Chapter 5 - Weighing the Ethical Issues

When making technical documents, the ethical side of things should still be taken into account. Especially in arguments and persuasive writing.  There are many issues that can fall into the category of unethical behavior and sometimes there is a fine line between being persuasive and being unethical.

Key Points:

Examples of Unethical Behavior in the Workplace:

• A person lands a great job by exaggerating his credentials, experience, or expertise
• A marketing specialist for a chemical company negotiates a huge bulk sale of its powerful new pesticide by downplaying the carcinogenic hazards
• A manager writes a strong recommendation to get a friend promoted, while overlooking someone more deserving

Major Causes of Unethical Behavior:

• Yielding to Social Pressure
• Mistaking Groupthink for Teamwork

Examples of Potential for Communication Abuse:

• Suppressing Knowledge the Public Needs
• Hiding Conflicts of Interest
• Exaggerating Claims about Technology
• Falsifying or Fabricating Data
• Using Visual Images to Conceal the Truth
• Stealing or Divulging Proprietary Information
• Misusing Electronic Information
• Withholding Information People Need for their Jobs
• Exploiting Cultural Differences

Criteria for Using Critical Thinking for Ethical Decisions:

• Obligation to yourself - to act in your own self interests and in good conscience
• Obligation to clients and customers - to stand by the people by whom you are bound be contract and those who pay the bills
• Obligation to your company - to achieve its goals, respect its policies, protect confidential information, and expose misconduct that would harm the organization
• Obligation to coworkers - to promote their safety and well being
• Obligation to the community - to preserve the local economy, welfare, and quality of life
• Obligation to society - to consider the national and global impact of your actions

Possible Difficult Choices:

• What exactly do I report and to whom?
• How much do I reveal or conceal?
• How do I say what I have to say?
• Could misplaced obligation to one party be causing me to deceive others?

Legal Guidelines that should not be a Sole Source of Dependence:

• Laws against deception
• Laws against libel
• Laws protecting employee privacy
• Copyright laws
• Laws against software theft
• Laws against electronic theft
• Laws against stealing or revealing trade secrets
• Laws against deceptive or fraudulent advertising
• Liability laws

Plagiarism should also be watched for so that credit is given where credit is due.

In the end, it is up to the person writing the document to use ethical decisions and ultimately they have to draw the line.  There are many guidelines and sets of rules to help with this, though, such as IEEE Code of Ethics.