Inside Information Topic: Bidding Process Irregularities Characters: Tom Jones, New salesperson for Wood Truss commercial building supply firm Mark Smith, Tom’s boss at Wood Truss Tom Jones has recently joined the sales force of Wood Truss, a manufacturer of wooden structural parts for commercial buildings. Large contractors issue requests for bids for a bill of materials required to construct a commercial project. Tom’s job includes reviewing the bill of materials and developing his firm’s bid. Tom’s new boss, Mark Smith, gave Tom a request for bids from Strong Built, a commercial contractor. The request involved the construction of a 300,000 square foot warehouse. Tom immediately set about costing out the materials specified in the bill. The day before the bid was due, Mark came in and handed Tom two brown envelopes. Mark said the envelopes, which contained copies of the bids from Wood Truss’s two main competitors, had just been received from their inside man at Strong Built. He also said that the Wood Truss bid must be just under the lowest bid from the competition. Wood Truss was always the lowest bidder on major jobs; competitors were allowed to win a few of the smaller jobs so as riot to arouse suspicion. When Tom protested that using the information was not right, Mark said that this is the way things are done in the construction industry. The firm with contacts stays in business. He said Tom is now working for a winner and should be glad that he signed on with the right company. Questions: What Are the Relevant Facts? What Are the Ethical Issues? What Are the Ethics of the Alternatives What Are the Practical Constraints? What Are the Possible Alternatives
Inside Information
Topic: Bidding Process Irregularities
Characters: Tom Jones, New salesperson for Wood Truss commercial building supply firm
Mark Smith, Tom’s boss at Wood Truss
Tom Jones has recently joined the sales force of Wood Truss, a manufacturer of wooden
structural parts for commercial buildings. Large contractors issue requests for bids for a bill
of materials required to construct a commercial project. Tom’s job includes reviewing the
bill of materials and developing his firm’s bid.
Tom’s new boss, Mark Smith, gave Tom a request for bids from Strong Built, a commercial
contractor. The request involved the construction of a 300,000 square foot warehouse. Tom
immediately set about costing out the materials specified in the bill.
The day before the bid was due, Mark came in and handed Tom two brown envelopes. Mark
said the envelopes, which contained copies of the bids from Wood Truss’s two main
competitors, had just been received from their inside man at Strong Built. He also said that
the Wood Truss bid must be just under the lowest bid from the competition. Wood Truss was
always the lowest bidder on major jobs; competitors were allowed to win a few of the
smaller jobs so as riot to arouse suspicion.
When Tom protested that using the information was not right, Mark said that this is the way
things are done in the construction industry. The firm with contacts stays in business. He
said Tom is now working for a winner and should be glad that he signed on with the right
company.
Questions:
What Are the Relevant Facts?
What Are the Ethical Issues?
What Are the Ethics of the Alternatives
What Are the Practical Constraints?
What Are the Possible Alternatives
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