Sustainable development, engineering and multinational corporations: Ethical and public policy implications |
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Authors: | Joseph R Herkert |
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Institution: | (1) Division of Multidisciplinary Studies, North Carolina State University, Box 7107, 27695-7107 Raleigh, NC, USA |
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Abstract: | This paper explores the concept of sustainable development and its ethical and public policy implications for engineering
and multinational corporations. Sustainable development involves achieving objectives in three realms: ecological (sustainable
scale), economic (efficient allocation) and social (just distribution). While movement toward a sustainable society is dependent
upon satisfying all three objectives, questions of just distribution and other questions of equity are often left off the
table or downplayed when engineers and corporate leaders consider sustainable development issues. Indeed, almost all the effort
of engineers and engineering organizations on the issue of sustainable development has been focused on striking a balance
between economic development and environmental protection. Similarly, corporate approaches rely on technological fixes to
the challenges posed by sustainable development. While there have been some efforts aimed at incorporating environmental and
social equity concepts into engineering codes of ethics, social concerns have been secondary to environmental issues. The
incongruity between the ideal of sustainable development and the way in which it is typically characterized by the engineering
and business communities has significant implications for engineering and public policy, engineering ethics, and the potential
roles of engineers and multinational corporations as facilitators of a transition to a sustainable society.
Presented at the Engineering Foundation Conference on “Ethics for Science and Engineering Based International Industries”,
Durham, NC, USA, September 1997. An earlier version was presented at and appeared in the proceedings of the “1997 International
Symposium on Technology and Society”, IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, June 1997.
The author, an Assistant Prolessor of Multidisciplinary Studies, teaches in the Science, Technology and Society Program and
is Director of the Benjamin Franklin Scholars Program, a dual-degree program in engineering and humanities/social sciences. |
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Keywords: | sustainable development engineering ethics engineering and public policy multinational corporations codes of ethics |
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