Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You stand firm on the estimate and hope the project is given a larger
budget in the future.
You spend a lot of time thinking about lowering that estimate. You really
want to see that community center and recreation area developed because you
have a teenage daughter who would benefit from it. However, you feel it is
unethical to lower your bid.
Your company policies and the ethics of the business say that a community
agency cannot ask you to make a specific bid on a project. And those guidelines
outline how to handle the situation.
After careful consideration, you decide not to change the bid. You also
report the agency to your upper management so they can handle the problem
and prevent it from happening in the future.
Today, your boss calls you into his office to discuss the situation. You
are frank with him about it. You explain that you wanted to lower the bid.
He understands completely -- he has a teenage daughter of his own. However,
understanding and approving are different things. He says you would have been
fired if you had lowered the bid.
A similar situation happened to Robert Richie. He is a business unit estimator.
"It was not ethical of him to ask me to lower that bid," Richie explains.
"I had been telling him for months that the structure would cost more than
he had to spend. I'm glad I made the decision I did. It still bothers
me....I'm just glad I was able to be ethical about it in the end."