Professional Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Professional Ethics - Essay Example It outlines the implications of such behavior and also discusses professional etiquette. Implications of Conflicts of Interest Conflict of interest in the tender management industry is illegal and may lead to prosecution of individuals or companies that intentionally benefit from the conflict. It leads to award of tenders with total disregard of merit and hence some qualified companies may not have a chance to undertake the work that they are competent in. In most cases, tenders awarded on the basis of conflicts of interest eventually fail or the expected outcome is not realized. According to Worthington & Goldsman (1998), the success of a project depends on the sincerity of the involved parties to satisfy the needs of stakeholders. Conflicts of interests lead to the pursuance of individual benefits while ignoring public interest. The preferred bidder in such a process may quote low prices and eventually end up requesting for additional funding with excuses of high cost of materials or high inflation thereby increasing the cost of a project. Such bidders are to blame for many projects that have turned in to white elephants, yet there might have been genuine bidders who would have accomplished the work at a lower cost (Keyes, 2004). In an economy, companies that do not win contracts as a result of conflicts of interest may become bankrupt in the long-run (O’Connor, 2007). On the other hand, those that are awarded tenders due to their political influence end up having no competitor and therefore they relax in terms of quality standards. A significant loss is experienced in the economy with regards to the desired impacts of the project, while on the other hand such practices promote corruption. Oyer (2005) observes that conflicts of interest in the management of tenders in the Philippines have led to an economic decline that has seen the country being overtaken by Thailand despite of having been ahead of it in the last five decades. In the economies where c onflicts of interest are pronounced, transparency and accountability are concealed from public scrutiny. To avoid the undesirable consequences of conflicts of interest, those involved in tender management should be thoroughly researched to establish if they are personal interests that may hamper the tendering process. Any relationship between the client and bidders needs to be investigated to thwart conflict (Gallagher, 2005). If a person in the tendering process is found to promote conflicts of interest, he/she should be disqualified from participating. In some instances when disqualification of a person is impossible, a conflict of interest can be managed through involving a third party to control the conflict. However, setting up of a code of ethics in tender management is the most significant tool to guide the tendering process. This is because if the code of ethics is adhered to, it can promote professional etiquette thereby preventing extra-professional affairs that may cause conflicts of interest (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2009). Professional Etiquette Professional etiquette is a scheme of rules and principles that standardize social and professional conduct. In any organization, there are certain set of rules and behaviors that are recognized to have a positive influence on an organization’s strategic objectives. Each position in a bureaucratic organization is guided by principles that are endorsed by