A price is agreed on based in part on the cost of materials to be used in the part. If ABC goes ahead with the substitution without notifying XYZ and the substitution of the less expensive alloy is subsequently discovered, I can assure you that ABC will have lost a customer. In no way can such substitution be considered good business. Christine must share her thoughts about the impropriety of substituting the less expensive alloy with Vernon and if he fails to listen to reason, she must carry her feeling about this wrongful act to a higher level of management. Vernon's actions are unethical and some of his defensive statements border on the ridiculous.
Sound business is built on having a well-engineered product.
Christine should not sign a report falsifying the composition of the alloy in the part and when Vernon persuades someone else to sign the report, she should go over Vernon's authority to higher management to report this. I was Director of Research for a major corporation for over 20 years. If you are using Navigator 2.0 or later, and you see this message, you should enable JavaScript by on the Advanced page of the Preferences dialog box.