Before procuring, ask - do we really need it?
Image Credit: Freepik - pressfoto At some point in personal or professional life most of us have come across instances of procuring things only to realise later that they are really not needed or they do not improve the current situation in any significant way. It’s a clear case of a bad procurement decision, not the procurement process. In personal life, this may be the result of impulsive or compulsive buying disorder. At times, rational procurement can become a myth in some of the organisations too, especially where there are inadequate financial and administrative controls on capital procurement and procurement of non-standard materials and services. According to a 2022 article on the World Bank blogs site , “Governments today spend an estimated $13 trillion each year on public contracts for goods, services and public works. As much as a quarter of that is wasted in inefficient or shortsighted procurement practices. Halting the waste could free up at least $1 trillion a...