A conflict of interest is language that applies to a situation in which an individual exercising judgment has a special interest in said matter that may interfere with his or her judgment . This special interest may include, but is not limited to, financial gain, involvement in family, friends or personal relationships, personal gain, and prior conflicts with an employer. A conflict of interest must be examined on a case-by-case basis, so even the appearance of a conflict of interest can be equally damaging to an engineer's reputation. When addressing even the appearance of a conflict of interest, complete transparency is recommended. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The reputation of the engineer exercising judgment is of paramount importance. In the words of Michael Davis of Illinois IT, a conflict of interest can be compared to dirt in a meter. This does not mean that the pressure gauge reading is incorrect, but due to the presence of dirt the reading cannot be relied upon. Failure to fully disclose a conflict of interest results in a loss of trust in an engineer and, as a result, the judgment exercised by the engineer cannot be followed without question. Conflicts of interest are often unclear. For example, a doctoral student whose thesis is academically judged by a professor who is also the head of a company for which the doctoral student interviewed is in a conflict of interest. Although the head of the company cannot have any influence on the hiring of the student, here for several reasons there is at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. First, if the company is willing to hire the student, the boss proofreading the thesis will be inclined to look more favorably on the script in the hope that the student will join his company as a result. On the other hand, if the student had a poor interview with the company and the boss are aware of this, their perception of the student is tarnished, despite it being irrelevant to their thesis. In this scenario, even if the boss is not aware of the student's candidacy, there is a risk that a conflict of interest may appear. The student, if dissatisfied with the outcome of his thesis, may feel frustrated and claim that the boss's judgment was influenced by the interview. Conflicts of interest in engineering are most commonly found in the workplace. A simple example is advising an employer on where to purchase a specialized part. There will likely be limited manufacturers and, as it happens, the engineer holds stock in one of the companies. In this scenario the conflict of interest is obvious and the engineer should act ethically. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Disclosing the conflict of interest and recusing yourself/itself is the correct way to proceed. But what happens if there is no engineer to intervene and recusing yourself is not an option? Without full disclosure the engineer's judgment cannot be trusted. Telling a superior about the situation and following their advice is the best way to proceed. Another common conflict of interest in the workplace occurs when an engineer has recently changed companies and is now working on a similar product for which the previous company is a direct competitor. Due to the nature of engineering, with a limited number of experienced engineers in a specialized market, this is a common occurrence. This conflict of interest is almost always covered by a confidentiality agreement.