VW, Mitsubishi and the Ethical Engineer

What I got out of it is that liars and cheaters who set the rules don't like being lied and cheated themselves.

As far as realistic environmental impact to be honest I don't see anything past tier 2 standards as being anything more than just one more money and power grab for big government.

Tier 1 Vs tier 0 turned a giant pumpkin into a water mellon and tier 2 turned that watermelon into a grape. Tier 3 turned that grape into a raisin and tier 4 is just trying to wring that last free molecule of moisture out of that raisin while ignoring the fact that nature's own contributions to things is the equivilat of a 1,000-acre field of giant pumpkins.

I have never hesitated to walk out the door when I have found unethical behavior in a company, doing as much damage as I could on my way out....It's always better I think to leave, establish a stronghold with like minded individuals and attack from a fortified position....You have to be clever to not paint yourself as a target while attacking....

Your eagle moniker is appropriate!

I agree with most of your news article, but I do take exception with you grouping Takata in with VW and Mitsubishi.

VW - Yup, they cheated and admitted it.

Mitsubishi - Also cheated and admitted it.

Takata - Hmm, I don't know if they cheated - at least not in the same way the other two did.

Takata is the worst of all, they have caused deaths and injuries, withheld information, denied responsibility, and left millions of people in unsafe situations with their delays...I'm still waiting for a new airbag!

Your comment of "you doing and much damage on your way out". Is immature unprofessional and far from ethical.

Just leave.

I don't mean damage in a physical way, if that's what you're thinking....I mean exposing the wrongdoing of the management without painting myself as a target.... Your rush to judgement is suspect though....

I like the piece you wrote. Have you ever noticed that the C-Suite players determine the morals and ethics of the company. It all flows down hill and if they have zero tolerance for dishonesty, then the culture of the company will be the same.

The problem is that investors want returns. The board of directors job is to speak for the shareholders. The shareholders don't care about ethics and morals, they are investing for one thing - the best return they can get with the highest level of safety. The board's job is to pass this information to the people who run the company, CEO, CFO, COO, etc. Their job is to have senior management follow their lead - which then flows to middle management, then to supervisors and finally to the worker level. If the corporate culture is based on honesty, then things like the VW Smog Cheat and Mitsubishi EPA cheat don't happen.

Think about it. If you are told that you'll get fired for cheating, then why would you risk your job to create a smog cheat system?

Thanks for the comment. Very well put.

I worked on the Seabee base for about five years in the late 80's to early 90's. I was in the engineering group (ship weapons system) back in the corner of the base. It was a great place to work for a first job and I learned a lot. I loved the autonomy and the responsibility thrown at me.

Do they engage any 3rd party inspectors to varify the testing methods and what standard to comply?

If there is any , what are they saying now?

Very good point. An added cost and potential time delay, especially when deadlines loom to get a product out the door. Our Pulse of Engineering research study continues to show shortening development timecycles and constrained resource availability. Does that sync with your experience?

Manglement decides what lies to implement, the peons merely implement those lies.

[ Sounds like the "Nuremberg Trial" responses, doesn't it? ]

In order to "lie", one must first know the truth. The instances given here are cases of lies being told in order to cover up truths; truths that had immediate financial costs. The fact that corporate managers in each case lied, also says they knew the truths on which they based their lies.

So, where did the truths come from? I would say the engineers told the truth, from which the lies were developed by corporate managers. Otherwise, those same managers would not have known to lie.

If these were cases of mistakes, then evidence would have quickly surfaced to support those facts.

In no way do I blame engineers for any of these lies. The money trail on all these cases goes high up the food chain, into the corporate atmosphere. After all, we engineers are not paid corporate salaries, and are easily found out, and replaced if we play the cover-up game.