A discussion on how time constraints can cloud the judgement of even the most reputable people.

1. Time constraints provide an ethical dilemma for contracting agents.
We all know the problems associated with time and the contracting process. Time is fluent and constant.
Sometimes, however, it seems that time can either stand still or speed up depending on your perception.
Your perception is influenced by the daily tasks you are working on. The part of this that adds stress to a
contracting agents’ job is when time is fleeting. When you finally think you are caught up with
everything you have on your plate, then you realize that you have either run out, or, are about to run out
of the time and you need a little more to finish whatever task it is you have to get done. It is the same in
all industries whether governmental, private, or, public driven. We all wish that we could have more
time to achieve our goals and when time is not available people feel pressured or even panicked to get
the job done. This is when we make poor choices that result in what may be considered unethical
behavior.
Why?
Of course we all know that it is due to the pressure put on us by the institution; whether that institution is
the agency we work for, our family unit, Contractors or any other group of stakeholders to our
contracting endeavors,
It is even for the most part the pressure that we put upon ourselves, to do a good job for that employer
and for our own personal accomplishments that proves to be the most traumatic emotionally for people
and human emotions lend towards clouding good ethical judgment and ultimately lead to poor decision
making.
In fact the stress we put on ourselves is so much more than the pressures our employers could ever put
on us because the individual doesn’t want to let themselves down more than letting down almost anyone
else in the world, when in the moment. When given time to think about it you can all find someone that
you don’t want to let down , but in the moment you are only thinking about your own situation and what
to do to fix the problem. We focus on the deadline to an extent that puts much more stress on us as
individuals than we need to endure.
A healthy amount of stress is a positive motivator, but too much stress can prove to cloud the judgment
of even the best of people.
Contracting is the never ending process of forming and solidifying working relationships for the
purposes of progressively conducting business in a fair and equitable way while providing for the agreed
upon interests of the parties involved.
Contracting professionals need time to do their jobs and follow the many processes developed for the
sake of nurturing ethical and transparent contracting practices. Contracting properly takes even more
time. When time is fleeting and planning doesn’t cover the limits set upon us, this is when good people
make poor choices that translate to unethical behavior. Properly put, exercising good ethics is doing
what is right. In many cases that may even translate to not doing what is wrong.
It is important to strive to make your deadlines in life and business. Personal commitment to getting the
job done is an important trait for employers to look for when hiring and retaining employees. But
another trait that employers need to balance their views on is an individual’s character. The individual
character of a contracting professional must be of the highest unwavering ethical quality.

2. High-Ranking Government Official Agrees to Conflict of Interest Settlement
A high-ranking Government official was charged with violating 18 U.S.C. 208, which governs
official acts affecting a personal financial interest. The Federal employee, an Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs, was investigated for holding stock in certain petroleum companies while
serving as the Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
The employee was advised by National Security Council Legal Adviser's Office to divest his shares
of his family's petroleum, and other energy-producing stocks to avoid any conflict of interest. During the
time the employee was told to divest his stocks, he was involved in his official capacity in matters that
may have had a direct and predictable effect on Amoco Corporation, a petroleum company in which he
owned stock.
The official agreed to pay the Department of the Treasury $23,043, which represented his increase
value of the stocks, to settle the matter.
Admiral Forced to Retire After Steering Military Contracts to Lover
A Navy admiral was formally reprimanded, fined, and forced to retire as a Captain after steering
military contracts to a woman with whom he was having an affair. The officer was charged with
violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice as well as other Federal ethics rules.
The Navy admiral improperly directed $150,000 worth of training contracts to the woman and also
supplied nonpublic information to her for use in obtaining other Government contracts.
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent Violates Conflict of Interest
A former FBI agent pleaded guilty to violating 18 U.S.C. 208 which prohibits Federal employees
from participating in official acts in which they have a personal financial interest.
The FBI agent recommended the use of a pepper spray by the FBI and received $57,500 in payments
from the pepper spray producers, Luckey Police Products (LPP), through a company owned by his wife.
The former FBI agent researched and tested the use of pepper spray for the FBI which resulted in his
initial contact with LPP. At the conclusion of the agent's research, the FBI approved the use of pepper
spray for its FBI agents and the products were purchased from LPP. Additionally, as a result of the FBI
agent's research, other law enforcement agencies nationwide began to use the pepper spray produced by
LPP.
The former FBI agency was sentenced to two months imprisonment followed by three years of
supervised release.
Courtesy of the DoD Ethics Resources Library:
http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/resource_library/ethicsdec.htm

3. As one can see from just these three cases listed on the DoD Website in the Ethics Resources section,
high ranking officials are not immune from scrutiny on ethical behaviors. In fact many law schools are
now returning to implement a more formal ethics section to their curriculum due to recent scandals
involving the legal profession that for a while they had gotten away from due to the time it was taking to
teach ethics. Without a strong ethical and moral compass anyone can succumb to the pitfalls of
temptation.
Gandhi is revered as one of the most ethical individuals he tells of a story of his youth in his auto
biographical work TITLE when he and his brother watched the British eat meat, and understand the
Indian people were the underclass at the time in India; they were seen as beneath the British in all ways.
Well these two boys, Gandhi and his older brother came to want to have all of the things that the British
had and thought that by doing what the British did they would be able to attain all of the pleasures and
all of the privileges enjoyed by the British. They started by eating meat something that was against their
family and their religious beliefs two very strong institutional models not unlike our legal system. They
ate meat, they got sick. They saw the British smoking alcohol and smoking. This to was against their
family tradition but they strayed from what they new was the right things to do to get hold of the brass
ring that was priviledge. Needless to say they got sick, all around sick. Not a great feeling, but to add
insult to the illness they also didn’t receive any of the spoils of being British. Their guilt was so
overwhelming to the two boys that they both attempted suicide rather than to face the wrath of their
father and the humiliation of their deeds. Suicide, this was the strength that their traditions and their
ethics heldon them yet they still veered from their familial path. Why? Temptation is difficult to
navigate and anyone could get caught up in the dance develops from unethical behaviors.
Autobiography: the story of my experiments with truth
by Mohandas Gandhi, Gandhi (Mahatma), Mahadev Haribhai Desai - Philosophy - 1983
In the book “Games Criminals Play,” fishing is discussed at length. This is when a prisoner get a
correctional staff member to do something for them. A little something, nothing that would even be seen
as against the rules. Then another thing and another and another until they are asked to cross a line of
impropriety still small but wrong to do none the less. The staff member does this thing and another and
another and the things they are asked to do continue to grow until inevitably the deed becomes improper,
against the rules or even worse, illegal. Then the staff member has overstepped and can’t take it back
they could loose their job over what they have done and then they are asked to do something worse and
the inmate makes the challenge to the staff member they say something like, “If you don’t do what I am
telling you to do I will let your bosses know what you have done and you will be fired or even brought
up on charges and then you will live with us.
Games Criminals Play: How You Can Profit by Knowing Them by Bud Allen and Diana Bosta
(Hardcover - Aug 1981)

4. Courtesy of the DoD Ethics Resources Library:
http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/resource_library/ethicsdec.htm
Autobiography: the story of my experiments with truth… by Mohandas Gandhi, Gandhi (Mahatma),
Mahadev Haribhai Desai - Philosophy – 1983
Games Criminals Play: How You Can Profit by Knowing Them by Bud Allen and Diana Bosta
(Hardcover - Aug 1981)