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This happens a lot in american universities as well. I was once contracted to help implement oracle for an Ivy League university. It was shocking to see the p

This happens a lot in american universities as well. I was once contracted to help implement oracle for an Ivy League university. It was shocking to see the preferred minority suppliers overcharging by 200% for same things you could get at Office Depot. Apparently research labs were furious, and went out of their way to game the system to get cheaper office supplies, and so HR needed a custom dashboard to monitor them as well.

zubiaur 4y ago
Hard to be a non-profit with so much revenue! better hire some more admins, build a new gym...
ta988 4y ago
I have the same experience. Had to use the preferred providers for some things and was charged with a hefty premium. At some point you had to use the preferred travel provider that was asking for twice the price of a plane ticket you could find by yourself. Thankfully it seems that in the last decade those things got dismantled little by little. For the bids, that's yet another attempt at regulation that in the end proved unable to solve a problem and caused many more.. But if you leave individuals to handle large purchases without oversight you can be certain a lot will take the offer that has personal advantages attached (be it gifts, vacations, additional equipment, your name on a communication...). Even if those are usually banned in state universities, again there are ways around that.
- zubiaur 4y ago
  As an immigrant from a country where corruption is more common, I'm amazed (and somewhat delighted) by the level of trust in institution and processes in the US. The amazing part, is that, it somehow works most of the time. On education though, the corruption is plain to see. But most people don't notice it. It's amazing. And when brought up, it rubs people the wrong way. What you saw was corruption. The way these "preferred providers" become "preferred" is not by sending the purchasing department clerk a box of chocolates.
  - buran77 4y ago
    > The amazing part, is that, it somehow works most of the time. Of course. The Western world doesn't operate so well because there's no or even less corruption. It's rather because there's a lot more money floating around enabling some to pocket a lot of it and still have plenty left over for things to work well.
    - zubiaur 4y ago
      Oh, there is less corruption. Way way less.
      - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
        The west has just institutionalized and process-ified the same old "give resources, get favor" process. It's technically less corrupt but the drag on society is still very much there.
      - buran77 4y ago
        I worked with the people who, in an official capacity, estimate how much money changes hands via acts of corruption in the EU. And I can assure you that while being part of the EU the money which flowed through the corruption pipes in the City of London gave some Eastern European countries' entire GDPs a run for their money. Way less "small corruption", individuals committing small acts of corruption? Yes. Way less "large corruption"? No. Small corruption means you get ahead in a queue at the doctor's every once in a while. Large corruption changes the nature of society, it means tens of thousands of people are forced to pee in bottles in a fulfillment center and somehow this is just fine.
        lock-the-spock 4y ago
        The London laundromat is a well known issue that the UK government refuses to fix as the people in power benefit from it. Same as all of Switzerland's business logic. But this does not represent the average administration in an average EU country - there is still fraud, favouritism, etc, even in the model countries, but the share of fraud is well below what you find in other countries.
- briffle 4y ago
  Those luxury box seats at the local sporting arena don't buy themselves....
xhkkffbf 4y ago
Princeton has really been pushing this idea. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/05/12/princeton-adopts-plan-support-more-diverse-owned-businesses-broaden-pool-university https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/05/12/princeton-adopts-p... I'm not sure, though, if it's really doing much more than lining the pockets of the new batch of suppliers. It sounds like they're not building up any expertise or ability in these suppliers. They sound like they're just dropshippers with a higher markup.
baby 4y ago
Makes me think of my father who gets his phone plan through his French university and it is insanely expensive.

zubiaur 4y ago

Hard to be a non-profit with so much revenue! better hire some more admins, build a new gym...

ta988 4y ago

I have the same experience. Had to use the preferred providers for some things and was charged with a hefty premium. At some point you had to use the preferred travel provider that was asking for twice the price of a plane ticket you could find by yourself. Thankfully it seems that in the last decade those things got dismantled little by little. For the bids, that's yet another attempt at regulation that in the end proved unable to solve a problem and caused many more.. But if you leave individuals to handle large purchases without oversight you can be certain a lot will take the offer that has personal advantages attached (be it gifts, vacations, additional equipment, your name on a communication...). Even if those are usually banned in state universities, again there are ways around that.

zubiaur 4y ago
As an immigrant from a country where corruption is more common, I'm amazed (and somewhat delighted) by the level of trust in institution and processes in the US. The amazing part, is that, it somehow works most of the time. On education though, the corruption is plain to see. But most people don't notice it. It's amazing. And when brought up, it rubs people the wrong way. What you saw was corruption. The way these "preferred providers" become "preferred" is not by sending the purchasing department clerk a box of chocolates.
- buran77 4y ago
  > The amazing part, is that, it somehow works most of the time. Of course. The Western world doesn't operate so well because there's no or even less corruption. It's rather because there's a lot more money floating around enabling some to pocket a lot of it and still have plenty left over for things to work well.
  - zubiaur 4y ago
    Oh, there is less corruption. Way way less.
    - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
      The west has just institutionalized and process-ified the same old "give resources, get favor" process. It's technically less corrupt but the drag on society is still very much there.
    - buran77 4y ago
      I worked with the people who, in an official capacity, estimate how much money changes hands via acts of corruption in the EU. And I can assure you that while being part of the EU the money which flowed through the corruption pipes in the City of London gave some Eastern European countries' entire GDPs a run for their money. Way less "small corruption", individuals committing small acts of corruption? Yes. Way less "large corruption"? No. Small corruption means you get ahead in a queue at the doctor's every once in a while. Large corruption changes the nature of society, it means tens of thousands of people are forced to pee in bottles in a fulfillment center and somehow this is just fine.
      - lock-the-spock 4y ago
        The London laundromat is a well known issue that the UK government refuses to fix as the people in power benefit from it. Same as all of Switzerland's business logic. But this does not represent the average administration in an average EU country - there is still fraud, favouritism, etc, even in the model countries, but the share of fraud is well below what you find in other countries.
briffle 4y ago
Those luxury box seats at the local sporting arena don't buy themselves....

xhkkffbf 4y ago

Princeton has really been pushing this idea. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/05/12/princeton-adopts-plan-support-more-diverse-owned-businesses-broaden-pool-university https://www.princeton.edu/news/2021/05/12/princeton-adopts-p... I'm not sure, though, if it's really doing much more than lining the pockets of the new batch of suppliers. It sounds like they're not building up any expertise or ability in these suppliers. They sound like they're just dropshippers with a higher markup.

baby 4y ago

Makes me think of my father who gets his phone plan through his French university and it is insanely expensive.