1.Should you allow the company to pay for you and your wife to go to the demonstration? Would it be acceptable to allow the company to pay for your expenses but not for your expenses but not for your wife’s? Would you ask the Tribe to pay for your trips to see equipment from other vendors? 2.Does the offer of the software complicate this decision? Would you check to see what others might need software in the Tribe? Would you probe to see whether a better price might be offered on the mainframe without any software?
CASE STUDY
You have been the purchasing director for the tribe for three years and have established good relations with most of your suppliers. You are particularly pleased with the computer company you selected as the new personal computers the Tribe purchased last year. The price you paid was 10 percent less than any other bid.
Now the sales representative for the computer company has approached you about bidding on the new mainframe computer the Tribe plans to lease. She has suggested that you and your wife fly to California for a special demonstration of the equipment.
She has also said that the company might be able to sweeten the bid by including a software package with the deal. You know the funds for this particular software, which would be especially helpful to the purchasing department, are not available. None of the other vendor has offered a free trip to demonstrate their equipment.
ETHICAL QUESTIONS
1.Should you allow the company to pay for you and your wife to go to the demonstration? Would it be acceptable to allow the company to pay for your expenses but not for your expenses but not for your wife’s? Would you ask the Tribe to pay for your trips to see equipment from other vendors?
2.Does the offer of the software complicate this decision? Would you check to see what others might need software in the Tribe? Would you probe to see whether a better price might be offered on the mainframe without any software?
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