Ethics in Project Management
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The document discusses the significance of ethics in project management, emphasizing the need for moral principles to govern actions within projects due to rising global corruption levels. It highlights the impact of personal values on project management decisions and stresses the importance of ethical training, transparency, and communication to foster a trustworthy environment. Furthermore, it advocates for proactive measures and leadership to cultivate ethics as a fundamental asset in projects.
Ethics in Project Management
- 1. Ethics in project management Exploring the importance of morality in projects Alistair Godbold e-mail: [email protected] 3 April 2014 1
- 2. Ethics in Project Management Ethics, bribery and trust in the world today Why are projects different? Why ethics and why now? Why what we do now is not enough What should we do about it?
- 3. Ethics Moral principles governing a person’s behaviour
- 4. Corruption in the world today 90-100 Very Clean #stopthecorrupt www.transparency.org/cpi SCORE 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-100 Very Clean Highly Corrupt CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2013 The perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries/territories around the world. CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2013: EU AND WESTERN EUROPE 14 United Kingdom 76 15 Belgium 75 21 Ireland 72 22 France 71 26 Austria 69 28 Estonia 68 31 Cyprus 63 33 Portugal 62 38 Poland 60 40 Spain 59 1 Denmark 91 3 Finland 89 3 Sweden 89 5 Norway 86 7 Switzerland 85 8 Netherlands 83 11 Luxembourg 80 12 Germany 78 12 Iceland 78 RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE 43 Lithuania 57 43 Slovenia 57 45 Malta 56 47 Hungary 54 49 Latvia 53 57 Croatia 48 57 Czech Republic 48 61 Slovakia 47 69 Italy 43 The perceived levels of public sector corruption. 23% score below 50 Top: Denmark Bottom: Greece SCORE 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 Highly Corrupt © 2013 Transparency International. All rights reserved. 50 The 2013 Corruption Perceptions measures the perceived levels of sector corruption in 177 countrie territories around the world. To se full results go to: www.transparency.org/cpi #stopthecorrupt 69 Romania 77 Bulgaria 80 Greece
- 5. Corruption in Europe INDEX 2013: EU AND WESTERN EUROPE 14 United Kingdom 76 15 Belgium 75 21 Ireland 72 22 France 71 26 Austria 69 28 Estonia 68 31 Cyprus 63 33 Portugal 62 38 Poland 60 40 Spain 59 1 Denmark 91 3 Finland 89 3 Sweden 89 5 Norway 86 7 Switzerland 85 8 Netherlands 83 11 Luxembourg 80 12 Germany 78 12 Iceland 78 RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE RANK COUNTRY/TERRITORY SCORE 43 Lithuania 57 43 Slovenia 57 45 Malta 56 47 Hungary 54 49 Latvia 53 57 Croatia 48 57 Czech Republic 48 61 Slovakia 47 69 Italy 43 Bottom: Greece SCORE 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-100 Very Clean Highly Corrupt © 2013 Transparency International. All rights reserved. The 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries/ territories around the world. To see the full results go to: www.transparency.org/cpi #stopthecorrupt 69 Romania 43 77 Bulgaria 41 80 Greece 40
- 6. What is a bribe? The offering, promising, giving, accepting or soliciting of an advantage as an inducement for an action which is illegal or a breach of trust.
- 7. Recognising a bribe Training courses Political donations Employment contracts Expenses Direct cash payments Charitable donations Discounts Gift giving Joint ventures Favours Excessive hospitality In-kind benefits Facilitation payments Off-balance sheet payments Inflated invoices Off-shore agreements
- 10. Corruption per year Cost to the EU - €120bn Bribes paid $1,000bn Tainted Procurement $1,500bn
- 17. Why projects are different Project Manager Personal values impact decisions Profession Vs PM Pressure to be efficient
- 18. Ethics of a Project Project Country B IndividualCompany A
- 20. Why manage ethics? • Protect against damaging perceptions Project, Company and Profession • Legal and moral backlash • Differentiator for customers and consumers • Develop and maintain trust • Attract and retain good staff More efficient than putting in controls
- 26. Recognising the warning signs “Everybody does it” “If we don’t someone else will” “No one will get hurt” “It is not against the rules” “They knew the risks” “They would do the same” “It’s the way business is done” “Just this once” “None will know” “We need to make up the time” “It’s worth a lot of money!”
- 27. Why now? • Increased pace of change no time to catch issues and think • Complexity and international different norms of behaviour in different cultures • FCPA and UK Bribery Act BS10500 – Anti Bribery Management • EU Public Procurement Directive • OECD Combating the Bribery of Public Officials
- 28. What we do now does not work Codes of conduct • statements of the obvious (obey the law, pay on time, don’t lie, respect others) • no practical use in dilemmas Tick box culture • on-line training and assessment • ill-equipped people, company is fooling itself Too little training • expensive and resource intensive (if you think education is expensive, try ignorance)
- 29. Have you ever been asked to … Source: Business in the community, the importance of ethical leadership 2013 10% of managers have resigned as a result
- 30. Root causes of misconduct Source: KPMG Integrity Survey 2013
- 32. What is right and wrong is often Subjective Universally non-binding
- 33. Ethics Emotion Right and wrong Feeling Approx 4 years Rules Codes of conduct Law
- 34. Changing Values Society Not fixed, change over 3-4 years Professional how you work Fixed by age 21 Personal honesty, integrity Fixed at age 8
- 35. Values of a company and project Depend on: • its history • the environment in which it operates • the education of its people • its leadership
- 36. Nichols Values
- 37. Banking
- 38. Executive pay
- 39. The Role of the PM Views Feelings Leadership Rules Statements Emotional Intelligence • the ability to perceive and understand emotion • the ability to integrate emotion to facilitate thought • the ability to manage emotions Project Manager Stakeholders Project team
- 40. What can we do now Codes • APM Code of Conduct • Company Codes and value statements • Project Charter / Code Leadership • Promote Values and walk the talk • Understand the theory • Ethical training and discussion Profession • Separate 1st profession from PM role
- 41. Action for PM - Promote Values Define roles and responsibilities Specify values and behaviours • named • make some measurable • use metrics, indicators • monitor, evaluate, control Communicate about values • targets, status, involvement Encourage lessons learned
- 42. Develop trust • communicate clearly and transparently 82% • tell the truth, regardless of how complex or unpopular 81% • engage with employees regularly to discuss the state of the business 80% • be front and centre during challenging times 79% • be personally involved in supporting local charities and good causes 69% • have an active media presence 53% Source: Endleman Trust Barometer Survey 33,000 respondents in 27 Countries
- 43. Ethical Maturity • Understand the rules and theory • Understand morality of society and where it is going • Perceive the environment • Communicate and create the environment walk the talk and be clear in thoughts and words • Train with Scenarios grow from small and use real life applied to your project
- 44. Institutional structure – fixity and structure Principle–doingright Ethical Theory Virtue Ethics Deontological Ethics • Kantian imperatives • rights • justice and fairness Ethical Learning & Growth • ethical egoism Teleoglogical Ethics • discourse ethics • utilitarianism Policy–doinggood Individual process – adaptability and responsiveness
- 45. Until then – a rule of thumb For the solution: • Which goals and priorities does it support or work against? • Does it reflect the values of the organisation and the decision makers? • What are the consequences for each of the stakeholders? • What qualms would the decision maker have about the disclosure of a favourable decision to this solution? • What is the positive or negative symbolic potential if understood or misunderstood by others? • How would my children look back on this?
- 46. Summary It is not just about the law and doing the ‘right thing’: • manage the ethics and its image of your project as an asset Good business Need to understand theory to be able to: • feel, think and talk about issues Warning signs • be aware and take action Leadership and people Not Rules
- 47. Ethics in project management Exploring the importance of morality in projects Alistair Godbold e-mail: [email protected] 3 April 2014 47