In Response to Elizabeth Allaire

Elizabeth asked the following question: Do you think that the Ohio Department of Economic Development would be willing to work something out with John Smith or would they just take back their offer and go to another company who would just take the money and give them customer names?

I think the the Ohio Department of Economic Development would be willing to work with John Smith to a point and of course with a few conditions about customer privacy. I don't think they would be willing to work with him if he was fussy about giving over the whole customer list. You have to keep in mind that he either sells them his list or he lays people off. He also has to do what's morally correct, which would be to say no. He should say no because it violates so many laws by turning over the customer information just so a dealership can thrive on annoying potential buyers, who probably don't even want to go to THAT dealership. He could get in a lot of trouble with the authorities as well, especially if he didn't ask the people that he surveyed if he could give their information out to dealerships. When these people took the survey they probably thought they were only helping out a local firm and not thinking that a car dealership would want all their information so they could target them. All in all I have a feeling that John Smith will say no because it's the right thing to do and he will have to lay off people, but it will save him money. I say this because if the authorities found out about his deal with the dealership, which they would because they eventually find everything, then he would be facing legal fees, which could lead to even more layoffs. I think that the car dealership should just try to advertise to potential buyers in their own way rather than trying to buy a list from someone who took a survey on people that might buy cars. Yes, it is an easy way to target people that are looking, but it also causes a lot of problems because the firms taking the surveys probably didn't ask the customers permission to pass on their information. What do you think is the right thing to do in this situation?