International Journal on Criminology
ensure ethical purchasing and avoid corruption . They are not mandatory and are only recommended by the European Union . They can be replicated in the private sector , where they are often present .
Firstly , in the area of prevention , purchasing departments have a code of ethics that sets out general principles : dignified , honest , and impartial performance of their duties by the buyer , confidentiality , equal treatment of candidates , respect for the principles of freedom of access to purchasing by suppliers , and purchasing at the best value for money . It also oversees buyer relations with suppliers ( sourcing meetings , visits to trade shows ). All buyers are invited to sign this charter when they arrive . In addition , purchasing managers must draw up a declaration of interest , but not all buyers . When a buyer leaves a company , whether temporarily or permanently , the company ’ s ethics officers are required to examine their personal situations in order to point out possible conflicts of interest . It is often observed that charters of ethics are not sufficiently known or even signed . The recommended good practice then consists of formalizing and frequently communicating the procedure of deportation or recourse to ethics officers .
Secondly , in addition to codes of ethics and the conflict of interest prevention system , the purchasing departments apply the principles or values listed below , which are not imposed by the public procurement code , but which constitute unquestionably good practice .
Collegiality : this is present when choosing a supplier from among the candidates , but also when developing the expression of needs . The team in charge of the purchasing project meets ( contract writer and prescriber at the very least ) to share collectively the overall economic and technical analysis ( and discuss possible adjustments ) of the suppliers ’ offers , and then consolidate all the scores . The buyer with the contract first has the “ technical ” value and the “ price ” value analyzed by separate groups . In this way , the entity compartmentalizes the technical analysis ( carried out by the prescribing department ) and the financial analysis carried out by the buyer in order to prevent the risk of a technical score being adjusted according to the prices proposed by the candidates ( a candidate whose offer is more expensive but technically better could have its technical score raised in order to be retained ). The entire analysis is obviously controlled by the line manager and the legal department . Increasingly frequent offer analysis reports now ensure the traceability of this decision-making process . Still too often presented in the form of a simple bid analysis grid or a presentation report without mentioning the identity of the members of the project teams , these reports are gradually becoming more precise ( particularly since the abolition of tender commissions in government departments ) due to the persistence of the criminal treatment of public contracts .
Centralized management : best practices encourage head offices to supervise and enforce their purchasing guidelines and strategy in subsidiaries . To this
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