Ethics-Governance: Article: CAE: Michael McDonald, Ph.D.

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CAE: Michael McDonald, Ph.D. CAE: Michael McDonald, Ph.D. Ethics and Conflict of Interest by Michael McDonald You've seen the headlines, "Politician caught in conflict of interest " or "professional denies conflict of interest allegations. " You probably were thankful that you were not the subject of the newspaper story. But you also may have wondered what exactly is a conflict of interest, why such conflicts are ethically significant, and what you can do to avoid being in one. Definition I define a conflict of interest as "a situation in which a person, such as a public official, an employee, or a professional, has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to influence the objective exercise of his or her official duties. " There are three key elements in this definition. First, there is a private or personal interest. Often this is a financial interest, but it could also be another sort of interest, say, to provide a special advantage to a spouse or child. Taken by themselves, there is nothing wrong with pursuing private or personal interests, for instance, changing jobs for more pay or helping your daughter improve her golf stroke. Full Article: http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/people/mcdonald/conflict.htm


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