WHEN IN ROME
Case Study 2
Alexander Gavin, Senior Project Manager for Kuwait’s EL Sahd Construction Company, is presented with an opportunity and dilemma packaged together in the same proposal. While making a thirty million dollar bid to subcontract a new Iranian project, bid taker Ajax Ltd told him the job was El Sahd’s, if Gavin was willing to pay to play. Ajax’s manager informed Gavin that he would need to increase his company’s bid to $33 million in order to secure the job, with the extra three million dollars being split equally between himself, Gavin, and Ajax’s managing director. Gavin is told not to tell anybody about this and threatened with physical and professional danger if he does. Alexander is informed that this practice is normal business in this country and coupled with the large profit his company stands to make on this deal, Gavin is left with a tough choice to make. From an ethical standpoint, this paper will look at Alexander Gavin’s choices, steps to take while deciding, and present reasons why said choice would potentially be made.
Per our readings the Theory of Cultural Relativism is defined as “The belief that morality is relative to each individual culture.” Involved in this is to respect and accept other countries practices …show more content…
If caught, I would lose more than a million dollars combining time away from family if jailed with lost earnings during that time. Also, being branded as dishonest is a stigma that sticks with a person for a long time and has lasting effects in all aspects of life. I understand some would get rich quick and others may choose to take the bribe to avoid personal harm, but I feel that would be the actions of someone acting out of greed and fear. In my experience, people making choices out of greed and fear as opposed to what would be best for themselves or others in the long run usually regret those
Case Study 2
Alexander Gavin, Senior Project Manager for Kuwait’s EL Sahd Construction Company, is presented with an opportunity and dilemma packaged together in the same proposal. While making a thirty million dollar bid to subcontract a new Iranian project, bid taker Ajax Ltd told him the job was El Sahd’s, if Gavin was willing to pay to play. Ajax’s manager informed Gavin that he would need to increase his company’s bid to $33 million in order to secure the job, with the extra three million dollars being split equally between himself, Gavin, and Ajax’s managing director. Gavin is told not to tell anybody about this and threatened with physical and professional danger if he does. Alexander is informed that this practice is normal business in this country and coupled with the large profit his company stands to make on this deal, Gavin is left with a tough choice to make. From an ethical standpoint, this paper will look at Alexander Gavin’s choices, steps to take while deciding, and present reasons why said choice would potentially be made.
Per our readings the Theory of Cultural Relativism is defined as “The belief that morality is relative to each individual culture.” Involved in this is to respect and accept other countries practices …show more content…
If caught, I would lose more than a million dollars combining time away from family if jailed with lost earnings during that time. Also, being branded as dishonest is a stigma that sticks with a person for a long time and has lasting effects in all aspects of life. I understand some would get rich quick and others may choose to take the bribe to avoid personal harm, but I feel that would be the actions of someone acting out of greed and fear. In my experience, people making choices out of greed and fear as opposed to what would be best for themselves or others in the long run usually regret those