Central Colleges

CE 513

SITUATION: Contractor A intends to join the bidding for the construction of a five-storey
building. Other than contractor A, there are three more contractors namely, B, C, and D joining
the bidding process. Contractors B, C, and D submitted their respective proposals/quotations ahead
of the set deadline. Contractor A connived with one of the members of the Bids and Awards
Committee to find out the lowest bid submitted by the three contractors B, C and D. After getting
information, contractor A slashed his profit for the project to further lower his bid thus winning
the project. Explain the ethical issue in above situation.

Explanation:

The ethical issues that I notice on the situation are: 1. Collusion 2. Confidentiality 3. Integrity.
Collusion is defined as a secret agreement especially in order to do something dishonest or trick
people. The Contractor A that connived with one of the members of the Bids and Awards
Committee to find out the lowest bid submitted considered as Collusion already. Ensuring their
win in the bidding without competition. It can benefit them since they got the project to keep their
workers busy however lowered bids may lead to cost cutting in the construction process, primarily
in materials and labor, which may lower the quality of the work performed. The other issue is
Confidentiality, it involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality
agreements that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information. In this situation,
the member of the Bids and Awards Committee providing the lowest bid to Contractor A obviously
commits breach of confidentiality for disclosing proprietary information. A major penalty for
breach of confidentiality is termination for employment and can also be subjected to a civil suit.
Lastly, the Integrity is also an ethical issue in this situation since a breach occurs. It affects the
professional reputation of the company, reliability and honesty.