Conflict of Interest

The issues

Several types of conflict exist.
Some are found between professional standards and corporate needs.
There may be conflicts between a company's needs, for example between job-creation and profitability or between productivity and safety.
There may be a conflict between the short term need to achieve a business deal and the long term benefit of cultivating a relationship with a customer.
There may be additional conflicts between one's personal desires and relationships and the interests of the business itself.

The Jewish Perspective

In resolving conflicts of interest, the first thing to achieve is an honest assessment of the issues. Are the two sides of the conflict accurately and honestly defined? Secondly, one must examine one's own motives in seeking the resolution of the conflict. Thirdly, one should seek to identify the principles which must be applied in order to resolve the conflict and to ask whether there are any grounds upon which any exception to those principles may properly be made. It is also necessary to ask where one's responsibilities lie and whether the path one seeks to take is in conflict with those responsibilities.

One should consider the situation objectively and also from the standpoint of others who will be affected by your decision. If you were the individual who was about to lose his job, or the customer or client whose business was affected by your decision, would you pursue the same course of action?

In general the hierarchy of Jewish values which must be brought to bear in order to resolve conflicts of interest is as follows: first; honesty with one's employees and clients; secondly, awareness of where one's immediate responsibility lies; thirdly, openness in making a full disclosure of all the material involved in coming to a decision where a conflict exists.

While Jewish tradition is pragmatic in dealing with conflicts of interest within business, it is important to remain sensitive to the ramifications of any decision. Even when one conflict is apparently resolved, the preferred solution may have an unforeseen impact on obligations owed by the business to its shareholders, its creditors, its employees, consumers, clients and society at large.