Key tensions in professional ethics

Professional obligations come in different forms and can be owed to the public (or state), the client, or others. As well, professionals can be selected, employed, and contracted to deliver outcomes in an economic market in very different ways. The intersection of these obligations and employment arrangements can create ‘ethical tensions’ – factors that can make a professional feel tempted or pressured to violate or unduly minimise their ethical obligations. Because there are qualitative differences between these tensions, specific governance tools and institutions may be required to respond effectively to them. This chapter maps out the main types of ethical tensions facing professionals in a general sense, the situations in which they occur, and the governance tools that best promise to alleviate those tensions and ensure the professionals’ ethical obligations are upheld.