The long-term success of the Aerospace and Defense Industry falls into the lines of the companies upholding reliability in negotiating, bidding, and performing contracts. This industry’s companies must have the dignity to behave ethically towards all their stakeholders including employees, suppliers, customers, as well as their competitors. These points cover issues in the aerospace and defense industry that may impact on ethical business conduct.
What I think causes immorality, especially in businesses, is greed. A few weeks ago Stewart David Nozette, a former scientist for NASA, pleaded guilty for taking part in undercover work for operatives in the Israeli government in order to gain his own profit and the FBI discovered this dilemma two years ago in 2009. His self-interest drove his ambition too high, as he demanded a significantly larger amount of money than his original $50,000. Nozette has had much experience with the aerospace industry. He had worked for the National Space Council under George W. Bush’s name at the White House, earned a doctorate in planetary sciences from MIT, and did research and development for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Naval Research Laboratory, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The suspicion came in when the document stated that Nozette worked as a technical consultant dealing with an aerospace company that was owned by the Israeli government. Due to a selfish mind, Nozette’s attempted espionage of selling information about American military satellites to the Israeli government was indeed a failure.
Nozette’s objective to fulfill his wants and desires was money. Once someone gets away with something that is looked at as “unethical,” they’ll continue to pursue their actions especially if they benefit themselves from it. I believe there is a fine line between what is ethical and unethical, but it’s the desire that drives someone to choose one side or the other.
