Module 4: Responsibilities & Rights
Module 4: Responsibilities & Rights
Introduction
Responsibilities and rights are crucial for professional success and organizational maintenance.
Engineers have moral obligations to society, impacting public safety and risk assessment.
Loyalty, respect for authority, and teamwork are essential virtues in engineering.
Robert Jackall criticizes corporate morality, stating that right is determined by superiors.
Ethical corporate climate indicators:
Ethical values are acknowledged by managers and employees.
Ethical language is honestly applied.
Top management sets a moral example.
Procedures are in place for conflict resolution.
Collegiality & Loyalty
Collegiality and loyalty are vital virtues for engineers.
Collegiality can sometimes be viewed as disloyalty.
Craig Ihara: Collegiality is connectedness based on professional commitment.
NSPE code: Engineers shall not maliciously injure the reputation/employment of other engineers or untruthfully criticize their work. Unethical practices should be reported to the proper authority.
Collegiality: support, cooperation, respect, commitment, and connectedness among colleagues.
Loyalty Defined
Loyalty: devotion and faithfulness (to a nation, cause, philosophy, group, or person).
Philosophical debate: some argue loyalty is strictly interpersonal.
Legal/political definition: fidelity to a nation.
Types of Loyalties:
Basis: Constructed upon:
Unalterable facts (biological ties, place of birth).
Personal choice and evaluation.
Control degree: One can desert even family.
Strength: Ranges from supreme (overriding considerations) to presumptive (one motivation weighed against others).
Biological ties generally stronger (Blood is thicker than water).
Scope: Limited (few actions required) to broad/unlimited (many actions/sacrifice required).
Job loyalty: punctuality, task performance.
Family loyalty: considerable personal sacrifice.
Patriotic loyalty: unlimited duties.
Scope determines weight in conflicting loyalties.
Attitude: Varies from hate/disdain to indifference to concern/positive feeling toward those who do not share loyalties.
Types of Loyalty
Loyalty: faithful adherence to an organization and employer.
Agency-loyalty: fulfilling contractual duties.
Doing one’s job, not stealing, irrespective of motive.
Attitude-loyalty: involves attitudes, emotions, and personal identity.
Grudging workers are not loyal, despite fulfilling responsibilities.
Collegiality Defined
Collegiality: shared responsibility and authority among colleagues.
Engineering codes often cite acts constituting disloyalty.
Disloyalty reflects negative attitudes toward work environment, salary, and trust.
Colleague: fellow member of the same profession or group united in a common purpose.
Collegiality implies respect for commitment to a common purpose.
Sociologists: collegiality as an organizational device used to prevent experts/professionals from challenging autocratic power.
NSPE Code: Engineers shall not maliciously injure the reputation, prospects, practice, or employment of other engineers. Unethical/illegal practices should be reported to the proper authority.
Elements of Collegiality
Maintaining harmony among members at a workplace:
Respect: Valuing another person for their skills (e.g., doctors in society).
Commitment: Promise of accomplishing a task; employee enthusiasm; organizational success depends on employee commitment.
Connectedness: Cooperative undertaking through shared skills; sense of belonging.
Coordination and shared commitments encourage quality of work.
Managing Conflict
Conflict is inevitable when people work together.
Conflict: disagreement arising from shared resources/work activities or differing status, goals, values, or perceptions.
Conflict can be functional (helpful) if managed correctly or dysfunctional (destructive) if mishandled.
Sources of Conflict:
Communication problems (misunderstandings, language).
Personal relationships (incompatibility of goals/values).
Organizational structure (power struggles, competition for resources).
Personality characteristics (authoritarianism, dogmatism).
Methods for Managing Conflict
Collective Bargaining: negotiation between employers and employees for dispute settlement.
Agreements are legally binding.
Involves proposals and counterproposals.
Prevents unilateral actions and imposes restrictions on the employer.
Conciliation & Mediation: used if collective bargaining fails.
Conciliation: informal conferences to create a friendly atmosphere.
Mediation: involves a third party as chairman to moderate.
Arbitration: used when other methods fail.
Arbitrator offers a solution after hearing both parties.
Voluntary Arbitration: moral obligation to abide by the decision.
Compulsory Arbitration: legal obligation to abide by the decision.
Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (India): legal provision for conciliation and arbitration.
Whitley Commission: recommended councils for industries in India.
Indian Labour Conference, Standing Labour Committee, and Industrial Committees established.
Conflict Management Process
Conflict resolution should be timely.
A superior should intervene before the situation worsens.
Preliminary Step: knowing the conflict details.
Requires less effort in the initial stage.
The intervener should be objective with an open mind.
Diagnosing the Issue: analyzing issues involved; understanding the nature of conflict.
Conflicts may arise due to facts, goals, methods, and values.
Factors promoting differences: informational, perceptual, role factors.
Identify the problem and its causes.
Conflict Handling Modes:
(a) Avoid appearance of conflict: create a harmonious atmosphere; suitable for like-minded people with blind faith in leaders.
Conformity can stifle creativity.
(b) Not Permitting Conflict to Surface: prioritize loyalty and cooperation; suppress disagreement; may work in time-sensitive situations but can lead to suppressed differences.
(c) Mediation: authority holder attempts to smooth over differences; persuasion, conciliation, arbitration; may lead to compromise.
(d) Letting the Parties in Conflict Settle Their Scores: allow parties to test their strength; can lead to realization of each other’s capabilities and bargaining.
Evaluate the cost of such conflicts.
(e) Mutual Problem Solving: collaboration; shared goals; requires time and patience.
Maintain open communication channels and free flow of information.
Treat conflict as individual (not group) and analytical.
Respect for Authority
Employees should respect authority to meet organizational goals.
Levels of authority define personal responsibility and accountability.
Types of Authority
Executive Authority/Institutional Authority: right to exercise power based on organizational resources.
Expert Authority: possessing special knowledge, skill, or competence.
Accepting Authority: when a person accepts someone as their superior.
Institutional vs. Expert Authority
Institutional authority: right to exercise power based on institutional resources; provides personal responsibility and accountability.
Includes allocation of funds, policy decisions, and project supervision.
Expert Authority:
(a) Special knowledge, skills, and competence.
(b) Advice on jobs.
(c) Staff function (authority of leadership).
Competent professionals serve for the institution's upliftment, while incompetence blocks progress.
Institutional authority ≠ expert authority.
Expert authority: special knowledge or competent skill (e.g., medical doctors on health).
Accepting Authority
Employees generally accept employer authority but may reject directives on moral grounds.
Hierarchical authority is distributed according to company goals.
Service/engineer-oriented companies focus on product quality.
Customer-oriented companies focus on customer satisfaction.
Herbert Simon: subordinates accept authority without assessing the merits of directives.
Authority relationships are based on accepted suggestions without review.
Employees confine themselves to the zone of acceptance.
Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining: negotiation between employers and a group of employees to regulate working conditions.
Employee interests are presented by trade union representatives.
Questions for Engineers
How far can engineers dedicate themselves to the highest ethical standards of professional conduct?
How far can engineers act as members and supporters of union activities?
Answered through knowledge of union patterns and activities.
Negotiation is needed during conflicts (pay scales, hours, training, safety).
Voluntary negotiations to resolve conflicts: Collective Bargaining.
Results are called Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or Collective Employment Agreement (CEA).
Employer-employee relations should not be decided unilaterally; both parties must reconcile through negotiations and concessions.
Unions formation became necessary for mutual benefit and progress.
Types of Collective Bargaining
Distributive Bargaining: one party’s gain is another party’s loss (e.g., wages).
Integrative Bargaining: both parties may gain or neither faces a loss (e.g., training programs).
Attitudinal Structuring: required to smooth industrial relations after bitterness.
Intra-organizational Bargaining: achieving consensus within conflicting management and union groups.
Distributive Bargaining
Involves haggling over surplus distribution; economic issues (wages, salaries, bonus).
Often explained in terms of a pie.
Tends to be more competitive (conjunctive bargaining).
Integrative Bargaining
Negotiation where both parties may gain (or at least, neither loses).
Better training programs, job evaluation methods.
Tends to be more cooperative.
Requires combative attitudes to drop and genuine interest to be adopted.
Special committees may be established.
Attitudinal Restructuring
Shapes attitudes (trust/distrust) between labor and management.
Required to maintain smooth relations.
Develops a bargaining environment and creates trust.
Intra-Organizational Bargaining
Aims at resolving internal conflicts.
Maneuvering to achieve consensus within workers and management.
Trade unions manoeuvre to achieve consensus among conflicting groups.
Objectives of Collective Bargaining
Increase mutual confidence between employer and employees.
Regulate terms and conditions of employment without third-party intervention.
Create a cordial environment.
Protect employee interests through collective action.
Raise socio-economic attributes of the employees.
Process of Collective Bargaining
Employers and employees confer in good faith to understand terms and conditions.
Management is represented by senior executives; workers by trade union leaders.
Steps
Preparing for Negotiations: preparation is needed before negotiation so that there can be proper negotiation at the time of discussion. Preparation covers the issue, the parties involved, causes, costs and impacts.
Identifying Bargaining Issues: possible related areas for discussion are identified. Confusions must be avoided.
Negotiations Procedure: process of negotiation. Who should perform and sequence and timing of the activities.
Reaching the Agreement: trade union submit the demand to the management. Negotiation starts with discussion.
Ratifying the Agreement: the agreement has to be ratified by both the parties.
Administration of the Agreement: ratified agreement is implemented according to the terms and conditions of the agreement. in the future, the work must be performed according to the ratified agreement.
Advantages of Collective Bargaining
Effective in Protecting and Promoting Interests of Workers: agreements with employers that result in high wages, insurance, cash allowances e.t.c.
Control of Management’s Autocracy: impose a substantial check on employers’ autocracy in taking decision over matters of concern of their employees.
Promotion of Durable Industrial Peace: reduces the differences over the subjects of agreement and understanding the development of a co-operative environment in the enterprise.
Conducive to the Enhancement of Managerial Efficiency: enables manages to understand the problem of the employees in the right perspective.
Establishment of Industrial Rules and Creation of Labor Standards: often leads to the establishment of similar rules and norms in other firms which creates a sort of uniformity in industrial rules and labor standards is establishedon a wide scale.
Disadvantages of Collective Bargaining
Strikes: Difficult to have collective bargaining without the right to strike. At the same time strikes can inflict considerable damage on the public image. Much attention has been given to the problem of how to maintain collective bargaining while preventing the damage that might be inflicted upon by the strikes.No effective solution has been found yet.
Based on Power and Conflict: Collective bargaining is based on power and conflict and does the most for the people who need it least. The stronger workers in the labor market could protect the income of their skills while the weakest workers in the work force have very limited ability to form unions and hence are unable to gain the benefits of collective bargaining.
Lacks Safeguards for Public Interest: Collective bargaining does not contain sufficient safeguards for the public interest, which might be ignored by collusion between strong unions and employers to fix prices. In the U.S.A., where collective bargaining is a feature of industrial relations, it is claimed that it has impeded the economy‘s growth, imparted an upward drift to the general price level and periodically imperilled the nation‘s health and safety
Confidentiality
Maintaining confidentiality is a vital duty for engineering professionals.
Analogous to lawyers, doctors, and teachers maintaining client/patient/student confidentiality.
Intellectual Property (IP)
Creations of the mind (inventions, literary/artistic works, designs, symbols).
Protected by law (patents, trademarks, copyrights).
Engineers should follow moral rules and avoid affecting intellectual properties.
Confidential information: should not be shared; trade secrets.
Maintaining confidentiality is important for teamwork and trustworthiness.
Secrecy involves not revealing data concerning the company’s business/technical processes.
Types of Information
Privileged Information: available only on the basis of special privilege.
Proprietary Information: owned by a company; trade secret.
Patents: legally protect products.
Trade secrets: no legal protection; reverse engineering possible.
Information includes business trade secrets, financial budgets, forecasts, employee lists.
Steps to Protect Confidential Information
Separate folders for confidential information.
Locked files.
Firewalls, encryption, and passwords for electronic information.
Do not leave confidential information on the table.
Refrain from showing confidential information on the computer screen.
Mark all confidential information as ―Confidential‖.
Never discuss confidential information in public or use emails to transmit it.
Wipe out information or destroy hard drive before disposing of old computers.
Conflicts of Interest (COI)
Incompatible situations or competing interests.
A person may have multiple interests related to their job.
Conflicting interests can pose a problem for the employer.
Employee may be terminated.
Dilemma
conflicts of interest vs. conflicting interests.
Conflicting interests: choosing among interests due to time constraints.
Conflict in interests: morally wrong situation (e.g., working for a competitor).
Common Conditions of COI
Professional must exercise good judgment on behalf of employer/client.
Professional has an additional/side interest that could affect judgment.
Common Types of COI
Self-Dealing: benefit the competitor; monetary benefits.
Gift Issuance: manager accepts gifts from the client.
Bribe: money/goods offered beyond contract for unfair advantage.
Insider Trading: providing confidential information for personal mileage.
Outside Employment: affects productivity.
Thumb Rule
―If the offer or acceptance of a particular gift could have embarrassing consequences for your company if made public, then do not accept the gift.‖
Coping with COI
Never ignore; disclose to confidant.
Report to institutions ethics group immediately.
Never make decisions when clouded with conflict.
Avoid conflicts; be prepared for consequences.
Best Practices
Written policy reviewed by the board.
Culture of openness.
Regular training.
Reward staff for self-reporting.
Appoint a staff to act as watch dog.
Occupational Crime
Crime committed during employment (workplace crimes).
Includes white-collar offenses: embezzlement, money laundering, tax fraud.
Severe consequences: jail time, fines, loss of license.
Defining Occupational Crimes
Unlawful use of company information, property, funds, or data.
Charged as white-collar crimes.
Common Forms of Occupational Crime
Most are white-collar offenses/financial crimes.
Corruption of government officials also qualifies.
Examples:
Embezzlement.
Money laundering.
Altering company records.
Tax fraud.
Racketeering.
Misusing company data/property.
Committing stock and securities violations.
Categories
Crimes of trust.
Offenses committed in the course of employment.
Crimes committed in furtherance of business operations.
Offenses in which crime is the central activity.
Common in healthcare (over-billing) and public officials (bribery).
Rights of an Engineer
Right to live freely and pursue legitimate interests.
Right to be against racial/sexual discrimination.
Right to receive salary according to work.
Professional Rights
Right of Professional Conscience: decisions taken ethically cannot be opposed.
Moral reflection is necessary.
Duties to respect persons and provide public good.
Right of Conscientious Refusal: refuse to engage in unethical behavior.
Right to Recognition: recognition of work and accomplishments.
Employee Rights
Any right, moral or legal, involving the status of being an employee.
Includes professional rights, privacy, and equal opportunity.
Applicable Rights
Privacy: right to private life, off the job.
Employers’ functions conflict with employee rights when queries include personal life.
Equal Opportunity – Non-Discrimination: treating everyone equally regardless of sex, race, skin color, and the likes.
Equal Opportunity – Sexual Harassment: impose of sexual through requirements The unwanted unequal power.
Employment agreement: An employee is entitled for a written document duly signed by the employer before actually starting their work.
Leave: An employee is entitled for leaves during the course of their work.They are four types : Casual leave, Paid leave, Sick leave and other types of leave.
Maternity Benefit: A female employee is entitled to have a maternity leave or pregnancy for 26 weeks which could be availed during 26 weeks or after.In addition, maternity leave could be availed by the male as well.
Gratuity: It is the retirement benefit paid to the employees after the retirement, resignation,death of employees.
Right to get insurance: Each employee has the right to get insured under the State Insurance Act 1948,in case of any kind of miscarriage occurring during the course of employment.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Allow creators/owners of patents, trademarks, copyrighted works to benefit.
Includes inventions, designs, symbols, names, images.
Protected by law.
Protection of IPR Reasons
Creations lead to human development.
Protection encourages commitment and interest.
Promotes economic growth, creates jobs, enhances quality of life.
Methods used to protect IPR
PATENTS :An exclusive right granted for an invention for the period of 20years.
TRADEMARKS: Ensures the belongingness of products to the authorized owners. They can be one or a combination of words, letters and numerals.
COPYRIGHT : Certain literary works, artisticpaintings, sculpture;computer related programs,maps, and technical drawings are protected by copyright for atleast 50 years.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN: It is the ornamental aspect of the product. These could range from three dimensional, two dimensional tolines circles
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS: These are the products which a sign is used to identify the origin and possess the qualities of origin. The product should be exclusively of that particular country of origin.
TRADESECRETS: These are rights to sell or license confidential matters.Such secrets will be commercially viable and is limited to a small group.
WIPO: Ensures the protection of rights of creators and owners of Intellectual property across the world.
Advantages of Intellectual PropertyRights
Provides exclusive rights to the creators orinventors.
Encourages individuals to distribute and share information and data instead of keeping itconfidential.
Provides legal defense and offers the creators the incentive of theirwork.
Helps in social and financialdevelopment.
Intellectual Property Rights in India Legal Aspects
ThePatents(Amendment)Act,1999,facilitatestheestablishmentofthemailboxsystemforfiling
TheTradeMarksBill,1999,replacedtheTradeandMerchandiseMarksAct,1958
TheCopyright(Amendment)Act,1999,wassignedbythePresidentofIndia.
The sui generis legislation was approved and named as the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Bill, 1999.
The Industrial Designs Bill, 1999, replaced the Designs Act, 1911.
The Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 1999, for further amending the Patents Act of 1970 in compliance with theTRIPS.
Discrimination
prejudicial treatment of people based on race, age and sex, pregnancy or disability.
Under the title of VII of 1964 it is unlawful to discriminate while hiring and firing.
Types of Workplace Discrimination
Retaliation Discrimination: employees are afraid to report as they will be exposed to bullying by the top management.
Racial Discrimination: The person will not be given the same salary or promotions as his or her counterpart based on race.
Disability Discrimination: Employers are not ready to make any adjustments related to hearing or vision as they feel that they can‘t do justice to the job.
Sexual Discrimination: Earlier women were not allowed to vote, creating a disparity in wages.
Age Discrimination: There are some employers feel that in spite of their experience and credentials they cannot work like young employees
Questions
Part-A (3 –Mark Questions)
Part-B ESSAY (14 Marks)
MODULE 4 UNIVERSITY QUESTIONS "
Introduction
Responsibilities and rights are critical for professional and organizational success.
Engineers have moral obligations affecting public safety and risk assessment.
Loyalty, respect for authority, and teamwork are vital.
Ethical climate involves acknowledging values, honest language, moral examples, and conflict resolution procedures.
Collegiality & Loyalty
Essential virtues with collegiality potentially conflicting with loyalty.
Collegiality involves professional commitment, support, cooperation, respect, and connectedness.
Loyalty Defined
Devotion and faithfulness can be based on unalterable facts or personal choice.
Types of Loyalties:
Basis: Constructed upon facts or choice.
Strength: Ranges from supreme to presumptive.
Scope: Limited to broad, impacting weight in conflicts.
Attitude: Varies from disdain to positive feeling.
Types of Loyalty
Agency-loyalty: Fulfilling contractual duties.
Attitude-loyalty: Involves emotions and personal identity.
Collegiality Defined
Shared responsibility and authority among colleagues, implying respect and commitment.
Elements of Collegiality
Harmony through respect, commitment, connectedness, and coordination.
Managing Conflict
Inevitable disagreements can be functional or dysfunctional.
Sources: communication, personal relationships, structure, personality.
Methods for Managing Conflict
Collective Bargaining: Negotiation with legally binding agreements.
Conciliation & Mediation: Informal conferences and third-party moderation.
Arbitration: Impartial solution, either voluntary or compulsory.
Conflict Management Process
Preliminary Step: Understand conflict details with objectivity.
Diagnosing the Issue: Analyze facts, goals, methods, values.
Conflict Handling Modes: Avoidance, suppression, mediation, settling scores, mutual problem-solving.
Respect for Authority
Necessary to meet organizational goals through defined responsibility.
Types of Authority
Executive Authority: Based on organizational resources.
Expert Authority: Based on knowledge and skill.
Accepting Authority: Acceptance of superiority.
Institutional vs. Expert Authority
Institutional authority allocates resources; expert authority provides advice.
Accepting Authority
Acceptance within a zone of acceptance, based on company goals.
Collective Bargaining
Negotiation between employers and employees, addressing pay, hours, safety.
Types of Collective Bargaining
Distributive Bargaining: One party's gain is another's loss.
Integrative Bargaining: Mutual gain or no loss.
Attitudinal Structuring: Smooth industrial relations.
Intra-organizational Bargaining: Internal consensus.
Objectives of Collective Bargaining
Increase confidence, regulate terms, create a cordial environment, protect interests, raise socio-economic attributes.
Process of Collective Bargaining
Preparing for Negotiations
Identifying Bargaining Issues
Negotiations Procedure
Reaching the Agreement
Ratifying the Agreement
Administration of the Agreement
Advantages of Collective Bargaining
Worker protection, control of autocracy, peace promotion, managerial efficiency, industrial rules.
Disadvantages of Collective Bargaining
Potential strikes, power-based conflicts, public interest risks.
Confidentiality
Vital for engineering professionals, protecting intellectual property and trade secrets.
Types of Information
Privileged Information: Special access.
Proprietary Information: Company-owned.
Steps to Protect Confidential Information
Secure folders, locked files, firewalls, restricted access, secure disposal.
Conflicts of Interest (COI)
Situations where multiple interests compete, potentially harming employers.
Common Types of COI
Self-Dealing, Gift Issuance, Bribes, Insider Trading, Outside Employment.
Coping with COI
Disclose conflicts, report to ethics groups, avoid decisions under conflict.
Best Practices
Written policy, open culture, regular training, self-reporting incentives.
Occupational Crime
Crimes during employment, including white-collar offenses with severe consequences.
Common Forms of Occupational Crime
Embezzlement, money laundering, tax fraud, misuse of data.
Rights of an Engineer
Freedom, non-discrimination, fair salary.
Professional Rights
Right of Professional Conscience
Right of Conscientious Refusal
Right to Recognition
Employee Rights
Privacy, equal opportunity, fair treatment, and benefits.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Protection for inventions, designs, symbols, promoting innovation and economic growth.
Methods used to protect IPR
PATENTS
TRADEMARKS
COPYRIGHT
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
TRADESECRETS
WIPO
Intellectual Property Rights in India Legal Aspects
Various acts and amendments to protect intellectual property.
Discrimination
Prejudicial treatment based on race, age, sex, pregnancy, or disability.
Types of Workplace Discrimination
Retaliation