A conflict of interest is an idiom applying to a situation in which a person exercising judgment has a particular interest in said matter which may interfere with his judgment. This special interest may include, but is not limited to, financial gain, involvement in family, friends or personal relationships, personal gain and previous conflicts with the employer. A conflict of interest must be considered on a case-by-case basis, even the appearance of a conflict of interest can be just as damaging to an engineer's reputation. Even if there is an appearance of a conflict of interest, full disclosure is advisable. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The reputation of the engineer exercising his judgment is of paramount importance. According to Michael Davis of Illinois IT, a conflict of interest can be compared to dirt in a dipstick. This does not mean that the gauge reading is incorrect, but due to the presence of dirt, the reading cannot be reliable. Failure to fully disclose a conflict of interest results in a loss of confidence in the engineer and, therefore, the judgment exercised by the engineer cannot be followed without doubt. 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 constitutes a conflict of interest. Although the company boss has no influence over the hiring of the student, there is at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for several reasons. First, if the company wishes to hire the student, the boss who corrects the thesis will be inclined to view the scenario more favorably in the hope that the student will join his company. On the other hand, if the student did poorly in his interview with the company and the boss is aware of it, his perception of the student is blurred, even if it has nothing to do with his dissertation. In this scenario, even if the boss is not aware of the student's application, there is a risk of a conflict of interest arising. The student, if he is not satisfied with the result of his thesis, may feel wronged and claim that his boss's judgment was influenced by the interview. Conflicts of interest in engineering are most often found in the workplace. A simple example is advising an employer on where to purchase a specialty part. There will likely be a limited number of manufacturers and, by chance, the engineer owns stock in one of the companies. In this scenario, the conflict of interest is obvious and the engineer must act ethically. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Conflict of interest disclosure and recusing oneself/himself is the right way to go. But what happens if there is no engineer capable of stepping in and recusing yourself is not an option? Without full disclosure, the engineer's judgment cannot be trusted. Disclosing the situation to a superior 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 small number of expert engineers in a specialist market, this is common. This conflict of interest is almost always covered by a confidentiality agreement signed by the engineer at the start of his or her employment..