Beschaffung aktuell: Ms. Keese, we just analyzed the results of our readers' survey. According to it, readers want more contributions on the subject of "law". Have things really come so far that an industrial buyer cannot take any step without a lawyer?
Sabrina Keese: The importance of legal issues has significantly increased in recent years – especially in purchasing! Because time and again, corruption is detected in purchasing at all levels – large-scale and small. Frequently, buyers are not even aware of it when they venture into gray areas in law. As I see it, it's accordingly indispensable for companies to define clear lines of conduct. And this should not be done in the quiescence of a law office – with the result that nobody understands such legal pamphlets! It must be done directly in the purchasing departments together with the buyers.
Beschaffung aktuell: In addition to their commercial and technical competences, will future buyers need to have legal competence as well?
Keese: The core competence of buyers cannot be the law. But buyers today must be open enough to talk to lawyers to disclose any stumbling blocks in the purchasing process. Let me give you an example: Most contracts are laid down by your supplier. Frequently, buyers are unable to detect the legal advantages which suppliers incorporate into sets of agreements which are subsequently accepted by buyers.
Beschaffung aktuell: Did you learn "purchasing" – after all, you are working for a purchasing consultancy?
Keese: As a partner of the law firm Blasius & Kollegen, I consulted clients in all issues of contract law, with the focus on purchasing. So it was a small step to Kerkhoff Consulting. In consulting, my team and I have a clear advantage versus classical law firms: We are working directly together with the purchasing consultants who know all purchasing processes and speak the buyers' language. That enables us to optimally adjust legal texts to purchasing processes and, at the same time, lay them down in language everybody can understand. Nothing is worse than guidelines in legalese only other lawyers understand.
Beschaffung aktuell: Not every company has an in-house lawyer. What should buyers bear in mind who need legal counsel?
Keese: An in-house lawyer need not always be a good compliance boss. That's much rather counterproductive because it would mean that the in-house lawyer controls him or herself in compliance issues. If a company cannot or does not want to internally set up this resource, there are specialized firms for legal consulting or a consultancy team for setting up a compliance system as with Kerkhoff Consulting.
Beschaffung aktuell: You are managing compliance projects. When we prepare a "compliance dish", we'll take the ingredients of a full measure of ecology, a liberal amount of social consideration – child labor, for example, has a bitter taste – as well as a pinch of contractual fidelity. What will you take?
Keese: Our compliance definition: This is not about moral concepts but rather about compliance with all legal specifications which a company must comply with. Think about areas such as contractual risks, threshold values for buyers, antitrust issues or a code of conduct when corruption is discovered. For these and other legal risks, a compliance model is to be set up which reduces these risks to a minimum. At the same time, such a system also provides great transparency for the head of purchasing and for general management. Not infrequently, it results in efficiency increases.
Beschaffung aktuell: Last year, you handled major compliance projects, inter alia with financial services providers and power supply companies. Do they have a common ground?
Keese: Projects always come in different forms or characteristics. The energy sector is a high capital investment industry. So, one project was about ensuring for the corporate board that the award procedures for a major investment were legally waterproof. Nobody wants to be accused later of having selected suppliers at one's own discretion. In contrast, the project with a financial services provider was aimed at setting up a general compliance system to minimize the risks in the procurement of everyday goods.
Beschaffung aktuell: Is it adequate when a company embodies its compliance rules in its General Conditions of Purchase (Allgemeine Einkaufsbedingungen)?
Keese: It's a first step, but far from professional risk management. It's important to draw up a compliance guideline which follows general corporate principles. Management as well as employees are to be bound to this guideline.
Beschaffung aktuell: To what extent are the BME compliance guidelines, the BME Code of Conduct, helpful?
Keese: A "Code of Conduct" is characterized by its voluntary nature. We are talking, however, about real, existing legal specifications which are to be complied with.
Beschaffung aktuell: What can companies do now to solve their compliance problems?
Keese: The first question companies should ask is: Do we have an in-house person responsible for compliance? After that: Is there a compliance guideline for the entire enterprise? If yes – for the purchasing department as well? Who excludes legal risks in my company? But I like it best to personally discuss such questions with any interested entrepreneur or manager.
Beschaffung aktuell: Ms. Keese, thank you for talking with us. |
