It is now time to review a case study that focuses on ethical behavior.
Access the Open APM’s ethics case study resource provided below to read a scenario concerning ethics in projects.
Can you pinpoint a few instances of professional conduct highlighted in this scenario? Reflect on the skills employed to integrate ethical considerations into the decisions made by the individuals involved. Can you recognize them?
Share your responses in the discussion section below.
After posting your comment, proceed to the next step, where you will find some potential answers provided by APM for these questions.
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Williams , who is familiar with the company wasn’t a team player and too confident while John who is an experienced person couldn’t challenge him, Karen didn’t have the confidence to speak up so the whole thing points to the communication gap and lack of team spirit between the three of them
At the end Karen and John’s collaborative and problem solving skills played out well and that was what led to the success of the project
I noticed lack of team work and communication gap
One issue of professional conduct is the lack of transparency in how the stakeholder engagement was handled, with William bypassing the agreed process. Another is the pressure Karen felt to stay silent despite noticing something was wrong. raising concerns about integrity and speaking up.
The skills used to bring ethics into the decision included critical thinking when Karen and John assessed the risks and collaboration when discussing options together, and problem-solving skills when finding an external firm to validate the research. These helped ensure the project stayed aligned with professional standards.
William was not a good team member, John and Karen acted like a team by brainstorming and looking for solutions
May 5, 2025 at 7:25 am
I notice lack of teamwork , communication gap and transparency among the three project managers which almost had an effects in the success of the project
From my point of view, I noticed there was lack of communication and transparency among the three project managers which almost disrupted the success of the project.
John displayed a lack of team collaboration and communication. I also understand that Karen was a bit scared, but communication was necessary and she would have jeopardized the team’s work . Collaboration and communication are necessary when working with teams or as a project manager
At first, they lacked communication and team work. Karen was afraid of hurting John’s feelings over the project and this could have jeopardized the whole project. Karen later communicated with John and they solved worked o together on solving the problem. The fear of communication and also lack of information
I saw that their initial engagement lacked adequate team collaboration and certainly a lag in proper communication too. Also John’s decision of seeing the country before taking on the primary task which brought him into the country in the first place was in my opinion ‘unethical’, and especially considering the relevance of the project to their growing organization.
Karen on the other hand, despite looking out for herself, could have put the entire project on jeopardy by not initially communicating her concerns with the report.
John and Karen’s conversation at the coffee machine highlighted the importance of having honest conversations. John’s openness and leadership to recognizing and addressing problems was pivotal in leading conversation, and also the importance of collaboration in problem solving was firmly established.
I saw how John played solo at first, a d didn’t carry others along, which was not ethical, because, as a PM, team spirit should never be lacking.
I saw that while Karen wasn’t comfortable with the situation, she treaded carefully for fear of losing her job, or passing the wrong message to John who was more experienced, but being an individual who could strike up a good conversation, she was able to bring him in to talk about it.
William is one to not be afraid to say the truth, which made it easier to begun tackling the issue early enough, before it escalated.
In general, no one had it perfect, but because they communicated, the problem was resolved.
Deborah Adeoye