CPS Professional Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client asks a process specialist to design a process that would disadvantage a protected class of employees. The specialist should:
- Comply if the client provides a business justification
- Refuse and explain that the design would violate anti-discrimination principles (Correct answer)
- Design the process but add a disclaimer
- Delegate the task to avoid personal liability
Correct answer: Refuse and explain that the design would violate anti-discrimination principles
Designing processes that discriminate against protected classes violates both ethical standards and employment law, requiring refusal.
Question 2: Which concept in professional ethics refers to the obligation to act in the best interest of the client rather than oneself?
- Autonomy
- Beneficence
- Fiduciary duty (Correct answer)
- Reciprocity
Correct answer: Fiduciary duty
Fiduciary duty requires professionals to prioritize the client's interests above their own in all professional engagements.
Question 3: When a process specialist lacks sufficient expertise to complete an assigned task effectively, the ethical action is to:
- Proceed anyway to avoid admitting a knowledge gap
- Disclose the limitation and seek collaboration or refer the client (Correct answer)
- Charge reduced fees and attempt the task regardless
- Complete the task and omit the limitation from the final report
Correct answer: Disclose the limitation and seek collaboration or refer the client
Practicing within one's competence limits requires honest disclosure when expertise is insufficient.
Question 4: A process specialist is contracted by Company A and is offered a simultaneous contract by its direct competitor, Company B. Ethically, the specialist must:
- Accept both contracts as long as the work is done well
- Decline Company B's offer or obtain informed consent from both parties (Correct answer)
- Prioritize whichever contract is more lucrative
- Accept Company B's contract only if Company A is not aware
Correct answer: Decline Company B's offer or obtain informed consent from both parties
Serving two direct competitors simultaneously creates a conflict of interest requiring disclosure and consent from all parties.
Question 5: Which of the following best represents the principle of 'do no harm' as applied to process improvement work?
- Avoiding any process changes that may be controversial
- Ensuring that process redesigns do not create unsafe conditions for workers (Correct answer)
- Refusing to accept projects with high implementation risk
- Limiting recommendations to incremental rather than transformational changes
Correct answer: Ensuring that process redesigns do not create unsafe conditions for workers
In professional contexts, 'do no harm' means ensuring that process changes do not create new hazards or adverse impacts on people.
Question 6: Transparency in professional practice requires that a CPS specialist:
- Share all client data freely with other professionals
- Disclose assumptions, limitations, and potential biases in their work (Correct answer)
- Publish proprietary process models without client permission
- Avoid documenting risks to prevent client alarm
Correct answer: Disclose assumptions, limitations, and potential biases in their work
Transparency demands honest disclosure of the basis, limitations, and potential weaknesses of professional work.
Question 7: A process specialist who accepts gifts from vendors whose products they are evaluating is most likely violating which ethical principle?
- Objectivity and independence (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality
- Competency maintenance
- Client communication standards
Correct answer: Objectivity and independence
Accepting vendor gifts compromises objectivity and independence, creating bias in the evaluation process.
CPS Professional Standards & Ethics 3
A client asks a process specialist to design a process that would disadvantage a protected class of employees.
The specialist should: