Chapter 2 Case
Questions
1) What are the ethical issues involved in this situation?
The main issue involved in Kelly’s situation is the deceptive practice she brought to the table
in order to have the winning bid.
– First, Kelly asked Janet about information regarding who the other bidders were.
However, Ms. Williams never did supply her with an answer.
– Later, when Ms. Williams left her office to talk with her boss, she left the bid folder
out on her desk. There was a summary sheet of all the bids on top, which Kelly could
easily see.
– Kelly then proceeded to return to her office and complete her bid, which she knew
would be the lowest by $500.00.
2) If you were Kelly Meyers, do you think Janet Williams intended for you to see the
competitive bids? What would you have done, given this situation? Why?
I personally do not think Janet Williams intended for me to see the competitive bids. In fact if
I were Ms. Meyers, I would not have looked at the others bids on the summary sheet because
I know this is an unethical and deceptive practice to take in the business and sales world. The
case states that Ms. Meyers made a great impression on the purchasing agent, Ms. Williams,
so that makes the reader of the case infer that Janet has some form of trust built with Ms.
Meyers. With this being said, Kelly should have shown Ms. Williams the rightful amount of