CPT Professional Standards & Ethics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under ISPI's ethical standards, a CPT practitioner must prioritize which of the following when client goals conflict with employee well-being?
- Always side with the client since they are paying for the service
- Always side with employees since they are the end users
- Balance organizational goals with ethical treatment of all stakeholders (Correct answer)
- Defer the conflict to legal counsel without taking a position
Correct answer: Balance organizational goals with ethical treatment of all stakeholders
CPT ethics require practitioners to consider the well-being of all stakeholders, not just the paying client, when conflicts arise.
Question 2: A practitioner is approached by a former client's competitor for a project using knowledge gained from the previous engagement. The ethical response is to:
- Accept the project since the original contract has ended
- Decline if the work would require using the former client's confidential information (Correct answer)
- Use only publicly available information from the former engagement
- Ask the former client for written permission before proceeding
Correct answer: Decline if the work would require using the former client's confidential information
Using a former client's confidential information to benefit a competitor violates ongoing confidentiality obligations that persist after contract end.
Question 3: Which scenario represents a violation of the CPT principle of 'being systematic'?
- Conducting a thorough needs assessment before designing interventions
- Recommending training based on a manager's hunch without performance analysis (Correct answer)
- Evaluating results against baseline data after intervention
- Using multiple data sources to identify root causes
Correct answer: Recommending training based on a manager's hunch without performance analysis
Bypassing systematic analysis and recommending solutions based on unsupported assumptions violates the data-driven, systematic approach CPT requires.
Question 4: When CPT practitioners publish or present findings from a client engagement, they must:
- Always obtain written client approval before disclosing any details (Correct answer)
- Freely share all results as it advances the profession
- Only share data that reflects positively on the practitioner
- Publish findings immediately without client notice to ensure transparency
Correct answer: Always obtain written client approval before disclosing any details
Client data and engagement outcomes are confidential and require explicit client permission before being shared publicly.
Question 5: A CPT practitioner realizes they lack the expertise needed for a specific phase of a project. The ethical course of action is to:
- Attempt the work anyway to avoid losing the contract
- Acknowledge the limitation and bring in qualified expertise or refer the work (Correct answer)
- Charge lower fees for the phase where competence is limited
- Ask the client to lower their standards for that phase
Correct answer: Acknowledge the limitation and bring in qualified expertise or refer the work
Professional ethics require practitioners to work only within their competence and to obtain help or refer work when expertise is insufficient.
Question 6: The concept of 'informed consent' in performance consulting means:
- Clients must approve every decision during the engagement
- Stakeholders understand the methods, risks, and expected outcomes before agreeing to proceed (Correct answer)
- Employees consent to participate in training programs
- Practitioners disclose their fee structure upfront
Correct answer: Stakeholders understand the methods, risks, and expected outcomes before agreeing to proceed
Informed consent requires that clients and relevant stakeholders have enough information about the intervention to make a meaningful decision to proceed.
Question 7: Which behavior BEST demonstrates the CPT ethical standard of 'continuous improvement' at the professional level?
- Recommending improvement programs to clients
- Regularly updating skills, seeking feedback, and staying current with research and practice (Correct answer)
- Charging clients for professional development time
- Attending one industry conference per year
Correct answer: Regularly updating skills, seeking feedback, and staying current with research and practice
Professional continuous improvement means actively developing one's own competencies, incorporating feedback, and keeping pace with evolving knowledge in the field.
CPT Professional Standards & Ethics 3
Under ISPI's ethical standards, a CPT practitioner must prioritize which of the following when client goals conflict with employee well-being?