14 Jan Explain how a competitive

PA584 Intergovernmental Management

Week 6 You Decide

Scenario, Your Role, Key Players

You Decide

ScenarioYourRoleKeyPlayersAssignment

Scenario

A state emergency management agency will be conducting a training exercise with a federal agency. Specifically, a disaster simulation will occur with hundreds of volunteers as well as first responders using actual supplies and equipment. The exercise will be paid for by the state agency but with money obtained via a grant from the federal government.

Your Role

You have recently been hired as a mid-level manager at this state agency. One of your first responsibilities is to coordinate this training exercise with a federal agency. Another part of the scope of your authority is to coordinate the purchase of supplies and services for the training exercise. Upon meeting your counterpart at the federal agency, you found him to be quite personable and complimentary to you. However, he almost immediately tried to influence you to direct the purchases of supplies to a specific salesperson. You’ve also met this sales representative. Your boss wants you to handle as much of the exercise as is reasonable and wants what she calls “good press” out of the event.

Key Players

Photo of Jim Phanner

Jim Phanner

Planning Manager, FEMA

Photo of Pat Provedor

Pat Provedor

Sales Representative, Timo Manufacturing

Photo of Justine White

Justine White

Your immediate supervisor

Assignment

Given the scenario, your role and the information provided by the key players involved, it is time for you to make a decision. If you are finished reviewing this scenario, close this window and return to this week’s You Decide item, in your course window, to complete the activity for this scenario. You can return and review this scenario again at any time.

Activity

You need to draft a summary of how you will handle the situation. Specific questions that should be addressed include the following:

Do you feel that there might be an ethical issue present? For the moment, assume that no laws have been broken and just focus on any possible ethical issues.

Explain how a competitive bidding arrangement might be useful. Do you see any impediments to using such a bidding process in this instance?

If you were going to report a suspected ethical issue, how would you do so? For instance, to whom would you report? Would you discuss the matter with anyone first?

Does the fact that you have only been recently hired play into your decisions?

Lastly, please assume that you suspect that some state or federal laws have been broken. In other words, the problems might be beyond just a possible ethical issue. Would this change your handling of the situation?

After reading through the You Decide activity and considering the questions listed here, please prepare a paper in APA format. The paper should include responses to the specific questions posed above, but you may include other points if you so desire. The paper should be double spaced, 11-point or 12-point type, and between 500 and 1,000 words.