Introduction to Ethics
Discussion and Support for
Transportation Professionals
Source: Neal Hawkins
Why Ethics?
Course Objectives
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Understand the importance of ethical decision making
and how it is a key to success
Gain perspective on how our individual personality
types influence our reactions and the need for
preparing ourselves personally to respond to ethical
dilemmas
Gain a clear and simple understanding of ethical
concepts and have a blueprint for ethical decision
making and personal preparation
Participate in valuable discussions regarding a range
of ethical challenges, case studies and issues
Introduction to Ethics
Would you be proud of your decisions/actions or would your
behavior change if your family read about it in the newspaper
or saw it on the evening news?
“Be on guard against science without humanity, politics without principle,
pleasure without conscience, work without sacrifice, wealth without work,
commerce without morality and knowledge without character.”
– Gandhi
“When you have decided what you believe, what you feel must be done,
have the courage to stand alone and be counted.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Introduction to Ethics
Source: Des Moines Register
2003: Executive Summary
“The Year In Scandals”
- Forbes 2003
Discussion
What is the first thing that comes to mind
when you hear the word ‘ethics’?
Ethics – It is a Personal Issue
Do you have more than one ethical
standard?
Everything we have found out about ethics makes it
personal...so why doesn't it make sense to start the
discussion with finding out more about ourselves and
how we think and react?
Personalities and Ethics
Have you ever taken a personality test?
Sanguine – sociable, happy, talker, naïve, inconsistent, changeable
Choleric – Independent, decisive, self sufficient, stubborn, headstrong,
workaholic
Melancholy – Persistent, self sacrificing, sensitive, detailed, loyal,
resentful, hard to please, moody
Phlegmatic – peaceful, submissive, patient, obliging; indecisive,
indifferent, hesitant
Personalities and Ethics
Source: StreetSmarts, Duluth, GA
http://www.ite.org/education/ethics/Steph_Movie.wmv
ITE Canons of Ethics
ITE Canons of Ethics
Preamble
The ITE Member, to uphold and advance the honor and
dignity of the profession and in keeping with high
standards of ethical conduct, will:
Use professional knowledge and skill for the
advancement of human welfare;
Be honest and impartial in dealing with employer,
clients and the public;
Strive to increase the competence and prestige of
the profession.
Reasons for Unethical Choices
1. We do what’s most convenient
2. We do what we must to win
3. We rationalize our choices with relativism
- Maxwell
Exploring the Canons
We do what’s most convenient in our relations with:
Public –
highlighting project benefits and skimming over the negative
impacts
Employers/Clients –
charging time you have not worked
Other Professionals –
taking credit for others’ contributions
Exploring the Canons
We do what we must to win in our relations with:
Public –
promising things that we know won’t be delivered
Employers/Clients –
failure to learn from or admit past mistakes
Other Professionals –
exaggerate our abilities
Exploring the Canons
We rationalize our choices with relativism in our relations with:
Public –
answer “yes” without knowing full impacts
Employers/Clients –
it’s just this one time
Other Professionals –
they will never know
The Golden Rule
“Treat others as you would want to be treated.”
Source: Neal Hawkins
Factors That Can Tarnish
The Golden Rule
Pressure
Power
Pleasure
Priorities
Pride
Profit
Ethics Questions
• Is it Right?
Most of us know the difference between right
and wrong, but when push comes to shove, how does the decision
make you feel about yourself?
• Is it Balanced?
Is it fair to all parties concerned both in
the short-term as well as the long term? Is this a winning situation for
those directly as indirectly involved?
• Is it Legal?
In other words, will you be violating any
criminal laws, civil laws or company policies by engaging in
this activity?
Ethics Guided by 7 Tests
1.
Harm Test: Do the benefits outweigh the harms, short term and
long term?
2.
Reversibility Test: Would I think this choice were good if I traded
places?
3.
Colleague Test: What would professional colleagues say?
4.
Legality Test: Would this choice violate a law or a policy of my
employer?
5.
Publicity Test: How would this choice look on the front page of the
newspaper?
6.
Common Practice Test: What if everyone behaved this way?
7.
Wise Relative Test: What would my wise old Aunt and uncle do or
think?
Ethical Highway
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Be honest.
Employ the highest standards of ethical conduct.
Place service before profit.
Honor and standing of the profession before
personal advantage.
• Place public welfare above all other considerations.
Discussion
1. When you are working with others, which of the six factors
that tarnish the Golden Rule are most prevalent?
2. How do these apply to you personally?
3. Are you able to identify your weaknesses? If so, how will
this help you prepare for an ethical dilemma?
Ethics Entails Action
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Take responsibility for your actions
Develop personal discipline
Know your weaknesses
Align your priorities with your values
Admit wrong doing quickly and ask for
forgiveness
• Place a high value on people
- Maxwell
Ethical Case Studies
Ethical Case Studies - Warm Up
An engineer testifying as an expert witness in a
product liability case should…?
a. answer as briefly as possible only those questions posed by
the attorneys.
b. provide a complete and objective analysis within his or her area
of competence.
c. provide an evaluation of the character of the defendant.
d. provide information on the professional backgrounds of the
defendants.
Source: 1997 FE Practice Exam
Ethical Case Studies - Warm Up
A professional engineer, originally licensed 30
years ago, is asked to evaluate a newly developed
computerized control system for a public
transportation system. The engineer may accept
this project if…?
a. he or she is competent in the area of modern control
systems.
b. his or her professional license has not lapsed.
c. his of her original area of specialization was in
transportation systems.
d. he or she has regularly attended annual meetings of their
professional engineering societies.
Ethical Case Studies
Honesty
Are you taking credit for others’ work?
Do you own up to your errors?
Do you stand behind your recommendations?
Are the numbers on your timesheet and expense sheet correct?
Do the invoice quantities match what you received?
Ethical Case Studies
Conflicts of Interest
Professional Relationships
Personal Relationships
Ethical Case Studies
Confidentiality
Bidding Documents
Proposal Information
Teaming for RFP’s
Ethical Case Studies
Marketing
Where do you draw the line with “gifts”?
Review
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Ethics affects all of us
Personalities and ethics
ITE Canons of Ethics
Reasons for unethical choices
The Golden Rule
Case studies
“Values are like fingerprints.
Nobody’s are the same, but you leave
them all over everything you do.”
– Elvis Presley
Source: Neal Hawkins
Questions
About the Authors
Neal R. Hawkins
Hillary N. Isebrands
Marsha Anderson-Bomar
Hibbett Neel
ITE Ethics Standing Committee The Ethics task force was formed to examine
ethical issues inherent in the transportation profession and to determine how ITE
could best assist its members in this area. The task force was elevated to a
Standing Committee in 2009.