CPS Professional Standards & Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A process specialist discovers that a recently implemented process change violates an industry regulation but reduces costs significantly. What is the ethically correct course of action?
- Report the violation to management and recommend corrective action immediately (Correct answer)
- Keep the change in place since it benefits the company financially
- Wait to see if regulators discover the violation before acting
- Anonymously tip off a competitor about the violation
Correct answer: Report the violation to management and recommend corrective action immediately
Regulatory compliance is a non-negotiable professional obligation, and specialists must report violations regardless of financial impact.
Question 2: Which principle best describes a process specialist's duty to avoid using confidential client process data for personal gain?
- Conflict of interest avoidance
- Fiduciary responsibility
- Confidentiality obligation (Correct answer)
- Non-compete compliance
Correct answer: Confidentiality obligation
The confidentiality obligation prohibits using privileged information obtained through professional work for personal benefit.
Question 3: When presenting process improvement results to stakeholders, a CPS professional should ensure data is presented in a way that is:
- Favorable to the sponsoring executive's preferred outcome
- Selective to highlight only the most impressive metrics
- Accurate, transparent, and free from misleading framing (Correct answer)
- Simplified enough to avoid stakeholder scrutiny
Correct answer: Accurate, transparent, and free from misleading framing
Integrity in reporting requires that results be presented honestly and completely, without manipulation or selective omission.
Question 4: A CPS professional is asked to certify that a process meets quality standards when it clearly does not. The appropriate response is to:
- Certify it provisionally with a private note
- Refuse to certify and document the deficiencies formally (Correct answer)
- Ask a colleague to certify it instead to avoid conflict
- Certify it to maintain the client relationship
Correct answer: Refuse to certify and document the deficiencies formally
False certification violates professional integrity; a specialist must refuse and formally document non-compliance.
Question 5: Which of the following scenarios best illustrates a conflict of interest for a process specialist?
- Recommending a vendor whose product genuinely improves the process
- Recommending a vendor in which the specialist holds undisclosed stock (Correct answer)
- Declining to work on a project outside their area of expertise
- Charging market-rate fees for consulting services rendered
Correct answer: Recommending a vendor in which the specialist holds undisclosed stock
Undisclosed financial interests in recommended vendors represent a textbook conflict of interest that must be disclosed.
Question 6: Professional standards require that a CPS specialist maintain competency by:
- Relying solely on knowledge gained during initial certification
- Engaging in continuous education and staying current with industry developments (Correct answer)
- Outsourcing technically demanding tasks to avoid gaps in knowledge
- Limiting scope of work to only the most familiar process areas
Correct answer: Engaging in continuous education and staying current with industry developments
Continuous professional development is a core ethical obligation to ensure the quality and reliability of services provided.
Question 7: If a process specialist becomes aware that a colleague is falsifying process performance data, the professional obligation is to:
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Address it through appropriate reporting channels (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague publicly to deter future misconduct
- Report it directly to a regulatory agency without internal notice
Correct answer: Address it through appropriate reporting channels
Professional standards require reporting misconduct through established internal channels before escalating externally.
CPS Professional Standards & Ethics 2
A process specialist discovers that a recently implemented process change violates an industry regulation but reduces costs significantly.
What is the ethically correct course of action?