| Some Business-Related Ethical Issues in Engineering (2000) | |||||||||||||
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| Engineering has always been related to business, but now more than ever. Engineers are increasingly involved in startup companies in which they make business decisions as well as engineering decisions. Even in large firms, highly integrated product development cycles bring engineers into closer contact with marketing and other business people than in years past. Engineers must now think about ethical issues that were once the province of business managers. In addition, the rapid growth of biotechnology and e-commerce has created a new ethical landscape in which engineers must operate. The aim here is to examine a few of the issues that bring business ethics into the engineer’s life: professionalism in management, quality and safety, intellectual property, and international business ethics. Professionalism in Business and Engineering Engineering has been regarded a profession in the West since the nineteenth century. The major engineering societies issue codes of professional ethics and certify many engineers. The professional duties of a business manager are less clear, and there is no certification. It is debated whether management is a profession at all. Thus when an engineer wades into business, the | |||||||||||||
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