Conflict Of Interest (COI) – Definition

Conflict of interest occurs when someone who is too conscious of his benefit leaves their responsibilities (and ethics) behind. There can be many types of conflict of interest where on one side you have your own and on the other side your ethics. 

For example, you are a judge in the court and you come across a case of someone who is known to you. So in this case, the judge should not be biased anywhere, he does not take this case. Humans easily become greedy in terms of friendship or flattery, so that they can get more power and money. Conflict of Interest can occur personally and professionally if you have a family business and are an employee at a certain organization. Each of the businesses wants a person to give his 100 percent towards them. Thus conflict may arise. 

Consequences of Conflict of Interest

Conflict of interest has a variety of forms and involves multiple interests including both personal and professional.

• Self Dealing: This happens when a person who is in a big position starts using the money of the company for his profit. This is a bad job that can result in a fine and you can be fired.
• Nepotism: When because of you, one of your family members gets the opportunity that he does not even deserve. This has been seen when that person is a very big man or has political power over him. The word nepotism is very common in every field but it gets sound from the film industry.
• Excess Compensation: It happens in such a way that some organization starts earning you more even when you are not worthy of it. This has been seen when that person is a very big man or has political power over him.
• Financial: This conflict is due to the gain or loss of money. If you have one seat in the college and you have the option to give this seat to the one whose marks have come or the one who is paying more money should be given this seat.
• Non-Financial: This Non-financial benefit could be the strong bonding among the social connection. A useless example can be that, if you want to make an impression in front of someone, then you have put their work above the work of others.

You must have heard about conflict of interest somewhere. For example – a businessman could not invest in a particular business due to a Conflict of Interest. If you work in a better position, then your chances of being heard about this word increase, and even if you are preparing for some examination you may hear this word under the umbrella of ‘Ethics’. Whether you have heard it or not, you must know about it because it is related to a person’s moral values. By the way, if the Conflict of Interest is understood from above, then it is nothing else, just prevents you from being biased.