PM Insight
ETHICS
IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT
I
n giving our attention to this
matter, we must not confuse our
understanding of the subject
with a personal study of morality
undertaken through the lens of
religion or culture, but rather as a
rational secular inquiry. We have
all been moulded by the former
and the values we derived from
our nurture already determine the
manner, motivation and limits of
our personal conduct in a given
situation. That is who we are.
Problems arise, however, when we take
these values (whether strong or weak)
and apply them indiscriminately to projects. Our decision-making will either be
authoritarian or arbitrary, and the result
is likely to impact negatively on project
outcomes.
Projects, generally, are undertaken in
complex environments, under conditions of uncertainty, severe constraint
and with limited resources. It is not possible therefore to weigh each demand
equally in the accomplishment of clear
strategic objectives, and it is these conflicts that give rise to ethical dilemmas.
Solutions need to be negotiated and
are often the outcome of compromise.
As a result, it is not reasonable that one’s
own personal value system should be
fully satisfied on each occasion, nor
that it should serve as the only point
of reference. Many other stakeholders are involved who have competing
interests and different value systems.
Project managers, therefore, need to
adopt principles that help them to
deal with this complexity, whether economic, non-economic, social or political.
Project profit, for example, needs to be
balanced against the need for corporate
social responsibility and sustainable
development. Indeed, an urgent imperative exists to improve the quality of
life for all by the project.
This includes the need to fulfil not only
to fulfil the fiduciary responsibilities we
have towards the project sponsor and
project beneficiary but also to deal with
all stakeholders in a fair and equitable
manner, and includes our conduct in the
management of the resources used to
effect delivery - whether human, financial or material. It would be simplistic to
say, therefore, that all is permissible providing one satisfies the maxim merely
“to do no harm”. In this sense, ethics lies
beyond the jurisdiction of the law and
regulation. Its purpose is to guide our
action towards achieving enhanced and
enduring value.
The study of ethics by early philosophers focused on the nature of moral
virtue. The conclusion of this inquiry
was that internal motivation and overt
conduct combine to define personal
character. Modern ethics, however, focuses on the ethical character of actions.
The topic is researched under the headings of “normative” and “applied” ethics.
Normative ethics concerns itself with
how we ought to act and applied ethics investigates how moral outcomes
can be achieved in specific situations.
Project management as a management
science has dimensions that are both
normative and applied. As a career specialisation, they are normative and we
demonstrate our commitment to the
discipline and customs of our profession
by the publication of a formal code of
professional ethics.
Its purpose is to engender public trust
and to provide a standard by which we
are willing to be held accountable. In its
applied sense, we must build a framework to deal with a host of issues on
which we must make ethical decisions.
These include, inter alia, the ethics of
business and capitalism; corporate
social responsibility; social justice;
stakeholder relations and management; finance; organizational ethics;
decision ethics; the social, economic,
political and ecological environments;
marketing ethics; communication
ethics, and many other matters. Selfpreparation by study and experience is
the only way in which we can acquire
the understanding necessary for sound
judgement.
There are times when our decisionmaking will need to be based on factors
of utilitarian
interest. At other times, we will need
to be careful not to sacrifice the end for
the means.
But at no point should be willing to
betray the principles on which we stand.
Peter E Richards
september 2014 — PM Africa Magazine
53