A Comprehensive Interpretation of the IEEE Code of Ethics

This report provides a detailed interpretation of the IEEE code of ethics, a crucial set of guidelines for electrical and electronics engineers. The report begins with an introduction to the importance of ethical codes in the engineering profession, followed by a discussion of the ten ethical codes prescribed by the IEEE. Each code is explained in detail, emphasizing its significance in guiding engineers' conduct. The interpretation section explores key aspects such as integrity, values, and professionalism, highlighting the importance of these principles in an engineer's daily practice. The report further examines responsibilities related to reporting accuracy, environmental protection, collaboration, personal information privacy, and anti-discrimination. It also addresses imparting technical knowledge, handling corruption and bribery, managing conflicts of interest, and adhering to fair trade practices. The conclusion reiterates the significance of the ethical code in shaping the values and mission of an organization and ensuring that engineers approach challenges with integrity and honesty. The report emphasizes the practical implications of the code, providing a comprehensive understanding of ethical responsibilities for practicing engineers.

Running Head: INTERPRETATION OF CODE OF ETHICS
Interpretation of code of ethics
Name of the Student:
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction:..............................................................................................................2
2. Discussion:...............................................................................................................2
2.1 IEEE code of ethics:............................................................................................2
2.2 Interpretation:......................................................................................................4
3. Conclusion:...............................................................................................................9
4. References:............................................................................................................10

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1. Introduction:
This report will give a brief summary about the importance of code of ethics in
engineering profession. There are certain set of code of ethics prescribed by Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Each ethical code will be explained in detail
and the importance of that code will be explained. Some initiatives and approaches
will be added in the report.
A guidance or set of principles that is specifically designed for the purpose of
helping professionals conduct their business with integrity and honest can be defined
a s code of ethics. An ethics document for any organization or institution outlines the
values and mission. It generally gives a set of rules on how professionals are going
to approach a particular problem when there is a dilemma or their ethical conduct
can be challenged. Any organizations or institutions code of ethics should reflect the
core values of it [2]. Businesses, trade organizations, educational institutes all have
some ethical code which is to be followed by the members of that institute or
organization. Any deviation from the guidelines should be dealt in a strong manner
since it has the potential ruin someone else’s lives.
2. Discussion:
2.1 IEEE code of ethics:
The members of Institute of electrical and electronics engineers have
formulated the code of ethics. These code of ethics needs to be adhered to by
individuals and communities. There are ten ethical codes prescribed by the
organization. The ethical codes will be stated below:

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a) Safety, welfare and health of the public must be of paramount
importance. An individual needs to follow sustainable development
practices and at the same time comply with the ethical design. The
individual must take responsibility in disclosing factors, which are
deemed to endanger the environment and public [1].
b) Perceived or real conflicts of interest must be avoided at all cost.
Whenever, it happens the individual in connection with it must disclose
it to the concerned parties.
c) Individuals must take responsibility when they are stating claims, which
are based on a data set. They should be honest and realistic in this
regard.
d) Individuals must resist temptation to accept bribe in any form.
e) This point talks about imparting technical knowhow. Members and
communities must take responsibility in improving the understanding
and societal implications of modern and conventional technologies for
the betterment of society. Intelligent systems are also included in this.
f) The individuals must improve technical competence. This code tells
that individuals can undertake tasks that are technological in nature if
they are qualified which is they must have training for the particular
task. If limitations are there, they must and should disclose it [7].
g) Individuals must accept, seek and offer criticism for a technical work
but it must be honest. If possible, they must correct errors and should
give credit to other person’s work.

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h) Members and communities are advised to treat everyone fairly. They
must not engage in acts of discrimination based on gender, religion,
age, disability, race, sexual orientation and gender identity.
i) Individuals must deviate from actions that can cause injury to others,
damaging property and reputation. Employment due to false
information is also prohibited [8].
j) Finally, the individuals must undertake responsibility to assist co-
workers and colleagues. It would help them in their professional
development. Additionally, individuals must help other members in
following this code of ethics [16].
2.2 Interpretation:
This passage will describe the points mentioned in Institute of electrical and
electronics engineers code of ethics and relation between the code of ethics and a
practicing engineer. For a practicing engineer it is important to adhere to a set of
guidelines and his/her actions must comply with those guidelines.
Integrity – Any practicing engineer must perform his/her tasks with utmost
integrity. This articulates practices for engineers towards the organization must be
acceptable. An engineer’s duty and responsibilities towards an organization must be
performed with integrity [5].
Values- Any organizations or institutions have certain values. As an example,
a set of values can be fostering human achievement with innovation, collaboration
and excellence. Additionally, it can be respecting others by celebrating their diversity
and working towards building a vibrant future [4]. These are the types of values that

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a organization can have. A practicing engineer must learn about the values of the
organization he/she is working for.
Professionalism- It is important for employees in engineering profession to
show professionalism and to comply with the professional codes of conduct of the
organization. It is important in an organization since any unprofessional conduct can
interfere with lives of others. A brief will be provided along with this such that it can
help in ensuring professional conduct. An engineer must ensure that professional
conduct is maintained during interactions with clients, business partners and
colleagues [6]. It is a duty for an engineer, not to discriminate anyone based on his
or her culture, gender, religion and marital status. Misleading someone with false
statements can have dire consequences. An engineer should refrain from
misleading. An engineer also should not make false promises and statements that
are not in line with the organization. Apart from this, a practicing engineer should
report breaches even if he/she faces opposition. Upholding honesty must be of prime
importance.
Reporting with accuracy- An organizations reputation depends on accuracy
and transparency of verbal statements and written records. Confidence of
stakeholders depends on this. Therefore, a practicing engineer must ensure the
following. He/she must maintain compliance with financial reporting rules in the
jurisdiction the company operates. Each transaction must be authorized and properly
recorded in accounts [9]. Data that is once created must be retained properly and
disposed off and it should be according to applicable rules and regulation of the
company. A practicing engineer must be responsible for accuracy in financial
reporting. Members can initiate some internal controls so that each engineer can
achieve complete, consistent, accurate, truthful, timely and understandable

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management and financial reports. In addition, sometimes it might happen that
engineers are pressurized to alter financial data. In that situation, he/she must report
the matter to appropriate authorities.
Protection of environment- It is every engineer’s duty to protect the
environment and this falls under ethical jurisdiction. Human development should
occur is a sustainable manner. It becomes difficult when greed overcomes needs of
person. All practicing engineers within an organization must accept environmental
laws and regulations within the country and within the organization. Engineers must
comply with the existing laws in such a way, which does not hamper public health,
safety and welfare. A few recommendations for an engineer can be- integrating with
the corporate values, knowing the sustainability strategy of the organization,
reduction of footprint in terms of operations, sharing sustainable knowledge to
others, improving the knowledge with the help of skills and tools and lastly helping
clients, stakeholders and partners in order to meet commitments relating to
sustainability [10].
Collaboration- Collaboration is an important practice that an engineer should
follow. Human development cannot be fostered without collaboration. A practicing
engineer must have the necessary skill set to build relations with communities mainly
clients who are business partners of the organization. Business can be impacted by
engagement on a regular basis, honestly and openly viewing and sharing concerns
of business partners [11].
Personal information and privacy- Privacy is one of the important aspects that
needs to be taken care by an engineer. She/he must not get involved in any actions
that result in infringing privacy of others. Actions such as reading emails of others,

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accessing private data in the internal network of the organization and altering data
that might result in unforeseen consequences. Engineers must adhere to ethical
conduct and at the same time protect their own privacy. Actions include prevention of
hacking. Communication systems of an organization such as email system and
internet must be used for organizations purpose only [12]. A practicing engineer
must refrain from using company’s communication systems for personal, advertising,
commercial and political purposes.
Discrimination- As a practicing engineer it is also our duty to ensure equal
employment opportunity is given to all. Fair and equal treatment must be the motto.
Members must ensure a culture that will not tolerate bullying, discrimination, sexual
harassment in the workplace. Bullying or harassment at workplace for some can lead
to their degeneration of mental health. In this case, an engineer duty should be to
protect the person suffering from mental degeneration and take certain steps that
might prevent such incidents in the future. When an internal framework is created for
an organization, an engineer must provide valuable insights. When a practicing
engineer is itself a victim, then she/he must report this incident to an appropriate
head within an organization.
Imparting technical knowledge- All engineers at a certain stage should impart
technical knowledge among peers and general populace. Imparting knowledge
among the general populace can also be for a social cause. A collaborative
relationship with government officials is beneficial for an engineer.
Corruption and bribery- Corruption is the root cause of evils in the society. An
organization does not tolerate corruption and bribery. Bribery is rampant in
government sectors. It is done to win contracts or to influence decisions to benefit a

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third party. It is very important for a practicing engineer involved in audit, accounting
and in international operations to abide by the laws of the organization. For an
organization, it is very important to have an anti-corruption unit [3]. The main
purpose of anti corruption unit would be to identify areas, which are prone to
corruption and then implement necessary changes to limit corruption in that area. It
is duty for a practicing engineer to promote access to information and transparency
within an organization [13].
Conflict of interest- Potential, real and perceived conflicts of interest can occur
within an organization can happen any time. It is moral duty for a practicing engineer
to keep this thing in mind and ensure that the business of the organization is not
affected due to conflict of interest. Dilemma can happen any time when such
situation arises and therefore to ensure ethical conduct, an engineer must report this
to his/her superiors [14].
Trade practices- Each organization in the world tries to ensure free and fair
trade practices. A practicing engineer must not get involved in practices that are
deemed illegal. Trade practices, which are illegal, include collusion with competitors,
price fixing and other practices. This type of practices negatively affects the
organization and clients [15].
Political activities- It is not advisable to engage in political activities within an
organization but still employees do. Code of ethics does not bare employees from
getting involved but there is a catch here. It is also their duty to avoid conflicts of
interest. A practicing engineer must always remember that any personal misconduct
can result in defamation of the brand that the organization represents. Therefore, it is
a moral duty for an engineer to maintain his/her personal conduct.

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3. Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded that ethical code for any organization or
institution outlines the values and mission. It generally gives a set of rules on how
professionals are going to approach a particular problem when there is a dilemma or
their ethical conduct can be challenged. Any organizations or institutions code of
ethics should reflect the core values of it. Institute of electrical and electronics
engineers have formulated a set of code of ethics that needs to be followed by a
member. The whole report revolves around the set the code prescribed by institute
of electrical and electronics engineers and inference from the set of codes. Values,
integrity, professionalism, reporting with accuracy, protection of environment,
collaboration, personal information and privacy, discrimination, imparting technical
knowledge, corruption and bribery, conflict of interest, trade practices and political
activities are some of the key points addressed in this report. The general essence of
this report is that involvement in practices that are not encompassed by the code of
ethics for an engineer is very harmful for the organization.

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4. References:
[1]"IEEE IEEE Code of Ethics", Ieee.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html. [Accessed: 26- Mar-
2018].
[2]"Sustainability | Aurecon | Ethical Operations", Aurecongroup.com, 2018. [Online].
Available: https://www.aurecongroup.com/about/sustainability-aurecon/code-of-
conduct-and-ethics. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[3]T. e.V., "How to stop corruption: 5 key ingredients", www.transparency.org, 2018.
[Online]. Available:
https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/how_to_stop_corruption_5_key_ingredie
nts. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[4]A. Shahri, M. Hosseini, K. Phalp, J. Taylor & R.Ali, “Towards a code of ethics for
gamification at enterprise,” in IFIP Working Conference on The Practice of Enterprise
Modeling . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg., 2014, pp. 235-245.
[5]S. Alzahi & L.Kombo ,“Towards a global code of ethics for engineers,”
in Proceedings of the IEEE 2014 International Symposium on Ethics in Engineering,
Science, and Technology , IEEE Press, 2014, p. 40.
[6] L.Riek & D.Howard, A code of ethics for the human-robot interaction profession,
2014.
[7]"IEEE Ethics and Compliance", Ieee.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.ieee.org/about/compliance.html. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].

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[8]"Software Engineering Code of Ethics • IEEE Computer Society", Computer.org,
2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.computer.org/web/education/code-of-ethics.
[Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[9]M.Schlepr & C.Busse, “Toward a standardized supplier code of ethics:
development of a design concept based on diffusion of innovation theory.”, Logistics
Research, 2013, pp.187-216.
[10]"Code of Ethics | NREP", Nrep.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.nrep.org/about/code-of-ethics. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[11]"Medscape Log In", Medscape.org, 2018. [Online]. Available:
https://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/857826. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[12]"What is personal information and how does it interact with the Freedom of
Information Act?| Office of the Australian Information Commissioner -
OAIC", Oaic.gov.au, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://www.oaic.gov.au/freedom-of-
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with-the-freedom-of-information-act. [Accessed: 26- Mar- 2018].
[13]"Code of Ethics - Anti corruption and bribery | Hargreaves Services
Plc", Hsgplc.co.uk, 2018. [Online]. Available: http://www.hsgplc.co.uk/corporate-
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2018].
[14]"Code of Ethics and Business Conduct", Franklinresources.com, 2018. [Online].
Available:
http://www.franklinresources.com/corp/pages/generic_content/corporate_governanc
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