DP3

DecisionPoint
http://proethica.org/ontology/cases#DecisionPoint

DP3

Should the private consulting engineering firm decline to enter a joint venture with the U.S. Agency engineers given that their competitive positioning was structurally dependent on insider knowledge and owner relationships acquired in their public capacity, or may the firm proceed with the joint venture on the basis that the engineers' expertise constitutes a legitimate professional qualification?

A private consulting engineering firm actively negotiated with at least two groups of U.S. Agency engineers who had prepared the basic plans for the hydroelectric project while still employed by the public agency. The firm selected one group, formed a joint venture corporation with them, and incorporated their insider knowledge of the publicly-funded basic plans and personal relationships with the project owner as a structural feature of its competitive bid — knowingly building its competitive positioning on revolving-door advantage rather than independent professional merit.

Decline to form a joint venture with the U.S. Agency engineers on the basis that their competitive positioning is structurally dependent on insider knowledge and owner relationships acquired in their public capacity on the identical project, and compete for the hydroelectric contract solely on the basis of the firm's own independent qualifications.

Proceed with the joint venture but require the engineers to fully disclose their prior public role and insider knowledge to the foreign government client and all competing firms before proposal submission, treating mandatory disclosure as a sufficient safeguard that preserves competitive integrity while allowing the firm to benefit from the engineers' genuine technical expertise.

Proceed with the joint venture on the basis that the engineers' specialized knowledge of hydroelectric design constitutes a legitimate professional qualification that the firm is entitled to incorporate into its competitive bid, treating the firm's independent obligation as limited to ensuring it does not itself misrepresent qualifications or use confidential information.

Private Consulting Engineering Firm