Real-Life Decision Making
You have been assigned to find the owner or owners of a 15-acre tract of
land in Somerset, Kentucky. You searched courthouse records, mortgage liens
and any other paper trail you could find until you have finally
discovered who owns the land -- two brothers who live near the area.
According to the maps and geological surveys, your company stands to make
a large profit if this well turns out to be what they hope it will be. Your
boss has told you to do whatever is necessary to convince these two gentlemen
to lease or sell the land. Your boss would prefer to buy it outright.
Standard practice is to make a face-to-face visit the first time you come
in contact with a landowner with whom you are going to have to negotiate.
As you approach the land, you notice how rural the area is.
But you are not prepared for what you find when you pull into the short
gravel drive of the landowners' house. The house reminds you of a log
cabin in the woods. It is apparent that the people who live here are very
poor.
You introduce yourself to the brothers, who share the dwelling, and explain
to them why you have come to see them. You can tell the men are not well educated.
Before the conversation has ended, you learn that neither of them has more
than an elementary education.
The gentlemen are not interested in selling their land. They say it has
been in their family for generations. However, they are willing to lease it.
You show them the paperwork that needs to be completed to begin the negotiations.
You discover that neither man can read.
Suddenly you realize how easy it would be to deceive these men. You could
have them sign ownership of their land over to your company for a very small
amount of money.
What do you do?