Ethics Bistro

Collusion in the Bidding Process—A Breach of PMI’s Ethical Foundations

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In a recent workplace incident, Pamela, a project team member, conspired with Donald, a representative of an external vendor, to submit a bid with padded estimates. Their intent was to defraud the firm overseeing the procurement process by inflating costs and securing unjust financial gain. This act of collusion is not only unethical; it is a direct contravention and blatant violation of the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, which is built upon four foundational values: responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty.

🔹 Responsibility

Responsibility requires project professionals to own their decisions and uphold the integrity of their roles. Donald’s participation in the fraudulent scheme demonstrates a clear abdication of this duty. Instead of acting in the best interest of the organization and the project, he prioritized personal or external interests. By enabling inflated estimates, he compromised the financial stewardship expected of project professionals and failed to report unethical behavior—a core tenet of responsible conduct.

🔹 Respect

Respect in project management means honoring the dignity and rights of all stakeholders. Pamela’s collusion with Donald disrespected the trust placed in him by his team, leadership, and the broader organization. It undermined the collaborative spirit of the procurement process and devalued the contributions of honest vendors who participated in good faith. Respect also includes fostering an environment where ethical concerns can be raised without fear—something this scenario clearly lacked.

🔹 Fairness

Fairness is the bedrock of any competitive bidding process. It ensures that all vendors have an equal opportunity to win contracts based on merit, quality, and cost-effectiveness. By padding estimates and manipulating the outcome, Pamela and Donald created an uneven playing field. Their actions disadvantaged other vendors, distorted market competition, and potentially led to the selection of a less qualified or overpriced provider. This breach of fairness erodes trust in the procurement system and damages the reputation of the organization.

🔹 Honesty

Honesty is the cornerstone of ethical project management. It demands transparency, truthfulness, and integrity in all communications and decisions. The deliberate inflation of estimates and concealment of collusion are blatant acts of deception. Pamela’s failure to disclose the true nature of the bid and his relationship with Donald violates the expectation that project professionals will act truthfully and avoid conflicts of interest. This dishonesty not only jeopardizes the project’s financial health but also tarnishes the credibility of the individuals involved.

Conclusion: A Serious Ethical Breach

This scenario is a textbook example of unethical behavior that contravenes every principle outlined in PMI’s Code of Ethics. It highlights the dangers of unchecked collusion and the importance of ethical vigilance in project environments. The consequences of such misconduct extend beyond economic loss, such as reputational damage, legal exposure, and / or erosion of stakeholder trust.

Call to Action

It is time for the project management community to take a stand. We must reinforce ethical education, implement robust checks and balances, and cultivate environments where integrity is non-negotiable. Fraudulent behavior like this must be confronted—not with silence, but with decisive action.

Let us recommit to the values that reflect the highest standards of responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty define our profession. Let us share best practices, strengthen oversight, and recommit to the values that define our profession. Fraudulent behavior must be confronted—not with silence, but with action. Together, we can build a project management culture rooted in integrity.

Questions for the Project Management Community

• How can we strengthen ethical oversight in procurement processes?
• What mechanisms should be in place to detect and deter collusion?
• How do we empower team members to report unethical behavior safely?
• What role should project managers play in fostering a culture of integrity?

References:

Project Management Institute, Inc. (2025). Ethics. pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics

Project Management Institute, Inc. (n.d.). Ethics Guidelines. pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics/guidelines

Project Management Institute, Inc. (n.d.). PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. pmi.org. https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/pmi-code-of-ethics.pdf

“Fields of Doubt: When AI Overshoots Human Intuition”

In a well-funded agritech pilot, an Africa-based firm rolled out an AI-powered irrigation system across multiple test farms in a rural region of an African country. Based on satellite weather data, historical yield trends, and soil sensors, the AI prescribed precision watering routines down to the hour.

On paper, the system outperformed manual methods — until it did not. As seasonal rainfall became erratic due to shifting climate patterns, the AI began overwatering certain plots. Local farmers, relying on generational knowledge of cloud patterns and bird migration, flagged the error. But field technicians, trusting the algorithm’s diagnostics, dismissed their concerns. Days later, root rot set in.

The damage was not just agricultural; it was fundamentally ethical. The core dilemma lay in a clash between algorithmic precision and ancestral wisdom. When field workers override the warnings of seasoned local farmers due to uncritical trust in AI, it raises a pivotal question: whose judgment should guide action when technology conflicts with lived human experience? The PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct (CoE&PC) emphasizes our responsibility to honor diverse perspectives, especially cultural and contextual knowledge often marginalized by automated systems. It calls for fairness, respect, and accountability in all professional interactions—not just in what decisions are made, but in how and by whom they are made. The Ethical Decision-Making Framework (EDMF) asks project leaders to systematically examine every ripple of impact: Who might be affected? What competing rights or duties are in play? Ethics here is not abstract and theoretical but downright practical. The framework serves not as a checklist, but as a compass for inclusive, humane decision-making in an increasingly digital world.

In this case, accountability was not simply about flipping a switch to deactivate a malfunctioning smart pump — it was about exercising discernment, fostering dialogue, and embracing ethical stewardship in its fullest sense. The true ethical challenge lies not in the hardware or software, but in the human response to it. Technological systems can process data at lightning speed, but they lack the moral compass and contextual sensitivity that only people can bring. Accountability meant actively listening to community voices, especially those rooted in local knowledge, and recognizing when to override automation with empathetic leadership. Staying context-aware required humility to question what seemed certain and to respect the wisdom that is not encoded in algorithms. Ethical stewardship, as guided by PMI’s values of responsibility and respect, demands that professionals treat AI not as an infallible oracle but as a support tool — powerful, but subordinate to human judgment, especially in high-stakes, culturally nuanced environments.

How would you decide when human insight should override AI predictions? Have you encountered a project where cultural expertise clashed with data-driven advice?

Let us know in the comments as we deliberate, learn, reflect, and keep ethics at the core of innovation.

References:

Project Management Institute. (n.d.). Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. pmi.org.

https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/code-values-card.pdf

Project Management Institute. (2015). Ethics in Project Management. pmi.org.

https://www.pmi.org/about/ethics

Project Management Institute. (2011). PMI Ethical Decision-Making Framework (EDMF). pmi.org.

https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/ethics/ethical-decision-making-framework.pdf

It was a rainy Tuesday when the red flag popped up. The AI tool, designed to optimize resource allocation across our project portfolio, had flagged three critical projects for delay. The model’s recommendation? Shift half the team from Project Titan to Project Eclipse to balance out workloads.

At first glance, it seemed logical. The resource allocation maps, and velocity graphs supported the reallocation. But something did not sit right.

I had collaborated closely with Titan’s team leads for months. They were on the verge of a breakthrough with a critical client deliverable. Moving people now, even with Eclipse falling behind, could cause a domino effect across our most valuable account.

I called a huddle.

“Why did the model deprioritize Titan?” I asked the AI SME.

“It is based on risk scoring from delivery variance, budget utilization, and resource burn. Titan looked stable, so it pulled from there.”

“But it does not know the client conversation we had last week. Titan’s ‘stability’ is built on momentum we cannot afford to interrupt.”

That was it. The AI had the data but not the context.

We chose not to follow the recommendation. Instead, we manually adjusted scope and brought in temporary support for Eclipse. It was a tough call, but three months later, Titan delivered on time and exceeded client expectations. Eclipse caught up too—without derailing the portfolio.

That experience taught me something: AI is brilliant at pattern recognition, but it does not see what you know. It does not read nuance. And it does not carry responsibility.

So, when should project managers trust AI—and when should we intervene?

Trust AI when:

• You need unbiased, data-driven insights fast.
• The decision space is clearly defined and repeatable.
• You are analyzing trends across massive datasets where human bias or oversight might creep in.

But intervene when:

• The stakes involve human relationships, trust, or reputational risk.
• The model’s logic lacks access to critical context.
• The recommendation “feels wrong” and your intuition is backed by experience not fear.

AI is like a junior analyst with infinite memory and no emotional baggage. But it lacks judgment, and judgment is where leadership lives.

As project managers, we are not just responsible for outcomes; we are stewards of values. According to the PMI Code of Ethics, we are bound to act with responsibility, respect, fairness, and honesty. Blindly following AI no matter how accurate without human oversight may compromise all four.

Use AI like a compass not a map. Let it guide your thinking, but do not let it override your wisdom.

Because when things go south, the algorithm will not be in the room explaining the outcome you will.

So next time your AI flags a decision, pause. Ask: Does this align with what I know, what I have seen, and what matters most?

If the answer is no, trust yourself and intervene.

Reference:

PMI Code of Ethics

Webinar: Ethical Project Leadership in the digital age

Webinar: When to Trust AI and When to Intervene

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to share a LinkedIn post with you today. It is not my post, but I proudly reposted it for my LinkedIn connections. It affects every project management professional who holds or aspires to earn the PMP® certification.

What happened to Samer can happen to any of us, and like him, we should follow PMI's Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct..

"A few days ago, I received a message via WhatsApp from an unauthorized provider in Saudi Arabia claiming they could give me a PMP® certificate without taking the official exam, for just $450 USD!"

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7343683099454509056/

Well done. Samer Musallam Dahdal. PMP-PMI

Ethics is not an abstract notion for a Project Manager, it is a fact of life and at the Project Management Institute, it is led from the top. On 8th of May Pierre Le Manh came to Sydney Australia to support the local chapter promoting the PMI-CP certification.

It wasn't the usual speech in front of thousands of participants at a Global Conference and for a busy person like Pierre, finding time to participate and take questions from the audience is more than a task, it is a practical example of a value that the PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct calls RESPECT. 

"Respect is our duty to show a high regard for ourselves, others, and the resources entrusted to us. Resources entrusted to us may include people, money, reputation, the safety of others, and natural or environmental resources. An environment of respect engenders trust, confidence, and performance excellence by fostering mutual cooperation—an environment where diverse perspectives and views are encouraged and valued" 

PMI Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct