The responsibilities to the profession include positive attributes that you would likely include on a list of "role model" characteristics, such as honesty and an emphasis on customer satisfaction. This area of the Code of Professional Conduct is composed of three areas:
What Are the Organizational Rules and Policies?This section discusses the requirement that PMI members provide support and assistance to any PMI investigation, discuss conflicts of interests, and elaborate concerning truthful representation. The willingness to support the Code of Professional Conduct is paramount to membership in the organization. Although this text may seem to center on the certification process, the code also extends to truthful reporting of information to stakeholders and management involved with a project. Table 9.2 provides a quick summary of the four subsections that discuss understanding organizational rules and policies.
Truthful Representations of InformationFor the exam, you will need to know that members and certified PMPs are required to provide "accurate and truthful representations concerning all information." According to PMI, this includes the following:
Reporting of ViolationsThis requirement offers a watchdog mechanism and process for anyone who wants to escalate code of conduct violations. You will likely see questions concerning this issue on the exam. As professionals in the project management arena, we maintain integrity in the organization by self-policing our operations and our membership. Cooperating with PMI Concerning Code ViolationsThis sets the expectation that members should be willing to cooperate and provide assistance concerning code violations. The emphasis is on honesty and truthfulness. These issues will likely surface on the test at some point. There are no typical actions one might take if he or she is brought in on an investigation of code violations. It is generally handled on a case-by-case basis. For the test, you might have to discern scenarios and choose what actions you might have to take based on your ethical code. Disclosing Situations That Could Be Seen as Conflicts of Interest or ImproprietiesThis requirement sets the expectation that you must provide full disclosure of a perceived conflict-of-interest situation to anyone associated with a project you are involved in, such as customers, contractors, owners, and clients. This allows them the opportunity to decide how to resolve the issue. This is a good standard for any business transaction so that there are no hidden agendas. Candidate/Certificant Professional PracticeThis section of the code maintains the same general theme as the other sections by advocating honesty as the best policy in regard to advertising, qualifications, experience, and performance of service. The code advocates maintaining these high standards regardless of the business setting or circumstances. In addition to these guidelines, the document elaborates further by stating that PMI members and PMPs who offer a service, such as a project management service, must comply with state, province, and country laws, regulations, and ethical standards regarding his or her professional practices. Ethical references are heavily emphasized in the document, so be prepared for situational questions involving morals and integrity on the exam. A typical scenario question will be several sentences long and could contain unnecessary information in order to confuse you. When you approach the question, begin to eliminate choices that you know are incorrect. This system will help to decrease your number of options and increase your chances of choosing the correct answer. Advancement of the ProfessionThis section of the Conduct of Professional Code emphasizes the need to maintain privacy and security whenever you have access to intellectual property. As the world becomes more security oriented, regulations associated with national security and information privacy place an emphasis on maintaining good security processes whenever dealing with this type of information. As project managers, we must safeguard information and our reputations by being discreet and professional. The support of the PMI Code of Professional Conduct and the willingness to distribute the information to other PMI members and PMPs is briefly discussed in this section. For the exam, you should know that the Code of Professional Conduct places an emphasis on communicating the honest philosophy and the principles of the Project Management Institute. |