The dark side of procurement

PROCUREMENT may seem like a boring topic to most of people. However, as the Auditor General's Office annually highlights many procurement lapses, the process of sourcing for and selecting the best vendors for the delivery of goods and services at the lowest cost can be a hot topic.

In a country like Singapore, which boasts high standards in business ethics and compliance, it is worrying to see a growing trend of procurement breaches.

This includes contract mismanagement, unfair tendering practices, overpayments, lack of reasonableness checks and the occasional black sheep case.