Conflicts of interest arise whenever executives have a private interest in the outcome of the task or responsibility they carry  out on behalf of their employers.  As a company employee, the executive owes his employer the duty to act solely for the benefit of his or her employer and not in the interest of the employee or third party; the employee?s loyalty must be undivided.  Whenever a conflict of interest exists, the executive cannot be said to act solely for the benefit of the employer, because the conflict of interest may cause the executive to engage in a course of action that is not in the best interest of the company or to fail to exercise independent judgment on behalf of the company, thereby breaching the duty of loyalty the executive owes to his employer.