Bribery and Corruption Casebook: The View from Under the Table

CHAPTER 26

Going Green in Mexico

RONALD L. DURKIN

Viento Manufacturing Company sold electricity-making windmills throughout the United States and in more than 25 countries. Viento’s customer base included individuals, companies of all sizes and governmental entities. The heightened focus on going green had increased windmill sales, and the company’s marketing efforts focusing on carbon-footprint reduction and environmental responsibility had proved worthwhile.

All was on the up-and-up for Viento. The company had been founded as a labor of love by Peter Viento about 20 years earlier when he left a stable and well-paying job as an engineer to devote his efforts to developing products that would make energy cheaper and cleaner for the masses. Over the years, the company enjoyed slow but steady growth based on the values of innovation and quality. Peter had a lot to be proud of, including the VMC2 windmill, a design he personally engineered a decade earlier that remains atop the list of most popular windmills sold in the United States.

Viento’s history of selling windmills in Mexico went back more than 20 years. Although the windmill market had become more saturated every year, Viento maintained market share by consistently beating the competitors’ quality and delivering excellent customer service. Viento’s sales record in Mexico for windmills and replacement parts in the past 20 years was in excess of $35 million.

From the beginning, Peter managed all facets of the company from design ...