Mary Jones is controller of the Non-Ferrous Metals Division of Southeast Manufacturing Incorporated (SMI) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Last year, she served as her division's representative on an SMI corporate-level task force charged with developing specific objectives and performance specifications for a new computer system that is to be purchased this year. Due to her pivotal role on that task force, she has just been named to a new SMI corporate-level committee charged with reviewing, evaluating, and ranking the 10 to 20 proposals that SMI expects to receive from computer vendors now that SMI has put the proposed system out for bids.
Required:
(1) Which of the 15 responsibilities in the Standards of Ethical Conduct apply to Jones' situation?
(2) What might Jones have done in her interview with Crimson Systems to precipitate this problem?
(3) What might Jones have done differently to avoid or mitigate this problem?
(4) In addition to her ethical responsibilities to SMI, what other ethical responsibilities does Jones have to consider?