Professionals such as engineers have an obligation to respect the legitimate authority of their employees. An authority offers a way to identify areas of personal responsibility and accountability.

Expert authority:

To avoid problems in institutional authority. Expert authority is the possession of special knowledge, skills or competencies to perform some shots or give good advice. For example, doctors are authorities on health, civil engineers are authorities on building structures and aesthetics, lawyers are authorities on legal matters, and computer scientists are authorities on software, hardware, etc.

Expert authority is called “leadership authority” as it implies the expertise to effectively lead others. In most cases, engineers will have expert authority on technology-related matters, while institutional authority will lie with line managers who handle the day-to-day activities of the organization.

Institutional authority:

Refers to authority within the organization. For example, the account manager is authorized with some limitations to sanction financial commitments within your institution. If authority is given to qualified personnel, the goals of the organization will be easily accomplished.

Authority versus power:

Ineffective people cannot command power if they lack leadership, they cannot inspire and motivate employees, even if they are empowered to do so. In other words, people who are effective can gain great power or influence; power goes far beyond the authority of the position they occupy. Charismatic leaders often have influence outside their domains of authority, and highly respected engineers of proven integrity may have power in an organization that explicitly exceeds the rights of their institutions.

Morally Justified Authority:

Engineers may have an institutional duty to obey the boss to do things that are morally unjustified. Therefore, institutional rights and duties cannot be applied in the same sense as morally justified rights and duties.

Institutional authority is morally justified only when the ends of the institution are morally permissible or morally desirable and the manner in which it is exercised does not violate other moral duties.

Acceptance Authority:

Employees mostly accept the guidance and obey their employer, they rarely disobey for moral reasons. Every employee of an organization has something called “zone acceptance” that shows his interest in accepting the authority of his employees. Most of the time, employees expand their zone of acceptance without considering whether or not the authority requires moral acts. This reveals that employees lack moral integrity. Therefore, employer directives must be carefully evaluated by employees for justifications before accepting the directive.

Therefore, engineering professionals must weigh their obligations to the public, their employees, their colleagues, and others when conflicts arise between those obligations. A simple prioritization, without exceptions, is not always possible.