ETHICS

Ethics
Ethics are the principles that guide our
behaviour, choices and day to day conduct, that
are often rooted within a moral framework.
The general approaches to ethics are two: There
are absolutist views characterised by the belief
that there are universal rules that apply to
everyone in every situation. These are often
derived from religious teaching. A related
philosophical perspective is moral realism which
asserts that there are objective moral facts-or
truths-in the universe, which can guide action
provided they are discovered.
The second approach called relative ethics
recognises that there is no one right answer, and
 Ethical Schools: Virtue Ethics
in fact there may be several answers, and a
professional must choose amongst them.
There are four ethical main schools. First, virtue
ethics focuses not on rationally determining
specific moral actions but on developing moral
qualities. Integrity is a primary value. It criticises
the moral rationalism of utilitarianism and
deontology arguing that they reduce the
complexity of moral issues in the search for the
single correct moral view. Moral rationalism
does not do enough; it focuses only on the
training of one part of the mind.
In virtue ethics the goal is to develop the good
reason, rather than merely correct moral
reasoning in a particular situation. Reason is but
one part of a moral person. In virtue ethics
morality is an essential part of one’s personality
and disposition; it includes both actions and
attitudes and is a person’s basic way of relating
to the world.
A weakness of virtue ethics is that it does not
 Consequentialism
take into account a person’s change of
behaviour.
Second, is consequentialism, which holds that
ethical actions are determined by their
consequences. A major school of
consequentialism is utilitarianism, whose
essential premise is that what is moral is that
which brings the greatest good to the greatest
number of people. Thus the choice that yields
the greatest benefit to the most people is the
one that is ethically correct. The chief good is
usually thought of as happiness. Jeremy
Bentham focused on pain and pleasure in
determining happiness, while John Stuart Mills
expanded the factors to include social and
intellectual pleasures.
There are two types of utilitarianism. Act
utilitarianism holds that a person performs the
acts that benefit the most people regardless of
personal feelings or the society’s constrains such
as laws. The problem is that the perspective may
be used to justify immoral means to achieve
moral ends. Since act utilitarianism is concerned
with achieving the maximum good, an
individual’s rights may be infringed in order to
benefit a greater number of people. Thus act
utilitarianism is not always concerned with
justice, beneficence or autonomy. Rule
utilitarianism seeks to benefit the most people
but through the fairest and most just means
available. The added benefits of rule
utilitarianism are that it values justice and
includes beneficence at the same time.
However, in rule utilitarianism there is a
possibility of conflicting rules.
 Deontology
Third, is deontology. This ethical school is
concerned with duties and rights regardless of
consequences. According to the school, ethical
actions are judged by whether they fulfill duties
and accord with rights of others regardless of
the consequences. This means that a person will
follow obligations to another person or society
because upholding one’s duty is what is
considered ethically correct. Immanuel Kant
developed the idea of the categorical
imperative, which is a duty that is universal and
without exception. A central principle of the
imperative is that people should be treated as
ends, not as means, as subjects rather than
 Natural Law Ethics
objects. The chief end is that people should be
given freedom and treated with equality.
One problem is that people can lose sight of
positive or negative effects of actions in pursuit
of one’s duty; should we follow our sense of
duty even if it produces terrible consequences?
Finally, there is natural law ethics. According to
this school, all things are endowed with certain
natural characteristics and ends. These
characteristics are themselves good, and the
goal of natural law ethics is to act in a way that
fulfills them. How we ought to act is a function
of how we are: ‘is’ and ‘ought’ are directly
related. At a more general level, the natural
 Basic Ethical Principles
order of the world is good, and it is the moral
order; thus going against this is going against the
good. This approach to ethics has been criticised
since some things in the world are not good
such as destructive earthquakes, diseases.
From the ethical schools of thought, several
basic ethical principles may be distilled. First, is
 Beneficence
beneficence. This guides the decision maker to
do what is right and good. The priority to do
good makes an ethical perspective and possible
solution to an ethical dilemma acceptable. The
principle is also related to the principle of utility
which advocates for the greatest benefit to the
greatest number of people. Secondly, is non-
 Non-maleficence
maleficence. This is a principle of refraining from
causing intentional harm to another human
being. It denotes an obligation not to inflict
harm on another person. It is closely associated
with the maximum primum non nocere (first do
no harm). Thus a physician has an obligation not
to harm the patient that is expressed in the
 Autonomy
Hippocratic Oath.
Third, is autonomy. This principle asserts that
ethical decision making allows people to make
decisions that apply to their lives. It is based on
the recognition that people should control their
lives as much as possible because they are the
only ones who completely understand the
 Justice
circumstances of their lives.
Justice is the fourth basic ethical principle. It
calls for decision makers to focus on the actions
that are fair to those involved. Ethical decisions
should be consistent with ethical theories unless
extenuating circumstances exist to justify
departure. Nevertheless, there are many
 Importance of Ethics to Project
Managers
perspectives to justice such as distributive
justice, retributive justice, restorative justice
(rehabilitative) and so on.
Project management is driven by decisions.
Some decisions are small and barely noticed,
while others are major. Some require deep
thought because they involve people, resources
and the environment. These factors may be in
conflict creating ethical dilemmas and even
significant risk.
Several codes of ethics have been developed by
different institutions of project managers. The
Institute of Project Managers anchors its ethical
code (PMI Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct) on four values: honesty, responsibility,
respect and fairness. Responsibility is the duty
to take ownership for the decisions one makes
or fails to make, the actions taken or not taken
and the consequences that result. Respect is the
duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others
and the resources entrusted to us. Resources
entrusted to us may include money, reputation,
the safety of others, and natural or
environmental resources. Fairness is the duty to
make decisions and act impartially and
objectively, while honesty is the duty to
understand the truth and act in a truthful
manner both in our communication and in our
conduct.
In contrast, the code of ethics of the Association
of Project Managers (APM) centres its ethical
values on integrity, respect and empathy.