Ethical considerations are an accumulation of principles and values that addresses the questions of what is right or wrong in human affairs.
The consideration of the PMI ethical standards during the project initiation or planning processes includes:
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The Project management institute is a worldwide project management organization involved in the enhancement and development of skills for project managers professionals. PMI has set ethical standards to be help PM practitioners do what is honorable and right. The code of ethics articulate principles which should be aspired by project managers and define their behaviors to excel in the industry. The professional conduct and code of ethics highlights ethical values which are fairness, responsibility, trust and honesty. The values are important as they create professionalism and harmony within teams which results in success of projects. Being trustworthy in relationships across various teams, time zones, departments and cultures help projects in an organization to run smoothly ( Jonasson & Ingason, 2016) . Trust holds together various disparate work cultures and cultural differences spanning different team members and time zones with various departments and behaviors with unique objectives. Therefore, it is crucial for a leader to help in the development trustworthy relationships in an organization.
Responsibility is vital in the initiation of projects whereby project managers are required to take ownership of decisions and the results which emanates from the decisions. This is inclusive of meeting and knowing all legal requirements, reporting illegal and unethical conduct to the necessary management. Moreover, project initiation requires protecting proprietary and commitments fulfilment and confidential information. projects managers should be respectful to themselves, protect the resources to which they are entrusted in the initiation of a project and be ken listeners to others and open to new ideas ( Jonasson & Ingason, 2016) . Additionally, transparency and fairness in decision making which includes the disclose of conflicts of interest to the necessary stakeholders is one important consideration in PMI. In addition, there should be honesty in conduct and communication during project initiation which helps in the success of the project ( Jonasson & Ingason, 2016) . These are vital values which helps in the creation of professionalism and unity in teams thus resulting in the success of the projects.
An example of an ethical dilemma in the project initiation or planning processes
The ‘correct’ project reports
Even within the parameters of being factually correct, the progress or status of a project reports could be:
Pessimistic: being conservative in progress recognition, such as expense and revenue accounting recognition.
Optimistic: very common, as most project managers like to give the impression of being on top of things and keep everyone satisfied.
Factual: the presentation of plain figures and facts and leave the interpretations and judgements to the leader which is actually tempting but which is actually an escape mechanism.
Then there is the issue of whether the facts should be revealed. Should the consumer be told the truth regarding the delays of the week in an immediate milestone? Should the team be told the truth about an impending paradigm shift in the objectives of the project as soon as it is noticed? Most project managers conceal the truth regarding changes in the project’s objectives for fear of annoying stakeholders and customers (PMI, 2008).
In solving the issue using the code of ethics, Ethical Decision-Making Framework (EDMF) which outlines the steps that can be used to guide a person in the PM profession through a process when faced with an ethical dilemma.
Does it abide by the law? the law requires that project strive to be accurate in the reporting of figures. Thus, the ethical dilemma does not abide by the law and should be reported to the necessary stakeholders.
Consider your choices? the project manager should consider his/her choices about whether there can be another way to solve the problem if there is no other option, the PM should not succumb to the pressures of stating falsehoods (PMI, n.d).
Identification of a candidate decision and testing of its validity – the PM should check whether his decision will have a positive or negative impact to clients and stakeholders.
Will the choice or decision result to the greater good? The Pm should evaluate whether r the concealment of the truth will do more harm than good.
Is the Pm willing to accept the results of his/her decision? The PM should consider whether if the truth comes out, will they accept the consequences.
Therefore, the PM should always strive to provide mitigation plans and early visibility of risks and issues and report any problem, approximations and correct figures to the necessary individuals and stakeholders.
References
Jonasson, H. I., & Ingason, H. T. (2016). Ethical considerations in project management research. In Designs, Methods and Practices for Research of Project Management (pp. 173-182). Routledge.
(n.d.). Project Management Institute | PMI. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/ethical-decision-making-framework.pdf
(n.d.). Project Management Institute | PMI. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/pmi-code-of-ethics.pdf
8 types of ethical dilemmas in project management . (2008, March 3). https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/ethical-dilemmas-project-management-7084
