Suppose Kelvin has seven controls listed as the top tier of project initiatives. At his next meeting with Charlie, he provides a rank-ordered list of these controls with projected losses over the next 10 years for each if it is not completed. Also, he has estimated the 10-year cost for developing, implementing, and operating each control. Kelvin has identifie three controls as being the most advantageous for the organization in his opinion. As he prepared the slides for the meeting, he adjusted most projected losses upward to the top end of the range estimate given by the consultant who prepared the data. For the projected costs of his preferred controls, he chose to use the lowest end of the range provided by the consultant.

Do you think Kelvin has had an ethical lapse by cherry-picking the data for his presentation?

Suppose that instead of choosing data from the range provided by the consultant, Kelvin simply made up better numbers for his favorite initiatives. Is this an ethical lapse?

Suppose Kelvin has a close friend who works for a firm that makes and sells software for a specific control objective on the list. When Kelvin prioritized the list of his preferences, he made sure that specific control was at the top of the list. Kelvin planned to provide his friend with internal design specifications and the assessment criteria to be used for vendor selection for the initiative.

Has Kelvin committed an ethical lapse?