Conflict of Interest arises when two conditions are met: 1. The professional is in a relationship or a role that requires exercising good judgment on behalf of the interests of an employer or client and 2. The professional has some additional or side interest that could threaten good judgment in serving the interests of the employee or client. E.g. When an engineer is paid based on a percentage of the cost of the design and there is no incentive for him to cut costs- The distrust caused by this situation compromises the engineers’ ability to cut costs and calls into question his judgement.
- Employees are obliged to protect confidential information regarding former employment, after a change of job. - The confidentiality trust between employer and employee continues beyond the period of employment. - But, the employee cannot be forced not to seek a change of job. - The employer’s right to keep the trade secrets confidential by a former employee should be accepted at the same time, the employee’s right to seek career advancement cannot also be denied.
1. Based on ordinary moral considerations: I. Respect for autonomy: - Recognizing the legitimate control over private information (individuals or corporations). - This control is required to maintain their privacy and protect their self-interest. II. -Respect for Promise: Respecting promises in terms of employment contracts not to divulge certain information considered sensitive by the employer III. - Regard for public wellbeing: Only when there is a confidence that the physician will not reveal information, -The patient will have the trust to confide in him. Similarly only when companies maintain some degree of confidentiality concerning their products, the benefits of competitiveness within a free market Are promoted. 2. Based on Major Ethical Theories: - All theories profess that employers have moral and institutional rights to decide what information about their organization should be released publicly. - They acquire these rights as part of their responsibility to protect the interest of the organization. - All the theories, rights ethics, duty ethics and utilitarianism justify this confidentiality but in different ways.
- Privileged information: ‘Information available only on the basis of special privilege’ such as granted to an employee working on a special assignment. - Proprietary information: Information that a company owns or is the proprietor of. This is primarily used in legal sense. Also called Trade Secret. A trade secret can be virtually any type of information that has not become public and which an employer has taken steps to keep secret. - Patents: Differ from trade secrets. Legally protect specific products from being manufactured and sold b y competitors without the express permission of the patent holder. They have the drawback of being public and competitors may easily work around them by creating alternate designs.
- Information considered desirable to be kept secret. - Any information that the employer or client would like to have kept secret in order to compete effectively against business rivals. - This information includes how business is run, its products, and suppliers, which directly affects the ability of the company to compete in the market place - Helps the competitor to gain advantage or catch up
- ‘Public Service Argument’ is an argument against collective bargaining. - The paramount duty of engineers is to serve the public. - Unions, by definition, promote the interests of their members and whenever there is a clash of interests, the interest of the general public is ignored by them. Though the argument is a valid one, it looks at the worst possible scenarios with unions and decides that engineering unions act only irresponsibly. - A body of engineers can promote engineers’ interest within limits set by professional concern for the public good. Benefits of Collective Bargaining. a) Unions have created healthy salaries and high standard of living of employees. b) They give a sense of participation in company decision making. c) They are a good balance to the power of employers to fire employees at will. d) They provide an effective grievance redressal procedure for employee complaints. Harms…
National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Code states, “The engineer ………will act in professional matters for client, or employer as a faithful agent or trustee……………He will not actively participate in strikes, picket lines or other coercive action” Meaning that when one is a faithful trustee of one’s employer he cannot actively participate in any collective forcible action. Board of Ethical Review argued that engineers have a higher standard than self-interest and that their ethical duty is to act for their employer as a faithful agent or trustee. Collective bargaining is inconsistent with loyalty to employers because it - is against the desires of the employer - uses force or coercion against the employer and - involves collective and organized opposition. But every instance of such conduct need not be unethical. An example: Three engineers sincerely feel that they are underpaid. After their representations to their bosses are in vain, they threaten their employer, politely, that they…
‘A subordinate is said to accept authority whenever he permits his behavior to be guided by the decision of a superior, without independently examining the merits of that decision’ - Herbert Simon - Simon notes that all employees tend to have a ‘zone of acceptance’ in which they are willing to accept their employer’s authority. - Within that zone, an individual, relaxing his own critical faculties, permits the decision of the employer to guide him. - Employees generally do not make an issue of questionable incidents on morality, out of a sense of responsibility to give their employer leeway within which to operate and often not to risk their jobs. - The problem increases when employees slowly expand the boundaries of tolerance and rationalize it. This only shows that engineers should never …
