Lesson 1

Q: How has the concept of “professional” evolved over the years?

A:

Professions in the ancient world: Professions in the present sense were absent in the ancient world. A professional was a person who professed his/her faith publicly.

Professions in medieval Europe were differentiated into members of religious orders or those who were members of secular guilds.

In mordern world, Professionals are said to be white collar workers. Professionals are usually engaged in administrative or technical work in exchange of which they receive salaries

Q: What were guilds? What types of guilds existed in medieval times? What key responsibilities did they hold? What services did they offer their members?

A:

Guilds: Exclusive organizations created to preserve rights and privileges of membership. Guild associations received authority from kings, city hall or clergy.

Types：

• Merchant guilds: created to protect traders.
• Craft guilds: group of craftsmen involved in same profession.

Responsibilities:

• Restricted poor workmanship
• Forbade advertising
• Regulated proces
• Exerted monopoly control
• Limited number of master

Services:

• Gave some health insurance to members.
• Supported dependents of members in case of death.
• Made donations to city.
• Served as councilors.
• Constructed public buildings.

Q: How does the post-industrial economy differ from the earlier manufacturing-based economy?

A:

Postindustrial society, as the name implies, is a society where the major source of employment has shifted away from manufacturing-based mass production in factories towards a service-oriented economy. A service-oriented economy is driven by employment in sectors that provide an array of services to society. These services include things like transportation and logistics, supply chain and retail, trade, finance, insurance, real estate, and professional business services.

With the exit of heavy manufacturing work that people do in a postindustrial economy can be characterized into three categories: business entrepreneur, professional employee and service worker.

Q: What are the differences between business entrepreneur, white-collar worker, and blue-collar worker?

A:

Business entrepreneur: Owns a business enterprise; Generate revenue from a stock of human, financial or physical capital.

White-collar worker: Salaries with high wages; Administrative or technical work; Risk of obsolescene.

Blue-collar worker: members who sell their manual labour; earn hourly wages for their labour, limited or no benefits; Risk of technological obsolescence.

Q: Elaborate on the four attributes of modern professionals discussed in the lesson: specialized skill, judgement, self-governance, advancing social welfare.

A:

Specialized Skill: A key aspect of the nature of skill that professionals possess is that it is composed of varied and intellectually demanding techniques and practices, thus requires individuals to exert considerable effort in acquiring them. I

Judgement: A key factor of this attribute arises from the nature of the work that professionals perform. Since the work is varied and not routine work, it cannot be mechanized. The variation in the requirements of work means that individuals as part of their work have to make choices. These choices while based on the training they receive, have to be made by the understanding of the individual. These choices have direct consequences for the public.

Self-governance: Given the specialized training and knowledge that professionals possess, and given the importance of their work for public welfare, it is vitally important that the actions of professionals be governed by other professionals who are capable of evaluating the nature of work they do. Thus modern professionals need to be members of self-governing professional associations. These associations are usually established by the government to govern the actions of professionals to ensure that they practice their profession to further public welfare.

Advancing social welfare: If they practice their profession in an ethical fashion, professionals make a significant contribution to improving the welfare of citizens. Conversely, malpractice or the unethical practice of the profession can have a significantly adverse effect on citizens and society.

Q: Why is it impossible for individuals to become engineers simply by working as apprentices for years?

A: This is so because many of the techniques require a base of scientific, technological or mathematical education that can only be gained from university based education. It is therefore not enough to have an individual serve as an apprentice for practical training.

Q: What benefits arise from having professionals form self-regulating organisations?

A:

• These associations are usually established by the government to govern the actions of professionals to ensure that they practice their profession to further public welfare.

Q: What main differences exist between the work and responsibilities of an independent professional and an employed professional?

A:

Independent professionals as the name indicates work independently and are paid directly by the client for the service provided by the professional. As a result of their independence in employment these professionals have much greater autonomy in their actions.

An employed professional, on the other hand, is usually hired by a company or organization. In return for a monthly salary, the professional provides their services to their employer. It is the employer that usually sets the terms of their work and so the professional has much less autonomy in their actions.

Q: What is the purpose of professional licensing?

A: Breaking formal rules can result in penalties and depending on the nature of violation even loss of license. It is through the licensing system that the actions of professionals are governed by the government.

Government can gover the behaviour of engineers. Ensure that professions are organized to be accountable to society. Professional associations composed of professionals practicing the same profession are a key aspect of the linkage between professionals and society.

Q: Why can it be said that all professions are “moral enterprises”?

A:

Although professions are organized around technical practices and actions, the actions of individuals are not just limited to technical principles but involve significant moral content. the choices that professionals have to make in their work are not just about technical aspects, but have moral and ethical dimensions. Any choice a professional makes has impacts on people in society.

Q: What is the danger of mixing professional and personal values?

A：

Mixing professional and personal values is a tricky thing, and should require judgment on the part of the professional. Some level of mixing is considered OK, but in other circumstances, mixing personal and professional values would be considered a “conflict of interest” and should be avoided.

Lesson 2

Q: What does it mean that professional associations in Canada are “statutory bodies”?

A：

In other words, the work of professional associations is strengthened by the power of a law passed by the respective provincial legislative assembly. Each professional associations derives its power to control individual professionals from this statutory standing.

Q: Why is the professional system for engineers in Quebec and the other provinces considered “closed”?

A：

In order to practice most professions in Canada, an individual has to become a member of the corresponding professional association. A person, who practices the profession without an explicit license, is considered to be practicing the profession illegally and could face legal action.

**Q： How can the professional system in Québec prior to the 1970s be characterized? Which challenges did this present in terms of accountability? **

A:

History of Quebec

Prior to 1970, the professional system in Québec could be characterized by the existence of weak social contracts.

Challenges that present in terms of accountability

(1) The professional system did little to be explicitly accountable to society. This lack of direct accountability was the product of non-standardized professional associations, whose mandates were not uniform across the province.

(2) Another fact was the acceptance of the “liberal professional”. A liberal professional operated with limited oversight and was independent to conduct their professional practice.

(3) A related aspect was the absence of a strong, legally binding code that governed the conduct of individual professionals.

A combination of these three factors resulted in the weak social accountability of the professional system.

Q: How is the professional system for engineers in Canadian provinces different from the system in the United States?

A:

Engineering Professional Associations:

• Canada: Statutorily self-regulated.
• USA: Not governed by a comprehensive legislation. Managed by a board constitued with both engineers and non-engineers.

Practice of the Profession：

• Canada: Need to obtain a professional license, Illegal to work as an engineer without the professional license.
• USA:Possible to do engineering work without an engineering license.

Q: In what way does the professional model in Quebec emphasize member responsibilities, rather than rights?

A:

It is important to remember that the professional system in Canada follows the social contract model and not the collective bargaining model. The social contract model places more emphasis on member responsibilities rather than rights.

Q: Within the professional system in Quebec, what is the role of

• Government of Quebec?
• Professional Tribunal?
• Office des Professions du Québec?
• Quebec Interprofessional Council?
• Professional Orders? (25 with reserved titles and exclusive practice / 21 with reserved titles)

A:

(1) Government of Quebec(Minister of Justice).

• Reports to the National Assembly of Quebec on the operation of the professional system.
• Minister presents legislations and resolutions regarding to the professional system.

(2) Professional Tribunal

• Judges who are appointed by the court of Quebec.
• Hears appeals on decisions made by disciplinary councils of different orders.

(3) Office des Professions du Quebec

• Advises the government of Quebec on all matters related to the functioning of the professional system.
• Ensures the different orders respect their mission.

(4) Qubec Interprofessional Council

• Composed of representatives of all 46 orders.
• Advisory body that can be consulted on professional matters.

(5) 46 Professional Orders They ensures the protection of the public. Two types of professionals order:

• Professions with reserved titles & exclusive practice(25).(OIQ)
• Professions with reserved titles.

Minister responsible for the administration of legislation respecting the professions.

Q: What is the role of the OIQ (Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec)?

A: Engineering practice in Québec is governed by the Ordre de Ingénieurs du Quebec, or the OIQ.

• One of the 46 professional orders in Quebec that are recognized by the Government to regulate themselves.

• All engineers in Quebec who engage in professional activities must be members of the OIQ.

Q: What is the function of each of the following acts/legislation in regulating the engineering profession in Quebec?

• The Professional Code.
• The Engineers Act (fields of practice, titles etc.).
• The Code of Ethics of Engineers.
• Bill 101.

A：

The rules pertaining to the professional activities of engineers are set out in the Professional Code, the Engineers Act, the Code of Ethics of Engineers and other regulations, and the Bill 101, that governs the primacy of the French language in the province.

• The Professional Code: The professional system has its legal basis in the Professional Code. The Professional Code is a law of public order that was passed by the National Assembly to reflect its desire to protect the public in matters concerning professional service.In other words, the professional code is a law that lays down in detail how Québec’s professional system should be organized and administered. The Professional Code describes the key components of the professional system. It also specifies the actions of different professional orders that are part of the professional system. Finally, it creates a single law that applies to the entire professional system in the province.

• Engineers Act: Legal basis of OIQ. The Engineers Act specifies some important aspects of practicing the engineering profession in Québec. It defines a member as a person on the roll of OIQ; defines an engineer as a member of the OIQ; define the field of practice of an engineer; defines the kinds of acts that count as engineering practice; Reserve professional titles. The field of practice includes the kind of work that requires an engineer and the kinds of acts that counters engineering practice, including consultation, measurement, design, drawing and inspection.

• The Code of Ethics of Engineers: This code outlines the ethical principles and standards that engineers must follow in their work, including obligations related to public safety, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, and honesty. It serves as a guide for ethical behavior and provides a basis for the OIQ to enforce disciplinary actions in cases of ethical violations by its members.

• Bill 101: While Bill 101 is not specific to the engineering profession, it may have implications for language requirements and language use in professional engineering practice in Quebec. It promotes the use of the French language in various aspects of public life, including professional communication, documentation, and education. Engineers in Quebec may need to ensure compliance with language requirements when conducting their professional activities.

Lesson 3

Q： What is ethics?

A： Ethics is the systematic analysis of behavioral choices that humans or societies face. The key point is that it is a way of analyzing and thinking about choices.

Ethics differs from decision tools, because it helps humans to reflect on questions of right or wrong, of obligations and rights, or whether social and political goals are being met.

**Q: Why do we need ethics? **

A:

A simple answer is that ethics are needed to help humans make choices. Given that we need to make choices in our lives, it helps to have a mechanism that can guide how we think, reflect and then justify the choice we make.

• Ethics provides a means to rationally reason your choices. Ethics provides a reliable and impersonal way of thinking about larger societal choices.

• There is another important reason for relying on ethics to make vital decisions because it allows us to avoid two pitfalls that many of us find ourselves in when making a decision.

Q: What are the pitfalls of “absolutism” and “relativism,” and how can a structured and reflective approach to ethics avoid these?

A:

One pitfall is the belief in absolutism that means the irrespective of circumstances, my decision never changes because my morals are absolute and always true.

A second pitfall is the belief in relativism that suggests that one can never make a decision that is ok for everyone because all decisions are subjective and so no one guideline is valid for everyone

Q: What is the difference between morals and ethics?

A:

Ethics: Broadly ethics is an understanding of the philosophical basis for making moral choices. The key point is that the individual arrives at an understanding of what is an ethical action through a process of philosophically structured thinking and reflection. This process allows an individual to make choices in an objective fashion.

Moral: Morals, on the other hand, are closely related to personal opinion. Morals are arrived not through a process of reflection, but through a process of classification of right and wrong acts that are dependent on cultural, religious or customary norms.

• While ethics are the systematic analysis of human behavior, morals are customary norms of behavior.
• While morals vary with time and geography, ethical frameworks are not specific to cultural or geographic contexts.
• While ethics are products of rational examination, morals are acquired through socialization or being a member of a particular community.
• While morals could be considered as personal opinion, ethics are impersonal in nature.

Q: What are internal influences on practice of a professional morality?

A:

Internal Influcens: Internal influences are those that an individual uses to change their behavior. Self Governance.

• Ethics
• Values
• Engineering Ethics

Q: What are external influences on practice of professional morality?

A:

External Influcens: Governance by an outside authority. External influences are societal forces that shape an individual’s behavior.

• Law
• Morals
• Engineering Ethics

Q: How do internal and external influences work together to create “engineering ethics”?

A:

A good example of how a professional ethics influences an individual’s behavior is through the professional code of ethics.

OIQ’s code of ethics for engineers. Def: National Assembly requires engineers to adpot a code that would establish rules of conduct for professional practice. The code of ethics is a mandatory regulation for engineers. The code specifies that engineers have some required duties and obligations towards public, clients, including employers, profession of engineering.

Q: Why can we say that an engineer’s approach to ethical problems is similar to engineering design thinking?

A:

The ethics problesm rarely have a correct answer that will be arrived at by everyone in the class. In engineering design, there is no unique correct answer.

Both engineering ethics and engineering design apply a large body of knowledge to the solution of a problem, both involve the use of analytical skills.

Q: There are four recognized goals engineering ethics. Explain what is meant by each:

A:

• moral awareness: Awareness of value conflicts that underlie choices.
• moral autonomy: Ability to think critically and independently about moral issues.
• moral imagination: Ability to discern alternative solutions to moral dilemmas.
• moral communication: Ability to communicate ethical issues in a precise and reasonable manner.

Lesson 4

4.1 Ethical Reasoning

Three dimension:

• First, ethical reasoning requires individuals to reflect on the nature of the choice one has to make.
• Second, after reflection one is ready to analyze the nature of the choice that the person faces.
• Third, after analysis the person is ready to make the choice.

Reflecting on Choices

In order to decide on the ethical nature of the choice we have to make, we need to first reflect on the nature of the choice we face

In reflecting on choices, a key point to bear in mind is that ethics provides a means to justify in a rational manner, the actions we take in a professional (or personal) context.

Deontological Theory basically suggests that an action is only as valid as the means adopted to accomplish the action. If the means are not good, then the action that comes about is not ethically good.

Analyzing Choices

Some of these choices have major consequences for your career or the company you work for. Therefore, it is important to take the time to analyze the choice carefully. From this analysis, you should be able to present a clear reason to support the decision you make. It is this clear justification that demonstrates to your colleagues, your company, and your clients that you have thought through the decision very carefully and then arrived at the choice.

Making the choice

Now you must be wondering why it is important to spend so much time on thinking about professional choices.

The answer is that the reputation that you have built up in your career is very fragile. You want to create a reputation for yourself that is favorable. Any unethical actions could undermine your reputation and severely damage your career and your personal life.

4.2 Ethical Theories

Ethical Theories

These theories provide a means of analyzing choices that humans face by focusing on three aspects of human behavior.

Any human behavior has three aspects that include agent, action, and result.

• Agent focuses on the person who acts.
  • Virtue theory focuses on the person making the choice.
• Action focuses on the nature of the action.
  • Deontological theory focuses on the action itself.
• Rsult focuses on the consequence of the action.
  • Consequentialism focuses on the consequences of inaction.

Corresponding to each of these aspects, there are three theories to guide how we can decide on choices.

(1) Agent - Virtue Theory

Virtue theory, commonly referred to as Aristotle’s Virtue Theory. A better guide to ethical action is the character of the person performing it.

This theory assumes that all people seek to lead virtuous and balanced lives.

The important question to ask oneself when facing a decision is what kind of a person will I become if I make this decision?

• Will I be virtuous or not in making the decision? Character and virtue of model persons are the immediate guides to decide what decision to make.

If not, then maybe I should think about the action some more.

Another aspect of virtue theory is that it suggests that virtue is best achieved through moderation by avoiding extreme choices, following the golden mean, and avoiding extremes of action is a way to make a virtuous decision

(2) Action - Deontological Theory

Deontological Theory focuses on the action itself in order to decide the ethical nature of an action.

Actions are only as ethical as the nature of the action chosen. The ends or consequences do not justify the means chosen to accomplish them.

• However good the consequences may be, if the actions are wrong, they do not justify the action.

The rightness or wrongness of an action arises from following rules, thus if you follow rules in doing an action then this action is the most ethical action.

Morality is therefore created by following rules. A good example of Deontological Theory is Immanuel Kant’s Duty Ethics

Immanuel Kant’s Duty Ethics

Duty ethics argues that moral actions are those that are governed by following one’s fundamental duties.

In other words, those duties that are generated by one’s conscience. The command of our conscience is a categorical imperative that directs a person to do a particular action irrespective of what the consequences or other factors are.

The categorical imperative, or the clear command of one’s conscience, tells us to do A no matter what. Immanuel Kant suggested that we should follow this clear command of our conscience only if those actions follow universal principles.

A further criterion for any action should be those that increase respect for humanity. If through our action, we reduce our respect for humanity or for fellow human beings, then that action is not an ethical action.

There are some problems associated with the conscience focus of this theory. By focusing on the individual conscience this theory does not develop a notion of a good for society.

(3) Result - Consequentialism

Consequentialism is the ethical theory that suggests that the ethical content of an action depends on the consequences produced by that action.

• The focus on the results is referred to in this theory as the hypothetical obligation.
• If you want to decide on an action, you need to look at the hypothetical results that will arise from the choices faced in the action.

An important problem is that all good or bad consequences of an action may not be immediately knowable at the time of making the decision.

So how then does one make a choice? The choice is often made without knowing all the consequences of an action.

Furthermore, there is the difficulty in characterizing what is good or bad in a situation.

An example of consequentialist theory is John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarian Theory.

Mill’s Utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism defines an ethical choice as one that produces the maximum benefit for the greatest number of people.

• The maximum benefit is understood here as the number of people affected.
• The intensity of benefit in terms of the nature of benefit, trivial versus serious and the duration of benefit in terms of the time period to see benefit.

A near benefit is more important than a distant benefit. If a decision offers the maximum benefit, then that decision is the most ethical decision.

A good example of utilitarian thinking is cost-benefit analysis, where a decision is made by weighing the costs and benefits associated with the decision and choosing the decision that offers the highest ratio of benefit to cost.

4.3 Ethical Analysis

Analyzing a decision requires five steps: Identify the relevant moral values, clarify key concepts, obtain relevant information, consider a spectrum of possible actions, and finally make a reasonable decision.

4.3.1 Identify relevant moral values

First, identify the moral values that are connected to the dilemma that you face. Values, such as honesty, social commitment, and responsibility, are common to many professional dilemmas. Identifying the moral values is the first step to thinking about what decision is most appropriate in the circumstances.

example: OIQ’s professional values:

• Competence: to be objective and truthful.
• Responsibility to the origanization: act as loyal agents
• Social Commitment: commitment to society’s welfare.

4.3.2 Clarify values for the circumstances

The second step is to clarify the relevant values so that they fit the circumstances of your decision. For example, if you decide that responsibility to your company is a key value, you need to clarify what aspect of responsibility is relevant here. Does responsibility mean thinking of the short-term benefits or of long-term benefits to your company? Does responsibility mean listening to everything that your immediate supervisor tells you or does it mean thinking about the benefit to the organization? This kind of clarification is very useful, because it makes it clear in your mind what kind of value you feel is most important in your decision.

exmaple:

• Responsibility to the company
• Social Commitment

4.3.3 Obtain Relevant Information

In this step, it is important to identify the facts associated with the choice you have to make. It is important to understand how much information you have, what information needs to be collected through research, and what is the nature of uncertainty about the information you currently have. Once you have thought about these aspects, you can develop a strategy regarding what information you need to make each decision. If there is a lot of uncertainty in all the choices you face, then your decision could be to say that after examining the information, we need to do more research before we can arrive at a conclusive judgment.

example: Uncertainty about the facts?

• re-evaluated by some one else?
• any margin of error?

4.3.4 Consider All Options

After clarifying relevant values and gathering relevant information, we are now ready to consider the nature of options we face in our decision. Here it is important to consider all possible options that we can take.

It is important to realize that we face an action spectrum where there are not just two extreme options but many, many possible actions that a person can make.

Some of these actions could be something as simple as more research is required, or that the provincial regulations need to be changed, or something as extreme as exposing a company’s actions to the media (an action called whistleblowing). We will discuss whistleblowing later in the semester, but for now we should bear in mind that multiple actions are possible.

example: Consider all options -> Action Spectrum.

4.3.5 Reach a Reasonable Descision

Finally, after considering all the steps above, we should arrive at a reasonable decision.

The first thing for a decision to be considered reasonable is that the decision should follow directly from the findings of the previous steps.

Another aspect of a reasonable decision is to adopt a decision that, although not your favorite, is under the conditions most defendable and justifiable.

example: Look for a golden mean.

At the conclusion of the five steps of analysis, you should be ready with a preferred decision for action. In addition, you should also have a developed a rationale for defending the decision in your professional context&. Without a proper defense of your decision, your colleagues are not aware of the ethical reasoning that you undertook to reach the decision.

Lesson 5

5.1 Types of Professional Relationships

Professional Relationship: p is defined as the relation between a professional and a client.

Although this relationship can differ according to the individuals involved, there are some common characteristics that allow us to speak of some common models that define how a professional interacts with their client.

5.1.1 Ideal Model

It is a model of professional relationship where the professional provides their skill and judgment directly to the client.

It is common in those situations where a professional has an independent professional practice and the client approaches the professional directly to identify and solve their problem.

In this model, the client interacts with the professional alone, and therefore the need for professional’s ethics and competence is exceptionally high.

Since the professional practices alone, they are quite autonomous in deciding when and how to work.

In this context, the only form of quality and ethical control is exercised by professional associations.

5.1.2 Invisible Client Modle

Since the professional practices alone, they are quite autonomous in deciding when and how to work. In this context, the only form of quality and ethical control is exercised by professional associations.

The employer who employs professionals acts in place of the client and so the name invisible client.

The professional does not usually interact directly with the client but has to follow the directions of the employer in order to satisfy the needs of the client.

In the process, the employer dictates the standards, ethics, pay, work, etc, that govern how a professional should work.

Some key aspects are that the professional is far less autonomous than the ideal type model because their actions are governed on a daily basis by the organization where they work.

This creates a pressure to abandon professional values in order to advance in the organization.

5.2 Organizational Behaviour

Organizational behavior can be simply defined as the study of what people think, feel, and do, in and around organizations .

McShane and Von Glinnow define organizational behavior as the study of individual, team, including interpersonal and organizational level characteristics, that influence behavior within work settings.

organizational behavior can be differentiated into three kinds of influences, individual influences, group influences, and organizational level influences.

5.2.1 Individual Influences

Individual influences on a person’s behavior in an organization can be differentiated into four: motivation, role perception, ability, and situational factors.

(1) Motivation

Motivation could be defined as the force within a person that affects their direction, intensity, or persistence of voluntary behavior. Motivation drives behavior. It is the force behind an individual’s decision to commit or not commit certain acts or behaviors.

Situations and contexts cause some people to be motivated to do their work while other people are unmotivated by those very circumstances.

(2) Role Perception

Roles are positions that people occupy within organizations. These positions come with sepecific tasks, and associated duties and consequences for which we are accountable when we occupy these positions.

Roles help define the behaviors we should exhibit and those we should not when we do an assigned task.

Roles are important because they help us communicate responsibilities associated with a particular position and they set expectations for appropriate responses to or from others.

So as an individual working in an organization, we fill a particular role and this role shapes how we behave within that organization.

(3) Ability

Ability refers to the natural aptitude and/or learned capabilities that individuals possess to accomplish assigned tasks.

Those with a natural ability to perform an assigned task often show a higher comfort level with regards to accomplishing tasks and this affects how they respond and behave with other co-workers.

(4) Situational Factors

Situational factors are factors that can be either internal or external to the organization that affect how individuals function within the organization.

Internal factors could include time, budget, work facilities, etc. These factors influence how an individual does their work and so their behavior in the organization.

Similarly, external factors such as the current economic situation or consumer preferences affect the expectations from individuals and therefore, influences their behavioral responses.

5.2.2 Group Influences

Three aspects influence behavior while working in groups, leadership, power and influence, and team dynamics.

(1) Leadership

Leadership is the process of guiding and directing the behavior of people in the work environment.

It is important to distinguish between the leader and the manager. While a leader is an advocate for change and new approaches to problem solving, a manager is an advocate for stability and the status quo.

Leadership is of two kinds: formal and informal:

• Formal leadership is when the organization bestows the authority to a person to guide and direct a group.
• Informal leadership is accorded unofficially when a person is granted the power to guide by others.

(2) Power and Influence

In an organization, power and influence is frequently exercised to get other people to do something that is in the interests of the organization or in the interests of a person.

• Power is the ability to influence someone else’s behavior
• Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts and behavior of another person.

Authority is the right granted by the organization to influence another person. Another common means of influencing other people is through politics.

Politics is especially useful in order to influence people who have authority over others.

Politics is the use of power and influence to further personal interest, some are acceptable, while others are not

(3) Team Dynamics

A team can be defined as a group of people with complimentary skills who are committed to a common mission, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

The structure of teams exert important influences on how individuals behave when working in them.

For example, structural aspects of teams such as goals and objectives, operational guidelines, assessment measures, and role distribution for team leaders and members, play an important role in influencing behavior.

5.2.3 Organizational Influences

Organizational level influences on behavior can happen through two aspects: organizational structure, and organizational culture.

(1) Organizational Structure

Organizational structure could be defined as the division of labor and patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power, that direct organizational activities.

A common representation of organizational structure is the organizational chart that conveys in a visual diagram the relations between different roles people occupy in an organization.

Several factors differentiate the structure of an organization.

These include:

• the span of control, which refers to the number of people who report to any person.
• the degree of centralization, decentralization or the number of people with decision making authority in an organization
• the degree of formalization, or the standardization of rules and procedures in an organization.

(2) Types of Organizational Structure

Differences in organizational structures reflect how structures are departmentalized.

In other words, it specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together.

It also establishes a chain for the flow of commands and for the coordination of information.

a. Line Origanization

The line organization is the most hierarchical structure. The only departments in the organization are those that accomplish the mission of the organization.

• There are only direct vertical relationships among the different operations or line departments within a firm.
• There is little horizontal communication across different departments.

b. Line & Staff Organization

This structure creates a parallel chain of line and staff. The staff provides advisory or support role to the line departments.

A good example is that accounting office that reports to the president, it also provides financial advice and support to the production and marketing departments.

c. Functional Organization

This organizational structure has a type of departmentalization that organizes employees around specific knowledge or resources.

Projects are divided into segments and assigned to relevant functional areas and/or groups within functional areas.

A disadvantage of this organizational structure is that employees develop a narrow understanding of business and this results in poor coordination across different functions.

d. Divisional Organization

In this type of organizational structure, employees are grouped according to the primary source of environmental uncertainty, depending upon whether the company is selling in multiple places, or to different clients, or if different products are sold across a country.

In other words, the structure is grouped around geographic areas, products, or clients.

The problem with this structure is that it results in the duplication of structure, personnel and resources.

e. Matrix Organization

A matrix organization tries to combine the qualities of a functional and divisional organizational structure.

In a matrix organization, employees are assigned to cross functional teams working on specific projects.

They also belong to permanent functional units from where they are distributed to projects.

This allows for optimum use of resources and expertise. A disadvantage of this structure is that employees are accountable to two managers and this can create ambiguity and conflict.

(3) Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a set of values and assumptions shared within an organization.

While values reflect the belief about what should be or should not be assumptions, our deeply held beliefs and mental models that guide behavior and tell members how to think about things.

Organizational culture is made visible through practices symbols and physical structures of the organization.

5.3 Influences on Professional Loyalty in an Organization

When professionals work within an organizational setting their behavior is influenced by individual, group, and organizational influences. Professional behavior is particularly susceptible to group and organizational influences.

A powerful group influence on professional behavior is the nature of leadership and the style of leadership that is prevalent within the organization.

Another important influence is the structure of the organization.

5.3.1 Leadership Style

Leadership, as we have noted, is related to guiding and directing the behavior of people in the workplace. The objective of this guiding behavior is to deliberately shape the outcomes of how co-workers perform at tasks and duties with the intention of achieving organizational goals. Different leaders and managers possess different styles for managing their subordinates. Leadership styles can be of the following types.

• Autocratic style – leaders adopt directive or controlling actions to enforce rules and activities. This style is particularly effective for tasks that need to be finished urgently. However, long-term reliance on this style can affect the judgment and autonomy of professionals.
• Democratic style – leaders take collaborative, responsive, and interactive actions with followers. This democratic style allows for the evolution of mutual respect between professionals and co-workers. There is far less pressure to be influenced by organizational priorities.
• Laissez-faire style – leader who fails to take responsibility of position. As a result, subordinates may have greater freedom, but there is little evolution of a coherent mission in the organization. In the short-term, professionals may face less pressures, but in the long-run will feel under-valued and frustrated.

5.3.2 Organizational Structure

Organizational structure of an organization also plays a vital role in shaping the behavior of professionals. This is because the nature of the structure shapes different facets of how individuals are managed, how communication flows in the organization, and how decisions are made. Some pressures that an organizational structure exerts on the individual professional are the following:

• Success within an organization arises from not just professional success, but also from knowledge of how the organization is structured. The knowledge of how the organization is structured is crucial for a professional to understand how information and commands flow in an organization.

• Another important aspect of organizational structure that influences a professional is the decision-making process. Who makes decisions, and how formalized decision-making is in the organization affects how professionals can contribute to decisions.

Lesson 6

6.1 Introduction to Professional Values and Relations

The four values that are key to developing an ethical professional relationship in careers. These values are trust, loyalty, dignity, and honesty.

6.1.1 Trust

It is a key value underlying a professional relationship.

Trust is the ability to rely confidently on people, objects or circumstances.

If we have trust in someone or something, we are more likely to rely on them while making a decision to do something.

a. Why is trust important?

Trust is important for a professional relationship because in a legal sense without trust, there can be no professional relationship.

In legal terms, a professional relationship is a fiduciary relationship and a professional is a fiduciary.

• A fiduciary is a person in whom another has placed utmost trust and confidence to manage their property or money.

A fiduciary relationship, therefore, is one where the fiduciary has the obligation to act for the benefit of another. Violating trust violates the nature of the relationship.

b. Trust Building Obligations

For an engineer practicing in Quebec, the code of ethics for engineers directs engineers to create a bond of trust between the professional and the client or employer. A bond of trust suggests that the professional relationship between a professional engineer and the client or employer should be based on trust.

• According to the code of ethics, it is a binding obligation for all engineers to create a bond of trust.

In order to build the bond of trust, the engineer is expected to take several measures:

• disclosure of limits
• integrity and transparency
• availability and diligence
• independence and impartiality
• confidentiality
• fees

c. Disclosure of Limits

Full disclosure to the client of the abilities and limitations of an engineer is a basic building block for trust by responsibly disclosing the ability of the engineer in terms of material resources, equipment, finances, space, or intellectual resources, people skills, or time resources.

The engineer is sending a clear message to the client about their abilities, that the client does not overestimate the ability of the engineer to deliver.

While disclosing resources it is important for the engineer to do so in a responsible fashion so that the engineer is not seen to be reckless, overestimates their abilities, or a naysayer, underestimates their abilities.

d. Integrity & Transparency

An engineer must act in a fashion that demonstrates integrity and transparency in their professional work.

• One means of demonstrating integrity and transparency is to inform the client at the beginning of the terms of agreement in writing.

• Subsequently, the engineer should ensure a document trail in all interactions between engineer and client.
• By documenting all interactions, the engineer sends a clear message that they are acting in a transparent fashion.

Integrity and transparency can be fostered by furnishing explanations as in when requested by the client.

When these explanations are provided, it is important to ensure that contradictory explanations are not provided. Furthermore, when the client ignores the engineer’s advice, the engineer must inform the client in writing of the consequences for ignoring their advice.

e. Availability & Diligence

The engineer must demonstrate reasonable availability and diligence in professional practice. A good way of demonstrating this is by making known the engineer’s working hours and contacts and then ensuring the client can reach the engineer during these hours.

Similarly, the engineer must give advance notice if for some reason they wish to cease working for the client. The engineer can only cease to work for the client for some clearly defined grounds. These grounds are if the work involves illegal or fraudulent acts, if the client ignores the engineer’s advice, and if there is a conflict of interest.

f. Independence & Impartiality

It is of utmost importance that the engineer ensure that their professional independence and impartiality is maintained at all costs.

In order to do so, the engineer is required to take precautions to safeguard their independence and impartiality.

• One key fashion to do so is to avoid situations of conflict of interest.
• Another measure is to subordinate one’s personal interest to the interest of the client.
• Another means of ensuring impartiality is to ensure that the engineer does not receive fees for services provided from anyone else other than the client or the clients representative.

These measures may seem minor but are important to ensure that the engineer is not just impartial and independent in actions, but is also perceived to be so.

g. Confidentiality

It is of utmost importance that the engineer safeguard the confidentiality of the information provided by the client. In doing so, the engineer needs to remember that they are not authorized to share any of the client’s information unless explicitly released from secrecy by the client or requested to do so by a court of law.

In addition to not releasing the information engineer is expected to not use the client’s information in a way that will prejudice the client or accept another mandate that will involve disclosing a previous client’s information.

h. Fees

An engineer is expected to charge fair and reasonable fees that correspond to the services rendered.

The expectation is that neither will an engineer overcharge the client, nor will the engineer provide services for free.

In fact, the engineer is forbidden from providing services for free. Accordingly, the client should be given a written explanation for the fees that were charged.

i. Conflict of Interest

As we had mentioned earlier, a professional relationship with a client or employer is considered a fiduciary relationship. Such a relationship creates a legal obligation for the professional to always act in the positive interests of the client.

One of the factors that can compromise the fiduciary nature of this relationship is conflict of interest. Conflict of interest can be defined as the existence of a parallel interest that could threaten or appear to threaten the exercise of good judgment of the typical professional.

• A key point is that conflicts of interest affect the professional interest in judgment of a professional.
• Another vital aspect of a conflict of interest is that perception is very important.

Conflicts of interest come in several types: The most common type is when professionals receive gifts, bribes or kickbacks in order to influence their decision.

Another type of conflict of interest is insider information for friends or relatives. For example, if you are hiring someone for the company and your brother has applied for the job, this situation exposes you to conflict of interest.

A third type of conflict of interest is the existence of interest in other companies. An example of this would be when you as a professional are working as a designer for one firm, while you have investment interests in a competing firm. As a professional, avoid putting yourself in conflict of interest situations. If it is unavoidable, a professional’s only safeguard is full disclosure of conflict of interest so that the conflict of interest stands revealed.

6.1.2 Loyalty

Loyalty is usually described as an attitude or character that is demonstrated by a person through their actions. A clear demonstration of loyalty is when a person puts the interests of a person or institution, such as a family, community or nation before personal interests, even when such an action exposes the person to risk.

In thinking about loyalty in the professional sphere, it is important to distinguish between two kinds of loyalty, attitude loyalty and agency loyalty.

• Attitude loyalty is loyalty that is considered an attitude or sentiment of a person. It is an emotional or identity response that arises from group affiliation.
  • A display of attitude loyalty is considered a desirable quality, but usually not an obligation for members.
• Another type of loyalty is agency loyalty that arises from fulfilling contractual duties. For example, if you are hired to perform a task in an organization, you are required to be a loyal agent as long as you work for the organization.
  • Agency loyalty is a mandatory obligation that is fulfilled by obeying legitimate authority of colleagues and superiors and by following all policies and norms of the organization you work for.

Assessing the Moral Status of Loyalty

While loyalty is usually considered a positive sentiment in personal lives, the requirement of loyalty in professional lives needs careful evaluation. A sentimental consideration is unsuitable in the professional context. This is because an emotional form of loyalty requires unquestioned or absolute loyalty. Such an absolute response towards superiors or the organization would limit the possibility for an individual to develop an appropriate ethical response to forms of immoral action by the organization superiors or colleagues.

Instead, loyalty in the professional context requires use of judgment to develop and practice loyalty. It requires individuals to think carefully about what loyalty means and how much is owed in the professional context

A good strategy is to critically evaluate the organization and how it treats employees in order to assess the nature of loyalty that is owed by an employee.

It is important to think through questions like do I feel a sense of gratitude towards my employer?

Is there a sense of fairness in the workplace?

Is this organization responsive to the needs and concerns of its employees?

Does this organization offer rewards and acknowledgments?

Am I proud of this organization?

6.1.3 Diginity

Dignity is a feeling of respect or esteem that an individual holds themselves in. Certain actions can cause damage to the positive sense of esteem about a person. Causing damage to the positive feeling of esteem of a person could cause grievous psychological harm to the individual.

In a similar fashion, professional dignity is considered a positive sense of esteem that the profession has collectively acquired as a result of positive contributions the profession makes to society. But this dignity or honorable reputation of the profession is fragile and can easily be compromised. Any member of the profession through their irresponsible actions can cause damage to the dignity of the profession.

In Quebec, it is a mandatory duty of each individual engineer to safeguard the dignity of the profession. This duty is prescribed in the province’s professional code and in the code of ethics for engineers.

6.1.4 Honesty

Honesty is a moral virtue that is widely accepted, but not very well understood. Primarily because it is a practice relevant to many different facets of our existence in society.

• In the personal sphere. Honesty can be interpreted as truth telling. So an honest person is one who can be relied on to tell the truth irrespective of circumstances.
• In theprofessional context, honesty is not limited to just speaking the truth. It also implies representing oneself, our actions and our views openly and truthfully.

So in addition to honesty being an act of truth telling, it also means that to be honest in the workplace implies the act of following scientific facts, the act of avoiding inappropriate means and the act of showing respect to colleagues in a professional relationship.

The difference between honesty as truth telling and honesty as correct representation of actions can be distinguished by the difference between the act of commission and the act of omission.

• While telling a deliberate lie would be an act of commission on the part of the person speaking a lie.
• On the other hand, we lie by omission when we neglect to mention a relevant event, information or circumstance to a person.

Thus, honest representation requires us to avoid both acts of commission and omission.

Duty to be Honest

Although not mentioned separately as a mandatory duty for engineers, the duty to be honest, has considerable overlap with the trust building obligations of engineers towards clients or employers and with their duty towards humanity.

But a few obligations indicate the duty to be honest. These are, the engineer shall express their opinion on matters dealing with engineering only if such opinion is based on sufficient knowledge and honest convictions. An engineer must be impartial in their relations between client and contractor suppliers, etc. An engineer must safeguard their independence at all times by avoiding situations of conflict of interest.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is an act that follows directly from the requirement of engineers to be honest and transparent in their actions and views. It has been defined as an act by an employee of informing the public or higher management of unethical or illegal behavior by an employer or supervisor.

As an engineer, if you come to know of the commission of unethical or illegal actions in the workplace, your duty to be honest as an engineer demands that you approach either the supervisor or the public to reveal the existence of such actions. Not doing so would mean you have engaged in an act of omission.

Whistleblowing can be categorized into two types, internal or external, depending upon whether the whistle is blown inside or outside the organization.

• Internal whistleblowing would mean going over the head of an immediate supervisor, who may be engaged in unethical action to a higher level of management.
• External whistleblowing would mean going outside the company and report unethical or illegal actions to the media or to law enforcement agencies directly.

In the context of professional engineering in Quebec, there are well instituted procedures for whistleblowing. At the first level, when you encounter an illegal or unethical action in your workplace, your action should be to bring it to the attention of the company, first, verbally and then failing which clearly indicate in writing to the company the consequences that may result from ignoring your advice.

If after this, there is no satisfactory resolution, as an engineer, your option, especially when certain works are a danger to public safety must be to notify the order. For an engineer in Quebec going public would imply approaching the OIQ rather than going to the media.

6.2 Trust Building and Conflict of Interest

6.2.1 Trust-building Obligations

The Code of Ethics for Engineers directs engineers to create a bond of trust between the professional and the client (or employer). A bond of trust suggests that the professional relationship between a professional engineer and the client or employer should be based on trust.

According to the code of ethics, it is a binding obligation for all engineers to create a bond of trust. In order to build the bond of trust, the engineer is expected to take several measures. These measures include – disclosure of limits, integrity and transparency, availability and diligence, independence and impartiality, confidentiality and fees. While these measures are mandated for all engineers, they are more relevant for the independent engineer who practices alone primarily because many of these measures are inculcated by organizational policies for engineers employed in an organization. Each of these aspects of trustbuilding is described in detail below: