Lance Uppercut has been on the job for one week as a Project Manager. He’s been advised to safeguard confidential information at all cost. One day, he’s approached by a coworker who claims to need confidential information that Lance is privy to. What is Lance’s best option as to what to do?
Explanation
Answer: E - According to the Code, Project Managers are bound to do what’s ethically right at all times AND to guard confidential information.
In this case, Jim has already been personally advised not to share confidential to anyone, therefore he should not share any confidential information with the coworker, nor need he ask around as to the character of this coworker, nor stall. Jim would be right to refuse giving the coworker the information, but a better answer is to request permission from more senior people. This has the additional role of notifying managers just in case Lance’s co-worker is up to no good.
Key Take Away: Being confronted by someone and put in an awkward situation does not make it permissible to go against directives from management. Unfortunately, project managers must exercise discretion from a higher moral ground and, at times, be uncooperative if being cooperative will compromise the integrity of their project.
