Introduction
Professional ethics is a challenging field that demands professional concentration. Any profession demands organized and well developed career, enhanced by skills, knowledge and capacity to make sound decisions. This discussion explores professionalism and ethics attached to the field of engineering, with specific reface to mechanical engineering.
Personal conflict of interest
In several occasions, humans are faced with a number of conflicts of interest or an ethical predicament in their day-to-day existence. The outcomes may lead to a precarious, partial and indiscriminating world owing to the un-examined existence.
Thus, ethical dilemma should be resolved in order to make life worth living. The dilemma in moral thinking is contradicting. For instance, when thinking is left to the aforementioned reason, it leads to downright discrimination, unacquainted, incomplete, one-sided and prejudiced philosophy.
The resolution to such dilemma requires effective review to apply personal ethics. Initially, finding resolutions to intricate complications through operational communication within an organization is more than essential. This assists in measuring and identifying the practical concerns, effects and suppositions brought out by the ethical dilemma.
Moreover, testing the thought alongside ethics and pertinent criteria leads to well-reasoned resolutions and decisions. Operational analysis of the intellectual idea helps in evaluating and gathering the appropriate information. Ultimately, detailed and vibrant formulation of the raised up bottlenecks and vital demands helps in resolving the conflict of interest in life.
At one time in my life, I faced one of the most testing moments at the work place. Having worked for my engineering company for seven months, I was included in a professional team tasked with reviewing the worthiness of candidate contractors.
With more than 20 applicants tabled before us, we had one week to go through each of them, determine their worthiness and either reject or accept them. In addition, we were expected to accept only four applications for the contract.
By the end of the third day, we had already accepted five applicants based on merit. The idea was to drop one application and accept the remaining four. However, I realized that the applicant with the fourth highest points was a company whose CEO was a close relative of my wife and such, my own relative. I had no previous information about this issue.
My wife requested me to influence the team so that her relative’s company would get the deal. I was in a dilemma because I did not know whether it was right for me to accept her request before informing my colleagues. I was also aware that my wife was set to benefit from the deal.
After thinking for two days, I realized that it was unethical to act in a manner that suggests I was favoring my relative’s company. I made my mind and informed the other members of the team. The issue was discussed at length. Finally, a decision was reached to reject the application from my relative’s company and accept the fifth best applicant.
Professionalism
It is worth arguing that college professors are professionals. Indeed, they possess a number of critical attributes that render them professionals. The attributes owned by college professors are all integrated in the dimension of critical thinking. This entails thinking that is own-corrective, own-monitored, own-disciplined and own-directed.
As professionals, they enjoy careful knowledge in what they practice as well as rigorous principles of brilliance. These professors seek to overcome the native socio-centrism and egocentrism through their skills in problem solving and actual communication (Harris, Pritchard and Rabins 121). In order to improve the scholarly traits, they habitually enforce the knowledgeable principles to the cognitive module.
On the other hand, the professors apply the several elements and aspire to develop the lives of different individuals. The elements applied by the professors include suppositions, inferences, notions, and extrapolations. In addition, they apply effective information, opinion, enquiries and purpose to instill growth in persons of diverse professions.
The above elements develop several intellectual traits that college professors put into effect as professionals. Such intellectual traits are bravery, honesty, sovereignty and self-effacement. As well, they enforce the application of other traits similar to fair-mindedness, understanding and persistence. The above dimensions apply to the critical attributes that brand college professors as professionals.
The difference between code of ethics and law
Law and code of ethics may perhaps differ in a number of ways. In fact, law is something that one person has to do as it is obligatory. On the other hand, code of ethics denotes something that one ought to do. The code of ethics most likely applies to professionals, for instance, the police, lawyers, medics and engineers or personalities of limited factions.
Nonetheless, law is applied in a similar manner to any person as it appears as a loose word hypothetically. The government or state is in control of setting up the law. The state or government that sets the law is the one that oversees its enforcement, given that it should be applied a similar manner to every individual.
Rendering the primeval laws has a hostage to fortune in regards to the marginalized groups. In contrast, codes of conduct are enforced and only spread over to certain groups of professionals.
In this case, the peers of a medic, an engineer, or a lawyer are the ones who impose and charge their fellows who breach the code of conduct. The contemporary world concentrates on the moral matters, given that ethics are not much different from these morals.
Social Responsibility
An organization is socially responsible for the things and operations it organizes. In the modern world, companies yield an overwhelming economic influence on society. In the eyes of the law, companies are legal entities, which means that they enjoy the rights and protections of an individual citizen. Thus, corporations can make moral or immoral decisions.
The process of corporate moral decision is developed and determined through corporate internal decisions. Although this framework is composed of individuals, it operates like a system or machine. Companies are socially responsible for their actions. They must ensure that they work within the legal, moral and social requirements.
In the Lockheed example, it was expected that the individuals involved were financially endowed for the favors that were involved. The Tristar Jet Company was awarded the right to supply the Chinese travellers to Africa and America with visa to travel without restrictions. Lockheed is popular for guaranteeing the populace in which it operates and takes social responsibility to account for the challenges that the community faces.
In looking for an attachment with Lockheed, it was difficult to settle an appointment with the human resources manager. Allegedly, shop stewards at the company demand bribes from prospective employees.
Conclusion
Work ethics is an influential field that demands the influence of the individual expert. Thus, it is the right of professionals to conduct their roles within the limits of their academic qualifications. It determines the way a professional handles the issues that are to be engaged with learners and the employees.
Works Cited
Harris, Charles, Michael Pritchard and Michael Rabins. Engineering Ethics: Concepts & Case. London: Cengage Learning, 2004. Print.