With so many headlines appearing in the news of controversial tender irregularities, businesses should focus on protecting themselves against the negative publicity surrounding improper vetting of employees and vendors, Rudi Kruger, General Manager of LexisNexis Risk Management, tells SmartProcurement.
Market research with a number of South African organisations has indicated that a common concern is the reputational damage caused by improper vetting in the procurement process and the negative publicity if exposed.
Therefore, it is imperative that an organisation’s executive committee ensure strong policies and procedures are in place in order to maintain ethical standards. Failure to do so could result in the organisation and its executives facing financial losses or even legal action, says Kruger.
However, many organisations fall short of enforcing and meeting the obligations set out in their own policies during the supply chain process – owing to poor vendor vetting, failure to screen employees within the organisation or against the vendor database to ensure conflicts of interest are uncovered and dealt with appropriately.
With tender fraud and corruption so much in the minds of consumers, an organisation’s reputation plays a vital role in the continuation of business and its bottom line.
ProcureCheck has been designed with national and international legislation in mind, incorporating the PFMA, MFMA, King III and the UK Bribery Act, which all promote high ethical standards and good business practice when it comes to regulating supply chain processes.
Organisations looking to protect themselves against possible reputational damage will find ProcureCheck useful in clarifying their standing in terms of regulating procurement: the system can determine conflicts of interest that could be detrimental to an organisation’s reputation.
For more information on ProcureCheck email contact@lnrm.co.za.
