ethics & professional responsibilities

ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

16.03.2017

Outline• Definitions.• Ethical Dilemma.• Acquiring Ethical Values.• Ethical Approaches.• Ethical response.• Impact Of Ethical Decisions.• Professional Responsibility.• Applying Professional Responsibility.• PMI code.• Do's and Don'ts rules.

What is Ethics, Professional, and Values?

• Ethics:One of the dictionary definitions of ethics is that it is “The rules or standards of conduct governing the members of a profession”.

• Professional: relating to work that needs special training or education.

• Values: are the fundamental beliefs that we hold. They are the principles that we hold regarding what is right, good, and just.

Ethical Dilemma

“ Ethical Dilemma is an ethical issue where the decision maker must choose between two outcomes that are conflict with each other”

Ethical Dilemma (Con…)

“A husband, Kaled, should steal an expensive drug that he cannot afford and cannot acquire any other way to save his wife's life. If Kaled steals the drug his wife lives, if he obeys the law he allows his wife to die. Whatever he decides, in some way it is unethical.”

Acquiring Ethical Values

• Moral development is the process when people develop individual practice of ethical discernment, judgment, and decision making.

• We engage in project activities with a set of ethical values which have been influenced by: o Family.o Peers.o Religious Beliefs o Other Experiences .. Etc.

Ethical Approaches• According to Rebecca, and John (2014), [Professional

Ethics for the Construction Industry, Book]• It can classify to five ethical approaches that we can

apply to some of the most common ethical challenges in our industry:

1. The Utilitarian Approach.2. The Rights Approach.3. The Justice Approach.4. The Common Good Approach.5. The Virtue Approach.

Ethical Approaches (Con.. .)

1. The Utilitarian Approach : • The ethical choice is whichever produces the

greatest good for the greatest number of people .

• It is possible that individuals may be harmed, or suffer negative consequences, as long as the majority of those affected benefit from the decision.


2. The Rights Approach : • The ethical choice is the one that respects the

fundamental rights of others to be treated as equals capable of making their own decisions.

• Some of the common fundamental rights are free speech, liberty, safety and security, and equal protection under the law.


3. The Justice Approach : • The ethical choice is the one that treats treat

everyone in the same way and not show favouritism or discrimination.


4. The Common Good Approach: • The ethical choice is the one that view ourselves

as members of the same community and so the right actions are for the common good.

• It is based on the assumption that related certain services (Ex. Healthcare system) whose existence benefits our common good as a society, and that the ethical choice preserves and protects those services .


5. The Virtue Approach: • The ethical choice is the one that arises from and

demonstrates our moral virtues. Honesty, integrity, respect, trust, and fairness are all examples of virtues.

What Is An Ethical response?

• One of the important matters to consider when thinking about difficult issues is the need to distinguish between an ethical and a legal issue, and to identify whether an issue has both legal and ethical implications.

• Some ethical issues do not have legal implications. For example, it is ethical to be honest with colleagues but there are no legal requirements for this professional behavior.

Impact Of Ethical Decisions

• It is important to manage ethics on a project.

• Once proper attention is given to business ethics, the following benefits can be reaped:o Employees : motivated, teamwork, more productive,

more honest;o Customers : more loyal, less opportunities to sue;o Community : will view the company as being responsible.

What Is A Professional Responsibility?

• Legal and moral duty of a professional to apply his or her knowledge in ways that benefit his or her client, and the wider society, without causing any injury to either.

Applying Professional Responsibility

• The five areas of professional responsibility consist of the following:

1. Ensuring integrity;2. Contributing to the knowledge base;3. Applying professional knowledge;4. Balancing stakeholder interests ;5. Respecting differences.

(From PROF. DR. TAHİR ÇELİK Notes).

Applying Professional Responsibility (Con..)

1. Ensuring integrity:

• Tell the truth in reports, conversations and other communications.

• Follow copyright and other laws.• Not divulge company data to unauthorized parties.• Value and protect intellectual (non-tangible) property• Not put personal gain over the needs of the project.• Prevent conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts

of interest and deal with them when they do occur.


2. Contributing to the knowledge base:• Share lessons learned from the project with other

project managers in the company . • Write articles about project management• Support the education of other project managers and

stakeholders about project management. • Perform research to discover best practices for the

use of project management and share the results with others.


3. Applying professional knowledge:

• He/ She must respect and recognize the intellectual work and property of others.

• He/ She can’t claim others’ work as their own. • He/ She must give credit where credit is due. • Work, research, and development sources must be

documented and acknowledged by project manager when relying on others’ work.


4. Balancing stakeholder interests:• You must represent themselves and their projects

truthfully to the general public ( in advertising, press releases, and in public forums).

• You must provide accurate estimates on time, cost, services to be provided—and realistic outcomes of the project work.

• You must avoid conflicts of interest and scenarios where conflicts of interest could seem apparent ( with customer or other stakeholders).


5. Respecting differences:• Interact with team and stakeholders in a professional and

cooperative manner.• Understand cultural diversity, norms and stakeholders’

communication styles.• Show flexibility towards diversity, tolerance and self

control.

Project Management InstituteCode of Ethics and Professional

Conduct

Vision and Applicability of PMI Code

• As practitioners of project management, we are committed to doing what is right and honorable.

• We set high standards for ourselves and we aspire to meet these standards in all aspects of our lives—at work, at home, and in service to our profession.

• This Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct describes the expectations that we have of ourselves and our fellow practitioners in the global project management community.

• The purpose of this Code is to instill confidence in the project management profession and to help an individual become a better practitioner.

PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct

CHAPTER 1. Vision And Applicability.CHAPTER 2. Responsibility.CHAPTER 3. Respect.CHAPTER 4. Fairness.CHAPTER 5. Honesty.APPENDIX A - A.1 History Of This Standard.APPENDIX B - B.1 Glossary.

http://www.pmi.org/info/AP_PMICodeofEthics.pdf

Do's and Don'ts in Managing Global Projects

Do • Develop your cultural self-awareness. • Set realistic expectations for yourself and

others. • Accept that you will make mistakes, but

remain confident. • Be patient. • Slow down. Make relationships. • Keep your sense of humor. • Keep your integrity. • Stay objective, minimize blame.

DON’T

• Assume similarity. • Try to adopt the orientations of the other culture.

Adaptation does not mean adoption. • Dwell on comparing the other culture with your

own. • Evaluate the other culture in terms of good or

bad. • Assume that just being yourself is enough to

bring you cross-cultural success.

Thank you for your attention!

ethics & professional responsibilities

Engineering