Silicon Tehnronics Development - Essay Example

Background Summary of the case In 1992, Silicon Techtronics had developed ‘The Robbie’ CX30 industrial robot that was supposed to set new standard for robot intelligence. On May 17, same year, as a result of malfunctioning in the robot, its operator, Bart Mathews was hit violently by flaying arms of the robot and killed on the spot. The public prosecutor, Jane McMurdock blamed the software programmer, Randy Samuel for writing the flawed software that led to the killing by the erratic behavior of the robot. Randy Samuel was charged with manslaughter. The case highlights the huge ethical issues that were deliberately overlooked or bypassed which had wide and serious ramifications not only for the people but also for the company. Two of the ethical considerations contained in BCS code of conduct, would be identified and discussed, with reference to persons who had violated them. BCS Code of Conduct Section 1 You shall carry out work or study with due care and diligence in accordance with the relevant authority’s requirements, and the interests of system users. If your professional judgement is overruled, you shall indicate the likely risks and consequences. Section 2 In your professional role you shall have regard for the public health, safety and environment. Section 17 You shall accept professional responsibility for your work and for the work of colleagues who are defined in a given context as working under your supervision. Discussion The three persons identified are: Michael Waterson, Chief Executive Officer; Ray Johnson, Chief of Robot Division; and Cindy Yardley, the software tester. The CEO, Michael Waterson was the person who was primarily responsible for ensuring high standard of ethical practices within the organization. As a leader, he was not only responsible for his workers but he was duty bound to help create an environment that encourages fair practices, mutual trust and confidence building. Instead, he issued threats of terminating the services of workers if deadlines were not met and thereby promoted an environment of fear and stress that provoked his subordinates to resort to unethical practices and deceitful behavior that violated BCS code of conduct. He also employed Sam Reynolds as the project head of highly technical robot division, fully knowing that Reynolds neither had the expertise nor the experience of working with robotics that required working on prototypes prior to final version. The flaw in the programming led to the malfunctioning of the robot CX30. The main reason being that vital precautionary measures and testing at different levels of software development, as a normal course, could not be conducted due to non flexible deadline and the hanging threat of dismissal of the project team. Hence Waterson had violated section 3 of BCS code of conduct and he was responsible for the sub standard work of his workers and he should have taken full responsibility for the death of the operator. Section 2 of BCS had also been violated by Michael Waterson. It was his professional duty to ensure public health, safety and environment. In his field of developing industrial robots, it was vital that all type of anticipated and non anticipated measures of safety and safe operation should have been taken into account. Waterson had the overall responsibility of ensuring safe operation through proper training and guideline, which were crassly ignored and disregarded just so that the Robbie was launched on the anticipated date. Waterson, therefore can be claimed as the real culprit. Ray Johnson, the chief of robotic division was another officer who had deliberately violated ethical consideration to maintain his credibility and remain in the good books of the CEO. He not only deliberately asked one of his subordinate to manipulate data and tests but also issued veiled threats to ensure compliance. He had asked his subordinate, Cindy Yardley to manipulate the test so that the final assembling could get the approval. He also provoked and threatened Sam Reynolds, project manager of robotics to expedite the development of robot CX30 and meet the deadline at all cost. He deliberately promoted the concept of ‘ivory snow’ and development of flawed robot by manipulating the software test results through simulation rather actual tests, putting a risk the lives of people. He has, thus violated all the sections mentioned. Cindy Yardley, the software tester was yet another employee of Silicon Techtronics who could be accused of violating the ethical code of conduct. By agreeing to write the simulated software test, she had colluded with her seniors in the development of faulty robot. While she was tempted with promotion and threatened with termination, she had the option to seek advice from her peers or take the matter to the appropriate authorities, within and outside the organization, especially when she knew the repercussions of flawed software in highly technical area like robotics. She did not do that and therefore her act was ethically and morally wrong and violated all the mentioned section of BCS code of conduct. Answer 2 The case is very pertinent with regard to ethical codes of conduct. Moral and ethical dilemmas are becoming frequent in one’s professional life. While it raises questions of professional etiquettes and maintenance of high standard of fair and ethical practices, the case also exposes the vulnerability of the subordinates at the hands of the unscrupulous seniors. It is increasingly becoming difficult for a person to maintain a high level of personal integrity as very often the personal values clash with the organization’s objectives and organization’s target based results. According to Joseph Badaracco, "We have all experienced situations in which our professional responsibilities unexpectedly come into conflict with our deepest values...we are caught in a conflict between right and right. And no matter which option we choose, we feel like we've come up short" (Badaracco). The ‘Killer Robot’ case study is a typical example of violation of ethical code of conduct that had resulted in the killing of an innocent person. Consequentialist ethics is defined as the acts or behaviour that is determined by the consequences of that act or behaviour which generally must be beneficial in content. Popularised as act utilitarian theory, the actions, that are designed to benefit or have beneficial cascading effects on others, are morally and ethically right. According to Act Utilitarian of Jeremy Bentham, “when choosing a course of action, one should always pick the one that will maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness for the greatest number of people” (Bentham from Rosenstand p.176). One can claim that the actions of the Rooney were for the detrimental of the people of the people of the office and her intention was to benefit her sister who could have used the information to harm the stakeholders and caused them harm. The utilitarian act also supports the golden rule which implicitly implies that people should act in the manner that they expect others to act. Therefore, all three persons identified in the company have acted unethically and have violated the BCA code of conduct. Wallace, an eminent social scientist had also propagated that it is the wisdom that is gained through the practical experiences that decides the right course of action that must be followed in different circumstances, adapting to the changing socio-ethical parameters. Also known as Wallace’s theory of ‘ethical contextualization’, Rosen in his book says that Wallace was of the view that ‘intelligent moral behaviour is always based on the understanding of how ethical principles have been applied in the past and the ends that have been served by those applications’ (Wallace, 1988). One can therefore, reiterate that Waterson, Johnson and Cindy were wrong in not only breaching the professional code of conduct but they had also violated the confidence of the people, deliberately and with vested intentions. The case can also be considered under the principle of egoism which is founded on the belief of self interest and allows people to look after their own interest without infringing on the rights of others. Theory of ethical hedonism by Epicurus can also be applied. Ancient philosopher, Epicurus (342-270 B.C.) had a very interesting perception towards ethics also known as hedonistic ethics. He proscribed to the view that anything that gives physical pleasure to a lot of people is ethically right and must be pursued. The concept of ‘physical pleasure’ is open to interpretation but if one goes through his philosophy of life, one can say that he believed that material goods do not guarantee happiness but actions that promote maximization of pleasure through tranquility of mind and body, thereby minimizing pain, are inherently good. According to him, everything that we do, we do so in order to gain pleasure out the act. Even infants like to do things that make them happy. By passing the information to her sister, Rooney’s main considerations were to give pleasure of some form. But again, as Epicurus says that ‘not all pleasures are choice-worthy or all pains to be avoided. Instead, one should calculate what is in one's long-term self-interest, and forgo what will bring pleasure in the short-term if doing so will ultimately lead to greater pleasure in the long-term’ (IET). Both the theories of ethical consideration refute Cindy’s contentions that were wrong as her good intentions were outweighed by the harm that would be unleashed by her actions. Hence, Cindy was ethically and morally not correct. Theory of Rights or the principles of deontology state that decisions if the individuals must be based on the circumstances and not of the consequences. Farrel and Fraedrich have clearly referred to deontology as ‘ethics of respect for persons’ and ‘non consequentialism’ (F&F, 1997, p58). Under this law, the stakeholders, public and all those people who have interests in the services and goods of the company, have the right to demand safety which was violated when these three officers used their official authority to deliberately manipulate and help develop sub standard robot that posed a threat to the safety of the people. Theory of Justice, which is based on law, would be to follow the framework and guidelines prescribed by appropriate legal system and BCS1 code of conduct. ‘The Code governs your personal conduct as an individual member of the BCS and not the nature of business or ethics of the relevant authority. It will, therefore, be a matter of your exercising your personal judgment in meeting the Code’s requirements’ (BCS regulation schedule, 2006). The huge implications of the regulation schedule are not only important in maintaining high standard of professional excellence but they are also designed to deter people to misuse or exploit the official services for private gains. The recent trends in the ethical parameters have included the various tests like ‘Mother test’, TV test’, ‘Smell test’ etc. that are increasingly used as general guidelines for the ethical actions. Mother test refers to the sharing of the ethical actions. If the person is able to share his or her actions with their mother and mother agrees with it, then the action is not wrong. TV test is conducted when the actions of the persons are debated over the television and the general public agrees with it. In both these tests, one would agree that all three would fail as they had breached the official trust. Smell test describes fishy actions which are construed to have hidden agenda as against what may appear to be honest. Cindy had not been honest in her argument that she had simulated the software tests for the overall welfare of her colleagues as she had been offered incentives to manipulate the test results. Waterson and Johnson had also maintained an undue threat over their juniors for their own vested interests. One can therefore, conclude that their decision was morally and ethically wrong. All the actions and events involving different people were based on the strong ethical considerations that promoted the welfare of the people. In the end, one can state that the organizational and institutional policies and programs, directly and indirectly, help develop new format of social justice that is devoid of ethics and morals. In the field of business, the controversies regarding the moral responsibilities and ethical considerations are the inherent challenges that must be understood in the wider perspectives. It is important that all issues have multifaceted solutions and efforts must be made to disseminate information that promotes better understanding of the issues so that appropriate steps could be taken for the welfare of public at large. (2065) Reference British Computer Society (BCS). Trustee Board Regulations Schedule 3 v 2 – Code of Conduct for BCS Members. Approved by Trustee Board on 29th November 2006. Available from: [19 February, 2009]. Badaracco, Joseph. Leadership: Facing Moral and ethical Dilemmas. Center of Business and Ethics. Loyola Manymount University. Avaialble from: [19 February, 2009]. Epstein, Richard G. (1998). The Case of Killer Robot. Edited by Mike Melamed. Epicurus. Ethical Hedonism. Available from: [16 April, 2008]. Ferrell O. C. and Fraedrich J. (1997). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Houghton Mifflin Company Rosenstand, Nina. (2002). The Moral Of the Story with Free Ethics. PowerWeb. McGraw Hill. Rosen, Frederick (2003). Classical Utilitarianism from Hume to Mill. Routledge, pg. 28. Read More