Professional Affiliations
Code(s) of Ethics

IMC
Institute of
Management
Consultants

 

 

 

Founded in 1968, the Institute of Management Consultants USA, Inc. (IMC USA) is the national professional association representing management consultants and awarding the Certified Management Consultant (CMC) certification mark.

IMC USA exists to establish professional and ethical standards for management consultants, to provide continuing education and information relevant to the profession, and to increase public awareness of the management consulting profession.

 

SCIP
 Society of
Competitive Intelligence
Professionals

 

 The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) is dedicated to helping professionals develop expertise in creating, collecting, and analyzing information; disseminating competitive intelligence; and engaging decision-makers in a productive dialogue that creates organizational competitive advantage.

 

AMA
 American
Marketing
Association

 

The American Marketing Association is the largest and most comprehensive professional society for marketers, consisting of nearly 45,000 members in 100 countries and 400 chapters throughout North America.

Founded in 1937 as a professional not-for-profit organization for marketers, the purpose of the AMA is to promote education and assist in the personal and professional career development among marketing professionals, and to advance the science and ethical practice of marketing disciplines.

 

IMC
 Institute of
Management
Consultants

IMC USA Code of Ethics

IMC members and CMC's pledge in writing to abide by the Institute's Code of Ethics. Their adherence to the Code signifies voluntary assumption of self-discipline above and beyond the requirements of law. Key provisions of the Code require that IMC members and CMC's:

  • Safeguard confidential information
  • Render impartial, independent advice
  • Accept only those engagements they are qualified to perform
  • Agree in advance on the basis for professional charges
  • Develop realistic and practical solutions to client problems.

The Institute enforces the Code by receiving and investigating complaints of violations and by taking disciplinary action, including revocation of certification against any member who is found guilty of Code violation.

Clients

  • We will serve our clients with integrity, competence, and objectivity.
  • We will keep client information and records of client engagements confidential and will use proprietary client information only with the client's permission.
  • We will not take advantage of confidential client information for ourselves or our firms.
  • We will not allow conflicts of interest which provide a competitive advantage to one client through our use of confidential information from another client who is a direct competitor without that competitor's permission.

Engagements

  • We will accept only engagements for which we are qualified by our experience and competence.
  • We will assign staff to client engagements in accord with their experience, knowledge, and expertise.
  • We will immediately acknowledge any influences on our objectivity to our clients and will offer to withdraw from a consulting engagement when our objectivity or integrity may be impaired.

Fees

  • We will agree independently and in advance on the basis for our fees and expenses that are reasonable, legitimate, and commensurate with the services we deliver and the responsibility we accept.
  • We will disclose to our clients in advance any fees or commissions that we will receive for equipment, supplies or services we recommend to our clients.

Profession

  • We will respect the intellectual property rights of our clients, other consulting firms, and sole practitioners and will not use proprietary information or methodologies without permission.
  • We will not advertise our services in a deceptive manner and will not misrepresent the consulting profession, consulting firms, or sole practitioners.
  • We will report violations of this Code of Ethics.

 

SCIP
Society of
Competitive Intelligence
Professionals

SCIP Code of Ethics for CI Professionals

  • To continually strive to increase the recognition and respect of the profession.
  • To comply with all applicable laws, domestic and international.
  • To accurately disclose all relevant information, including one's identity and organization, prior to all interviews.
  • To fully respect all requests for confidentiality of information.
  • To avoid conflicts of interest in fulfilling one's duties.
  • To provide honest and realistic recommendations and conclusions in the execution of one's duties.
  • To promote this code of ethics within one's company, with third-party contractors and within the entire profession.
  • To faithfully adhere to and abide by one's company policies, objectives, and guidelines.

AMA
American
Marketing
Association

AMA Code of Ethics

Members of the American Marketing Association are committed to ethical professional conduct. They have joined together in subscribing to this Code of Ethics embracing the following topics:

Responsibility of the Marketer

Marketers must accept responsibility for the consequences of their activities and make every effort to ensure that their decisions, recommendations and actions function to identify, serve and satisfy all relevant publics: customers, organizations and society.

Marketers' Professional Conduct must be guided by:

  1. The basic rule of professional ethics: not knowingly to do harm;
  2. The adherence to all applicable laws and regulations;
  3. The accurate representation of their education, training and experience; and
  4. The active support, practice and promotion of this Code of Ethics.

Honesty and Fairness

Marketers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the marketing profession by:

  1. Being honest in serving consumers, clients, employees, suppliers, distributors, and the public;
  2. Not knowingly participating in conflict of interest without prior notice to all parties involved; and
  3. Establishing equitable fee schedules including the payment or receipt of usual, customary and/or legal compensation for marketing exchanges.

Rights and Duties of Parties in the Marketing Exchange Process

Participants in the marketing exchange process should be able to expect that:

  1. Products and services offered are safe and fit for their intended uses;
  2. Communications about offered products and services are not deceptive;
  3. All parties intend to discharge their obligations, financial and otherwise, in good faith; and
  4. Appropriate internal methods exist for equitable adjustment and/or redress of grievances concerning purchases.

It is understood that the above would include, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities of the marketer:

 

In the area of product development and management:
  • Disclosure of all substantial risks associated with product or service usage;
  • Identification of any product component substitution that might materially change the product or impact on the buyer's purchase decision;
  • Identification of extra cost-added features.

In the area of promotion:
  • Avoidance of false and misleading advertising;
  • Rejection of high-pressure manipulations, or misleading sales tactics;
  • Avoidance of sales promotions that use deception or manipulation.

In the area of distribution
  • Not manipulating the availability of a product for the purpose of exploitation;
  • Not using coercion in the marketing channel;
  • Not exerting undue influence over the reseller's choice to handle a product.

In the area of pricing:
  • Not engaging in price fixing;
  • Not practicing predatory pricing;
  • Disclosing the full price associated with any purchase.

In the area of marketing research:
  • Prohibiting selling or fundraising under the guise of conducting research;
  • Maintaining research integrity by avoiding misrepresentation and omission of pertinent research data;
  • Treating outside clients and suppliers fairly.

Organizational Relationships

Marketers should not demand, encourage or apply coercion to obtain unethical behavior in their relationships with others, such as employees, suppliers, or customers.

  1. Apply confidentiality and anonymity in professional relationships with regard to privileged information;
  2. Meet their obligations and responsibilities in contracts and mutual agreements in a timely manner;
  3. Avoid taking the work of others, in whole, or in part, and representing this work as their own or directly benefiting form it without compensation or consent of the originator or owner; and
  4. Avoid manipulation to take advantage of situations to maximize personal welfare in a way that unfairly deprives or damages the organization of others.

Any AMA member found to be in violation of any provision of this Code of Ethics may have his or her Association membership suspended or revoked.