CVS Ethics and Continuous Improvement 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CVS discovers that a value study sponsor wants the team to inflate projected savings to justify a predetermined design change. What is the most ethical response?
- Refuse to misrepresent the findings and report only validated savings estimates (Correct answer)
- Inflate the savings slightly since the sponsor pays for the study
- Report inflated savings but note assumptions in an appendix
- Withdraw quietly from the study without explanation
Correct answer: Refuse to misrepresent the findings and report only validated savings estimates
SAVE International's code of ethics requires honest, objective reporting of value study results regardless of sponsor pressure.
Question 2: During a value engineering workshop, a team member proposes an alternative that closely resembles a competitor's patented design. The CVS facilitator should:
- Flag the potential intellectual property issue and have it reviewed before development (Correct answer)
- Develop the idea since workshop ideas are exempt from patent law
- Discard the idea immediately without documentation
- Present it to the client without mentioning the patent concern
Correct answer: Flag the potential intellectual property issue and have it reviewed before development
Ethical practice requires identifying and disclosing potential intellectual property conflicts before an alternative is developed or recommended.
Question 3: Which practice best demonstrates continuous improvement of a value program at the organizational level?
- Conducting post-study audits that compare implemented savings against workshop projections (Correct answer)
- Repeating the identical workshop agenda for every project
- Limiting value studies to projects that previously succeeded
- Increasing the number of ideas generated without tracking implementation
Correct answer: Conducting post-study audits that compare implemented savings against workshop projections
Auditing actual versus projected results creates the feedback loop that drives improvement of future value studies.
Question 4: A CVS is asked to lead a value study on a project where their spouse owns stock in the primary contractor. The CVS should:
- Disclose the conflict of interest to the client before accepting the engagement (Correct answer)
- Accept the engagement since spousal holdings are not the CVS's own
- Accept and simply avoid discussing contractor selection
- Sell the stock after the study concludes
Correct answer: Disclose the conflict of interest to the client before accepting the engagement
The code of ethics requires prompt disclosure of any actual or perceived conflict of interest so the client can decide how to proceed.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of a lessons-learned session held after a value study?
- To capture process insights that improve future value studies (Correct answer)
- To assign blame for ideas that were rejected
- To renegotiate the facilitator's fee
- To document only the ideas that were implemented
Correct answer: To capture process insights that improve future value studies
Lessons-learned sessions feed process knowledge back into the value methodology, supporting continuous improvement.
Question 6: A CVS maintaining certification is ethically obligated to claim continuing education credits only for:
- Activities actually completed that meet the recertification requirements (Correct answer)
- Any activity loosely related to engineering, completed or not
- Events they registered for even if they did not attend
- Activities completed by colleagues on the same team
Correct answer: Activities actually completed that meet the recertification requirements
Falsifying recertification records violates the ethical duty of honesty and can result in loss of certification.
Question 7: During a workshop, a senior client executive dominates discussion and dismisses junior members' ideas. The ethical and effective facilitator response is to:
- Use facilitation techniques that ensure all participants can contribute equally (Correct answer)
- Allow the executive to lead since they control the budget
- Privately tell junior members their ideas will be ignored
- End the creativity phase early to avoid conflict
Correct answer: Use facilitation techniques that ensure all participants can contribute equally
A CVS has a professional duty to maintain an unbiased environment where every team member's input is heard and evaluated fairly.
CVS Ethics and Continuous Improvement 2
A CVS discovers that a value study sponsor wants the team to inflate projected savings to justify a predetermined design change.
What is the most ethical response?