Question: A Request for proposal (RFP) was issued by a large government agency. Bidders were rated and their ratings were converted to points. The bidder with
A Request for proposal (RFP) was issued by a large government agency. Bidders were rated and their ratings were converted to points. The bidder with the most points in the bid won the business. A company bidding on the business discovered a flaw in the methodology of the RFP that would virtually guarantee them winning the bid and subsequently earning the business at the highest price. The structure of the bid response could be manipulated in such a way that earned points in the award and in using this manipulation strategy the bidding firm was essentially guaranteed to win and also guaranteed to win with the highest price (if that is what they chose to do). The overall contract was worth approximately $150 million dollars per year. The ethical dilemma was whether the firm should or should not inform the agency (issuer of the RFP) of the flaws that allowed for manipulation. In the end the bidding firm did not tell the agency about the flawed bid process. That firm subsequently won the business, earning the largest portion of the business at the highest price, using the manipulation strategy they discovered. Is this an ethical dilemma or did the firm simply bid on the work using a flawed process that the agency created? What would you have done?
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