, salinity, geographical location,
isolated land area, and availability of water), capital opportunity
costs, and the human value system (social acceptability) which
includes their traditions, beliefs, and religion, the
appropriateness is to be determined.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 9
❖ MNCs and Morality
1. MNC should respect the basic human rights of the people of the host
countries.
2. The activities of the MNC should give economic and transfer technical
benefits, and implement welfare measures of the workers of the host
countries.
3. The business practices of the multinational organisations should
improve and promote morally justified institutions in the host
countries.
4. The multinationals must respect the laws and political set up, besides
cultures and promote the cultures of the host countries.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 10
5. The multinational organisations should provide a fair remuneration
to the employees of the host countries.
If the remuneration is high as that of home country, this may
create tensions and if it is too low it will lead to exploitation.
6. Multinational institutions should provide necessary safety for the
workers when they are engaged in hazardous activities and
‘informed consent’ should be obtained from them.
Adequate compensation should be paid to them for the
additional risks undertaken.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 11
ENVIRONMENTAL
ETHICS
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 12
❖ Environmental ethics is the study of
(a)moral issues concerning the environment, and
(b) moral perspectives, beliefs, or attitudes concerning those
issues.
❖ Engineers in the past are known for their negligence of
environment, in their activities.
❖ Become important now that engineers design eco-friendly tools,
machines, sustainable products, processes, and projects
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 13
❖ Essential now to
(a) ensure protection (safety) of environment
(b) prevent the degradation of environment, and
(c) slow down the exploitation of the natural resources
So that the future generation can survive.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 14
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 15
❖ The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) code of ethics
“engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and
welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the
principles of sustainable development in the performance of
professional duties”
▪ Sustainable development → the investment, orientation of
technology, development and functioning of organizations
to meet the present needs of people and at the same time
ensuring the future generations to meet their needs.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 16
❖ Compaq Computer Corporation (now merged with HP)
▪ Exhibited their commitment to environmental health, through
implementation of the concept of ‘Design for environment’
on their products, unified standards all over the world units,
and giving priority to vendors with a record of environmental
concern.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 17
❖ Engineers as experimenters have certain duties towards environmental
ethics, namely:
1. Environmental impact assessment
2. Establish standards
3. Counter measures
4. Environmental awareness
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Disasters
1. Plastic Waste Disposal
2. e-Waste Disposal
3. Industrial Waste Disposal
4. Depletion of Ozone Layer
5. Global Warming
6. Acid Rain
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 19
Human-centered Environmental Ethics
▪ This approach assumes that only human beings have inherent
moral worth duly to be taken care of.
▪ Other living being and ecosystems are only instrumental in nature.
▪ The nature-centered ethics, which ensures the worth of all living
beings and organisms
Many Asian religions stress the unity with nature, rather than
domination and exploitation.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 20
BUSINESS ETHICS
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 21
➢ Form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines the
ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in
a business environment.
➢ Provides a basic guideline that businesses can choose to follow
to gain public approval.
➢ Businesses should have a balance between the needs of
stakeholders and their desire to make profits
➢ The ethics involved in the businesses reflect the philosophy of
that organization.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 22
➢ Ethical principles in business:
• Integrity
• Loyalty
• Honesty
• Respect and concern
• Fairness
• Leadership
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 23
COMPUTER
ETHICS
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➢ Defined as:
(a) study and analysis of nature and social impact of
computer technology,
(b) formulation and justification of policies, for ethical use
of computers
➢ Types of Issues:
1. Computer as the Instrument of Unethical Acts
2. Computer as the Object of Unethical Act
3. Problems Related to the Autonomous Nature of
Computer
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 25
Computers In Workplace
➢ The ethical problems initiated by computers in the workplace are:
1. Elimination of routine and manual jobs.
2. Health and safety.
3. Computer failure.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 26
Property Issues
➢ The property issues concerned with the computers are:
1. Computers have been used to extort money through
anonymous telephone calls.
2. Computers are used to cheat and steal by current as well as
previous employees.
3. Cheating of and stealing from the customers and clients.
4. Violation of contracts on computer sales and services.
5. Conspiracy as a group, especially with the internet, to
defraud the gullible, stealing the identity and to forge
documents.
6. Violation of property rights
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 27
Computer Crime
➢ The ethical features involved in computer crime are:
1. Physical Security
2. Logical security
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Privacy and Anonymity
➢ Some issues concerned with the privacy are:
1. Records of Evidence
2. Hacking
3. Legal Response
4. Anonymity
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 29
Professional Responsibility
➢ The computer professionals should be aware of different
conflicts of interests as they transact with other at different
levels.
The Big Net
➢ Almost all the countries are now connected by the internet.
➢ Knowledge is internationalized!
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 30
ROLE IN TECHNOLOGICAL
DEVELOPMENT
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❑ Technology is merely a tool like a device or gadget.
❑ With this thought process of technology just being a device or
gadget, it is not possible for technology to possess a moral or
ethical quality.
▪ The tool maker or end user would be the one who decides
the morality or ethicality behind a device or gadget.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 32
❑ Technology ethics are principles that can be used to govern
technology including factors like risk management and individual
rights.
❑ Used to understand and resolve moral issues that have to do with
the development and application of technology of different
types.
❑ In technology we speak of ethics in two contexts:
- whether the pace of technological innovation is
benefiting the humankind or not
- whether severely empowering people while choking
others for the same.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 33
❑ There are some ethical issues that are closely connected to
digital technology, such as trust, knowledge, privacy, and
individual autonomy.
Take on a heightened concern when the technologies in
question are financed through the profit-motive.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 34
MORAL LEADERSHIP
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❖ Engineers provide many types of leadership in the development
and implementation of technology, as managers, entrepreneurs,
consultants, academics and officials of the government.
❖ Moral leadership is not merely the dominance by a group.
❖ It means adopting reasonable means to motivate the groups to
achieve morally desirable goals.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 36
❖ Moral leadership is essentially required for the engineers,
because:
• It is leading a group of people towards the achievement of
goals and objectives.
• The leadership shall direct and motivate the group to move
through morally desirable ways.
• They lead by thinking ahead in time, and morally creative
towards new applications, extension and putting values into
practice.
• They sustain professional interest, among social diversity and
cross-disciplinary complexity.
• Voluntarism
• Community service
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 37
❖ The Codes of Ethics promote and sustain the ethical environment and
assist in achieving the ethical goals :
1. It creates an environment in a profession, where ethical
behavior is the basic criterion.
2. It guides and reminds the person as to how to act, in any given
situation.
3. It provides support to the individual, who is being pressurized or
tortured by a superior or employer, to behave unethically.
4. The codes of conduct help in employees’ awareness of ethical
issues, establish, and nurture a strong corporate ethical culture.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 38
ENGINEERS AS MANAGERS
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➢ The characteristics of engineers as managers are:
1. Promote an ethical climate, through framing organization
policies, responsibilities and by personal attitudes and
obligations.
2. Resolving conflicts, by evolving priority, developing mutual
understanding, generating various alternative solutions to
problems.
3. Social responsibility to stakeholders, customers and
employers.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 40
Managing Conflicts
(a) Conflicts based on schedules
(b) Conflicts arising out of fixing the priority to different projects or
departments.
(c) Conflict based on the availability of personnel.
(d) Conflict over technical, economic, and time factors such as cost,
time, and performance level.
(e) Conflict arising in administration such as authority,responsibility,
accountability, and logistics required.
(f) Conflicts of personality, human psychology and ego problems.
(g) Conflict over expenditure and its deviations.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 41
➢ Most of the conflicts can be resolved by following the principles:
1. People
2. Interests
3. Options
4. Evaluation
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 42
CONSULTING ENGINEERS
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✓ The consulting engineers work in private.
- no salary from the employers
✓ The consulting engineers have ethical responsibilities different
from the salaried engineers:
1. Advertising
2. Competitive Bidding
3. Contingency Fee
4. Safety and Client’s Needs
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 44
ENGINEERS AS EXPERT WITNESS
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▪ To act as provide expert opinion and views in many legal cases of
the past events
▪ They are required to explain the causes of accidents,
malfunctions and other technological behavior of structures,
machines, and instruments are some of the cases where
testimonies are needed.
For e.g., personal injury while using an instrument, defective
product, traffic accident, structure or building collapse, and
damage to the property
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 46
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 47
Duties
1. The expert-witness is required to exhibit the responsibility of
confidentiality just as they do in the consulting roles.
2. They are not required to volunteer evidence favorable to the opponent.
- should remain neutral
3. They should be objective to discover the truth and communicate them
honestly.
4. The stand of the experts depends on the shared understanding created
within the society.
5. The experts should earnestly be impartial in identifying and interpreting
the observed data, recorded data, and the industrial standards.
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 48
▪ The engineers, who act as expert-witnesses, are likely to abuse
their positions in the following manners:
• Hired guns
• Money Bias
• Ego Bias
• Sympathy Bias
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 49
ENGINEERS AS ADVISORS
IN PLANNING AND POLICY MAKING
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✓ The engineers are required to give their view on the future such as in
planning, policy-making, which involves the technology.
✓ Various issues and requirements for engineers who act as advisors are:
• Objectivity
• Study All Aspects
• Values
• Technical complexity
• National security
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 51
✓ For the advisors on policy making or planning, a shared
understanding on balancing the conflicting responsibilities, both
to the clients and to the public, can be effected by the following
roles or models:
1. Hired Gun
2. Value-neutral Analysts
3. Value-guided Advocates
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 52
Vijitha Robinson, Dept. of CSE 53
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