Stark Systems, is a company that provides products and services for industrial and commercial buildings.The products and services provided include building controls, fire safety, security, and HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning).

Stark Systems is responding to a proposal from GlobaGreen.GlobaGreen is constructing a 16 story commercial building and requesting bids from companies for building controls.Obtaining this contract will be a significant gain for Stark.

Paul and Jane are collecting the required information to create their bid for the proposal.The information needed includes the experience Stark has in similar jobs, a detailed list for the scope of work, the equipment that will be provided, the Stark employees performing the work, the price, and references from previous work.

All suppliers bidding on the contract must have the responses in before the deadline. Paul and Jane have put together a response that is professionally done and looks good.However, just before they are to print the document and send it to GlobaGreen, they realize that they didn't include the required references.If Stark does not include all required aspects, it will be disqualified.

Paul is certain that the customer of a previous job would give them a good reference.Jane is not certain, Stark hasn't talked with the customer for about 6 months and she heard rumors from a competitor there may have been problems.Furthermore, one of Stark's key employees that worked on that job is currently with the company but will be leaving before this potential new contract will be awarded.This key employee is being included in the bid that Stark is sending to GlobaGreen even though Stark knows the employee will not be at Stark when the work is to be completed.

There is no time to follow up with the customer because the bid is due in two hours.Paul and Jane decide to include the reference in the bid.Because they are unsure on what the previous customer might say, Paul suggests to switch the last two digits on the phone number.Jane is uncomfortable with this but doesn't know what to do.If they don't include the reference, they will be disqualified but including incorrect information feels wrong.Jane decides to go along with Paul's idea.The actual number is (555) 425-7612 and the number they put in the bid is (555) 425-7621.

Paul's thought if GlobaGreen calls the reference, they will get a wrong number.GlobaGreen will then contact Stark to get the right number. If this happens Paul states that they will tell GlobalGreen that it was a simple typo and then give them the right number.Paul tells Jane that this gives them some time to contact the previous customer to ensure that the customer would give them a good reference.

Questions

1. What do you think most employees would do in this situation?