Ethical Issues in Constructing a Plant - Essay Example

Ethics Ethics Introduction The case of the Incident at Morales that entails various ethical issues that are faced by a company that aims at building their plant that would help design a novel chemical product (Mandel & Martin, 2003). The company also aims at gaining an upper hand over other companies of the same business. It is this move to gain a competitive advantage that has created a channel for emergence of ethical issues in the course of construction of the plant. Step One: Determine the situation’s facts In the course of manufacturing a paint remover that will match Chemitoil’s product, Phaust Chemical manufacturers move to build their new plant in Mexico with the help of former Chemitoil’s design engineer (Mandel & Martin, 2003). The construction costs are greatly reduced in this plant. The effects of the same include use of cheaper controls from Lutz and Lutz, a decision not to line the evaporation ponds that would have prevented the leakage of hazardous substances into the groundwater, and a decision not to purchase pipes and connectors of high steel or high pressure alloy materials (Mandel & Martin, 2003). In the long run, the plan was not successful as leakages were experienced in the connections as well as failure to control the system automatically; thus, leading to the plan manager doing manual controls (Mandel & Martin, 2003). Worse still, the plant manager dies whilst manually controlling the plant. Step Two: Define the Stakeholders This case has various stakeholders that had vested interests in the outcome. First was the Phaust administration that wanted to introduce a product that would see to a tough competition with Chemitoil’s paint remover. Fred Martinez was yet another stakeholder who aimed at getting profits from selling off Chemitoil’s design to favor Phaust Chemical manufacturers (Mandel & Martin, 2003). Chuck, the vice president of Phaust is also a major stakeholder and plays a major role in advising Fred to cut down the construction costs of the new plant in Mexico. The new plant manager who dies during the manufacturing process is also a stakeholder as he agrees to control the manufacturing process manually as opposed to automatic control (Mandel & Martin, 2003). Step Three: Assess the motivations of the Stakeholders The personality types and communication techniques of the stakeholders clearly explain the motivation behind their decisions. Phaust administration was motivation py greed to maintain the markets as the major manufacturer of the major paint remover, and the need to compete with Chemitoil so as to prevent them from taking over the industry. Fred Martinez was motivated by the need to acquire money from Phaust as they had the need to get the basics of Chemitoil’s manufacturing design. The vice president, Chuck was motivated by greed to cut down costs and design a manufacturing plant that would be cheaper and also pose competition on their competitors (Mandel & Martin, 2003). Lastly, the plant manager was also so naive to control the plant manually. The motivation behind his decision was to cut down costs and minimize the use of resources as possible. Step five: Formulate alternative solutions Among the ethical values include honesty, fairness, civility, respect and kindness (National Institute for Engineering Ethics, 2003). As far as honesty is concerned, an alternative solution would be the Phaust Chemical industry designing a company that would adhere with all the proper requirements of a manufacturing plant as opposed to using cheaper means to design their plant. In regard to fairness, the company would have taken time to build a manufacturing company that is legal and, therefore, seek for fair competition with Chemitoil. If their production was perfect, there was no need to panic. Civility and respect would drive the company to coming up with alternatives that would not harm human life such as ensuring an automatic control system is working prior to beginning the processing. Through kindness, the alternative of creating a manufacturing plant that would produce more good than harm would be fit. This involves instituting systems that will not cause physical harm to the workers, and even harm to the environment such as waste emissions that would contaminate the environment. Step 6: Seek additional assistance, as appropriate In regard to the case, engineering ethics are applicable. First, it is crucial to highlight that ethical responsibilities are universal and are not confined to specific areas alone. This justifies that the Phaust manufactures had no option but to adhere to the correct technical and decision making in engineering (National Institute for Engineering Ethics, 2003). Through this ethic, they were expected to treat the persons in their firm as humans not as mere objects. Despite the market stresses that forced the Phaust manufactures to come up wit a plant immediately, they had the option to adhere to the required ethics and come up with an advanced design as well as a construction schedule for their new plant. It was also important that the manufacturers not only focus on the market but also on the needs of the employees.  Step 7: Select the most outstanding course of action The most appropriate course of action that satisfies the highest core ethical values would be to design a plan that would see to construction of an ethically accepted plant with the right mechanisms (National Institute for Engineering Ethics, 2003). This is to mean that the right persons for the construction will be hired; they also need the proper precautions to prevent them from harm during the construction. The plant must also ensure that it is environmentally acceptable and will not cause harm to the environment such as causing emissions that will be hazardous to the environment (National Institute for Engineering Ethics, 2003). Step 8: Implement the selected solution First, I would hire competent designers and engineers that would help design and construct the new plant respectively. I would then higher competent managers that would run the plant in line with the required specifications and match our competitors. Step 9: Monitor and assess the outcome The plant is running as expected and the product is consumer friendly. However, the time factor is of essence if the plant has to remain in the market. Next time I will specify the time required for all the activities that would see to successful production of the paint remover and compete effectively with other manufacturers. References Mandel, K. (Producer) & Martin, P. (Director). (2003). Incident at Morales. [Video]. New York, NY: Great Projects Film Company. National Institute for Engineering Ethics (2003). Incident at Morales. An Engineering Ethics Story. Study Guide. Texas: Murdough Center for Engineering Professionalism, College of Engineering, Texas Tech University. Read More