Case Study 2: The Case of the Consultants Report.

In this case study, The Procurement Integrity act is called upon in order to make an ethical
decision if I was the CEO.
The Procurement Integrity act Prohibits obtaining or disclosing procurement-sensitive
information to include contractor bid or proposal information and source selection
information.

This is part of the Federal Acquisitions Regulation which hinges on four main legal
provisions. These are:
-

Prohibition on disclosing procurement information; which simply states a person must

not, unless under legal obligations, divulge contractor bid or proposal information or
source selection information before the award of the contract to which the information

relates.
Prohibition on obtaining procurement information; the purpose of this clause is to
ensure full transparency and avoid asymmetric information/impartiality in awarding

contracts, making the process fair.

Prohibition of former officials acceptance of compensation from a contractor; which
simply put states that an official must not accept and compensation/gifts after the
award of a contract for at least one year after or if a direct decision of a contract award

or a payment of money to that contractor.

Actions required of a procurement officer if contacted by offerors; Statute mandates
that the official must report said communication to his supervisor and disqualify the
offeror from the federal procurement process.

The second point directly relates to this case in question, whereas even though the
information has fortuitously and/or accidentally found its way into my purview, it was found
prior to the contract being awarded, it breaches the ethical code to use the information that
was in the consultants report. This would have been increasingly difficult to make the ethical
decision as he could have used this information to gain the award of the contract, especially if
the information pointed to the fact that the contractors competitor would have been chosen.
Although I may have had the mens rea, without the actus reus I would not be liable.
Coupled with the Civil and Criminal penalties that could be incurred, for example, if it was
found out that I utilized the information, before the contract award, the procurement could be
cancelled and I could be disqualified for this tender and or future tenders. Supplementally, if
this action was discovered after the award of the contract, it could be voided and profits could
be forfeited or recaptured.

In summary, I would do the ethical thing, and not utilize the information found in the
Consultants Report.