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.
-Today |
588 |
 -Yesterday |
533 |
 -This Month |
25307 |
 -Last Month |
24473 |
 -All Days |
229863 |
IJBMS by IPRPD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.