Conflict of Interest - Ethics Unwrapped

A conflict of interest arises when what is in a person's best interest is not in the best interest of another person or organization to which that ... McCombsSchoolofBusiness TheUniversityofTexasatAustin English Español ConflictofInterestAconflictofinterestariseswhenwhatisinaperson’sbestinterestisnotinthebestinterestofanotherpersonororganizationtowhichthatindividualowesloyalty. Forexample,anemployeemaysimultaneouslyhelphimselfbuthurthisemployerbytakingabribetopurchaseinferiorgoodsforhiscompany’suse. Aconflictofinterestcanalsoexistwhenapersonmustanswertotwodifferentindividualsorgroupswhoseneedsareatoddswitheachother.Inthiscase,servingoneindividualorgroupwillinjuretheother. Inbusinessandlaw,havinga“fiduciaryresponsibility”tosomeoneisknownashavinga“dutyofloyalty.”Forexample,auditorsoweadutyofloyaltytoinvestorswhorelyuponthefinancialreportsthattheauditorscertify.Butauditorsarehiredandpaiddirectlybythecompanieswhosereportstheyreview.Thedutyofloyaltyanauditorowestoinvestorscanbeatoddswiththeauditor’sneedtokeepthecompany–itsclient–happy,aswellaswiththecompany’sdesiretolooklikeasafeinvestment. So,thoseofuswhowishtobeethicalpeoplemustconsciouslyavoidsituationswherewebenefitourselvesbybeingdisloyaltoothers. WatchtheNextVideo ConformityBias