Ethical and Political Aspects of Decision Making

Assume that you are asked by your director to lead a team that will evaluate supplier responses to a request for proposal for a multi-year contract for infrastructure services. Subsequently, you are asked by the director to seriously consider recommending a particular supplier. How would you handle the ethical and political aspects of this request?

This happens quite often in the corporate world, companies position themselves in a place to hire suppliers locally or internationally. Many suppliers are very aggressive in their pursuit of a contract with your corporation. They will invite you to dinner, send you gifts, tickets to professional events, etc. There is a very thin line between legal and illegal contractual decisions in corporate America. The evaluation process should be independently designed to vet all potential contractors; there should not be a checklist that is bias to one contractor or another. The requirements of the company should drive the vetting process of all potential partners and not any personal reasons.