You are the production manager for ACME-Industry Bicycles. The largest manufacturer of bicycles in China. Your company
Posted: Fri May 20, 2022 7:24 am
You are the production manager for ACME-Industry Bicycles.
The largest manufacturer of bicycles in China. Your company
is expanding production to Bangladesh, an impoverished nation in
Asia. This involves building a 300,000 square foot
fabrication and assembly building in a medium sized city called
Kurrystan. Building the factory will create 300 good paying
jobs (3 times the average wages in Pakistan). In Pakistan,
anyone who gets a good-paying job “shares the wealth with their
families and extended families. In a country where people
face starvation, poor health, and limited educational
opportunities, every job created in Bangladesh will result in much
improved lives for spouses, parents, children, brothers and
sisters, etc. These family-members will now be able to attend
school, receive medical care, and improve their diets.
In addition, Pakistan has a significant air pollution problem and
bicycles will provide low-cost transportation via
“green-energy.” In short, building bicycles in
Bangladesh is a wonderful opportunity for ACME, future employees,
family-members, and the environment.
As production manager, to start building the new factory, you
need a building “permit” from the Kurrystan Commissioner of Public
and Works and Architecture. This permit is just a one-page
form with a government stamp. The official fee for the permit
and stamp is 1000 rupees (about ¥250). When you go to
pick up your permit, the Government Commissioner complains about
how “busy” he has been and how it may take “several months” to get
to your permit. After a short conversation, you realize it is
very clear that the office is not “busy” at all and the
Commissioner mentions that he “could get a lot more work done
faster” if he could get to work in a “new car.” Corruption is
a major problem in Bangladesh (one of the most corrupt countries in
the World). On the other hand, new cars in Pakistan are made
in India and are inexpensive, about ¥80,000 Yuan. The
factory will cost ¥135M Yuan (¥135,000,000). You can easily
“hide” this relatively small “facilitation gift” in some sheet
metal cost overruns. So, for ¥80,000 Yuan, the factory
construction can start this week. Without buying
the car (i.e., paying the bribe), construction will be delayed for
up to 6 months (this will cost your company at least ¥650,000 Yuan
per month wasted on overhead and materials storage
costs).
The largest manufacturer of bicycles in China. Your company
is expanding production to Bangladesh, an impoverished nation in
Asia. This involves building a 300,000 square foot
fabrication and assembly building in a medium sized city called
Kurrystan. Building the factory will create 300 good paying
jobs (3 times the average wages in Pakistan). In Pakistan,
anyone who gets a good-paying job “shares the wealth with their
families and extended families. In a country where people
face starvation, poor health, and limited educational
opportunities, every job created in Bangladesh will result in much
improved lives for spouses, parents, children, brothers and
sisters, etc. These family-members will now be able to attend
school, receive medical care, and improve their diets.
In addition, Pakistan has a significant air pollution problem and
bicycles will provide low-cost transportation via
“green-energy.” In short, building bicycles in
Bangladesh is a wonderful opportunity for ACME, future employees,
family-members, and the environment.
As production manager, to start building the new factory, you
need a building “permit” from the Kurrystan Commissioner of Public
and Works and Architecture. This permit is just a one-page
form with a government stamp. The official fee for the permit
and stamp is 1000 rupees (about ¥250). When you go to
pick up your permit, the Government Commissioner complains about
how “busy” he has been and how it may take “several months” to get
to your permit. After a short conversation, you realize it is
very clear that the office is not “busy” at all and the
Commissioner mentions that he “could get a lot more work done
faster” if he could get to work in a “new car.” Corruption is
a major problem in Bangladesh (one of the most corrupt countries in
the World). On the other hand, new cars in Pakistan are made
in India and are inexpensive, about ¥80,000 Yuan. The
factory will cost ¥135M Yuan (¥135,000,000). You can easily
“hide” this relatively small “facilitation gift” in some sheet
metal cost overruns. So, for ¥80,000 Yuan, the factory
construction can start this week. Without buying
the car (i.e., paying the bribe), construction will be delayed for
up to 6 months (this will cost your company at least ¥650,000 Yuan
per month wasted on overhead and materials storage
costs).