Ethical Problems in Competitive Bidding

Abstract

Quite a few ethical problems can arise in competitive bidding situations. Most problems are associated with deception or lack of social responsibility by the vendor, or with the buyer's unfairness in selecting a vendor [1], Although such problems often arise in business and can have a severe impact, few articles or ethics textbooks have addressed these problems. The dearth of articles on competitive bidding in the business ethics literature is reflected by their absence in a recent comprehensive index [3], According to Nelson, none have suggested how managers can effectively deal with these problems [2]. The purpose of this paper is to outline the important problems which may occur in competitive bidding situations, and to illustrate some of these issues with a case study.