Your company is pursuing a big deal in a dodgy country - a "challenging market" - and things have started to unravel. You're nearing the culmination of the negotiations and, after months of business dinners and late-night-cognac conversations, Mr. Avaricio, the government official making the final decision, has stopped taking your calls. He communicates through a low-level colleague who was previously very polite, but who now seems somehow to have the upper hand, that your competitor has offered to "include Mr. Avaricio in the deal" with a 10% share to be wired to his off-shore account.
There follow the usual expressions of regret, the strongly stated preference for your company and the desire to continue what has been an "important personal relationship." This would all be possible if Mr. A. could be accommodated. And so you agree to match the competitor's 10% kick-back to the foreign official. You agree to violate US law and the laws of his country to salvage the deal. Suddenly all smiles, the emissary jots down the name of a small company you've never heard of that can be retained quickly ... this afternoon ... as a local "consultant" on the deal for the convenient sum of 10% of the total value. The following morning you return to U.S. headquarters with the signed contract in hand.
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