CSC Ethics & Professional Conduct 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A senior consultant is engaged by Company A and is later asked to consult for Company B, a direct competitor, on a similar strategic project. What is the primary concern?
- Fee structure comparability between the two engagements
- Potential breach of confidentiality and conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Resource allocation and bandwidth for simultaneous projects
- Intellectual property ownership of deliverables
Correct answer: Potential breach of confidentiality and conflict of interest
Serving competitors simultaneously risks inadvertent disclosure of confidential strategies and creates a conflict of interest that may compromise objectivity.
Question 2: In the context of professional ethics, 'objectivity' primarily means that a consultant should:
- Only present quantitative data and avoid qualitative assessments
- Base conclusions on evidence rather than personal bias or external pressure (Correct answer)
- Remain emotionally detached from all client interactions
- Refrain from offering opinions and limit output to factual findings
Correct answer: Base conclusions on evidence rather than personal bias or external pressure
Objectivity means that professional judgments are grounded in evidence and free from undue influence, bias, or personal interests.
Question 3: A senior consultant receives an expensive gift from a vendor seeking to be recommended to a client. According to most professional ethics frameworks, the consultant should:
- Accept the gift as it was given before the recommendation decision
- Decline the gift and disclose the offer to the engagement manager (Correct answer)
- Accept the gift but recuse himself from the vendor selection process
- Return the gift only if it exceeds the firm's stated monetary threshold
Correct answer: Decline the gift and disclose the offer to the engagement manager
Gifts that could influence professional judgment must be declined regardless of timing, and the offer should be disclosed to maintain transparency.
Question 4: Which scenario represents a violation of professional confidentiality by a senior consultant?
- Discussing a client's general industry challenges at a public conference
- Sharing client financial projections with a colleague at a competing firm (Correct answer)
- Referencing anonymized client success metrics in a firm's capability presentation
- Notifying regulators of a legally mandated reportable event
Correct answer: Sharing client financial projections with a colleague at a competing firm
Sharing specific, identifiable client financial information with a competitor is a direct breach of the confidentiality obligation regardless of intent.
Question 5: An engagement is approaching its deadline and the team realizes the scope cannot be completed without cutting analytical corners. The ethical course of action is to:
- Deliver the report as-is and add a disclaimer about scope limitations
- Notify the client proactively and renegotiate timeline, scope, or resources (Correct answer)
- Submit the incomplete work and bill for the agreed fee
- Allow the most junior team member to complete the remaining sections quickly
Correct answer: Notify the client proactively and renegotiate timeline, scope, or resources
Transparency with the client about limitations and renegotiating terms is required by the due care and integrity standards rather than delivering substandard work silently.
Question 6: The concept of 'professional skepticism' in consulting ethics primarily requires a senior consultant to:
- Assume all client-provided data is inaccurate until independently verified
- Maintain a questioning mindset and critically evaluate evidence regardless of source (Correct answer)
- Challenge every client assumption to demonstrate analytical rigor
- Avoid relying on prior engagement findings when assessing current situations
Correct answer: Maintain a questioning mindset and critically evaluate evidence regardless of source
Professional skepticism means maintaining an alert, questioning approach to evidence rather than assuming all information is accurate simply because it comes from the client.
Question 7: A senior consultant preparing a regulatory compliance report realizes she lacks current expertise in a new regulatory area. Ethically, she should:
- Complete the report based on general consulting principles and note the knowledge gap
- Engage a subject-matter expert or specialist and disclose the collaboration (Correct answer)
- Decline the engagement entirely since she is not fully qualified
- Ask the client to provide guidance on the regulatory requirements
Correct answer: Engage a subject-matter expert or specialist and disclose the collaboration
Competence requires either obtaining the necessary expertise through specialists or sufficient self-development, with proper disclosure of the collaborative approach.
CSC Ethics & Professional Conduct 3
A senior consultant is engaged by Company A and is later asked to consult for Company B, a direct competitor, on a similar strategic project.
What is the primary concern?