Project Management and Ethics Some sources: http://www.ieee.ca/canrev/cr45/pages6-8.pdf http://www.pmi.org/en/about-us/ethics/~/media/pdf/ethics/ ap_pmicodeofethics.ashx https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/website/campaigning/policy %20and%20research/The%20cost%20of%20corruption.pdf
External Motivations The environment in which one operates might be difficult to deal with NTRIES. RES. S UNTRY UP? ublic sector es/territories 59 Very Clean Very Clean 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-100 No data RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE 69 Kuwait 43 69 Romania 43 72 Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil 42 42 72 Sao Tome and Principe Serbia 72 South Africa France 71 Saint Lucia 71 47 Hungary 54 Austria 69 47 Seychelles 54 United Arab Emirates Estonia 69 49 Costa Rica 53 49 Latvia 53 Qatar 49 Rwanda 53 72 68 Botswana 64 52 Mauritius 52 53 Malaysia 50 68 RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE 114 Indonesia 32 116 Albania 31 37 116 Nepal 36 116 Vietnam Armenia 36 119 94 Benin 36 42 94 Colombia 42 94 Djibouti 91 Morocco 91 Sri Lanka 94 Algeria 94 RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE 157 Zimbabwe 21 160 Cambodia 20 27 160 Eritrea 20 26 160 Venezuela 20 Kazakhstan 26 163 Chad 19 140 Laos 26 163 Equatorial Guinea 19 30 140 Uganda 26 163 Guinea-Bissau 19 30 144 Cameroon 25 163 Haiti 19 136 Guyana 31 136 Kenya 31 140 Honduras Mauritania 30 140 119 Mozambique 30 36 119 Sierra Leone 36 119 Timor-Leste 37 27 http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/ 72 42 Highly Corrupt 2
About corruption Main types: fraud: theft through misrepresentation embezzlement: misappropriation of corporate or public funds bribery: payments made in order to gain an advantage or to avoid a disadvantage Indicators: abuse of positions offence against relationships underhandedness Relevance: Incidental, Systematic, Systemic http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/website/campaigning/policy%20and %20research/The%20cost%20of%20corruption.pdf 3
Main causes/environment Over-regulation Political framework Denial of access to information Widespread poverty Limited risk-spreading http://www.tearfund.org/webdocs/website/campaigning/policy%20and %20research/The%20cost%20of%20corruption.pdf 4
Internal Motivations Projects are often high risk, high reward, high visibility ventures: when the stakes are high, the pressure to cheat - or at the very least, to cut corners - is high as well In many cases: deliberate wrong actions might be indistinguishable from errors the consequences of a particular action might not be discovered for years or might not cause (by chance) any issue Many situations are grey areas, in which understanding what it right or wrong might be difficult, to say the least 5
Some Examples exaggerating pay-offs of project proposals paddling of time and cost estimations wired bids and contracts buy-in (bidding low with intent of cutting corners or forcing subsequent contract changes) covering for team members taking shortcuts (e.g. to meet deadlines or budgets) using marginal (substandard) materials (to save costs) compromising on safety or even violating standards consultant loyalties (to employer or to client or to public) 6
More Examples Being pressured to: alter status reports backdate signatures shade documentation to masks the reality of project progress approving shoddy work You can imagine different shades of grey-ness and selfjustification in these situations: it won t hurt anyone they asked me to do it it will save the company it is just for this time 7
Other factors to think about Peer pressure or pressure from an authority can be extremely difficult to deal with. See, for instance: Milgram experiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/milgram_experiment) Stanford Prison Experiment (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/stanford_prison_experiment) 8
With great power comes great responsibility (who said that?) 9
Answer(s) 10
Why doing it? (for yourself) For the company: Increased employee commitment Reduced unethical/illegal behavior in the organization Better decision making because of the ethics/compliance program Greater willingness to deliver bad news or report ethical/legal violations to management For yourself: Improving chances of a good career Getting the respect of peers and trust of others Building better products Getting better sleep at night (but this is subjective, to be honest) 11
PMI Code of Conduct 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 [PMI code of conduct http://www.pmi.org/en/about-us/ethics/~/media/pdf/ Ethics/ap_pmicodeofethics.ashx] 12
PMI Code of Conduct Available at: http://www.pmi.org/en/about-us/ethics/~/ media/pdf/ethics/ap_pmicodeofethics.ashx Built by practitioners Organized in mandatory and aspirational standards Organized in four areas: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty 13
The four areas of PMI CoC (defs) responsibility: taking ownership of decisions (or lack of) and of consequences respect: show a high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted to us (people, money, reputation, the safety of others, and natural or environmental resources) fairness: make decisions and act impartially and objectively. Be free from competing self-interest, prejudice, and favoritism. honesty: understand the truth and act in a truthful manner both in our communications and in our conduct. 14
IEEE Code of Ethics 1. to accept responsibility in making decisions consistent with the safety, health, and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment; 2. to avoid real or perceived conflicts of interest whenever possible, and to disclose them to affected parties when they do exist; 3. to be honest and realistic in stating claims or estimates based on available data; 4. to reject bribery in all its forms; 5. to improve the understanding of technology; its appropriate application, and potential consequences; 6. to maintain and improve our technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for others only if qualified by training or experience, or after full disclosure of pertinent limitations; 7. to seek, accept, and offer honest criticism of technical work, to acknowledge and correct errors, and to credit properly the contributions of others; 8. to treat fairly all persons and to not engage in acts of discrimination based on race, religion, gender, disability, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression; 9. to avoid injuring others, their property, reputation, or employment by false or malicious action; 10. to assist colleagues and co-workers in their professional development and to support them in following this code of ethics.! https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7-8.html 15