The Ethical Behavior of Engineers and Engineering Managers: An Analysis of the Space Shuttle Program

工程师和工程经理的道德行为：航天飞机计划分析

• 批准号: 8722021
• 负责人: Larry Shuman
• 金额: $ 8.28万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-09-01 至 1990-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8722021&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Ethical; Behavior; Engineers; Engineering; Managers

The 1970s saw the first sustained and systematic studies of engineering ethics in the U.S. These studies have been successful at delimiting the normative dimensions of the field, establishing that concerns for safety, due care and responsibility are defining characteristics. Some empirical work has been done, in case studies and surveys; the focus in these studies has been mainly on whistleblowing and documenting the incidence of ethical problems in engineering work. Some current research is examining how cognitive and social values enter into engineering decisionmaking more broadly, to shape design and practice. This project will break new ground by focussing specifically on ethical decisionmaking in the practice of engineering. The interdisciplinary team of investigators will conduct a one-year pilot case study on the design and development of a specific system or subsystem selected from the Space Shuttle Program. This analysis will examine the role that organizational contexts play in this decisionmaking process. Augmented by one or two additional experts as needed, a panel of three consultants, including an expert in engineering ethics, an expert in structural integrity and thermal stress analysis and on the mechanics fracture and adhesion, and an expert in philosophy of science, will assist in the selection of the case and the information to be sought from it. They will continue to evaluate the progress of this effort throughout the term of the award. The project will identify how engineers perceive, articulate and resolve ethical difficulties that arise in the development of complex, advanced technologies. Of paramount interest are design decisions that involve such activities as scale up, extrapolation of performance specification, and mathematical representations of phenomena. Since these design activities involve analysis of uncertainty and risk, they create situations where exercise of engineering judgments, incorporating values, are relied on. This case study will identify where these junctures occurred. By presenting the completed case to practicing engineers and engineering students, the investigators will begin to construct a normative description of how ethical decisions are perceived and resolved. This pilot will be evaluated for use in engineering education, and form the basis for determining whether further retrospective or prospective studies are worthwhile. This project is of intrinsic and practical importance. The investigators and their advisors are very well qualified; institutional support is very good. The phased research design is cost-effective. Results are likely to be widely distributed and of general interest. Support in the amount of $82,788 is recommended.

20世纪70年代，美国首次对工程伦理进行持续和系统的研究。这些研究成功地界定了该领域的规范维度，确立了对安全、应有的谨慎和责任的担忧是定义特征。在案例研究和调查方面，已经开展了一些经验性工作；这些研究的重点主要是揭发和记录工程工作中道德问题的发生。目前的一些研究正在研究认知和社会价值如何更广泛地进入工程决策，以塑造设计和实践。这个项目将通过专门关注工程实践中的伦理决策而开辟新的天地。跨学科调查小组将就从航天飞机计划中选择的特定系统或子系统的设计和开发进行为期一年的试点案例研究。这一分析将考察组织环境在这一决策过程中所起的作用。一个由三名顾问组成的专家小组，包括一名工程伦理专家、一名结构完整性和热应力分析专家、一名机械断裂和粘连专家以及一名科学哲学专家，将协助选择案件和从案件中获取信息。他们将在整个获奖期间继续评估这项工作的进展情况。该项目将确定工程师如何感知、阐明和解决复杂、先进技术开发中出现的伦理困难。最令人感兴趣的是设计决策，这些决策涉及诸如扩展、性能规范的外推和现象的数学表示等活动。由于这些设计活动涉及对不确定性和风险的分析，它们创造了依赖于结合价值的工程判断的情况。这一案例研究将确定这些转折点发生在哪里。通过向实习工程师和工程学学生展示完成的案例，调查人员将开始构建如何感知和解决伦理决定的标准化描述。这项试点将在工程教育中使用进行评估，并形成决定是否值得进行进一步的回顾或前瞻性研究的基础。这个项目具有内在的和现实的重要意义。调查人员和他们的顾问非常合格；机构支持非常好。阶段性研究设计具有成本效益。结果可能会广泛分布，并引起普遍关注。建议提供82788美元的支助。