When is a deal a deal?                                November 2002

You are the city manager of a suburban community of 20,000 residents and have been the manager for 10 years. You receive a salary of $109,000 but believe you can do better in a larger (38,000 residents) neighboring community whose city manager with a salary of $117,000 has just retired. You apply for the job and receive an offer of $125,000. You verbally agree to take the job. In the meantime, your current employer decides to counter-offer, promising to increase your salary to $156,000 over the next three years. Although you have agreed to accept the larger city's offer, no contract has been approved or signed. Can you back out of the offer and accept the counter-offer? What is the right thing to do?

--based on a real case.