Kickback

It's a dark wharf at midnight. A car with no plates. The nervous guy in the suit...he’s the IT (or information technology) head buyer for the bank Shmoop Nar-go. He’s the decision-maker on buying 3 billion dollars worth of database software. Then there’s another guy...just got out of the car...he’s the head of sales of Delphi Databases R Us.

He’ll make a 3% or 10 million dollar commission on this 10-year contract if it goes through. All it takes is this littteeeelllle bit of grease to make the wheels turn. A briefcase full of 100 grand in unmarked bills.

This dough to the buyer? It’s a kickback. And it’s an obvious one. In real life, kickbacks are...way more insidious.

The head of sales owns a beach house in the Hamptons. Maybe he, um…lets his buyers stay there on weekends. Sound like a Ludlum-y kind of spy novel? Well, it happens all the time. Same as Hewlett Packard and Oracle and others...all have come down with salespeople being nailed, execs being fired, and business, uh…well, continuing to practice, more or less.

The big problem? Foreign markets, where kickbacks are kinda sorta just the way they do business over there. So if we’re trying to play by our rules, and imposing them on some small, struggling nation, where the people are desperate to simply make enough money to feed their children...then how do we think about the morality of kickbacks? Buddha probably knows.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What are Kickbacks?1 Views

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Finance allah shmoop What are kickbacks He okay Okay It's

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Not that it's This dark worf at midnight A car

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with no place The nervous guy in the suit He's

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thie it or information technology Head buyer for the bank

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shmoop nar go he's the decision maker on buying three

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billion dollars worth of database software And then there's this

00:29

guy just out of the car He's the head of

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sales of del fi databases are us He'll make a

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three percent or ten million dollar commission on this ten

00:37

year contract If it goes through all it takes is

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this little bit of wd forty to make the wheels

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turn a briefcase full of one hundred grand in unmarked

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bills Yeah That's the grease this dough to the buyer

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It's a kickback and it's an obvious one In real

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life kickbacks are way more insidious secretive clever head of

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sales of del fi owns a beach house in the

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hamptons Maybe he you know lets his buyers stay there

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on weekends And maybe he provides them with well all

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kinds of recreation You can let your mind wander So

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sound like a ludlum me kind of ah spy novel

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With corporate intrigue well guess what This happens all the

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time that's happened a big companies and little hewlett packard

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and oracle and others they've all come down with sales

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People being nailed exacts being fired and businesses well continuing

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to practice this practice more or less The big problem

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Foreign markets yeah there they do kick back so just

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kind of a regular part of doing business So if

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we're trying to play by our rules in america and

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imposing them on some small struggling nation where the people

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are desperate to simply make enough money to feed their

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children wealth and how we think about the morality of

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kickbacks we know this guy's position on the matter We

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should remember that from inside the jail bars when we're 00:01:57.722 --> [endTime] nailed

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