ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we view the broader ethical landscape beyond one’s professional ethics as an engineer or architect. This chapter applies to everyone, not just engineers and architects. Here we deal with the behavior that can really get anyone on the project fired and possibly into legal trouble. The main areas emphasized are conflicts of interest, false reporting, finance and accounting irregularities, anticompetitive activities, bribery and corruption, harassment, drugs and alcohol, safeguarding of sensitive information, patents, and company-specific ethical policies and ground rules. There are numerous practical examples that illustrate those business conduct situations in both the text and exercises. There are also discussions of ethical situations particularly related to construction projects. Taken all together, these are business conduct issues that can affect nearly any business or governmental organization. The material in this chapter is not generally taught in ethics courses, but it is the heart and soul of the codes of business conduct for major companies.
