Business & Professional Ethics 6th Edition by Leonard Brooks

Exercise 21

John Low, a North American born of Chinese descent, was given the opportunity of his lifetime. He was asked to go to China and set up a manufacturing subsidiary in a medium-sized city in the middle of the country. He had arrived in the city and had attempted to set up a new building and manufacturing facility which would employ thirty people, but had run into many delays in dealings with the local authorities. Ultimately, John met with the three senior officials and asked what the problem was. They indicated that things would go a lot faster if John's company was to make them a payment of $100,000 each. This, they said, was quite reasonable in view of what other companies had been paying.
John was in a quandary. When he had been sent to China, his boss had told him that under no circumstances were any bribes to be paid. It was against company policy and it would not be tolerated. On the other hand, John was expected to get his job done, and his boss had told him that unless he did so, another manager would be sent to take over John's position. John knew that his budget contained a provision for payments to agents, but the total allowed was only $150,000. He knew that if the facility was delayed, every month of delay would cost his company a contribution of approximately $25,000. John told the senior officials repeatedly that there was no way his company would pay them, but they were insistent.
Should John pay the bribes?