Abstract
Forestry and paper-product industries in Australia have faced numerous challenges despite the fact that they play a vital role in boosting the economy of Australia. Some of the challenges occur due to the relationship that exists between the industries and electrical engineering sector in the country.
This implies that there are ethical dilemmas in electrical engineering that cause negative effects on the industries. Some of the challenges can be eliminated using informed and rational decision-making by distinguished groups. Moreover, numerous tools can be used to allow the entire society to participate in safeguarding the aggregate resources and also raise concern towards the prevailing issues.
Introduction
Research has shown that forestry and paper industries play an integral role in the Australian economy (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 42). One the same note, electrical energy has highly been harnessed in order to increase productivity in these industries.
In this case, it is evident that increased commercialization of electrical engineering and its application in paper and forestry industries have heightened the extraction and processing of raw material into consumable products in Australia (Slee 2001, p. 17). Despite the notable improvement, there exist diverse dilemmas facing the paper and forestry industries due to increased use of engineering technology in Australia (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 42).
In this case, it still remains questionable whether electrical engineering is a problem or a solution to the forestry and paper product industries in Australia. This paper explores the ethical issues, decisions and recommendations that should be made while examining the implication of Engineers’ Australia Code of Ethics in tackling the challenge.
Ethical issues associated with forestry and paper industries
Current survey results have revealed that increased use of electrical engineering technology in forestry and paper-product industries has increased the production costs due to use of expensive inputs. Despite the fact that this technology increases productivity by 30% over natural ones, it boosts the cost of outputs by over 25% (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 42).
From a careful review of literature, it is certain that engineered infrastructures used in forestry and paper industries are relatively expensive to purchase and their maintenance attract an increase in operational costs.
A careful review of research outcomes have shown that the paper industry is intensive since it has large scales of operation that runs on 24 hour basis. Moreover, evidence has revealed that the machineries involved in processing the pup require regular maintenance and hence more than one hundred million dollars is used every year to cater for the expenses (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225).
From this figure, one can deduce that employing sophisticated engineering technology becomes far more expensive and this can cause inefficiencies in the production chain. Moreover, one should note that engineering processes has made it possible to device paper machines that can produce numerous grades of papers with diverse designs though very expensive (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225).
These expenses are catered for by increasing the prices of products derived from the paper industry. This reduces the number of potential users who prefer to use substitutes that are cheaper and favourable as per their economic status (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225).
Another notable ethical issue facing these industries as a result of using complex engineering technology is that the country has experienced heightened damage of its environment (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 43).
This can be argues in numerous perspective especially in a case whereby the technology increases exploitation of forest products in order to supply pulp to paper industry. Notably, excessive exploitation has resulted into deforestation (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225).
This has become a dominant problem facing forests in Australia whereby reforestation ratio does not match with the rate of deforestation. Studies have shown that some of the natural fuels such as petrol, diesel, fossil and bio-gas have been replaced by renewable sources of energy in order to eradicate the side effects such as emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The end-products of these fuels have been said to cause climate change and global warming. Having replaced them with renewable sources of energy such as hydro-electric, wind and solar, some of the side effects have been decimated. Nevertheless, the renewable technology which has been made possible through engineering has a critical side effect in its application (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 44).
As mentioned earlier, renewable sources of energy are more effective and hence results to overexploitation of forest products in order to sustain the paper industry. It has been noted that increased production has overmatched the consumption rate of paper products (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225). Therefore, there is need to ensure that engineers apply technologies that are compatible with the forces of nature.
Empirical research has revealed that engineering technology poses ethical challenges in forestry and paper industries by reducing the number of labourers employed to work in the sector. This is due to the fact that manual labour has been replaced by use of heavy machineries (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 43).
Despite the fact that engineers have devised sophisticated tools that are used in the industries to increase the production efficiency, evidence have shown that the machineries replace human labour and hence many people are rendered jobless. In fact, recent surveys have shown that new control and processing systems have been incorporated in the paper industry in Australia and hence replacing more than 30% of human labour (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 45).
According to Ferguson and Johnston (1999, p. 27), electrical engineering has also affected the forestry and paper-product industries negatively due to development of telecommunication gadgets such as mobile phones, televisions, radios and wireless networks. This has largely reduced the credibility of paper-based communication such as posters and newspapers.
Studies have shown that more than 75% of Australian population use telecommunication gadgets to relay and receive information on daily basis (Herbohn, Peterson & Herbohn 1998, p.55). This implies that the number of individuals relaying on newspapers as a communication medium has diminished with time. As a matter of fact, the paper industry has suffered a big blow since the consumption ratio of their products is relatively low.
Engineering Codes of Ethics in Australia
In spite of the ethical dilemmas posed by electrical engineering in forestry and paper-product industries, studies have shown that there are codes of ethics that can be applied to ensure that engineering skills and knowledge assist to decimate the ethical challenges. The engineering codes of ethics are based on four ethical frameworks that include rights, duties, virtues and utilitarianism (Johnston, McGregor & Taylor 2000, p. 316).
Arguably, Australian engineers need to incorporate the ethical frameworks in the decisions they make and which are related to their practice. Therefore, based on these frameworks, engineers should fully employ all possible measures to ensure that the ethical dilemmas facing forestry and paper-product industries are tackled effectively. For instance, on the engineering codes of ethics, engineers are expected to portray integrity (Johnston, McGregor & Taylor 2000, p. 317).
Additionally, laws made should be practiced competently while upholding honesty and trustworthiness. In this profession, one is also expected to demonstrate competency on the basis of skills and knowledge acquired. In line with the topic at hand, electrical engineers are expected to promote sustainability of community resources with the aim of enhancing safety and wellbeing of both the community and environment (Johnston, McGregor & Taylor 2000, p. 320).
Implications of engineering codes of ethics on the forestry and paper-product industries
One of the implications of engineering codes of ethics on forestry and paper industries is that engineers should ensure sustainability of available resources. This is vital since it ensures a balance within the ecosystem. For instance, the code of ethics enforces a policy that there should be no overexploitation of forest products to ensure successful regeneration of indigenous plant species while preventing their extinction.
The code of ethics enforces the frame work on duties that ensures that are the professionals adhere to their duties (Johnston, McGregor & Taylor 2000, p. 316). Therefore, applying the expected virtues impartially and objectively has a positive impact on the forest and paper industries. This is due to the fact that professional engineers will be able to act and foresee challenges, give their due opinion on what is legal while effectively applying their skills and knowledge to solve problems.
Another implication is that the codes of ethic allow engineers to exercise diversity in terms of ideas, opportunities and other deliberate ethical practices in order to achieve positive outcomes in any respective field (Johnston, McGregor & Taylor 2000, p. 321). In this context, the aspect of utilitarianism applies effectively to the topic at hand.
How decisions should be made
It is essential to note that professional engineers cannot be able to establish effective measures in response to the identified ethical issues without the assistance of the Australian government. Therefore, it is definite that an integrated approach should be used whereby the government, community and distinguished engineers should join hands to establish appropriate decisions that will help to curb the challenges (Herbohn & Harrison 2004, p. 46).
It is definite that the bigger role should be played by the government since it has the mandate to make legal policies and finance appropriate development strategies in the industries. Moreover, the government has more authority to deliberate upon vital activities to ensure sustainable outcomes. In addition, one should note that the government often use appropriate persons with skills and knowledge to act upon vital activities across all levels in the society (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225).
Therefore, one cannot afford to do away with the role played by professional engineers in eradicating ethical issues facing the forestry and paper industries. On the other hand, since the resources used by the industries are under the care of the public, engineers have to collaborate with the masses to ensure that effective and sound actions are taken to solve the challenges within the environment.
There are numerous decisions that can be made in order to overcome the existing dilemmas that face forestry and paper-product industries. However, there are distinct strategies that can be used to make decisions. For instance, having an open consensus between the community, government and respective professionals on the challenges facing the forestry and paper-product industries will help to discover and resolve more ethical issues facing the sector (Slee 2001, p. 29).
In line with this, use of public opinion on the challenges facing the industries is another strategy that can help in making decisions (Philpott & Everett 2001, p.225). This can be done by engaging the masses in public forums and creating awareness campaigns on the need to protect forest and paper-product industries in the country. In addition, awareness campaigns can help the public to realize the value of forest resources.
It is also necessary to engage the society to participate in making decisions through media news and free press. Public debates also play a significant role in raising ideas on appropriate management strategies. Besides, Ferguson and Johnston (1999, p. 22) note that there can be use of public discourse through editorial letters in newspapers.
In fact, recent survey results have illustrated that the use of public opinions through media communication has heightened the awareness and influenced public opinion on diverse issues affecting forestry and paper industries (Herbohn, Peterson & Herbohn 1998, p.63). Therefore, significant impacts in society can be realized through the use of media news and free press since they provide opportunities to sensitize the public on the essence of safeguarding the environment.
That notwithstanding, another way of making decisions entails conducting numerous researches within the industries in order to unearth more ethical issues while establishing possible solutions (Slee 2001, p. 19). Notably, any type of research based on either quantitative or qualitative analysis will highly engage the society whereby some individuals will be used as respondents to provide data (Slee 2001, p. 23).
Since research is systematic and follows a scientific process, the participants in the community will get an opportunity to express their views. Moreover, researchers will also seize the opportunity to explore emerging issues during the entire process. Eventually, adequate data obtained will help the distinct groups to come up with sound decisions.
Recommendations about how society might make decisions about the ethical issues
In order to achieve the above, there are myriads of recommendations that should be made in order to ensure that aggregate changes within the industries are realized.
One of the recommendations is that there should be a multidisciplinary approach through which every individual in society participates in decision making (Slee 2001, p. 26). Some of the approaches that can be used include use of free media press, public campaigns and official forums where issues facing forestry and paper industries are addressed (Herbohn, Peterson & Herbohn 1998, p.65).
Another in addition, there should be an integrated approach whereby the community, government officials and professional engineers participate in making rational decisions (Slee 2001, p. 29). Moreover, the society should be given an integral role to play in decision making since it directly handles and protects the aggregate resources within the environment.
Conclusion
Studies have shown that electrical engineering poses numerous ethical challenges that negatively affect forestry and paper industries. For instance, engineers devise telecommunication gadgets that are highly embraced by users who neglect use of paper-based communication technology such as newspapers.
Although electrical engineering is effective in inventing highly productive machines, it contributes to over exploitation of forest products. This poses threat to the ecosystem. Moreover, engineers invent machines that are used in harvesting and manufacturing forest and paper products.
The machineries are expensive to purchase and maintain and hence increase the cost of end products. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the machineries makes them to be preferable to human labour which limits the number of human resources within these industries. Nevertheless, irrespective of the ethical issues presented by electrical engineering, there are numerous benefits. Notably, informed decisions between the government, community and engineers will help to overcome the challenges.
References
Ferguson, I. & Johnston, R 1999, “Fibre supply models for the Australian and New Zealand paper industry.” Appita Journal. Vol. 52 no.3, pp.12-45.
Herbohn, J.L. & Harrison, SR 2004, “The Evolving Nature of Small-Scale Forestry in Australia.” Journal of Forestry vol. 102 no. 1, pp. 42-47.
Herbohn, K., Peterson, R. & Herbohn, J 1998, “Accounting for forestry assets: Current practice and future directions.” Australian Accounting Review vol. 8 no. 1, pp. 54-66.
Johnston, S., McGregor, H. & Taylor, E 2000, “Practice-focused ethics in Australian engineering education.” European Journal of Engineering Education vol. 25 no. 4, pp. 315-324.
Philpott, A. & Everett, G 2001, “Supply chain optimisation in the paper industry.” Annals of Operations Research vol. 108 no. 1, pp. 225-226.
Slee, B 2001,”Resolving production-environment conflicts: The case of Regional Forest Agreement process in Australia. Forest Policy and Economics, vol. 3 no. 2, pp.17-30.