CPCM Certified Professional Contract Manager: Ethics and Compliance 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A contracting officer's representative (COR) accepts a contractor's invitation to an expensive dinner. This raises concerns primarily because:
- CORs are not permitted to meet with contractors outside the office
- It may create a real or perceived conflict of interest and violate gift rules (Correct answer)
- Dinners are not allowable costs under the contract
- The contractor should have invited the contracting officer instead
Correct answer: It may create a real or perceived conflict of interest and violate gift rules
Accepting gifts or entertainment from contractors can create the appearance of bias and may violate federal ethics regulations on gift acceptance.
Question 2: Which best describes the concept of 'apparent authority' and its ethical risk in contracting?
- A contractor that appears qualified but is not
- When an agent acts beyond their actual authority, potentially binding the organization to unauthorized commitments (Correct answer)
- Authority granted to a contracting officer by statute
- The authority apparent in a signed contract modification
Correct answer: When an agent acts beyond their actual authority, potentially binding the organization to unauthorized commitments
Apparent authority arises when a third party reasonably believes an agent has authority; ethically, agents must clarify their actual authority to avoid unauthorized obligations.
Question 3: Under the Anti-Kickback Act, which party is prohibited from giving or receiving kickbacks?
- Only prime contractors
- Only subcontractors
- Both prime contractors and subcontractors in connection with government contracts (Correct answer)
- Only government employees
Correct answer: Both prime contractors and subcontractors in connection with government contracts
The Anti-Kickback Act prohibits any person — prime or sub — from providing or receiving kickbacks in connection with federal government contracts.
Question 4: A contract manager learns that a colleague submitted inflated hours on a time-and-materials government contract. Ethically, the contract manager is OBLIGATED to:
- Stay silent to protect the colleague's career
- Report the information through the appropriate compliance channel (Correct answer)
- Speak to the colleague privately and take no further action
- Increase her own hours to balance the books
Correct answer: Report the information through the appropriate compliance channel
Reporting known or suspected fraud is an ethical and, in many cases, legal obligation under whistleblower statutes and professional codes of conduct.
Question 5: Which element is NOT typically required in a contractor's mandatory disclosure to the government under FAR 52.203-13?
- Credible evidence of a violation of federal criminal law involving fraud
- Credible evidence of a significant overpayment on the contract
- Credible evidence of a violation of the civil False Claims Act
- Credible evidence that a competitor submitted a late proposal (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Credible evidence that a competitor submitted a late proposal
Mandatory disclosure covers fraud, FCA violations, and significant overpayments — not competitive procurement process irregularities by other bidders.
Question 6: A contract manager is pressured by senior leadership to approve a contract action she believes is improper. According to ethical standards, she should:
- Approve it to avoid conflict with leadership
- Document her concerns in writing and escalate through ethics or legal channels (Correct answer)
- Anonymously leak the information to the press
- Resign immediately without documenting anything
Correct answer: Document her concerns in writing and escalate through ethics or legal channels
Documenting concerns and using formal escalation paths protects the individual, creates a record, and allows the organization to address the issue properly.
Question 7: The concept of 'revolving door' restrictions in government contracting primarily seeks to prevent:
- Contractors from rotating staff on government projects
- Former government officials from using insider knowledge to benefit private employers in matters they personally handled (Correct answer)
- Government employees from changing agencies
- Contractors from rehiring their own former employees
Correct answer: Former government officials from using insider knowledge to benefit private employers in matters they personally handled
Revolving door laws restrict post-government employment to prevent officials from leveraging non-public knowledge or relationships for private gain.
CPCM Certified Professional Contract Manager: Ethics and Compliance 5
A contracting officer's representative (COR) accepts a contractor's invitation to an expensive dinner.
This raises concerns primarily because: