Business & Management Studies

Abstract

This paper addresses ethical issues related to competitive product design and innovation in engineering. It provides a multidisciplinary approach to engineering and business management proposing the benefit of using narrative films in engineering education. Either based on real events or completely fictional, narrative films combining ethical issues and aesthetic experiencing can stimulate important discussions relevant for contemporary engineering production, management, and behavioral approach. Narrative films can serve as simulators for identification with filmic characters and for anticipating one’s own approach to ethical dilemmas. In discussing ethical concerns as relevant to engineering competition and innovation, the paper presents cases such as Robert Kearns versus Ford and Chrysler dated 1978-1992, and Preston Tucker against Big Three Automakers from 1940s. We discuss related narrative films: Flash of Genius from 2008 adapting Kearns’ case and a fictionalized story of Preston Tucker and his innovative automobile, adapted in the film Tucker: The Man and His Dream in 1988. The paper expands on the work presented in the book Professional and Business Ethics through Film: The Allure of Cinematic Presentation and Critical Thinking from 2019. In addition, we discuss the 2019 film The Current War about 1880s competition between Edison and Westinghouse and Tesla over which electric power delivery system would be used in the United States.