Are there any signs of corruption among the purchasing staff? How to effectively eliminate procurement corruption from the requirements of improving the quality of procurement personnel? A purchasing manager who used to work in a domestic enterprise and later moved to a foreign company said that one year's study in a foreign company is more than three years' study in a domestic enterprise. Why are these? In multinational companies, assessment system, corporate culture and procurement system construction are the three main means to limit the corruption of procurement personnel, which are worth learning from domestic enterprises. Understanding the "magic spell" of performance appraisal is not only the main means to mobilize the enthusiasm of employees, but also the main means to prevent unprofessional behavior in business activities, as well as in procurement management. A good performance appraisal can achieve such an effect: the purchaser must consider the interests of the company subjectively and serve the interests of the company objectively, and there is no room for personal profit.
I know that buyers charge benefits, but I can't check and control them. Because all this is done in private, and it is common practice. "Many business managers hate human-made procurement corruption and are helpless. Corruption in procurement not only erodes the interests of enterprises, but also has a destructive impact on the whole enterprise culture. Unprincipled concessions made by procurement personnel in negotiations and private promises of benefits outside contracts will have a negative impact on the performance of procurement activities. Although the above situation exists in multinational companies to varying degrees, the procurement corruption of multinational companies is less than that of domestic enterprises, and the quality of procurement personnel is also higher than that of domestic enterprises.
We are concerned that the business environment in China is the same as that in China (most of the purchasing departments of multinational companies in China are from China). Why is there such a difference? Of course, income is a factor that must be considered, but it is not the root cause. As far as the opportunity of procurement corruption is concerned, multinational companies have even more procurement personnel than domestic enterprises. In terms of professional quality, we all know that Taoist priests have great plasticity, and the key to the difference lies in the opportunity and willingness to learn.
How to evaluate the performance of purchasing personnel? Multinational companies have a lot of mature experience to learn from, and its essence is to quantify business objectives and grade evaluation. In the early stage (or at the end of the year), multinational companies will focus on employee performance appraisal and career planning and design. For the personnel in the procurement department, it is to review and evaluate the performance of procurement management and set future goals. In the assessment, multinational companies alternately use two sets of index systems, namely, business index system and personal quality index system. The business indicator system mainly includes: Is the procurement cost reduced? Do you maintain the original cost level under the seller's market conditions? Has the purchasing quality improved? Are the losses caused by quality accidents effectively controlled? Has the supplier's service added value? Does purchasing effectively support other departments, especially production departments? Has the purchasing management level and skills improved?
Of course, these indicators can be further refined. For example, the purchase cost can be subdivided into: purchase cost, transportation cost, abandonment cost, order cost, term cost and storage cost. Quantify these indicators one by one and compare them with the same indicators in the first half of the year, and the comprehensive evaluation is the operating performance. It should be said that these indicators are hard and difficult to disguise, so this kind of evaluation sometimes seems "cruel". Those procurement personnel who only engage in interpersonal relationships and do not engage in performance will "show their true colors" at this time, and the evaluation results will certainly not be as expected. After the evaluation is completed, multinational companies will divide employees into several grades, or give promotion rewards, or maintain the status quo, or give warnings or dismissal. It can be said that this semi-annual performance appraisal is closely related to the vital interests of employees. The evaluation of personal quality will be relatively flexible, because it includes not only the existing ability evaluation, but also the degree and potential of progress. The main contents may include: negotiation ability, communication ability, cooperation ability, innovation ability, decision-making ability and so on. These competency evaluations are all linked with performance evaluation, mainly aiming at the unsatisfactory aspects of performance and how to further enhance personal abilities. In response to these improvements, these multinational companies have arranged many internal or external training courses for their employees. After the performance evaluation, the arrangement is career planning and design. Career planning and design include the main business indicators for the next six months and the action plan needed to complete these indicators.
Domestic enterprises also carry out performance appraisal, but some of these appraisals are a mere formality. Its shortcomings are that there is no quantitative index and ability evaluation, the assessment is not serious enough, and there is no training arrangement. Why do those suppliers give buyers "benefits"? I just want to raise the price or lower the quality and efficiency. If the buyer participates in these corrupt acts, the specific situation may not be known, but it will certainly be reflected in its business performance. If there is a "tight spell" for performance appraisal of procurement personnel, the opportunity cost of procurement corruption will be much greater. Therefore, performance appraisal is a magic weapon to reduce the subjective factors of procurement corruption. Before discussing this issue, it is necessary for us to compare the differences in business concepts between China people and westerners: among some concepts that affect enterprise relations, some concepts of China people are indeed hotbeds of procurement corruption.
The differences between China people and westerners are as follows: in business philosophy, China people study together and make collective decisions when making business decisions, which can not only ensure the thoroughness of decision-making, but also become an excuse to shirk responsibility when making mistakes; Westerners emphasize the role and unique contribution in the team, emphasize personal ability and efficiency, and deeply analyze technical problems; On the concept of time, China people regard time as infinite resources, while westerners regard time as cost and commodity. In negotiations, China people pay attention to the harmonious atmosphere in negotiations, while westerners emphasize fairness; On the attitude towards contracts, China people emphasize mutual trust and place their hopes on commitments beyond contracts. Westerners have carefully examined every word of the contract; Based on the difference of ideas, domestic enterprises must make greater efforts to eradicate procurement corruption. Enterprises should require employees to think of the interests of enterprises first, rather than putting personal interests first. In this regard, it is more important for top managers to set an example than anything else.
In order to standardize transnational purchasing behavior and adapt to doing business in different cultural backgrounds, the best multinational companies have compiled systems and policy statements such as the Handbook of Foreign Business Development and the Handbook of Global Purchasing Personnel, one for each purchasing personnel in different countries. These manuals do not simply announce the company's handling regulations on corruption, but specifically use cases and situations to tell buyers what to do and what not to do. For example, some multinational companies stipulate that they can only attend suppliers' banquets if they have the opportunity to invite them back; The time and place of expenses must be indicated on the business trip invoice. These practices are worth learning and thinking about.
To improve the quality of procurement personnel, it should be said that restraining procurement corruption is only the most basic requirement of procurement personnel management. There is no doubt that the quality of procurement activities is the first embodiment of the quality of procurement personnel. In those large industrial multinational companies, there are always multinational procurement personnel training teams. These teams are located in regional headquarters or group headquarters, and trainers are selected from those excellent procurement personnel or hired with high salaries. The training content includes: purchasing theory and skills, negotiation skills, law, monetary and financial knowledge, product knowledge and internal business processes. The way of training is extremely flexible, and lectures or theoretical discussions are rarely used. Generally, the purchasing staff put forward their own opinions, and the cases that happened to them were discussed collectively as living teaching materials, while the trainers carefully sorted out and summarized them. A purchasing manager of a multinational company who participated in this kind of training said that this kind of training made people "suddenly enlightened" on some issues. The regional training director of a multinational company also said: "The difference between people comes from training."
Some multinational companies also use job rotation to train employees in potential procurement departments. Before a purchasing supervisor is promoted to purchasing manager, some companies will send him to the production, planning or logistics department for several months as an intern. The purchasing directors of multinational companies, as long as they are from China, almost all have participated in advanced training or job rotation abroad. Admittedly, domestic enterprises can't establish a training system for purchasing personnel in a short time, but this doesn't mean that purchasing personnel of domestic enterprises don't need training. In a sense, training is even a kind of "welfare" and a commitment to employees' future. How to curb purchasing corruption? A purchasing manager of a private enterprise once said: "I know that buyers charge benefits, but I can't check and control them." Because all this is done in private and very common. " Many entrepreneurs, especially private entrepreneurs, must be very concerned about this, because corruption in procurement not only erodes the interests of enterprises, but also has a destructive impact on the entire corporate culture.
The challenge comes not only from the ethics of the procurement staff, but also from the professional quality of the procurement staff. Unprincipled concessions in negotiations, self-interest commitments outside the contract, strangeness to production demand and numbness to market environment will all have a negative impact on the performance of procurement activities. In multinational companies, the above situation actually exists to varying degrees. But there is no doubt that the procurement corruption of multinational companies is less than that of domestic enterprises, and the quality of procurement personnel is higher than that of domestic enterprises. Especially compared with those top multinational companies.
What we are concerned about is why the business environment in China is the same as that in China (most of the purchasing departments of multinational companies in China come from China). Of course, income is a factor that must be considered. Generally speaking, the salary of multinational companies is 2~3 times higher than that of local companies, and the gap between director levels may be even greater, which is conducive to multinational companies attracting talents. But this is obviously not the root cause, because the procurement staff of multinational companies have more opportunities for procurement corruption than domestic enterprises. Why on earth is this? In multinational companies, assessment system, corporate culture and procurement system construction are the three main means to limit procurement corruption, and some practices are worth learning from domestic enterprises.