CMC Client Relationship Management & Ethical Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A consultant discovers mid-engagement that the client's project scope has expanded significantly beyond the original contract. What is the most ethical course of action?
- Continue working without discussion to maintain goodwill
- Immediately halt all work until a new contract is signed
- Document the scope change and negotiate a formal amendment with the client (Correct answer)
- Bill for extra hours without notifying the client upfront
Correct answer: Document the scope change and negotiate a formal amendment with the client
Scope changes should be formally documented and negotiated through a contract amendment to maintain transparency and protect both parties.
Question 2: Under the CMC Code of Professional Conduct, which behavior most directly violates the principle of objectivity?
- Recommending a vendor in whom the consultant holds undisclosed financial interest (Correct answer)
- Charging higher fees for complex engagements
- Presenting findings that contradict the client's initial assumptions
- Declining a project outside one's area of expertise
Correct answer: Recommending a vendor in whom the consultant holds undisclosed financial interest
Recommending a vendor with an undisclosed financial interest constitutes a conflict of interest that undermines the consultant's objectivity.
Question 3: A long-term client requests that a consultant bend ethical guidelines 'just this once' to help them win a contract. The consultant should:
- Comply once to preserve the relationship
- Refuse and explain the ethical standards that govern the profession (Correct answer)
- Escalate to senior management without telling the client
- Offer a workaround that skirts but does not technically violate ethics rules
Correct answer: Refuse and explain the ethical standards that govern the profession
CMC standards require consultants to refuse unethical requests and explain the professional standards that prohibit such conduct.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'client dependency' as an ethical risk in consulting?
- Clients relying on consultants for decisions they should make themselves, reducing client capability (Correct answer)
- Consultants becoming financially dependent on a single client
- Clients depending on consultants for technical IT support
- Consultants building strong loyalty through repeated engagements
Correct answer: Clients relying on consultants for decisions they should make themselves, reducing client capability
Client dependency occurs when consultants foster reliance rather than building client capability, which conflicts with the ethical duty to serve client interests.
Question 5: When a CMC consultant is engaged by two competing firms in the same industry, the primary ethical obligation is to:
- Prioritize the higher-paying client
- Disclose the situation to both clients and obtain informed consent or withdraw from one (Correct answer)
- Keep both engagements separate without disclosure
- Complete both engagements simultaneously to maximize efficiency
Correct answer: Disclose the situation to both clients and obtain informed consent or withdraw from one
Serving competing clients creates a conflict of interest that must be disclosed to both parties, who must provide informed consent for the arrangement to continue ethically.
Question 6: A consultant's engagement letter should explicitly address which element to protect both parties ethically and legally?
- The client's internal org chart
- Scope, deliverables, fees, timeline, and confidentiality terms (Correct answer)
- The consultant's personal billing preferences
- Future project pipeline estimates
Correct answer: Scope, deliverables, fees, timeline, and confidentiality terms
A complete engagement letter defines scope, deliverables, fees, timeline, and confidentiality to create a clear, mutually understood agreement.
Question 7: If a consultant learns during an engagement that the client organization is engaged in practices that are legal but ethically questionable, the consultant should first:
- Immediately resign from the engagement
- Ignore the practices as they fall outside the project scope
- Raise concerns professionally with the appropriate client contact (Correct answer)
- Report the practices to a regulatory authority without informing the client
Correct answer: Raise concerns professionally with the appropriate client contact
CMC ethics require consultants to raise concerns professionally with the client before taking more drastic action such as withdrawal.
CMC Client Relationship Management & Ethical Standards 2
A consultant discovers mid-engagement that the client's project scope has expanded significantly beyond the original contract.
What is the most ethical course of action?