Reply #18: A small devil's advocate

[Geoff R. Casavant]

While I expect you and the OP are correct, there exists the possibility that the bribe was not because the work was second-rate, but rather because the company was not large enough to take advantage of economies of scale.

Larger companies have more infrastructure that enables them to produce items at a lower per-item cost than smaller companies, even though the final product from the smaller company may be better.

I admit I don't know enough about MZM or the other companies involved to know if this is the case, but I think the conclusion that their product is second-rate should not be set in stone.