Priming the Town Pump

Given the following scenario ” Priming the Town Pump

Your firm worked long and hard visiting the public works engineer and staff in the City of Elm Grove, some 150 miles from your office, to demonstrate your interest and the firm’s capabilities with regard to the design of a new wastewater treatment plant that was expected to be announced in a few months.  

During design of the project, your project engineer, Florence (Flo) Moore, specified a series of pumps manufactured by an excellent, but little known, company called Excelsior Pumps.  When the city’s project manager, Dee Taylor, reviewed the specifications for the project, she questioned the cost of the pumps and whether the anticipated maintenance-free warranty would actually hold up under use.  As an alternative, she strongly recommended using a standard series of pumps manufactured in the adjoining state by Pumpco, at a purchase price approximately $20,000 below the cost of the Excelsior pump series. 

Even though the long-term advantages and life-cycle savings resulting from use of the Excelsior pumps were pointed out and documented from several previous projects completed by your firm, Ms. Taylor still insisted that Pumpco should be the supplier, especially since the initial cost was lower and the city was currently in a belt-tightening mode.  Since the issue grew to the point where it had the potential of damaging the relationship between your firm and the city, you finally decided with Flo Moore to specify the Pumpco equipment in the bid documents.

It is now three years after completion of the project and the Elm Grove Gazette has just called for you on the telephone and left a message to inform you that the treatment plant pumps have failed again for the third time in 11 months, and to ask what statement you would like to make about the situation.  They are especially interested in your comments regarding who was responsible for selection of the pumps.”

answer the following :

Analyze the likely outcome(s) of each choice, considering the risks of each of the options.