PM World Today Letters To The Editor
Letters to the Editor are comments on the Editorials, Viewpoints column or other project management notices that appear in issues of the Project Management World Today.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
COMMENT ON PROFESSIONAL ETHICS - THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBJECT FOR THE
I have one comment and one question about the importance of ethics in project management.
The comment is about another letter about this subject decrying the use ofthe term "profession" for project management. While the writer may strictly be correct it seems more about nitpicking than substance. I think it is correct to assume the mantle of professional even if there is no profession as such. To do otherwise lets in the door the claim that a professional attitude is not required; that would be a shame.
What I really would like to do is ask for your response to the following. I teach a full semester subject on ethics and systems quality to IT students in a tertiary institution and received the following comment about the subject from a student.
"From Project Management perspective most of this is subject to common sense and I should'nt have to spend two terms on Ethics and Philosophy."
The reply seems obvious to me but as teachers we sometimes are accused of being out of touch with the real world. How would a real, ethical, project manager respond to this?
Thanks,
Richard Lucas
Research Fellow
Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
Australian National University
The comment is about another letter about this subject decrying the use ofthe term "profession" for project management. While the writer may strictly be correct it seems more about nitpicking than substance. I think it is correct to assume the mantle of professional even if there is no profession as such. To do otherwise lets in the door the claim that a professional attitude is not required; that would be a shame.
What I really would like to do is ask for your response to the following. I teach a full semester subject on ethics and systems quality to IT students in a tertiary institution and received the following comment about the subject from a student.
"From Project Management perspective most of this is subject to common sense and I should'nt have to spend two terms on Ethics and Philosophy."
The reply seems obvious to me but as teachers we sometimes are accused of being out of touch with the real world. How would a real, ethical, project manager respond to this?
Thanks,
Richard Lucas
Research Fellow
Center for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
Australian National University
Archives: September 2002 October 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 April 2004 July 2004 September 2004 January 2005 July 2005 August 2005 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006
