Introduction to Potential Conflicts of Interest and Conflicts of Commitment

Why do you use the term potential conflict of interest and potential conflict of commitment?  Don’t some potential conflicts become actual conflicts? 

We use the word potential because a lot depends on the circumstances.  In the illustration above, for example, if you were to inform the appropriate person at the University (you’ll learn more about this later in the tutorial) and then return the gift, this would eliminate what was a potential conflict of interest even though you’d received the gift. 

However, if you were to keep the gift, not inform the appropriate U-M individual about it, and then award the contract, regardless of whether you perceived yourself as having awarded the contract because of the gift, your actions would create the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Another example of a potential conflict of interest is…

Someone you know is being considered for a business contract with the University—a decision over which you have some influence.  After disclosing the situation to your supervisor, you agree to excuse yourself from all aspects of the decision.  If asked, you could provide factual information related to the contract. 

Through your actions and the actions of your supervisor, what was a potential conflict of interest has been eliminated. 

Of greatest importance to the University is to ensure that employees perform their duties in the best interest of the University and to avoid even the appearance of a COI or COC.  For this reason, the University’s primary objective is not to decide whether an actual COI or COC exists but whether others could view a situation as a COI or COC. 

We also use the word potential to send the message that employees should err on the side of disclosing any circumstances that might be a COI or COC—rather than reaching their own conclusions, with limited knowledge, about whether a conflict exists.