Aims of this chapter

13. Professional Responsibility

What is a profession? What is professional responsibility?

The business case for professional responsibility

The PMI and professional responsibility

Codes of ethics

This chapter explains why project managers have professional responsibility, what that is, and in particular what the PMI's requirements for professional responsibility are. The chapter starts with the broad, general principles of professional responsibility and narrows down to the specifics as defined by the PMI. Those specifics may not be of direct interest to you if you are not a member or not intending to become a member of the PMI, but are the kind of specific statement of professional responsibility which any practising project manager should follow, even if not that particular instantiation. By the end of this chapter, the reader should be able to:

• state the fundamental principle of a profession;

• state three general principles that guide professional conduct;

• explain the business case for being a member of a recognized profession and abiding by its code of practice;

• know where to find the PMI's code of conduct and who it governs;

• state the two categories and the principles under them of the PMI's code of conduct.

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