I oversee the internal audit function at my company. We hold periodic bid competitions to get the lowest price we can. At the moment, we are using Firm A. Recently, one of the partners at A offered me box seats to a Red Sox game. I love the Red Sox, and even more importantly, I could have taken my father who, even though he has always been a big Sox fan, has never been to a game. However, I knew that we would soon be asking A to bid against the other Big Four firms for the right to do next year's audit. I was torn about what I should do.
What pitfalls does this person face? Would something as minor as Red Sox tickets affect his decision about which audit firm to use?