SUMANDE, CEDRIX V.

06/09/2021
CE195-2 / B3 ENGR. JOCELYN BULURAN

“Project Module 1: Critique Paper”

Article #1: Leadership and TQM (4.14 Moral Leadership)

Author: D.R. Kiran

Reference: Chapter 4 - Leadership and TQM. (2017). In D. Kiran, Total Quality Management (pp.
39-55). Elsevier.

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128110355000040

Introduction:

Moral leadership is defined as a leader’s behavior that demonstrates superior virtues, self-
discipline, and unselfishness. It is such a form of ethical conduct that may benefit the organization.
Moral leadership is positively related to ethical pro-organizational behavior. Leadership is
essential to every large organization and project that needs supervision. It can promote employee
engagement, increase productivity, and enhanced brand reputation. The organization with a
balanced leadership intends to engage in ethical behavior that can attract customer loyalty by
staying true to its mission statements and organizational values. In professional work, ethics in
employment must be applied to everyone, not just by following guidelines but by abiding by the
law and respect people’s work. Providing ethical conduct to everyone will provide values or
meaning for people to live by, inspiration to act, and motivation to hold oneself accountable. Ethics
is essential to a civil engineer because it should form part of the engineering culture and be
celebrated as something to be proud of. A grounding in ethics empowers engineers to bring concern
forward and ensure that the proper level of scrutiny is applied to unsafe or unethical practices.
Summary:

In the book of D.R. Kiran in Total Quality Management at chapter 4 -Leadership and TQM, he
in terms of being a leader. Leadership may take several forms, and in general, it indicates the
success story n moving a group towards the goal. Because being a leader is not just that a person
only wants to obtain the desire and accomplishment of goals but rather being held accountable for
every member in the organization. There are two types of leadership in this world, and one is that
you have the authority and power to disseminates order and law to your community. Still, at the
same time, the person won't care about the feelings and situation that the organization was
currently experienced.

On the other hand, leadership is when a person cares for the goal and situation toward the
organization and how the disturbances may affect one's perception of the organization's purpose.
The success of any organization depends on the performance of the workforce. Their performance
depends upon their morale level and their relationship with the higher authority, apart from their
skills, experience, and personal thoughts. Good leaders create the employee morale level toward
the organization, and they must complete an order in the organization that is concurrent,
predictable, and controllable. Leadership is the ability to influence people and systems under one's
authority positively, have a meaningful impact, and achieve essential skills.

Critique:

In basic concept, leadership is significant to every organization, but there is a small percentage
that an individual can become a good leader. Many factors need to consider in terms of becoming
a leader, one of them is when a person has the capabilities of becoming a leader. Still, they cannot
show leadership in their group because they have shy personalities towards many people. I have
experience in this discussion where my friend can become a good leader because he can organize
things properly and do any tasks. We have a different perspective in life, for me being a leader is
not always be there for everyone where you carry all your members into your back and carry them
until the objective of the organization is finish. Some people think that being a leader can bring
other people, but being a good leader is more than anything of carrying the burden alone. Being a
leader can communicate with another person, aligned the mission and vision of the organization
towards every member of the group. Being a good leader possess good characteristic where the
person would become the role model of the organization. As I discuss before, I see my friend
become a leader because he can carry the others while performing the assigned jobs. But at the
same time, he cannot become a good leader when he cannot talk his feeling towards the others and
always take the task that shouldn’t be done by the leader alone. I agreed with the author when he
aligned all the professional leaders in the world and their statement of how a leader would become
into the organization. Every leader said that to become the role model of the organization, you
must follow ethical conduct, aligned every member of the organization toward the mission and
vision, and complete the task together.

Conclusion:

Leadership is a function that is important at all levels of management. Including high authorities
who control the group mission and vision, it is important for getting cooperation in the formulation
of plans, policies and becoming a role model of the organization that they are the brain which they
could control the outcome and possibilities of the organization. In the middle and lower levels, it
is required to interpret and execute plans and programs framed by the top management. It is not
an overemphasis to say that the role played by the leader of a group is the forerunner for the success
of the group.

Article # 2: Civil Engineering Specifications and Standards

Author: Mark Swink, P.E., Civil Engineer

Reference: Swink, M. (2017, January 26). Civil Engineer Specifications and Standards. Retrieved
from WBDG (Whole Building Design Guide): https://www.wbdg.org/design-
disciplines/civil-engineering

URL: https://www.wbdg.org/design-disciplines/civil-engineering

Introduction:

"Civil engineering is not all about fancy buildings – it is about maintaining vital infrastructure,"
stated Engr. Mark Swink, in his article entitled "Civil Engineering," In this article, Engr. Swink
thoroughly discussed and described the roles, obligations, duties, and responsibilities of a Civil
Engineer. The importance of Civil Engineers in society was emphasized through this article. The
views and perceptions about Civil Engineers were also tackled. Based on this article, keeping
essential infrastructures such as roads, dams, bridges, etc., functional is one of the main goals of a
Civil Engineer. The status and performance of the nation's infrastructures rely on the hand of Civil
Engineers. The ability to shape the world comes with great responsibility. In line with this, Civil
Engineers should always work ethically and ensure to meet the needs of society.

Summary:

According to the article, in recent times, the common perception that comes with the word.
Civil engineering is spectacular constructions such as the Sydney Opera House, the Shard, and
China's Jiaozhou Bay Bridge. But Civil Engineering is also about keeping essential infrastructure
functional that people can depend on daily. In line with this, Civil engineers must develop and
execute solutions to difficult circumstances they may usually encounter. Civil engineers' roles do
not stop from the problem and solving scenario; instead, the functions and duties of Civil Engineers
are much bigger than the usual thought. Engr. Swink discussed the different duties of a Civil
Engineers; this responsibility is the analysis of long-range plans, maps, reports, and other data
needed to create and design a plan for a particular project. Consideration of construction cost,
regulations from government, possible risks to the environment, and the project's risk analysis
were also included in the duties of a Civil Engineer.

Furthermore, Civil Engineers should secure permit applications ensuring that the projects
adhere to a variety of regulations; Test materials for construction; Assess a project's economic
viability; Plan and design structures in accordance with industry and regulatory requirements using
various design software and application; Supervise surveying activities for construction and design
purposes; Provide transparency in the environmental impact assessment and project's description
in the public and Administer government in public metal structures maintenance, constructions,
and restorations. These are just a portion of Civil Engineers' duties in society, and they are also
responsible for maintaining those safe work regulations and standards are implemented in building
constructions.

Moreover, Engr. Swink emphasized the importance of Civil Engineers. He stated that Civil
engineers have a direct impact on how individuals live in society. Civil engineers develop, build,
and maintain the system that sustains modern civilization, from highways and bridges to port
facilities and runways. They are in charge of the environment and resource managers and pioneers
and consultants of governmental, commercial, and institutional ideas and technology. In addition,
Civil engineers are committed by society to build a sustainable world and strengthen the
international quality of life as expert builders, developers, constructors, and administrators of
societies economically and socially. They are expected to do it skillfully, cooperatively, and
ethically.

Furthermore, they also play a crucial role in facilitating public policy on the environment and
infrastructure through discussions and recommendations. It is also included in the article the role
of Civil Engineers in establishing Sustainability. In accordance with the report, Sustainability is
defined as a set of economic, ecologic, and social circumstances in which all members of society
have the ability and opportunity to sustain and enhance their standard of living indefinitely without
depleting the quantity, quality, or accessibility of economic, ecologic, or social resources. The
utilization of these resources to strengthen the security, welfare, and standard of living for all
members of society is known as sustainable growth.

Critique:

Throughout the article, the roles, obligations, duties, responsibilities, and importance of Civil
Engineers in society were distinctly presented. The readers can easily follow the flow of ideas. The
author provided a brief background about the shared insights of the people in classifying famous
Civil Engineers in the past and in the present times. Through this, readers can evaluate themselves
about their perceptions regarding Civil Engineers, and this perception will, later on, change after
reading the whole article. Engr. Swink was consistent in his viewpoints throughout the article. He
firmly believed that Civil Engineers play a vital role in maintaining the foundation of society.

On the other hand, in the first part of the article, he mentioned that Civil engineers must
maintain and modify infrastructure to meet population growth, climate change, and catastrophic
events. However, he didn't elaborate more on this idea. It would be more coherent if he provided
examples of the situations where a Civil Engineer establishes a project that meets these concerns.

In addition, Engr. Swink also introduces the idea of Civil engineers working with several other
professionals, but he didn't expound it more. He didn't explain the importance of involvement and
collaboration of Civil Engineers and other professionals to execute a project successfully. In line
with this, he didn't highlight the ethical relationship of a Civil Engineer between different
professionals. Nevertheless, Engr. Swink was able to intensify the idea of Civil Engineers working
ethically and skillfully by providing examples of the projects that Civil Engineers contributed to
society. He also raises the idea of the importance of Civil Engineers in establishing Sustainability,
and he presented it straightforwardly.

Conclusion:

Civil Engineer's role in maintaining vital structures is rooted in their ethical responsibility in
society. The idea of evaluating the functions, duties, and responsibilities of a particular profession,
like Civil Engineers, is significant in the present times. During this time of the pandemic, several
things had changed from the different aspects of our society. Thus, by evaluating the various roles,
duties, and responsibilities of a particular profession, we can reassess the purpose of every work
and its contributions to our nation.

Article # 3: Above and beyond: ethics and responsibility in civil engineering

Author: Shannon Chance, Rob Lawlor, Ines Direito, John Mitchell

Reference: Shannon Chance, Rob Lawlor, Inês Direito & John Mitchell (2021) Above and
beyond: ethics and responsibility in civil engineering, Australasian Journal of
Engineering Education, 26:1, 93-116, DOI: 10.1080/22054952.2021.1942767.
URL:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/22054952.2021.1942767?utm_source=newsletter
&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SEFI%20Ethics%20Special%20Interest%20Group%20
Newsletter

Introduction:

"Ethics is grounded mostly on moral norms that dictate what people should do, generally in
accordance with the rights, duties, societal advantages, and justice." This is the usual meaning of
ethics that springs to the mind for most people. But the importance of ethics will be different for
everyone, and it will be based on a person's mindset. The research from Chance, Lawlor, Direito,
Mitchell (2021) entitled "Above and Beyond: ethics and responsibility in civil engineering"
examines how nine London-based civil engineers have implemented global accountability, as well
as the ethics and expertise that went into their efforts. The research evaluates moral concepts linked
to ethics, including the visions, accrediting criteria, and requirements for continuous professional
growth of professional engineering organizations. In terms of ethics, the research explores the
boundary between what an engineer "ought to do" and what "might be good to do." Conceptions
of identification and duty differ between settings and links between the individuality of the
engineer and the duties in engineering work. In this study, Moral and constitutional obligations
and the profession's duty to prioritize public health, security, and well-being are all examined. The
authors analyze the participants' different experiences and working environment that directly
relates to ethics and responsibility in civil engineering.
Summary:
This study introduces the ideal future reality wherein Civil engineers would be globally
acknowledged for their highest standards of ethics and codes of morality. It would be accomplished
through more vital education and preparation of engineers in ethics and a greater focus on ethics
in worldwide engineering practice. Furthermore, recent engineering graduates expect to enter a
course with greater recognition of ethics and global accountabilities and a thorough understanding
of the role engineers contribute to meeting environmental, social, and economic sustainability.
However, it may take a lifetime to gain the capacity to recognize and manage through diverse
ethical considerations. Based on this study, the attention of moral and responsibility literature
continues to be on duty, obligation, and requirements. Kant distinguished between obligations of
justice and duties of beneficence, stating that although duties of justice are ideal and evident, duties
of charity are imperfect, in the sense that it is not always apparent who owes what to whom under
what circumstances.
The philosopher's precise word for "the class of actions that go "further than the call of duty" is
supererogation. The phrase emphasizes the essential contrast between having a moral reason to do
something and claiming that you have to do something. In line with this, engineers should avoid
exposing the public to serious risks of damage and harm. However, according to this study, in
2018-2019, there are 37 deaths reported in construction accidents. Construction workers had
considerably more fatal injuries than those in transportation, storage, or manufacturing. Workplace
safety is viewed as a communal and individual responsibility. Responsibilities in the fight against
bribery and corruption. Engineers agreed with this viewpoint, stating that bribery and corruption
had "totally negative" consequences, "especially for the poorest regions." Bribery and corruption
in the construction and engineering industries are prevalent in some regions of the emerging world
that it has considerably limited the number of infrastructure projects. This would not have been
possible without contractors and consultants from the industrialized world involved in bribery and
corruption. In this study, four participants stated that they had never witnessed corruption.
On the other hand, Charlie (one of the participants) brought out the significance of business culture
in preserving ethics and guaranteeing integrity, explaining that his organization supports the notion
of being transparent and truthful. Engineers have a personal duty to act ethically. Based on the
outcomes of interviews with nine engineers, the study recommends creating outreach initiatives to
enlighten the engineering and construction sector on the negative consequences of bribery, fraud,
and corruption and how to reform procedures. There was no evidence of zero tolerance for
corruption, and no examples of persons raising concerns were found in interviews. Bribery was
defined, but the other types of corruption were not, and it was unclear when or where they should
lead to whistleblowing. They must demonstrate how to identify issues while eliminating negative
consequences credibly.
The initial expectation of the authors in this study is that ethics and anti-corruption are the
important concepts that will lead to global responsibility. Thus, the overall results were not
compatible with original assumptions about ethics. Only two participants mentioned the term
ethics, and only one participant cited corruption without questioning.
Critique:
This study is insightful because they gathered their data based on the personal experiences of
various civil engineers. The authors considered the differences in the participants in terms of their
working environment, experiences, and professional years of service, and it yields more unbiased
results. They presented all the data in such a way that typical readers will understand. They also
collected the Demographic Profile of the participants. This will significantly help the readers to
establish a background about the participants. In the authors' interview, every scenario that a
participant went through was clearly described and discussed in this paper. In some parts of the
article, they included a direct statement from the participants, which greatly help to present the
data accurately and efficiently.
There is indeed a detailed overview regarding the relevant literature provided, but it is only
extensive enough to illustrate the ideas in the literature provided. Furthermore, the authors
presented sufficient literature to examine ethics in different aspects. The authors were able to
present the different conceptions about ethics and moral responsibilities. The author's name and
the year of publication were used in reference citation in terms of citing references. Authors clearly
and uniformly cited their references. Moreover, the authors divided the paper into parts, which
resulted in a concise analysis of information and details.
In addition, the authors become transparent and honest about the results of their study. They
indicated at the end of their research that their initial expectation regarding ethics was not
consistent with their interview results with the participants. They look forward to relating the idea
of ethics and anti-corruption in the global responsibility, but the view of participants differs from
this.
Conclusion:
Civil engineers' ethical duty in society is part of their responsibilities. Regardless of any situation,
civil engineers should practice the code of ethics in their working environment. The concept of
assessing the perceptions of various civil engineers about ethics will help address ethical
misconduct issues. A civil engineer is entrusted with initiatives that affect the lives of hundreds of
people; thus, working in accordance with the code of ethics is an integral part of a civil engineer's
duty. Working ethically is not just about stopping unlawful activities that may encounter in the
workplace. Still, it is about ensuring that there will be no lives that will harm because of any
engineering works and practices. Furthermore, working ethically and responsibly deals with pure
honesty and integrity. Civil engineers must not work for their benefits that might result in
substandard projects and lead to a loss of lives.