Case 14-1: Fancy Frozen Foods*--The Buyer Asks For A Kickback! SUMMARY Fancy Frozen Foods (FFF) manufactures and wholesales a complete line of frozen foods at prices below most of their competitors. The company currently employs 20 salespeople to cover the Manitoba and Saskatchewan markets. Territories and sales quotas are viewed as fair and realistic. FFF has no formal, written policy regarding gift giving and entertainment, although $25 is unofficially set as the upper limit for gifts given to accounts. Customers are also invited for a 3-day hunting/outdoor sports vacation at the FFF ranch in Saskatchewan. Bill Wilkerson, FFF's regional sales coordinator, has recently run into an ethical issue with one of his major accounts. Grady Bryan, warehouse ordering agent for Smith Supermarket Chain (SSC), has indicated that in order for FFF to keep SSC's account, he will have to receive an inboard-outboard engine for his new boat. SSC, which operates 13 Manitoba and 15 Saskatchewan based supermarkets and buys all of its frozen foods exclusively through FFF, has been an important account for the past four years. The question is, "Should Bill succumb to the bribe?" CASE OBJECTIVE The case objective is to develop a means of handling unusual and/or unethical customer demands so that policy decisions are not made at all levels of the organization. PRIMARY DECISIONS Whether or not to offer the bribe to Grady. How to deal with these types of ethical issues in the future. SECONDARY DECISIONS 1. Whether or not to investigate the actions of the territorial sales representative for possibly initiating the bribe. 2. Whether or not to investigate the possible unethical implication of the 3-day ranch vacation