PODCAST | Identifying leading corruption indicators

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we talk about ways in which organisations can spot potential corruption in procurement processes. 

Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Leon Steyn, CEO at Dante Deo, a specialist IT sourcing and procurement firm.

The discussion focuses on how underhanded dealings in procurement can happen and steps that organisations can take to ensure they can spot trouble before it happens.

Join the discussion:

Steyn says those operating in the industry are often faced with many challenges from stakeholders, suppliers, governments, and “even our own aspirations and ambitions”.

He highlights that there are practices in almost all corporates and governments “that serve as incubators for greed and corruption that could trap even the most ethical procurement professionals among us”.

“More often than not, these practices are forced upon us by CEOs, chief procurement officers, CFOs, heads of department, senior management, and government officials — ironically, the exact leaders we look to for guidance.”

Using his decades of experience gained in the profession, Steyn says there are a number of leading indicators that organisations, managers and employees should be on the lookout for in spotting graft. These include: direct instruction from an authorised person; bypassing of procedures and best practices; creation of a crisis; being made to use specific suppliers that are preselected; and staff being place under extraordinary pressure to get certain deals over the line. 

The procurement veteran also details the different ways in which corruption tends to manifest in the private sector vs the public sector, and vice versa. 

Engage on Twitter at #BDSpotlight

Subscribe: iono.fm | Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Pocket Casts | Player.fm

• Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE production.