Abstract
In organizations, there are a number of problems that create performance and relation gaps between the employer and the unions. The basic cause of such gaps is the absence of ethical values among the professionals and their management. In the same way, engineering professionals are also required to adopt certain moral values to save themselves from frustration and tension with their concerned clients or managers. The management of the industrial sector will have to perform through those ethics, which will help them in better earning and reputation. If they fail to do so, they will have to face a disturbed atmosphere inside their industries. The environment of confrontation will lead to heavy losses to the employer and the employees associated with the unions. Ethics are thus the primary values that can help sustain and enhance the functioning of the organization.
Introduction
Ethics are the system of the moral values possessed by a certain organization, field and community. These principles are adapted to run the organization in an accurate and professional manner. To maintain discipline and management in the field of work, managers are highly concerned with moral values. In the same way, engineering requires certain ethical practices, which could set the obligations in order to incorporate and comply with the rules of society. In engineering, ethics are the set of applied moral values that are generally used to control those unions operating in the sector. Without due oversight of the groups of technology workers, the system of the organization became disturbed, and it could not achieve the desired goals from the concerned operations. Certain are the set of aspects for engineers, clients and the professionals working in the respective industries. The scholarly field of engineering has a close connection with the related sciences, philosophies, and technological ethics.
Methodology
In this research paper, secondary research studies are considered to analyze the issues and practices related to unions and management ethics followed by the engineering industry. The prevailing problems faced by the Management over their unions have also been discussed. The methodology includes the engineering aspects and the ethical standards operating in the engineering sector. The description of the drawbacks and the benefits associated with the operations of the union were also explained by analyzing the research material. What are the Relations of the unions with management and engineers is the important point of discussion? How can engineers have better and more productive relationships with their higher authorities and with management?
Discussion
In the nineteenth century, the distinct profession of engineering role in a systematic way. The professionals of the time continued to work as independent practitioners or as workers in the technical branch of a wide range of enterprises. Continuous tensions and confrontations were there between the employers and the workers; the former wanted to control the latter. The suppression of the employees provides a way to develop a massive debate among the scientists of the engineering sector on how to tackle the property owners and the industrial bosses so that they can have certain limits while overseeing the workers’ classes (Nicholas, 2017). The significant issues of the industrialist class with workers continued for a long period. There was a kind of confrontation between both parties over ethical duties, which were linked with the society. The community of the nineteen century thus faced tensions of incorporating moral values in the profession of engineering. Various regions of the world face a war between industrialists and workers over the problem of adopting ethical values. New academies and development also enhance the issues with new complexities and sophistication.
Engineering societies and their development gave rise to ethical professionalism. In Australia, a number of academies developed and expanded their operation with the participation related to industrialist organizations. Four communities of the professional engineers developed in the last one century. Among those are the Society of Amalgamated Engineers, which was developed in eighteen fifty-one. In the year eighteen eighty-five, the composition of the Australian Electrical Institute of Engineering.
The community of mechanical engineers and mining professionals was also organized in a systematic way in the same decades. These communities of engineers are not only developing but also identified as professionals and technical workers following the high values of ethical engineering (Balakrishnan, 2015). Despite the fact that certain institutes were adopting moral values as the primary concern, nineteenth-century society considered ethics as a personal matter, not an issue of workers. Low levels of education and unknown social knowledge restrict the groups from adopting certain principles. In the same way, the collapse of the Tay bridge in eighteen seventy-nine has the question of codes of conduct and principles applied by the engineers over their profession. Certain new developments occurred in the years after the end of the nineteenth century.
Historical Development Of Engineering Ethics
The number of structural lapses, along with the breaking of different constructed designs and bridges, creates issues for the professionals to revisit ethical codes. Fremantle railroad collapse, King Street Bridge, and the destruction of other Bridges are some of the failures that unfolded the issues of deficiencies in the field and among the workers serving on these projects. Such kind of failures have an immense effect on the engineers, and it has provided them to overcome these lapses in practicing construction along with the ethical standards they have set for the design and operations. The communities of the nineteen century, when they faced the destruction of human loss with money, opined for the formulations of the code of conduct that could align with the ethical professions. Four other societies of engineers also came up with the same demand for moral rules for professionals. Two societies’ electrical engineers and mechanical engineering communities have adopted those ethical rules to serve the people in a highly professional manner. In the years ninety fifty, the German Engineer Association adopted an oath as primary law with the title of confession of the engineers, which revealed the active role of atrocities by engineers in World War II.
The time of the Second World War is also important for the professionals of Australian engineers. Productions of the industries were increased due to the need for war. The circumstances allowed industrialists to amend the craft rules in order to meet the requirement of skilled people. Women, along with the workers of other fields, entered into the engineering sector. The overtime use by the workforce, which was also increasing in number, increased the output of the industrial organizations. The methodology mostly depended on the skill and contribution of trade persons. The dilutes were not capable of handling the technical and ethical tasks provided to them by the management because it required effective training, which was more available to the legal and technical personnel of the trade unions (Harris 2013). However, as the production and services of industries increased, the deficiency of competent and skilled tradesmen halted the performance of overall industrial units. The industry of Australian engineers manages to hold its stance against the opposition of employees having no technical background. Such an attitude of the engineers has saved their ethical position by not breaking the rules, ethics and standards of the traditional industrial order.
The power of the technical engineers and their unions has to remain sharpening issues with radical and leftist unions and unskilled staff. Technical knowledge is the advantage to the trades engineers over the other professionals. They have successfully restricted the power that was extended by the other staff at the managerial level. With the advancement of technology, the struggling war between organizations and their workforce was not according to straight ethical rules and standards. The sophisticated relationship between a union and their employers is mostly engineers and has low monolithic loyalty to each other. Historical perspective thus provided the actual way of confrontation between the management and the unions, relations and their confrontations. The change in the codes and ethical values occurred with the passage of time and in accordance with the requirements of modern society.
Recent Development
The struggle for the promotion of ethics is still in progress. Efforts for such kind of promotion are continuing for a long time. Standards and rules line the Iron Ring of Canada, and the engineers’ order of the different states dates back to the destruction of Australian Bridges in nineteen hundred and seven. The members of the engineering community have to take an oath the upholding practices related to ethics and wearing protected clothes, which reminds engineers not to cross moral boundaries (Hersh, 2016). The Australian professional engineers have explained their ethical canons and rules of professional services design in nineteen sixty-four. These rules lead to the composition of the board of ethical reviews.
Generally, it was an easy task to answer the ethical issues, but the board has a number of experts who help the engineers who are facing some kind of moral or ethical problem. In the modern engineering era, concepts like bribery and corruption are considered the most addressed issues. The number of the group and the unions have attacked the issues of corrupt practices by the engineers. Similarly, there are certain new issues that are arising from the ethical perspective, like environmental safety, sustainable development and the increasing number of offshoring corporations and industries.
The Unions And The Engineers
Among particular political movements, unions are a group of people who contain certain political human rights ideas and thoughts. The initial emergence of the unions was in the nineteenth century. Numerous issues and causes provide space for the massive grouping in and outside of the organizations. For workers with low wages, long working times, and the lack of regulation concerning the safety of the labor force allow them to organize and counter organizational hurdles (Kim, 2016). Unions help the worker get their rights and inputs from the management, which considers themselves as the sole powerful unit of the respective industries. However, in the era of the twenty-first century, unions became a burden rather than addressing the very fundamental rights of the workforce. It became more luxurious than filling up the necessities. Other than the advantages of the union, they can become a problem for the management and the engineers.
Benefits Of Unions To Engineers
There are multiple advantages offered by the unions for the engineers and their management. Those engineers who are unionized have the positive of a secure and safer job than those who are not part of it. Job security is important for all the workers and even for the management staff. It is due to the fact that unions have the authority to make the final decision about the termination of someone. They also have the privilege of taking disciplinary action through the meeting of the union committee. The grievances and complaints of the individual person cannot be reached by the top management unless the employee uses the channel of the union representative. In this way, the individual can have the privilege of making effective moves regarding the issue, and it can influence the decision of the higher authority.
The role of unions is laudable when it comes to the situation. They try to make the environment safe and friendly. Those employees who are part of the unions have the benefit of increased health allowances, leaves and short and long paid vacations. These are few benefits and they have other such privileges. Compensation related to the money and related coverage is decided with mutual decisions and reinforced on the expiry of the agreement with the parties. One of the workers of the industrial sector, Lisa Johnson, unfolded his experience with the union by arguing that the union offers him a number of advantages along with multiple meetings, interactions and professional training. He is also representing the unions, which he thinks is a great privilege for him.
Union Disadvantages For Engineers
Problems or issues associated with the composition of a union are relatively low than those of benefits. The negative aspects of the grouping can be serious for an individual. The most common problem generally faced by the corporate sector is the strikes and protests by the unions demanding certain rights. When the employer or engineer cannot reach a certain conclusion or deal, then the conduct of protest is an important concern of the engineers. Employees who are not part of the unions also have the right to strike, but they lack fewer bargaining benefits, which might fail them before sitting on the negotiating table (Lester, 2015). In favor of majority rule, employees of the organization mostly went on strike, which stopped working. However, the work and finances of the engineers are highly affected by the collective strikes and protests. Managers stop their pay and privileges along with the imposition of fines on them. Those workers who have the desire to work are strictly prohibited by the unions, which stops them from taking place towards which side, the managers or the union.
Benefits For The Management
There are particular advantages of union operations and services for the managers and administration staff. The agreement done collectively with the unions and engineering management is not disputable until the time of expiry of the said project. The managerial staff has the idea through suck kind of fix dealing that they can predict the expense and the benefits associated with both entities and programs. The unions brought security and safety to jobs along with enhanced compensation, which resulted in less common turnover. The training and the increasing experience of the employee through positive activities of the unions possess worthwhile investment to the organizations.
The management has the advantage of increasing financial investment through productivity, which is the result of the collective and supportive struggle of union staff and workers. Through the competitive atmosphere among the members of the group, the industrial sector can have innovative products and ideas that will not be available to the other institutes that are banning unions (Nicholas, 2017). The improvement in communication at the workplace can provide essential benefits to the management and the related staff. Economic development is one of the main themes of unions operating in the organizations.
The engineering can simplify its process of negotiating with the workers and through their representatives. The productivity issues and dealings through the trade unions can increase the outcomes along with the increase in wages, which benefit the manager and the workforce. Demonstration of the Excellency in practicing the employment will be the source of the competition, and it will influence the attitudes of stakeholders and enhance the reputation of the organization. Union is generally engulfed with increased experience regarding the rules, regulations and laws of the respective institution. Their experience can resolve the issue much earlier than normal proceeding. Induction of unions in those cases that are associated with legal grounds saves the money and time of the organization. It also helps the managers not to move to the expensive and time-consuming processes in places like courts or service tribunals.
Disadvantages Of The Unions For Management
The union is often looked at as creating frustrations for the managerial staff. The relation between both, if not amicable, then it will serve the problem for both entities to stop the work or to adjust to certain bargaining. The phenomena of the ‘us vs. them’ will be there as a result of decisions, and the planning of management will face unbearable resistance. The violation of discipline by the members of unions will force the managers to use termination authority, which will agitate the already worse situation. One of the major obstacles, which is observed among the managers is the aspect that became advantageous for the worker because workers are not given benefits by the higher management. Managers are mostly imply monitoring and controlling tactics to limit the workers. In a situation where the worker is terminated on logical and adjustable grounds union often creates hurdles for the higher authority to revise the decision. Such kind of demands are made by group leaders due to the increasing tension between the union and the managerial staff.
The issue of lockouts is also a problem faced by managers who want to control and monitor themselves. Management starts the process and lets the unions, which are operating in certain organizations but not at every institute work on the possible solution. They use certain actions and tools to force the employees to accept those offers best suited to them. In response to such actions, the unions and employees who know the position react with more coercion and disturb the whole functioning of the organization. Certain types of contracts with administrative staff also increase the problem at a time when the authority wanted to amend the laws and rules of the business.
The economic condition or lapses in business force the managers to reduce employees and cut off the working hours, to which severe reactions came from the unions. In the twenty-first century, with the advancement, there is a concept of new public management. In other terms, this is a kind of privatization of institutions, which are giving a loss to the state or management. One of the important characteristics of new public management is to reduce the number of employees in the organization (Wang, 2015). The union went against the reduction and held a massive campaign along with the protest to save the jobs of the workers. The claim made by the representatives of the group is that workers are poor people, and how they will manage the food and related needs of their families. They got pity feelings of the people to influence the policy decisions of the management.
Engineering Management Relations With Unions
The relationship between the unions and the management possesses importance due to the resolution of disputes in the industrial sectors. The human resource unit of the organization train guide provides certain facilities to the managers working with the groups operating for the rights of labor. Efforts made by the unions provide space to the workers and managers for better salaries and good work. Respect and the dignity of employees at working workplace are due to the pressure of groups. In exchange for these struggles, management also tries to normalize their relations with them in order to save interest and revenue for the organization.
The managers are highly concerned with the business and they have the desire for the smooth running of the work. The authorities have the opinion that for the high income, they need smooth and productive running and operations. Dignity and respect, along with the reputation of the institutions, can only be saved through the positive relations of the union and the higher management. Both will have to show the flexibility. If the parties do not agree on certain issues, they will face problems and the loss of the whole organization.
Equal bargaining is essential for both parties, the unions and the engineering manager. The traditional concept of overwhelming the power of others will severely affect the performance of institutions. A group of workers has a loud voice and more power than individual managers, so they are mostly forcing the employer to consider their demands. For example, in the United States, the role played by the unions to abolish sweatshops and the ending of teenagers working is highly laudable because, with the power of the people, they push these acts back to the alternate position. The National Labour Act provided that workers have the right to get their due issues resolved through collective struggle and approach. Collective pressure sometimes forces the management to maintain their relationship with the unions positively. Employers are often fear of monitoring by the unions on the use of unfair means to get cheap objectives. The example of this is best described in a way that the union, which was leading Boeing Co. engineers, raised issues about their employer who was harassing the engineers, which is connected with the activities of unions.
The board has conducted an inquiry and ordered that those who were attacked through unfair means should be compensated. The investigation also recommended the ceasing of the company along with the fines and charges. The main purpose of such actions by the group is to force the management to comply with the law and fulfill the needs and due privileges of the workers. Such kind of actions by the union halted the relation with managers, but these are necessary to limit the powers of top authority and to balance the relations between both. If the group gets silent on violations made by the chief of the organization, then it will provide authority to exercise undue power over the employees, and suppression will start with a number of penalties. The crux of the discussion is that a balanced approach will have to be adopted by the employer because he has authority over workers. Moreover, the responsibility of what it means to the management lies with him.
Cooperative and coordinated relations can benefit both the engineer and the unions. With the coordinated task, both improve the performance of the organization through enacting the laws and rules. Union helps management in legislating the laws according to the rights and the interests of people. They can push the legislators to enact those laws that are easy and beneficial for enforcement. The act of social security, Family Medical, Leave Act, and health-related acts are some of the efforts made by the unions to benefit engineers. They do not stop here until the laws are properly enforced into the actions. Engineers can have better opportunities while working with the groups. They are the meetings, interactions and the privileges of representation. Fewer people and professionals reach the top or at some height.
Ethical Aspects And Relevance To Engineers
The number of communities that have set codes of conduct for the profession of engineering. Some of these moral values date back to the twentieth and twentieth centuries. Among these codes and rules, many are adjusted with the industrial laws. Similarly, the statement of the principles also acts as a guide and a way for an engineer to work and operate in the organization. However, engineers are required interpretations of certain rules and codes as to how they can apply specific laws and circumstances. The similarity is there among the codes of various engineering communities all over the world. The general aspects and codes that are relevant to the profession of engineering are important to understanding, without which professionals will not be able to deliver their services in a better position.
The safety, health and welfare of the public must be the primary focus aspect of the engineers. In performing the duties and functions, they will have to consider the sustainability of the work. Engineers are not allowed to exceed those areas that do not come under their jurisdiction and competence. They are only limited by their own competence. Issuance of the statements must be in an objective and general method. The consideration of specification in this regard will halt the profession. Loyalty to the client or the manager is the paramount aspect of the profession of engineers. They must avoid any kind of conflict of interest. They should use the channel of merit to improve their reputations instead of using unfair competition with other professionals. There is no place for corrupt practice and bribery for the individual having the field of engineering. Obligations to the particular community will enhance the integrity, honor and reputation of the profession. Throughout their careers, the engineer can develop their profession and must provide the same opportunities for progression to those working under their supervision.
Conclusion
Concluding the detailed discussion on the ethical aspects of engineering and their effect on the profession, it is a notable point that by adopting standard values, engineers can enhance their honor and integrity. Respect and proper management are the key factors in determining the basics of any profession. In the same way, effectively managing the unions with a balanced approach can improve the performance of engineering organizations. If the engineer fails to make positive relations with the worker, client, and the managers it will severely affect the performance of the organization. The only option left for the professionals is to adopt a balanced approach in negotiating with concerned management.
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