CHE 4223 Legal and Ethical Considerations in Chemical Engineering Practice
Exercise: Components of a Moral Problem
NAMES:
Part A. In the following scenarios, determine whether the source of the conflict is a moral
issue, conceptual issue, application issue, or factual issue.
1. John is a newly hired engineer for the JMT Electronics Company. He is responsible for selecting
vendors that supply components for his company’s products. One of the vendors invites John to lunch
at Layshu Restaurant so they can become better acquainted. When John returns from lunch, his boss
is angry with him. He explains that John could be fired for accepting bribe, because a typical lunch at
Layshu Restaurant costs ₱2,500.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
2. In response to the incident described in (1), John’s boss issues a memo stating that “engineers are not
permitted to accept lunch from vendors if the value of the meal exceeds ₱500.” A vendor takes John
to another restaurant and spends ₱400 for the food and leaves a ₱150 tip. John is concerned that he
might be fired for not complying with the memo, because the total spent by the vendor was ₱550, a
figure exceeding the policy guidelines. Marianne, a fellow engineer, say not to worry, because the
food was only ₱400 and falls within the allowable limit.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
3. During World War II, engineers were important players in the Manhattan Project, the U.S. program
that built the first atomic bomb. Mark and Edward were two engineers who debated whether they
should participate in the project. Edward argued that they should not become involved because the
atomic bomb would mean a level of mass destruction never before unleashed on the world. In his
view, humankind is not wise enough to control such power. Mark argued that millions of lives, both
U.S. and Japanese, would be sacrificed if conventional weapons were used to end the war. He felt that
although the atomic bomb was certainly destructive, fewer lives would be lost because the war would
end much earlier if the atomic bomb were used.
4.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
5. Fred is a quality control engineer in an automotive plant that makes drive shafts on a high-speed lathe
requiring specially hardened tool bits. He notices that the automotive drive shafts are no longer
meeting specification on a critical dimension, causing 1000 of them to be rejected. Because his bonus
depends on a low rejection rate, Fred is angry at this development. He calls the lathe operator into his
office and accuses him of installing the wrong tool bit in the high-speed lathe. The lathe operator
swears that he used the right tool bit.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
6. Larry is an aerospace engineer employed by Boeing to design planes. He is a member of the Churva
religion, which is famous for nonviolence. (During wars, Churvars often refuse to serve as fighting
soldiers, but will serve as medics.) Larry was hired by Boeing to design passenger airplanes;
however, his boss has recently reassigned him to design military fighters. Larry must decide whether
to accept the new assignment, or quit and find a new job .
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
7. Sally is a mechanical engineer employed by General Motors to design automotive gas tanks.
According to government safety standards, the automobile must survive a moderate impact with no
chance of the gas tank catching fire. In recent tests, cars that crashed at 35 mph had no fires, whereas
20% of cars that crashed at 45 mph had fires. She is considering whether to redesign the gas tank.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
8. A new government law required that the lead content of drinking water be less than 1.0 ppb (parts per
billion). Melissa is a safety engineer who has tested here company’s drinking water by two methods.
Method A gives a reading of 0.85 ppb, whereas method B gives a reading of 1.23 ppb. She must fill
out a government report describing the quality of her company’s water. If the lead content exceeds
1.0 ppb, her company will be fined. She is contemplating whether to report the results from Method A
or Method B.
Issue/s:
Reason/s:
Part B. From the following scenario, identify a moral issue, a conceptual issue, an
application issue, and a factual issue. Add an explanation why you have identified the issue
as such.
The environmental organization Greenpeace wants to stop “toxic colonialism,’ in which developed
nations send their hazardous wastes to less developed countries with lax environmental laws. The United
Nations has proposed regulations entitled “The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes & Their Disposal.” The regulations seek to ban the export of hazardous
waste from the developed to lesser developed countries. In 1995, 91 nations were signatories to the
agreement.
Orville is an engineer who works for Copper Recyclers, Inc. They ship bales of used copper wire from
Canada to the Philippines, where they have a processing plant. Because the copper is used, it is
contaminated with small amounts of tin-lead solder. He is concerned that the Basel Convention will affect
his company’s business because of the lead content in their bales. He must make a recommendation to his
boss whether to relocate the processing plant in Canada.
Moral issue
Conceptual issue
Application issue
Factual issue
