Do you think close social interaction between Buyer and Seller is helpful in processing procurement smoothly or may lead to grafts and bribes etc?

Any individual association between buyer and supplier other than professional even with good intentions will spark into the blame of bribery and corruption. This is therefore even kept in the policies of the some organizations that all supplier with such association shall be dropped from bidding to maintain competent sourcing. As far as social interaction like dinners, business gathering are in the awareness of the Company/Organization and participated by a group of team members with clear agenda to strengthen only the relationship between supplier and buyer for smooth procurement, it would possibly be acceptable within specific limitations. Individual social interaction however, may lead into disclosure of classified information between both parties intentionally or unintentionally and shall therefore be strictly discouraged. 

It is helpful in smoother transaction of the company. Sometimes the relation are more important in business than the money involved and can achieve milestones which are otherwise not possible.

It should be in a limit. Too much non-professional interaction will spark blame of bribery whether u are involved or not.

yes i think it is help

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Good relations are vital for businesses to flourish...and there is normally a thin line between keeping it professional and social in which case it becomes unethical. I recommend companies to beef up their integrity campaigns and ethical codes of conduct by regularly engaging the staff on the subject matter, introducing a strict gift policy, ad hoc audits etc. This can help curb fraud/graft/conflict of interest.

It all depends on the ethical values of the Purchasing agent and seller. I had some great experiences and a bad one.

The bad one always delivered late, and I had to order often from another source; ordering over the website - pricing always been wrong and never corrected; he sold us one product $ over the price than my cheapest and a reliable vendor ... my boss wanted to know why I was not ordering from him and presented the problems; the only good thing this vendor did was getting our labels printed and delivered in time ...even our clerk came to me and ask for advice.

My other vendors I had great working relationships .. 

My vendors been bending over backwards to help me with no corruption in mind... 

The relation between the seller and buyer should  be strong and transparent ,from a procurement persons view the seller should fulfill his commitment toward the buyers ,this happens only if you follow the procurement procedures such as approved vendor list and preferred vendor list(by following this you will be having multiple vendors for same materials and you don't have to depend upon one supplier , this will also create a insecurity whenever the supplier quotes and of course you will be having an edge at the time of negotiation) ,A buyer should keep a seller always in a pin point,even though he is your friend or relative then only you will be getting expected  results in terms of deliveries and pricing in terms of business.

Hello Team,

It’s important to remember that efficient communication and electronic invoicing can be an integral part of successful procurement practices. Keeping these tips in mind can help maintain focused and structured communications between the buyer and seller, and allow the collaboration process to continue to be more organized and profitable for both parties involved.

Here are some helpful tips on facilitating collaboration between buyer and seller:

·         Starting the requisition process based on contract compliant information in online catalogs.

·         Establishing global enterprise business rules, such as “No electronic order (and no electronic Invoice), no payment!”

·         Enabling rules-based invoice presentment whenever possible to ensure the invoice is entered accurately

·         Making sure that invoices are matched electronically with order and receiving information

·         Utilizing tools for electronic invoicing, online supplier invoice inquiries and dispute resolutions

·         Enabling online order approvals and workflows for purchase requisitions.

·         Processing orders automatically and submitting them electronically to suppliers.

·         Enabling order acknowledgements and change orders to be controlled and re-communicated to the supplier electronically

·         Monitoring purchasing operations and analyzing compliance-related purchasing activities and procurement processes

Regards,

 

Saiyid

Answer : It all depends on who is dealing with whom. Interaction may work good for both side -

if they are sincere in delivering the best to their employer, then its' good - if it exceeds that level

and go for 'personal' gains, then the trend may work otherwise. There are instances where the

close interactions do good for both buyer and seller - and their intermediary.

I would encourage the social interaction between buyer and seller provided, it remains within the specified limits and only helping them in official performance.

I apologize for the answer I leave the answer to the experts, specialists in this field that's not my area.