The Effects of Procurement Ethics on the Performance of State Universities in Zimbabwe

Table of content

1.0. Introduction
1.1. Background of the Research Problem
1. 2. Justification of the study
1.3. Statement of the problem
1.4. Research Objectives
1.5. Research Questions
1.6. Research Hypothesis
1.7. Significance of the study
1.8. Delimitation of the Study
1.9. Definition of terms
1.10. Limitation of the study
1.11. Organisational of the study
1.12. Summary

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0. Introduction
2.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK MODEL
2.3. EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE

CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.0. Introduction
3.1. Research philosophy
3.2. Research design
3.3. Population
3.4. Sampling Procedure
3.5. Research instruments
3.6. Reliability and validity
3.7. Ethical Issues
3.8. Data collection Procedures
3.9. Data analysis procedure
3.10 Summary

CHAPTER 4
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of findings
5.2 Conclusions
5.3 Recommendations

Areas for Further Research

REFERENCES

1.0. Introduction

This chapter highlights the background to the study, statement of the problem, objectives of the research and the research questions. It further looks at the significance of the study, assumptions for the research, delimitations as well as the definition of terms pertaining to the study. In a nutshell, the chapter is a general overview of the study that the researcher intends to carry out .

1.1. Background of the Research Problem

Public sector procurement is strategically seen as the lifeblood of every economy (Lysons, 2000), the pulse of every industry (Dobler and Burt, 1998) because it affects the performance of every government entity (Stephenson, 2014) and supply chain competitiveness (Porter, 1988; Magaya and Chidhawu, 2016). Public sector procurement is the procedure through which public bodies such as government ministries, pararastatals and local authorities acquire goods and services and construction work or acquire buildings and infrastructure (PRAZ, 2018). Procurement ethics are defined by Lysons, (2000) as the moral principles that guide human behaviour in executing procurement activities. According to Monczka (2014) ethics affect performance of public companies. The major elements of ethics include; integrity, competence, professionalism, transparency, fairness, accountability and many more (Monczka, 2014).

Globally, procurement ethics in the public entities including state universities was promoted mostly by the Thatcher administration when Margret Thatcher made some major procurement reforms in the early 1980s in Great Britain (Dzuke, 2016). As a viral, it also spread to cover the whole of Europe and America such that every other president should refine and review the public procurement system. The Arab states and the Chinese followed suit in making sure that procurement ethics become the integral part of public sector procurement. As political leaders draw increasing scrutiny and voter pressure to demonstrate fiscal responsibility, procurement professionals must ensure that they maximize the value of every tax dollar. U.S. governments spend a combined seven trillion dollars, Canadian governments 360 billion dollars, and U.K. governments more than 500 billion pounds. Consistent and professional procurement practices across governments can positively impact the effective expenditure of public funds, (American City & County, 2012). To date, these developed countries were able to reduce procurement malpractices to extremely lower levels, contracting lead time to nearly zero, in Japan, reduced complaints to 5% in Britain and improved efficiency by 80% in America and 92% in Japan (OCED, 2010).

In Africa, many countries have not been able to tackle the integrity issues in public procurement (OCED, 2010). Lack of transparency, accountability, incompetence coupled with more discretional powers are considered as the major threats in the public universities (OCED, 2010). Corruption tendencies are on the rise in most African countries as evidenced by the corruption allegations levelled against former South Africa President Jacob Zuma. However in Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania, there are some reductions in unethical procurement practices with some average rates of from 27.5% in 2015 to 15% in 2017 as evidenced by Tanzania’s review of its procurement laws in 2006 (UNCAC, 2003). Zambia had followed suit in reforming its public procurement system in 2013 being able to significantly reduce some procurement malpractices by a significant margin (World Bank, 2009).

Since the year 2000, public sector enterprises in Zimbabwe have been faced with a plethora of challenges leading to poor service discharge. It was evidenced by the malpractices in dating back from the late 1980s which included corruption scandals like; 1987-Zisco Steel blast Furnace Scandal, 1987-Air Zimbabwe Fokker Plane Scandal, 1986-National Railways Housing Scandal, 1988-Willowgate Scandal, 1989-Sndana Scandal, 1994-War Victims Compensation Scandal, 1995-GMB Grain Scandal, 1996-VIP Hosing Scandal, 1998-Boka Banking Scandal, 1998-ZESA YTL Soltran Scandal, 1998-telecel Scandal, 1998-Harare City Council Refuse Tender Scandal, 1999-Housing Loan Scandal, 1999-Nocsim Scandal, 1999-DRC timber and diamond UN reported Scandals, 1999-GMB Scandal, 1999-Ministry of Water and Rural Development Chinese tender Scandal, 1999-VIP and grab scandal, 2001-Harare Airport Scandal, 2008-2014-Airport road scandal, 2016-Mnangagwa Command Agriculture Scandal, 2018-Zesa scam and many more. According to the Corruption Perception Index (2019) Zimbabwe was number 21 corrupt countries in the world in 2015 and dropped to number 22 in 2016, and maintained its position in 2017 and 2018 but increasingly risen to 20 in 2019.

Lack of procurement hygiene has negatively affected the public service provision in a number of several government universities. In Zimbabwe, public sector procurement reforms were instituted in 2017 and 2018 (PRAZ, 2018) with the abolishment of the State Procurement Board (SPB) and the establishment of PRAZ in 2018. The reformations were estimated to curb corruption tendencies from very high levels to very low levels by the end of 2019. This was done to reduce public officials who unlawfully enriched themselves (UNDP, 2010) through decentralization of procurement powers to government entities (PRAZ, 2017). These reformations were also intended to improve procurement hygiene in state universities

Zimbabwe university authorities indicated that their objectives (through the 5 year plan) have to increase student enrolment by 5% (percent) annually, they have to reduce cost to 92% revenue, increase student satisfaction from 60% in 2009 to 100% by 2014, to increase market share locally and externally by an average of 1(one) district centre per year locally and one regional centre per year externally and to beneficiate the quality for university product through conducting empirical investigation and publication on an ongoing basis. In addition, with all factors constant, to increase global revenue of 20% annually Zimbabwe Universities Strategic Plan (2009-2014).

Despite PRAZ’s eagerness to refine and reform the procurement system in Zimbabwe through institutionalization of e-procurement, decentralization of procurement powers to universities and the prohibition of non skilled buyers to execute procurement duties, it is still not clear why there is excessive and continued abuse of procurement powers by public universities. It has been proved that some State universities in Zimbabwe are lacking procurement hygiene and provide unsatisfactory services. It can also be noted that some universities in Zimbabwe are struggling to provide best services to their clients (Musanzikwa, 2017). Almost all universities are persistently and consistently providing varied unsatisfactory services to their clients (Dzuke, 2017). To this end, Zimbabwean universities are characterized by a myriad of challenges like; high procurement costs since 2017 where a 15% rise in procurement costs was recorded. In addition, statistics revealed that 35 % of university orders arrive early with a 2.5% of orders never delivered at all. The lowest performance was recorded as 38 % of purchases being defective.

The causes of theses lower quality purchases, high procurement costs, excessive lead times that lead to poor performance in state universities are blurry. Therefore, it is believed that improved procurement hygiene may improve performance of state universities. Given the varied and persistently recurring problems in state universities it is evidence that the procurement reforms by PRAZ are therefore inefficient. Thus this motivated the researcher to examine the effects of procurement ethics on the performance of state universities in Zimbabwe.

1.2. Justification of the study

Many organisations are taking procurement as clerical function where most companies consider procurement as a reactive function rather than a proactive process. Most of companies are ignorant that more than 50% expenditure emanates from the procurement function (Van Weele, 2012) hence there is need to take procurement function seriously. In Zimbabwe, public procurement is dominated by procedures and guidelines meant to ensure fair processes that provide value for money. In real practice, these guidelines tend to provide opportunities for abuse and malpractice for some government officials.

1.3. Statement of the problem

Performance of public universities in Zimbabwe is one of the most strenuous tasks to improve. Key issues facing state universities is lack of procurement hygiene which includes; poor quality purchases, late deliveries, high procurements costs, high clients complaints or taken to court for legal redress and unhealthy and unsustainable business practices.

1.4. Research Objectives

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Fig.1.1 research Objectives

1. To determine the effects of procurement ethics on the performance of state universities in Zimbabwe
2. To establish the effects of accountability on procurement performance
3. To determine how fairness on procurement performance
4. To establish effects of integrity on procurement performance

1.5. Research Questions

- What are the effects of procurement ethics on public procurement performance
- What are the effects of buyer accountability on procurement performance
- What are the effects of fairness on procurement performance
- How can buyer integrity affects procurement performance in state universities

1.6. Research Hypothesis

H1. Procurement ethics affect performance of state universities

H2. Buyer accountability affects procurement performance

H3. Fairness improve procurement performance

H4. Buyer integrity affects procurement performance

1.7. Significance of the study

- The research study will also benefit the researcher to enhance his efficiency and experience in research work. Also the research will help the researcher acquire his Master of Science in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management as it is a prerequisite.
- The study tries to make an empirical study in effects public procurement ethics on performance for state universities in Zimbabwe. The research study may help state universities to acquire an appreciation of the impact of procurement ethics on state universities improved performance and sustainability of effective practice in their value chain activities which include lead-time, quality service delivery, sustainable supply for goods, work and service to their important stakeholders and overally, greater value for money in their endeavors. This can reduce the hesitance of investing much in student interests and public at large. The study may as well propose better remedies of improving performance and be in a position to be ranked highly as world class universities in Africa and beyond.
- The study results may also be highly beneficial to other quasi-government and other government departments in the country seeking to improve their supply chain competitiveness and value for money through adherence to public procurement ethics. Public confidence hub every public existence and state universities are not an exception to that. Since public entities exist to provide value for money for its services, the research will help universities realize that public satisfaction is a hidden combined benefit that enables universities assume temporary loose in investment in order to purchase long term superiority. The research then motivates universities to invest more in public procurement ethics.
- The research would increase the database of knowledge of the university especially on effects of procurement ethics public entities performance.

1.8. Delimitation of the Study

The research study will be carried out for Universities PMUs and data gathered from PMU staff. This will be done to find out the views from both management and junior staff from departments to find out whether procurement ethics has any bearing in providing quality materials of right quality, quantity at the right place and time from right suppliers in a transparent manner. The research will be confined to state universities from 2018 to date. The study shall focus on all procurement activities which are purchasing ethics, and the extent in which these ethical considerations impacted on service delivery .State universities shall be used with the assumption in mind that what transpired in universities is also happening to all public sectors around Zimbabwe.

1.9. Definition of terms

Corruption: means any conduct that constitutes an offence or any attempt, conspiracy or incitement to commit such an offence or offering, giving, receiving or soliciting, directly or indirectly, of anything of value to influence improperly the actions of another party. It’s just the abuse of entrusted power for private gain (OECD, 2010)

Collusion: refers to any combination or agreement—no matter how informal—among sellers, to raise or fix prices or rig bids or to reduce output in order to increase profits. Although the term cartel is often used when the collusive arrangement is a formal agreement, the economic effects of collusion and cartels are the same. A collusive practice is an arrangement between two or more parties designed to achieve an improper purpose, including influencing improperly the actions of another party (OECD, 2010)

Service delivery -is an activity performed to satisfy a human need or want. In this case, it is meeting the needs and wants of students and other university stakeholders (Van Weele, 2012)

Public sector procurement; is the procedure through which public bodies such as government ministries, parastatals and local authorities acquire goods and services and construction work or acquire buildings and infrastructure (Anderson et al, 2018)

Procurement ethics are the moral principles that guide human behaviour in executing procurement activities (OECD, 2010)

Procurement hygiene; is a series of procurement practices performed to preserve the sanity of the procurement cycle with a view to prevent the spread of ‘procurement diseases’ like; corruption, conflicts of interest, incompetence, unprofessionalism, collusion, lack of integrity , misrepresentation and other procurement malpractices .

Procurement Performance: is the extent to which the procurement function is able to reach the objective and goals with minimum costs (Van Weele, 2012).

State universities: Universities owned by the government of Zimbabwe under the universities charter chapter 25.16

1.10. Limitation of the study

1. Questionnaire will be used as the only instrument to gather data respondents. The chief drawback of the questionnaire was the initial high non-response rate. As cited by Kondo (1998) in Chirove (1985) and Kiplinger (1986) that the postal questionnaires were characterized by low returns. The questionnaires required a high level of literacy to complete. This will be catered for by ensuring that the language used was easy to understand. Pilot testing also helped to improve on the way the questions were structured. Respondents will be known to read all questions before answering and it was difficult to measure the independence of the responses. Respondents could delegate other people to complete the questionnaire. However the researcher will guarantee the privacy of the respondent. In this way the instrument ensure anonymity and confidentiality of the respondents. Stressing the importance of the respondent`s responses to the success of the study ,underlying the deadline for the return of the completed questionnaires and making follow-up visits after initial dispatch to encourage the completion and return of the instrument.
2. Restricted financial resources will make it difficult to include all universities departments as a result; PMU staff and few management staff were used in the study. Certain staff would treat information as confidential hence findings would not be conclusive as expected. However the researcher will persuade the unit heads to release information.
3. Universities staff travel a lot to other countries on business hence key people shall not be readily available to fill the questionnaire in time. The researcher will travel a lot in order to meet them. More time needed for dissertation of this nature yet Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) deadlines need to be met and this affected the quality of the thesis. Therefore the researcher will consult the supervisor so many times and spent sleepless nights in order to come up with this research project.

1.11. Organisational of the study

The dissertation will be outlined as follows :

Chapter 1: Introduction and background to the study

The chapter introduced the purpose of the research, background of the research and the research problem, revealing clearly the research gap and the reason why the study was done in the transport industry in a developing economy.

Chapter 2: Literature Review: conceptual framework and Theoretical Framework

The chapter discussed the literature specifically on the conceptual frame work of the effects of procurement ethics on the performance of state universities and the theoretical framework on stakeholder theory.

Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology

The chapter outlined the research design, sampling methodology, data collection and data analysis procedures employed in this study.

Chapter 4: Data Analysis and presentation

The chapter provided scientific analysis and present research findings. Interpretation of the results was discussed.

Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations. This chapter discussed the c onclusions and recommendations to the research study results and findings, and conclusion to discussion or the interpretation of the results .

1.12. Summary

The mandate of the university`s procurement department is to serve as a consultant to Community on all procurement matters including, but not limited market research. Competitive sources of supply, supplier pre-qualification, compliance with law, contract development /administration, terms and conditions of purchase to protect the university. The procurement department has also to achieve maximum value for each dollar expended by minimizing transactional cost while ensuring appropriate levels of internal control. Against these goals the study intends to identify shortfalls in the organisational procurement system. It is hoped that the Procurement ethics on acquisition of both materials and service will be improved.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0. Introduction

This chapter reviews past studies pertinent to the study problem. The chapter explores the theories that have been advanced in relation to the study problem. This chapter also looks into the empirical literatures as developed by the recent researchers. In addition, this chapter develops the conceptual framework that guides the approach of the research and the dependent and independent variables that constitutes the model of study.

2.1. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

2.1.1. Public procurement

Public procurement is one of the many functions of the government that presents good potential for assisting government attain its numerous goals (Musanzikwa, 2014). Coggburn, (2003) emphasized that if the procurement function fails to deliver quality goods and services in a timely fashion and at an economical price, then performance of government obviously suffer. Basheka & Kabatereine, (2013) adds that, a good procurement is one devoid of corruption and based on well known procurement practices that promote efficiency and effectiveness. It has become the vehicle for better service delivery. Therefore, the citizen-centred government should use at least 70 per cent of its budget to provide timely, efficient and effective public goods and services such as; health, education, defence and infrastructures since the greatest portion of this funds is obtained from the tax payers. Well spent public funds will benefit the majority of the citizens through good services.

For the last decades, developing countries were struggling to reform their public procurement systems to comply with 2004 Johannesburg Declaration by the multilateral and bilateral development institutions and other participants in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) or Development Assistance Committee (DAC) and World Bank joint round table initiative on strengthening procurement capacities in developing countries. Nevertheless, governments all over the world are increasingly recognizing public procurement as the only innovative approach to ensure zero tolerance to corruption. Countries have devoted efforts to ensure that procurement officials and bidders/suppliers comply with the procurement principles.

2.1.2. Public Procurement Objectives

The public procurement has a number of objectives that range from social, economic, and then financial objectives (OECD, 2010). These objectives are set as a core foundation of the procurement regulations and organizations to remove barriers to trade in goods and services. These core objectives include:

2.1.2.1 To promote transparency and openness in public procurement:

Contracting authority shall ensure publicity and transparency in public procurement procedure. Transparency is unfettered access by the public to timely and reliable information on decision and performance in the public sector. This is a pre-requisite for ensuring accountability. This objective ensures that the function of procurement in public organizations is done in an open and transparent manner. It is the basis of the policy which ensures that all qualified and interested parties are included in the procurement procedures. The objective is achieved by ensuring that all procurement is duly communicated to members of the public, with clear guidelines on how the process will be conducted. According to Evernett, (2005), the author emphasized that; transparent procurement procedures can contribute to a more efficient allocation of resources through increased competition, higher quality procurement and budgetary savings for governments and thus for taxpayers. They can also help attract more investment by lowering risk. Objective and transparent procedures can in addition help enhance the efficiency of local suppliers as they compete for public contracts, thereby improving trade prospects by making the suppliers more competitive exporters.

2.1.2.2 To promote economic efficiency

This objective ensures that procurement and purchasing is done at the lowest cost possible. Most public organizations are wasteful in their spending. Procurement is given timelines for each process to ensure that it is achieved thus being responsive the organisational requirements.

2.1.2.3 To promote public confidence in procurement procedure

In Zimbabwe, members of the public have at times lost confidence in the procurement process, terming it “a thing for the selected few” (Musanzikwa, 2014; Dzuke, 2016). A proper public procurement process should restore this confidence by delivering positive results as is required and expected by Zimbabwe PPDPA Act section 4b.

2.1.2.4 To promote equality and fairness in the public procurement process

This objective seeks to give all an equal chance to participate in the procurement process. The procedures are spelt out clearly in each organization in a manner that seeks to ensure that every participant gets equal chance. This objective ensures that public funds are not used to provide favours to specific individuals or companies.

2.1.2.5 Equal Treatment/Fairness

An efficient public procurement system should give all participants an equal chance to compete and by avoiding discrimination among potential bidders. Potential suppliers should be treated equally and with utmost fairness throughout the contract award process. The principle requires that identical situations be treated in the same way or that different situations not be treated in the same way. It does not depend on nationality as with the principle of non-discrimination but is based on the idea of fairness to individuals.

2.1.2.6 Competition

Competition refers to a situation where public bidders compete with one another for procurement contract under the same terms and conditions for the provision of goods, works or services. Procurement should be carried out by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary (Musanzikwa, 2014). Public procurement system should be able to attract high quality national and international suppliers and contractors capable of meeting government needs through competitions. The key elements of competition in Zimbabwe are: public procurement and disposal opportunities are accessible to all interested providers; sufficient time offered to the bidders or contractors or suppliers; all bidders or service providers are evaluated under the same criteria stipulated in the bidding documents; clear and non restrictive specifications, scope of works or terms of reference; and use of Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs). As a result, competitive procedures should be the standard method for conducting procurement as a means of driving efficiencies, fighting corruption and ensuring competitive outcomes.

2.1.2.7 Value for Money

Mamiro, (2010) defines Value for Money is an essential test against which a procuring entity must justify a procurement outcome. Value for money is defined as a concept associated with deployment of resources visa vie the realization of some expected output values. The user department or consumer attempts to attach value to products or services received and compares the same with resources expended. In other words, life cycle costing must be done as part of the evaluation process leading to the recommendation for award. Measures which might be employed to effect Value for Money include: undertaking of value analyses for contracts over a specified limit; public consultation on the rationale and elements of major projects during the design phase before the bidding documents are finalized; greater use of standard clauses in conditions of contract; a registration system of endorsed suppliers, contractors and consultants who get preferential consideration for contracts by virtue of that registration after a thorough prequalification or evaluation exercise; prompt payment of suppliers, contractors and consultants by the government agencies and the introduction of penalty interest in the event of late payment; monitoring of the execution of large contracts by civil society; coordinated purchasing by government departments to take advantage of volume discounts or bulk purchase; and finally using a measurable criteria to determine the best combination of price and quality (Lysons, 2000)

2.1.2.8 Access to Information

It is necessary as a matter of principle that all relevant information on public procurement and disposal is made public. Therefore, effective communication should be conducted to provide potential vendors with a better understanding of the country’s needs, and government buyers with information to develop more realistic and effective tender documents by better understanding market capabilities. Such interactions should be subject to due fairness, transparency and integrity safeguards, which vary depending on whether an active procurement process is ongoing. Such interactions should also be adapted to ensure that foreign companies participating in tenders receive transparent and effective communications. This information can be displayed on procurement notice board, website or print media.

2.1.3. Procurement performance

Procurement performance refers to efficiency and effectiveness in acquiring of goods and services in the procurement function in order to change from being reactive to being proactive to attain set performance levels in an entity (Baily et al., 2005). Procurement performance has several benefits to an organization like cost saving, reduced lead time, policy adherence and compliance to procurement regulations (Bolton, 2006). Procurement activities have a relation to the organization’s economic performance which is evident by cost reduction (Kinyanjui, 2012). This can be divided to effects on turnover, gross profit, efficiency, total costs and organization’s equity. All of these categories correlate directly with how the supplier ratings are controlled and utilized for the benefit of the organization (Juma, 2012)

Ensuring efficiency, accountability and transparency in public procurement is critical to sustainable development (Obanda, 2010). Public procurement is a key tool to the overall achievements of the sector. Besides, the objective of public procurement is to provide quality goods and services through open and fair competition in the exact quantity and proper quality as specified, and has to be delivered at the time and place where needed (Basheka, 2008). The quality of goods, services, infrastructures, and the effectiveness of public services much depend on well-managed public procurement.

2.1.4. Ethical Procurement Practices

Ethics has been defined as the activity of examining the moral standards of a society and asking how these standards apply to one’s life and whether these standards are reasonable (Sacconi, 2010). Ethics constitute: a system of moral principles by which human actions and proposals may be judged good or bad, or right or wrong; and the rules of conduct recognized in respect of a particular class of human actions and moral principles as of an individual. Ethical codes alone are insufficient to ensure ethical conduct and they need to be complimented with the assignment of functional responsibility (Han et al, 2010).

As guided by vertical accountability theory , citizens and their organizations need more access to information and decision-making. The more that government transactions and operations are transparent and visible, open to scrutiny, the more feasible it is to expose, deter, and contain corruption. For this reason, citizens must have the legal right to request and receive information on all functions and decisions of government that are not a matter of national security or that do not infringe on individual rights of privacy. In the fight against corruption, the public availability of information on government finance, procurement, and contracting is particularly important. In particular, all government procurement above a certain (modest) level should be done through competitive bidding that is advertised on government websites.

Procurement competences provide knowledge standard and management knowledge standard of procurement and supply of goods and services (Celentani, & Ganuza, 2009). This kind of knowledge includes; management of integration, scope, time, quality, human resource communication, risk and procurement. Additionally, competent procurement managers have been described by different attributes as the key aspects of procurement success. The core skills are in the areas of budgeting, scheduling, and resource allocation as well the key tools related to these areas such as resource loading networks and resource (Parsons, 2011).

Ethical procurement practices are acceptable norms that supply chain professionals and institutions should adopt to ensure flawless supply process. Kelman, (2009) sets out step-by-step procedures related to the notice and advertisement of tenders, leaving little choice as to when, where, and how to advertise procurement events.

“The procuring entity shall take such steps as are reasonable to bring the invitation to tender to the attention of those who may wish to submit tenders. If the estimated value of the goods, works or services being procured is equal to, or more than the prescribed threshold for national advertising, the procuring entity shall advertise, at least twice in a newspaper of general nationwide circulation which has been regularly published for at least two years before the date of issue of the advertisement, and on its website in instances where the procuring entity has a website, and the advertisement shall also be posted at any conspicuous place reserved for this purpose in the premises of the procuring entity as certified by the head of the procurement unit”, (Walker, & Sidwell, 2006).

The great part about having an ethics policy is that the rules are intangible, indisputable form. The unfortunate part is that no one reads ethics policies! Supplement an ethics policy with procurement ethics training for anyone who is involved with the purchase of products or services and/or who meets with suppliers. Every major procurement should require management review to confirm that all guidelines were followed and that no ethical violations have occurred or will occur (Dzuke, 2016). Periodically, audits should be performed to verify that all procurement activities were conducted ethically and in accordance with procedures. Audits also serve as a deterrent to future unethical behavior, (Morgan, 2006).

Ethical procurement prohibits breach of the public’s trust by discouraging a public employee from attempting to realize personal gain through conduct inconsistent with the proper discharge of the employee’s duties. Corporations and public bodies often define processes intended to promote fair and open competition for their business while minimizing exposure to fraud and collusion (Morgan, 2006). After identifying the suppliers, a request for bids, proposals, quotes, and information can be made. However, direct contact with bidders can also be made instead of advertising the above requests. After selecting the suitable bidders, a quality check is essential in order to confirm the suitability of the goods in question. The next step would be negotiation of the terms, conditions, quality, and delivery schedules. Logistics and payment are the next two important processes that determine the safe delivery and the payoff of goods (Breitman & Lucas, 2007). Ethical procurement must deliver value for money since this is the core principle of any viable procurement. Organizations strive to maximize overall value for money for citizens. This requires consideration of issues such as client satisfaction, the public interest, fair play, honesty, justice and equity (Barrett, 2000; Korosec & Bartle, 2003).

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