Back in February there were allegations made by the Competition Bureau that some technology services firms had engaged in "bid rigging."
"The Bureau says in a release that it has found evidence indicating that several IT services companies in the National Capital Region secretly co-ordinated their bids in an illegal scheme to defraud the government by winning and dividing contracts, while blocking out honest competitors."
It should be noted that these allegations are still to be proven in court, which of course could take years. True or not, the reputation of these firms has been damaged for the long term.
Yet the bigger question here is how could this happen? Let's face it, anyone who has ever dared to respond to a government RFP is inundated with pages upon pages of doc
umentation, which even for relatively simple items can range well over 100 pages! So how is it that someone could engage in bid rigging, in a "bid rigorous" system.
The more you try to address every potential eventuality in an RFP document, the greater the chance for finding ways around it. Because let's face it, when things are kept simple then the opportunity to unveil ne'er-do-well activity is a little easier. I'm not saying go back to the handshake scenario, but we have gotten mired down in so much paper and evaluation that at the end of the day it has become somewhat self-defeating.
I know that it may sound contraindicated -- the greater the complexity to ensure compliance the easier it is to defeat the system, but think about it. When you have limited resources and limited time to come to a decision aren't the pressures going to result in just a cursory review, as opposed to a more indepth analysis.
I understand the need for diligence when the public's money is being spent...however, are our tax dollars being spend effectively when we are propping many jobs in the public sector, just because we have gotten so "scared" about the possibility of a misstep?
Missteps are occuring every day within organizations that allow themselves to be buried in outdated protocol vs. reality. And, as the story from Ottawa demonstrates, you are not eliminating the opportunity for unethical behaviour. Furthermore, to this point, we have seen, regulators like the SEC doesn't keep the world from becoming victims of folk like Bernie Madoff. In fact, it makes us more vulnerable, because we have the misguided sense that we are being protected.
Goes back to the old KISS adage, "Keep it Simple Stupid!" Hopefully sometime soon we will see a rennaissance in government structures to ensure this happens and our public monies are being spent effectively, better decisions are being made faster, and unethical behaviour is uncovered quickly....
Now that's something to hope for-- but I won't be holding my breath!
It should be noted that these allegations are still to be proven in court, which of course could take years. True or not, the reputation of these firms has been damaged for the long term.
Yet the bigger question here is how could this happen? Let's face it, anyone who has ever dared to respond to a government RFP is inundated with pages upon pages of doc
umentation, which even for relatively simple items can range well over 100 pages! So how is it that someone could engage in bid rigging, in a "bid rigorous" system.The more you try to address every potential eventuality in an RFP document, the greater the chance for finding ways around it. Because let's face it, when things are kept simple then the opportunity to unveil ne'er-do-well activity is a little easier. I'm not saying go back to the handshake scenario, but we have gotten mired down in so much paper and evaluation that at the end of the day it has become somewhat self-defeating.
I know that it may sound contraindicated -- the greater the complexity to ensure compliance the easier it is to defeat the system, but think about it. When you have limited resources and limited time to come to a decision aren't the pressures going to result in just a cursory review, as opposed to a more indepth analysis.
I understand the need for diligence when the public's money is being spent...however, are our tax dollars being spend effectively when we are propping many jobs in the public sector, just because we have gotten so "scared" about the possibility of a misstep?
Missteps are occuring every day within organizations that allow themselves to be buried in outdated protocol vs. reality. And, as the story from Ottawa demonstrates, you are not eliminating the opportunity for unethical behaviour. Furthermore, to this point, we have seen, regulators like the SEC doesn't keep the world from becoming victims of folk like Bernie Madoff. In fact, it makes us more vulnerable, because we have the misguided sense that we are being protected.
Goes back to the old KISS adage, "Keep it Simple Stupid!" Hopefully sometime soon we will see a rennaissance in government structures to ensure this happens and our public monies are being spent effectively, better decisions are being made faster, and unethical behaviour is uncovered quickly....
Now that's something to hope for-- but I won't be holding my breath!
