Engineering Management Ethics in the Context of Engineering Practice in China

Abstract

China's engineering practice is faced with acute and complex ethical issues in the new era. The ethical improvement of engineering management lags behind the rapid growth of engineering construction, which hinders the effective solution of ethical issues and the high-quality development of Chinese engineering. Using methods of theoretical analysis, case study, and expert interviews, and considering the significant role of engineering managers and the incomplete applicability of engineering ethics for engineers in China's engineering practice, we elaborate the demand for transforming key ethical objects and conducting research on engineering management ethics. Moreover, we summarize the implications of engineering management ethics at the micro, meso, and macro levels, discuss the negative impacts of engineering on society and environment and the causes of corresponding ethical issues, present the dynamic development of engineering management ethical issues from the perspective of engineering evolution, and propose five basic ethical principles for engineering managers in practice. To promote the construction of engineering management ethics in China, we suggest that engineering management ethics education and training should be provided to cultivate and motivate engineering managers to enhance ethical awareness, actively undertake ethical responsibilities, improve moral competence, develop ethical leadership, and exert ethical wisdom; the promotion and application of management ethics guidelines should be supported to provide guidance for solving ethical issues in the whole lifecycle of engineering and to improve the overall ethical environment of the society.

Keywords

• engineering management ethics
• engineering for social good
• management ethics guidelines
• ethical leadership
• ethical wisdom