US Government B*tch Slaps HP, Sends Tough Procurement Message

Late yesterday, the New York Times reported that the venerable computer maker Hewlett Packard settled a case with the US Government over two procurement-related ethics matters. The settlement involved a payment of $55 million from HP to the government.

The first matter involves an accusation that HP paid "kickbacks to other companies that recommended federal agencies buy its products." The second matter involves a situation where HP "might have failed to provide complete pricing information during contract negotiations."

At a quick glance, I couldn't find too much detail about either of these cases. But it seems to me that the Federal Government's procurement teams did too little to keep themselves on guard against suppliers' common "dirty tricks."

Hopefully, the government will use some of that $55 million on some procurement training for their people. When everyday procurement situations end up with the threat of litigation and eight-figure settlements, it's pretty obvious that they need it.

To Your Career,
Charles Dominick, SPSM
President & Chief Procurement Officer
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
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