February 5, 2014
Corruption in procurement perceived as widespread across EU
According to the EU’s newly published Anti Corruption Report, around 15 percent UK firms believe that corruption has prevented them from winning a public contract at at least one point during the past three years. Although this rate compares favourably with an EU average of 32 percent, the report concludes that the total cost to the European economy of corruption is some €120 billion. The most commonly cited practices cited by the firms responding to the survey included specifications and procurement processes tailored for certain firms, conflicts of interest in bid evaluation and collusion between suppliers. Although under a fifth of UK businesses claim to have been directly affected, nearly half (46 percent) feel corruption is widespread compared to an EU average of 75 percent.
January 27, 2014
Latest generation Y survey reflects characteristically idealistic thinking of youth
by Sara Bean • Comment, News, Workplace
Maybe it’s the cynicism of middle age, but the most recent exploration of arguably, the most over-analysed cohort of workers in history – Generation Y – seems to reflect the archetypal idealistic thinking of youth. For example, while most Millennials (74%) believe business is having a positive impact on society by generating jobs (48%) and increasing prosperity (71%), they think it can do much more to address society’s challenges in the areas of most concern: resource scarcity (68%), climate change (65%) and income equality (64%). And quelle surprise, 50 per cent of Millennials surveyed wanted to work for a business with ethical practices. You have to wonder wouldn’t an examination of the hopes and aspirations of the last couple of generations of younger workers reveal similar ideologies, albeit without the benefit of their digital sophistication? (more…)