20th June 2007, 03:02 PM
Tom is quite right: the original scenario from BAJR was of the attempt to source a comparable costing of specific job from a competitor at the time that both parties are quoting for the genuine project. This is clearly unethical and probably in breach of law but only proveable if unethical one puts information/request in writing (ie is an eijit).
The sourcing of guideline or indicative costings from competitors is only a wee bit sharper practice than collating that disparate information you often hear from clients/competitors as to how much others quoted (indeed some clients helpfully issue the list of tenders and prices quoted - though in alphabetical and ascending sequence respectively). I am aware of at least one company that has requested via a third party costings for a spurious evaluation. It is just information gathering on the sharper side of that which most companies will do - not unethical but to do with understanding your market position.
The Devil to pay and no pitch hot
The sourcing of guideline or indicative costings from competitors is only a wee bit sharper practice than collating that disparate information you often hear from clients/competitors as to how much others quoted (indeed some clients helpfully issue the list of tenders and prices quoted - though in alphabetical and ascending sequence respectively). I am aware of at least one company that has requested via a third party costings for a spurious evaluation. It is just information gathering on the sharper side of that which most companies will do - not unethical but to do with understanding your market position.
The Devil to pay and no pitch hot