Incident at Morales is an educational film that tells the story of Fred, a newly hired engineer who has to deal with multiple ethical challenges to perform his professional duties. Its main idea is to demonstrate that specialists in the field of engineering face difficult situations requiring them to be trustworthy on a daily basis. Corporate cultures affect specialists’ way of approaching engineering and ethical issues by normalizing specific behaviors. For instance, in the film, Fred is encouraged to report any problems to his immediate supervisor prior to taking any other actions. In this case, the inappropriateness of employees’ attempts to withhold information acts as a critical element of culture that should shape Fred’s strategy in case of ethical constraints.
Faust’s decision to hire Fred was not perfect from the ethical viewpoint since he used to work with their major business rival, Chemitoil. The problem is that Fred could still be in contact with his former colleagues and reveal sensitive data related to Chemitoil’s projects, intentionally or not (Harris et al. 110). For Fred, it is a pivotal task to prove that he is trustworthy and honest as an employee. To maintain this reputation, he is to work on Phaust’s new project without plagiarizing and violating Chemitoil’s intellectual property rights (Harris et al. 108). Moreover, he can prevent reputational losses by demonstrating his unwillingness to discuss his former and present employers with third parties.
As is demonstrated in the film, conflicts between management and engineering urged engineers to make decisions with reference to quite unrealistic goals. Without consulting other specialists, the management team reduced the number of available funds to be spent on a new plant and set a short facility completion deadline. Therefore, during the design and building stages, the engineering team had to analyze ways to save on construction materials without destroying workplace safety and productive capacity. When facing constraints linked with resources, for instance, money and time, I score twice before cutting once and avoid decisions that emphasize profitability instead of safety. A specialist should remain objective and committed to safety under any circumstances.
It is clear from the case that openness can be regarded as the most critical element of effective relationships in the workplace. In the film, Fred demonstrates it by voicing concerns linked with the environmental implications of the new project during his conversations with Peter. Although his behavior is seen as disobedience, Fred does not try to shy away from discussing the case to avoid communication problems. However, other team members are not as open to the need for morally right decisions, and they make Fred challenge his ideals.
The situation sheds light on ethical dilemmas that arise when financial issues are in conflict with moral obligations. To encourage honorable behavior and prevent further ethical issues, Phaust should change its working practices to improve communication between people on different organizational levels, thus preventing the management team from making uninformed financial decisions. Being able to maintain professional integrity is another prerequisite to effective decision-making and ethical behaviors (Harris et al. 119). Faust can minimize ethical issues by creating a culture in which specialists are motivated to exercise honesty and make use of ethical codes in case of any constraints. Also, the company will probably benefit from hiring business ethics consultants to educate employees and provide them with support. Therefore, a leader’s actions to make specialists follow the highest ethical and professional standards may include the use of employee education and internal investigations to identify the causes of ethical misconduct. Overall, the film covers a range of issues, including ethical constraints that occur during all stages of project development, and the book chapter focuses on the key principles of trustworthiness.
Work Cited
Harris, Charles E., et al. Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases. 6th ed., Cengage Learning, Inc., 2019.