What is a conflict interest?

Answer 1

conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust, such as a lawyer, insurance adjuster, a politician, executive or director of a corporation or a medical research scientist or physician, has competing professional or personal interests. Such competing interests can make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially. A conflict of interest exists even if no unethical or improper act results from it. A conflict of interest can create an appearance of impropriety that can undermine confidence in the person, profession, or court system. A conflict can be mitigated by third party verification or third party evaluation noted below-but it still exists. Note: This summary incorrectly implies that conflicts of interest only apply to professionals. A conflict of interest arises when anyone has two duties which conflict - for example an employee's duty to well and faithfully perform their work as purchasing manager, and that same employee's familial duty to their sibling who happens to be tendering for the sale of widgets to the employee's employer. In that case the employee has a conflict of interest, despite the fact that they are not a lawyer, doctor, politician etc

Answer 2

A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization has competing interests that could potentially bias their decision-making or actions. This conflict can arise when personal, financial, or other interests interfere with the individual's obligation to act in the best interest of another party. It is important to identify and manage conflicts of interest to maintain transparency and integrity.