Blanton Reeve is a supplier for a medium-sized housewares company. Jerry, the newly hired procurement manager for the housewares company, studied all of the files for information on all of the current suppliers. In examining the file for Blanton Reeve, Jerry discovered that during the contract negotiation process, another firm should have been awarded the contract. Jerry researched more into the details of the contract with Blanton Reeve and Jon Johnson, the former procurement manager who awarded the contract to Reeve. Jerry learned that Johnson's son began working for Blanton soon after the contract was awarded. Currently, Johnson works for another firm that has ties to Blanton Reeve.
Discuss the key ethical issues in business contracting, answering the following questions:
a) Is there evidence of bribery by Blanton Reeve to secure a contract?
b) How should Jerry proceed from this point forward?
c) What are the consequences to ABC if Jerry overlooked this as a coincidence?