CASE STUDY ON SUPPLIER ETHICS Alex has been the purchasing manager for Rocket Industries for cades. He is tough but fair. Rocket's auditor presents Alex with a re- that clearly reveals that Booster Engine has been underbilling Rocket for a proprietary product for six months. The value of the un- derbilling has now reached $14 million. Alex attends a corporate strategy session that very morning during which the chief financial officer (CFO) reports that the quarterly earn- ings are expected to be soft, at $85 million, up only $3 million over last year at this time. The president asks the gathered leadership to review their operations with the CFO before the weekend to see if there may be better news to report next Monday. As the meeting closes, the president presents Alex with a diamond ring for 30 years of service and compliments him on running a "tight ship" and being the industry standard for purchasing practices. Discussion: 1. What should Alex do with the auditor's report? 2. Should the auditor provide a copy of the report to the CFO? 3. What are Alex's options with regard to Booster Engine? 4. Does the timing of releasing corporate earnings influence Alex's options or actions? aging the opponent. Is that ethical conduct, or is that the way the game tics is played? It is common practice for companies to recruit and hire best performers from their competitors. Volkswagen did just that to al Motors. Many companies require new hires to sign confidentiality ments if they will be working in business-sensitive positions. These