Tina is working on a project at the Benchmark Furniture Company. One night Tina is working late happens to notice that, unrelated to her project, workers are removing company equipment illegally from the premises. According to the Code of Professional Responsibility, which concept best describes the situation and what should Tina’s responsibility is?
Explanation
Answer: c - According to the Code, project managers must report legal violations to the authorities regardless of whether it is related directly to the project or not.
Scope creep is when the number of deliverables, not integral to a particular project, increases, causing increased costs and possible delays. Scope creep does not apply here since the situation has nothing to do with Tina’s project.
A conflict of interest can occur when one is offered goods or compensation for doing business with a particular party. Tina had no relation whatsoever to the people removing the equipment, so she had no conflict of interest.
Although Tina would be ethically correct in telling the workers to stop what they’re doing, she could potentially be putting herself in harm’s way. This should be avoided.
Key Take Away: Doing what is ethically responsible isn’t always easy to discern. Project managers must always exercise decision making on a high moral ground, based on the fact that they often lead very visible, high-impact type of projects with a spectrum of risk factors.
