Case Study

Method
&
Ethical Problem-
Solving
Techniques
 What is a case study?

A case study is a real life situation. It has an unstructured problem. Students are
required to solve the problem following these steps:

1- Identification of the problem: there may be one or many problems. The

students may get confused between symptoms and problems. Symptoms are
indicators of a problem.

2- Problem Analysis: The problem has to be discussed and the reasons for the
problem to occur identified.

3- Identification of alternative courses of actions: the problem solver has to

generate a few alternatives solutions.

A- Evaluation of alternative actions: this step involves evaluation of the various

alternatives.

B- Justification of choice of action.

C- Action Plan.

D- Implication of the decision.

.
 Types of Issues

Factual

Issues

Conflicting
Conceptual
Values
 Factual issues: What facts are known about a
case? Are any aspects of the case controversial?
What relevant information is missing or unknown?
Conceptual issues: What is the meaning or
applicability of an idea? For example, should
something be considered a gift or a bribe?

Conflicting Values: What ethical principles

should be applied to this particular case? For
example: conflict between caring for the safety,
well-being & welfare of the society and showing
loyalty to the employer.
Methods for Moral Problems
Solving

Line
Drawing

Ethical
Problem-
Solving
Techniques
Creative
middle Flow
way Charting
solutions
 Line Drawing

The line-drawing technique is especially useful

for situations in which the applicable moral
principles are clear, but there seems to be a
great deal of gray area about which ethical
principle applies.

Gray area:
An area or part of something existing between two
extremes and having mixed characteristics of both.
.
 Flow Charting

Flow charts are very familiar to engineering students. They are most
often used in developing computer programs.

In engineering ethics, flow charting will be helpful for analyzing a

variety of cases, especially those in which there is a sequence of
events to be considered or a series of consequences that flows from
each decision.

An advantage of using a flow chart to analyze ethical problems is

that it gives a visual picture of a situation and allows you to readily
see the consequences that flow from each decision.
 Conflicting Values: creative Middle Way Solutions
Problems that present us with a choice between two conflicting moral values, each of
which seems to be correct. How do we make the correct choice in this situation?
Conflict problems can be solved in three ways:
1- Often, there are conflicting moral choices, but one is obviously more significant
than the other. For example, protecting the health and safety of the public is more
important than your duty to your employer. In this type of case, the resolution of the
conflict involves an easy choice.
2- A second solution is sometimes called the creative middle way.
This solution is an attempt at some kind of a compromise that will work for everyone.
The emphasis here should be on the word creative, because it takes a great deal of
creativity to find a middle ground that is acceptable to everyone and a great deal of
diplomacy to sell it to everyone. An example of a creative middle ground would be that
rather than dumping a toxic waste into a local lake, one finds ways to redesign the
production process to minimize the amount of waste products produced, finds ways to
pretreat the waste to minimize the toxicity, or offers to pay for and install the equipment
at the municipal water system necessary to treat the water to remove this chemical before
it is sent to homes.
3- When there is no easy choice and attempts to find a middle ground are not
successful, all that is left is to make the hard choice. Sometimes, you have to bite the
bullet and make the best choice possible with the information available at the time.
Frequently, you must rely on gut feelings for which path is the correct one.
 Case 01
THIRTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD STEVEN SEVERSON was in his last semester of
his graduate program in mechanical engineering. Father of three small children,
he was anxious to get his degree so that he could spend more time with his family.
Going to school and holding down a full-time job not only kept him from his
family but also shifted more parental responsibility to his wife Sarah than he
believed was fair. But the end was in sight, and he could look forward both to a
better job and to being a better father and husband. Steven was following in the
footsteps of his father, who received a graduate degree in mechanical engineering
just months before tragically dying in an automobile accident. Sarah understood
how important getting a graduate degree was to Steven, and she never complained
about the long hours he spent studying. But she, too, was anxious for this chapter
in their lives to end. As part of his requirement to complete his graduate research
and obtain his advanced degree, Steven was required to develop a research report.
Most of the data strongly supported Stevens conclusions as well as prior
conclusions developed by others. However, a few aspects of the data were at
variance and not fully consistent with the conclusions contained in his report.
Convinced of the soundness of his report and concerned that inclusion of the
ambiguous data would detract from and distort the essential thrust of the report,
Steven decided to omit references to the ambiguous data.
 Case 02
XYZ Corporation permits its employees to borrow company tools. Engineer Al House
took full advantage of this privilege. He went one step further and ordered tools for his
unit that would be useful for his home building projects even though they were of no
significant use to his unit at XYZ. Engineer Michael Green had suspected for some
time that Al was ordering tools for personal rather than company use, but he had no
unambiguous evidence until he overheard a revealing conversation between Al and
Bob Deal, a contract salesman from whom Al frequently purchased tools.
Michael was reluctant to directly confront Al. They had never gotten along well, and
Al was a senior engineer who wielded a great deal of power over Michael in their unit.
Michael was also reluctant to discuss the matter with the chief engineer of their unit, in
whom he had little confidence or trust.
Eventually Michael decided to talk with the Contract Procurement Agent, whose
immediate response was, "This really stinks." The Contract Procurement Agent agreed
not to reveal that Michael had talked with him. He then called the chief engineer,
indicating only that a reliable source had informed him about Al House's inappropriate
purchases. In turn, the chief engineer confronted Al. Finally, Al House directly
confronted each of the engineers in his unit he thought might have "ratted" on him.
When Al questioned Michael, Michael denied any knowledge of what took place.
Later Michael explained to his wife, "I was forced to lie. I told Al, 'I don't know
anything about this'."
Discuss the ethical issues this case raises.
 Case 03
ABC's chemical waste is stored in a warehouse at an off-site location.
While inspecting the warehouse, engineer Scott Lewis notices several
leaking drums. He calls Tom Treehorn, head of ABC's Division of
Chemical Waste. Tom responds, "I'll be right over with a crew to
bring the leaking drums over here." Scott points out that the law
forbids returning chemical waste to the "home" site. Tom replies, "I
know, but I don't have any confidence in the off-site folks handling
this. We know how to handle this best. It might not be the letter of the
law, but our handling it captures its spirit."
Scott believes that Tom Treehorn is serious about preventing
environmental problems -- especially those that might be caused by
ABC. Still, he knows that the Environmental Protection Agency will
be upset if it finds out about Tom's way of dealing with the problem;
and if anything goes wrong, ABC could get into serious legal
difficulties. After all, he thinks, ABC is not a waste disposal facility.
What should Scott do at this point?
 Case 04
DuPont Automotive released a survey at the 1998 Society of
Automotive Engineers International Congress and Expo (SAE)
indicating that the number one concern of automotive engineers
is staying within budget targets while meeting consumer
demand for technological improvements. At the SAE meeting,
interior trim design engineer Paul Steele said that at Chivas
Products Ltd. when they are given a new project, they are also
given a target price, and "we meet the target or else." Esma
Elmaz, engineer in fords power train quality department said
that many engineers pin lists of quality and cost goals on their
office walls: "We ask, Whats the minimum we can spend on a
car that people will want to buy?"
What special ethical challenges does having to keep costs within
tight budget targets pose for automotive engineers?
 Case 05
To illustrate the use of this problem-solving method, lets analyze a case study. In
1980, Paradyne, a computer company, bid to supply the Social Security
Administration (SSA) with new computer systems. Well look at the factual issues
first. The request for proposals clearly specified that only existing systems would be
considered. Paradyne did not have any such system running and had never tested the
operating system on the product they actually proposed to sell to the SSA. The
employment of a former SSA worker by Paradyne to help lobby SSA for the contract is
also clear. In this case, the factual issues do not appear particularly controversial. The
conceptual issues involve whether bidding to provide an off-the-shelf product when
the actual product is only in the planning stages is lying or is an acceptable business
practice. Is placing a Paradyne label over the real manufacturers label deceptive?
Does lobbying your former employer on behalf of your current employer constitute a
conflict of interest? These questions will certainly generate discussion. Indeed,
Paradyne asserted that it had done nothing wrong and was simply engaging in common
business practices. The issue of the conflict of interest is so hard to decide that laws
have been enacted making it illegal for workers who have left government employ to
lobby their former employers for specified periods of time. The moral issues then
include the following: Is lying an acceptable business practice? Is it alright to be
deceptive if doing so allows your company to get a contract?
The answers to these questions are obvious: Lying and deceit are no more acceptable
in your business life than in your personal life. So, if conceptually we decide that
Paradynes practices were deceptive, then our analysis indicates that their actions were
unethical.