Incident at Morales: An Engineering Ethics Story.
This paper is on the incident at Morales case for engineering ethics class. Please only accept the paper if you are familiar with this case, or have seen the Morales video, or can read enough about it to understand what happened. I’m attaching a script, and the paper instructions. Please review those. Thank you!
INSTRUCTIONS
(1) Choose one of the characters in “incident at Morales”case:
Fred, Wally or Chuck.
Analyze his action/decision and involved impediments.
Demonstrate and discuss the ethical issues involved and your
comments.
(2) From the list shown below, choose two questions about the case and
answer.
(3) Write a paper, 2-3 pages
1. On Fred’s first day, Wally says “We’re fast at Phaust.” How might
engineering decisions be affected by a corporate culture that emphasizes
speed?
2. Chuck alludes to inflating the budget as a hedge against potential budget
cuts:
a) What is the difference between inflating a budget and providing
contingency funds as a line item?
b) What happens to a project when engineers are faced with budget cuts.
3. Chuck’s brother-in-law is the U.S. representative for Lutz and Lutz. What
ethical questions does the procurement process raise when the in-law of a
corporate officer works for the supplier? How does this situation look
from the viewpoint of other potential suppliers?
4. At SuisseChem, personnel in operations work with engineering personnel
in designing chemical plants, but at Phaust, operations and engineering
are clearly separate. What are the implications of separating engineering
from operations?
5. While talking with Peter, Fred is inspired to make the couplings a
maintenance issue, specifying that the couplings should be replaced
regularly. Is it appropriate to convert design decisions into maintenance
procedures without including operations people in the decision process?
6. Although the chemical process was supposed to be automated, Fred
allowed Manuel to volunteer to control the process manually. Is this
reasonable?