Kevin Arias

Business and the Law

Professor Glenn Vallach
11/14/2020

Aol Assignment

Thomas, working for Brooks and Burlington (B&B) as the mediator for the insurance

company, makes his earnings off commission on premiums. This makes it an incentive for

Thomas to find the highest premium to his clients, to receive higher pay. When Thomas became

in charge of the insurance project for the Museum, he had to evaluate 4 projections from

different insurance companies. A fifth premium quote from Dependable of $60,000 was

alarming. Since the first 4 quotes ranged from $90,000 to $100,000, the fifth one seemed like a

low ball to Thomas. Although accepting the low-ball bid might also jeopardize B&B’s relations

with reputable insurers, he needed to still present it to the Museum. It was unethical for B&B to

not share the Dependable proposal with them. Everything should be presented to the Museum

including all benefits, obligations, and net projection costs. Leaving anything out will impair the

transparency between B&B and their client. Thomas as the representative needed to evaluate all

proposals equally, despite the amount. He needed to determine the worthiness of the dependable

but since he is paid through commission, a lower amount will not benefit him. Greed is typically

the backbone of the majority of unethical acts. If Thomas took his commission out of the

equation he would have considered the Dependable proposal and presented it to the Museum.

Thomas and B&B are acting unethically since they are driven by profit rather than the client's

best interest. Many parties were affected by this decision of B&B. All four insurance Bidding

Companies were affected because they were not evaluated equally. If the fifth offer was not

taken into consideration, one can note that money is a crucial factor. The higher offers out of the

4 Bidding Companies will have the upper hand simply because of more money being offered.
B&B themselves are affected as well because they are risking their reputation by not showcasing

a fair evaluation.

Thomas needed to address the fifth offer to the Museum and cautioned them about the

impacts of accepting such an offer from an unknown company whose paying capacity is

questionable. Since Thomas was genuinely concerned about whether the financial condition of

Dependable is sufficiently sound, he and B&B should have investigated the company. If the

Museum accepted the Dependable offer and they are not in a sound position, it may impact the

financial positions of B&B as well. However, presenting all the offers with pros and cons would

have been the best approached. The Dependable quotation did not seem valid to Thomas because

the market indicated the value of the needed policy to be around $100,000. All Thomas and B&B

had to do was prove to the Museum how accepting the Dependable offer wasn’t safe, not hide it.

Finding the exact facts and reasonings would help the Museum make the best decision. Even if

the Museum accepted the Dependable offer, they would have appreciated the transparency and

efforts of B&B which would result in future business. On the other hand, if the Museum found

out that B&B were hiding offers, they would terminate their business. Good ethics may not

always produce the most profits initially but it will always pay off in the long term. The more a

company values money-making, the less they value virtue. B&B needs to focus on the quality of

service which is whatever is best for their client. In doing so, they will hardly fail and reach long

term success.