Ethical Behavior
A systems engineer’s knowledge and skills provide necessary competency. Acting ethically, within a moral framework of right and wrong, is clearly an additional obligation of the professional systems engineer. This section discusses some of the elements of such conduct. Ethical standards expected of individuals can also be applied at the organizational level.
Common definitions of ethics include:
- A system of moral principles. (Dictionary.com)
- The rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc.: e.g. medical ethics; Christian ethics; [engineering ethics]. (Dictionary.com)
- Moral principles, as of an individual: e.g. His ethics forbade betrayal of a confidence. (Dictionary.com)
- The discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
The word moral, in turn, is commonly defined as (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
- Of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior.
- Conforming to a standard of right behavior.
Ethics and Morals in Engineering
The difference between ethics and morals can seem somewhat obscure, and most books on ethics start by clarifying the differences between these; e.g., Whitbeck (2007). Morals are defined by personal character, the result of upbringing, family influence and other environmental influences. Ethics stress the application of those morals within a social system. In other words, ethics point to standards or codes of behavior expected by the group to which an individual belongs. This may be framed as professional, company, social, or even family ethics. While a person’s moral code is usually considered to be unchanging, the ethics he or she practices can be more broadly-based and be dependent on one's profession or role in life.
Behaving ethically can involve tensions between what an engineer's responsibility is to his or her society, customer, employer, or even family. This tension, then, may be an important aspect of the environment within which and individual's morals affect his or her choices.
There is no shortage of discussion on ethics or ethical codes, which are promulgated by various organizations and professions. Professions here refer to occupations that require learning and advanced knowledge and which safeguard or promote the well being of others and of society as a whole. Systems engineers have two additional ethical responsibilities that differ from those of most other engineering professions:
- Like other engineers, systems engineers generally apply their professional skills to the realization of customer desires. However, because systems engineering (SE) deals significantly with determining customers' desires or needs through the definition and management of requirements for the work, there is an added level of obligation to ensure that the problem or program definition phase is governed by the needs of the customer or user and that the interests of the systems engineer or his firm are not allowed to influence the nature of the problem definition. This element of integrity is generally not found to the same degree in other engineering fields.
- More than in most other engineering disciplines, systems engineers are typically charged with the integration and oversight of the work of others whose field of knowledge is different from the SEs. The obligation to widen one’s understanding and to seek competent advice from other professionals is more acute in the SE profession.
Caroline Whitbeck's Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research provides a useful discussion of the numerous aspects of ethical behavior for engineering professionals (Whitbeck 2007). Some specific issues of concern in the engineering of modern systems are outlined in the sections below.
Data Confidentiality and Security, Surveillance, and Privacy
Issues related to privacy, confidentiality, and the security of individual information place special responsibility on the systems engineers who develop products that deal with such issues.
Laws and Regulations
Systems are typically developed in societies which have laws concerning contracts, intellectual property, freedom of information, and employment. The requirements and restraints of those laws govern the practice of the systems engineer, who must be aware of the laws and must consider their implications for the partnerships that system development entails.
Whether or not they are stated in the system requirements document or provided by the customer, laws and regulations do in fact impose system requirements. SEs are responsible for knowing and applying relevant laws and regulations. This means recognizing people's proprietary interests by safeguarding their intellectual property (trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, and patents), and giving them credit for performing work and making innovations.
Cultural Issues
Since systems engineers develop and maintain products used by humans, it is important that they understand the historical and cultural aspects of their profession and the related context in which their products will be used. System engineers need to be aware of societal diversity and act without prejudice or discrimination.
Ethical Considerations in the Systems Engineering Method
Naturally, SE approaches to meeting customer needs must integrate SE ethics.
Codes of Ethics and Professional Conduct
Codes of ethics are promulgated by the IEEE (IEEE 2009), the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) (NSPE 2007), the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) (INCOSE 2006) and other engineering organizations.
The INCOSE Code of Ethics enunciates fundamental ethical principles like honesty, impartiality, integrity, keeping abreast of knowledge, striving to increase competence, and supporting educational and professional organizations. Based on these principles, the code identifies the systems engineer's fundamental duties to society and the public, and the rules of practice that systems engineers should follow to fulfill those duties.
According to the INCOSE Code of Ethics, it the systems engineer's duty to
- guard the public interest and protect the environment, safety, and welfare of those affected by engineering activities and technological artifacts;
- accept responsibility for one's actions and engineering results, including being open to ethical scrutiny and assessment;
- proactively mitigate unsafe practice;
- manage risk using knowledge gained by applying a whole-system viewpoint and understanding of systemic interfaces; and
- promote the understanding, implementation, and acceptance of prudent SE measures.
Enforcing Ethics
Many organizations enforce ethics internally by means of ethics policies. These polices typically include rules such as the following:
- There shall be no exchange of favors between anyone in the organization and entities with which it does business, such as suppliers, customers, or regulatory agencies.
- Product information, for example, test data, shall be reported accurately and completely to the contracting agency.
- There shall be no conflict of interest between the organization and entities with which it does business.
Favors can consist of providing money, reimbursement of travel or entertainment expenses, other items of equivalent value, or inappropriate job offers. Conflict of interest can arise when the personal or professional financial interests or organizational ties of an engineer are potentially at odds with the best interests of the customer or the engineer’s employer. Since conflict of interest and other ethical transgressions can be hard to define, care must be taken to design ethics policies that are observable and enforceable. Internal audit functions or external regulatory agencies may enforce ethical rules at the individual, team, organizational, or enterprise level. Punishment for violating ethics policies can include termination and other disciplinary actions.
Responsibility to Society
Engineers who create products and services for use in society have an obligation to serve the public good. Because of the criticality and scope of many systems, systems engineers have special responsibility. Poorly designed systems or services can have calamitous effects on society. The INCOSE Code of Ethics asserts the responsibility of systems engineers to “guard the public interest and protect the environment, safety, and welfare of those affected by engineering activities and technological artifacts.” (INCOSE 2006)
References
Works Cited
Dictionary.com, online edition, s.v. "Ethics". Accessed September 8, 2011. Available at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics.
IEEE. 2009. IEEE Code of Ethics. in IEEE [database online]. Accessed on September 7, 2012. Available at http://www.ieee.org/ethics.
INCOSE. 2006. INCOSE Code of Ethics. in International Council on Systems Engineering [database online]. Accessed on September 15, 2011. Available at http://www.incose.org/about/ethics.aspx.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, online edition, s.v. "Ethics". Accessed September 8, 2011. Available at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethics.
NSPE. 2007. NSPE Code of Ethics for Engineers. Alexandria, VA, USA: National Society of Professional Engineers. NSPE publication #1102. Accessed on September 15, 2011. Available at: http://www.nspe.org/resources/pdfs/Ethics/CodeofEthics/Code-2007-July.pdf.
Whitbeck, C. 2007. Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research. New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Primary References
Whitbeck, C. 2007. Ethics in Engineering Practice and Research. New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Additional References
National Institute for Ethics in Engineering. "National Institute for Engineering Ethics." In the Murdough Center for for Engineering Professionalism. Hosted by Texas Technical University. Accessed on September 15, 2011. Available at http://www.murdough.ttu.edu/pd.cfm?pt=NIEE.
OnlineEthics.org. "Online Ethics Center (OEC)." Accessed September 8, 2011. Available at: http://www.onlineethics.org/.
Martin, M. and R. Schinzinger. 2004. Ethics in Engineering, 4th ed. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill.
Penn State. "Ethics: Books." In Penn State College of Engineering. Accessed September 8, 2011. Available at: http://www.engr.psu.edu/ethics/books.asp.
Smith, J.H. (ed). 2008. Engineering Ethics – Concepts, Viewpoint, Cases and Codes. National Institute for Engineering Ethics, Texas Technical University.
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