Re: Bribing Corporate Clients; was Billing Problems...

[Alex MacDonald <Alexander -dot- MacDonald -at- ABNAMRO -dot- COM>]

    Tom Johnson wrote:
    >I read a policy written by a CEO of one of the biggest corporations in
    the >USA. His goal was to run the business so there would be no chance
    anyone
    >could accuse his company of an unethical or unfair practice between
    >vendors and his corporation.

    >How can a corporation trust a vendor who is willing to resort to
    bribery
    >to get his foot in the door? If I were a CEO, I would have serious
    doubts >about any relationship built on anything dishonest.


    This guy must have been the CEO of Utopia Incorporated on Mars, because
    this kind of "bribery", if we really need to use that word, is
    practiced by
    every other person I have ever met. Doing favors, or collecting debts,
    as
    they say, is how things get done...in business, in politics, in our
    family
    lives...everywhere. You do something nice for me, I'll do something
    nice
    for you. Unethical? Maybe.

    What if a vendor brings in a box of doughnuts? "I'm sorry Mr.
    Widgetseller
    but it would be extremely dishonest of me if I ate that French Curl.
    And,
    boy, if my boss ever found out about that coffee cup you gave me last
    week, I'd be in the unemployment line." Certainly there is an ethical
    line somewhere, but I am quite reluctant to use the words "bribery" and
    "dishonesty" when talking about accepting lunches, dinners or tickets
    to sporting events. When I think bribery and dishonesty I think about
    Payola, about slipping a cop a fifty when you get pulled over, about
    aldermen, and maybe, just maybe, but not necessarily, padding an
    expense account.

    I should probably mention that I'm from Chicago, where bribery isn't
    just unethical, it's a constitutional right.

    Alexander MacDonald
    alexander -dot- macdonald -at- abnamro -dot- com
    This opinion, more so than most, is my own.