Budgeting costs The Italian government was getting ready to invest in a new software that would help them become more efficient. Three companies put bids forth and they turned out to be from different countries: China, Germany and Russia. The Chinese bid was $1 million, which was quite cheap. The German bid was for $2 million. So, the project director brings them in, to question them why there was such substantial difference. The Germans explained that German engineering produces higher quality products, unlike the Chinese who create buggy software. The Russians had bid $3 million. Well, they got brought in as well, and were told that the Chinese had bid $1 million and the Germans $2 million, and asked why was their bid so much more. The Russian representative says: It's $1 million for you, $1 million for us and $1 million for the Chinese.