As we talked about before in this module, it’s important for project managers to work ethically. This means doing the right thing, not just following rules. There are written rules and laws, but there are also moral rules and values.
What are these moral rules and values? Let’s break it down with some explanations and examples.
Moral rules are like a list of dos and don’ts for how a person should behave. For instance, one moral rule is “don’t steal.”
Values are strong beliefs that guide how we act in different situations. They show what we think is good behavior. Values can be personal, but they can also be shared in groups like companies. When a bunch of people in the same group share these values, they shape how everyone acts in that group.
In companies, these shared values are super important. They make up the core of what the company’s culture is all about. These values are a small set of important beliefs that don’t change much, and they really influence how people act at work.
For example, The Open University (2019) has some values they believe in:
In our work, we stick to The Open University values of being inclusive, innovative, and responsive.
The value of being inclusive and innovative is a big part of what people do at The Open University. They use this value to make sure everyone can access knowledge through new and creative solutions.
Values and moral rules help everyone know how to behave in a group or at work. It’s good to think about them to understand how they affect the decisions we make when working on projects.
Think about the values your workplace or a group you’re in follows. Can you name some of these values? How do these values affect how you work on projects? Share your thoughts with other learners in the discussion below.
Reflecting on the scope of project ethics we are studying—covering rules and regulations, rules of conduct, values, ethical practices, moral principles, and codes of practice—I realize that as a professional accountant, these pillars are not new concepts; they are already the operational backbone of my daily work. However, viewing them through a project management lens completely changes how I approach project risk, data modeling, and stakeholder trust.
In our financial environment, these six areas heavily influence project execution in very practical ways:
Rules, Regulations & Codes of Practice: When leading a project—such as automating a payroll tracker or designing a financial data model—statutory laws (like FIRS, LIRS, and CAMA) and standard accounting frameworks (like IFRS) act as mandatory boundaries. We cannot prioritize project speed over absolute regulatory compliance.
Rules of Conduct & Values: Managing data analytics projects or virtual client solutions means handling highly sensitive financial records. Professional directives like Confidentiality demand that I implement strict data access controls within Excel or Power BI, ensuring information reaches only authorized project stakeholders. Furthermore, the core value of Accountability ensures that if I spot data anomalies during data cleaning (Power Query), I flag them immediately rather than hiding them to protect a timeline.
Ethical Practices & Moral Principles: A project manager must maintain total Objectivity. When presenting a project’s financial forecasting dashboard to a sponsor, moral integrity prevents me from tweaking variables to display an artificially glowing ROI.
Ultimately, my accounting background has taught me that ethics are not a bottleneck to project progress—they are a safeguard. By embedding these six ethical dimensions directly into our project planning phase, we protect our initiatives from catastrophic regulatory failures, preserve data integrity, and build ironclad trust with corporate sponsors.
Values such as integrity, honesty, excellence, punctuality, security first will influence my work as a project manager in that it drives me to always put those values into practice when dealing with clients and team members.
In an organization Ive been involved with I can remember Transparency and Accountability as one of the core values, it shaped the working behavior of the employees and the leadership of employers
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values are organizational cultures and norms within a society. most organization have the way things are done which said to be their belief system.
Values are strong choices that guide how we act in different situations. They show what we think is better behavior. Values can be personal, but they can also be shared in groups like companies. When a bunch of people in the same group share these values, they mold how everyone acts in that group.
Values are strong beliefs that guide how we act in different situations. They show what we think is good behavior. Values can be personal, but they can also be shared in groups like companies. When a bunch of people in the same group share these values, they shape how everyone acts in that group.
I think ethics in projects is important because it helps project managers and team members act honestly, fairly, and professionally. It involves doing the right thing, respecting stakeholders, and using resources properly. Good ethics helps build trust and supports the success of a project.
Ethical behaviour helps build a good reputation and creates a positive working environment for both the team and stakeholders
The core values in my own setting is respect because everyone has a say to whatever is being done.
Not using of foul words for expressing ourselves, effective collaboration to achieve designed goals