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The Cable Contract

1. What are the options left with Mr Chandran?

 Adopt Unfair means: Chandran resorts to the unethical practice of indulging in
bribery and corruption by using low-quality material and sub-standard
performance of his contract. He can collaborate with Raju, Damodar, site engineer
and HOD of NTNL. The money will be accordingly distributed among them.
 Bear losses: Chandran is an ethical person with integrity and resolute moral
values. If no other pans out he will have to go for an expensive cable and hire the
machinery by bearing a personal loss.
 Aid from father-in-law:  Chandran’s father-in-low is very affluent and has many
connections, Chandran can leverage his power to loan easily from the bank. But
Chandran has never asked his father-in-law for help as he didn’t want to take
undue advantage as he was an ethical man. One way is that he can ask his father-
in-law for a loan and enter into a contract promising the repayment of the loan
amount. This will legally bind Chandran to repay the loan and his conscience will
be clear that he is not adopting any unfair means.
 Alternatives to reduce his losses: Adopt capital over labour for this project. He
will have to let go of some of the labourers and lease machinery to dig the 6
meters mandatory requirement. He can convince M/s Hindustan General Cables
Limited to provide him with the cable on credit.

2. What decision would you make in the situation? Justify?

Chandran does not have the option to negotiate the terms of the project as it was a turnkey
project. NTNL and other similar institutes will be banned in the future to bid. Chandran is a man
of ethics he will never resort to fraudulent practices to gain profits. He will not be able to look
himself in the mirror, his entire life he was appreciated for his integrity and ethical values. There
is a possibility of attracting negative publicity in case this issue news breaks to the public.
Chandran will lose all the credibility and his reputation will be tarnished. He cannot afford to
bear the losses as there are urgent domestic expenses. The only feasible solution left is to replace
labour with capital and request M/s Hindustan General Cables Limited to provide him with the
cable on a credit basis. Chandran’s objective is to minimize his losses and ensure the best quality
and timely completion of the project. It is the businessperson’s obligation, to be honest with its
customers. By using the last option, he will be able to fulfil his economic, legal, ethical and
philanthropic responsibilities. Also, it will ensure the greater good of all the stakeholders
involved. In the long run, it will be beneficial for Chandran as he will maintain his position of
integrity in the market and eventually his ethical values will be rewarded at the end with more
business to his company as the public always prefer a company that puts its customers first.
The collapse of the Majerhat Bridge in Kolkata in 2018 is an example of prevalent corruption
in India. It is a classic case of neglecting the public interest and undertaking deceitful practices to
fulfil individualistic greed with utter disregard to environmental and social issues.