General Professional Ethics and Conduct 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A colleague asks you to sign off on work you did not review. What is the ethical response?
- Sign it to avoid conflict
- Refuse and explain you cannot certify work you haven't reviewed (Correct answer)
- Sign it but add a disclaimer
- Ask a third party to sign instead
Correct answer: Refuse and explain you cannot certify work you haven't reviewed
Signing off on unreviewed work misrepresents your role and violates professional integrity.
Question 2: Which principle requires professionals to place clients' interests above their own personal gain?
- Autonomy
- Fiduciary duty (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality
- Non-maleficence
Correct answer: Fiduciary duty
A fiduciary duty obligates a professional to act in the client's best interest, not their own.
Question 3: An employee discovers their employer is violating environmental regulations. The most ethical first step is to:
- Immediately go to the media
- Report the violation internally through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Ignore it to protect their job
- Quit without saying anything
Correct answer: Report the violation internally through proper channels
Internal reporting is typically the appropriate first step before escalating to external authorities.
Question 4: What does 'due diligence' mean in a professional ethics context?
- Completing tasks as quickly as possible
- Taking reasonable care to investigate and verify information before acting (Correct answer)
- Following orders from a supervisor without question
- Delegating tasks to qualified subordinates
Correct answer: Taking reasonable care to investigate and verify information before acting
Due diligence means conducting thorough investigation and verification to avoid negligent decisions.
Question 5: A professional receives a gift from a vendor whose contract they manage. This situation most likely creates a:
- Professional development opportunity
- Conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Fiduciary relationship
- Breach of confidentiality
Correct answer: Conflict of interest
Receiving gifts from vendors can compromise objectivity and create a conflict of interest.
Question 6: Which of the following best defines 'professional competence'?
- Having the highest academic credentials in your field
- Possessing and maintaining the skills and knowledge needed to perform your duties adequately (Correct answer)
- Being able to work faster than your peers
- Holding an active license in your profession
Correct answer: Possessing and maintaining the skills and knowledge needed to perform your duties adequately
Professional competence requires continually maintaining the skills needed for your specific responsibilities.
Question 7: When is it appropriate for a professional to break client confidentiality?
- When a colleague asks out of curiosity
- When the client's information could prevent serious harm to others (Correct answer)
- When the information would benefit the professional's career
- When a client owes the professional money
Correct answer: When the client's information could prevent serious harm to others
Confidentiality may be broken to prevent serious, imminent harm to the client or others.
General Professional Ethics and Conduct 2
A colleague asks you to sign off on work you did not review.
What is the ethical response?