Abstract :
More and more we are reading in the press about the questionable actions of companies and individuals, and what the consequences of these actions are. What is the engineer to do about his own actions, and those of his company, if he is not to suffer the censure of the public and other stakeholders? This article illustrates why the engineer should be aware of ethical issues, what they look like when one comes across them, and what to do about them. A structure is suggested for considering the ethical dimension of a decision. The tools described here will not automatically turn the unethical into the ethical, but should provide a framework with which to help the willing think about these problems.
