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Bad Buying

How Organisations Waste Billions Through Failures, Frauds and F*ck-Ups

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Bad Buying

By: Peter Smith
Narrated by: Peter Noble
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Why is the Berlin Brandenburg Airport 10 years behind schedule and nearly four billion euros over budget? And what possessed Kenya's government to spend a whopping $35 million on a chain link fence just six miles long?

In this hilarious, fascinating and insightful expose, industry insider Peter Smith reveals the massive blunders and dodgy dealings taking place around the world as private companies and public-sector bodies buy goods and services. A recent report showed that over 90 per cent of procurement projects fail. So, why are so many billions wasted on ineptitude, mismanagement and, in some cases, fraud?

By turns an entertaining account of some of the worst procurement scams in history and also a resounding lesson in how not to operate, Bad Buying offers clear and practical advice on how to avoid embarrassing mistakes, minimise needless waste and make sound, strategic procurement decisions on your next initiative.

©2020 Peter Smith (P)2020 Penguin Audio
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Critic reviews

"Had this been published pre-Covid, some of the recent f--k-ups and waste might have been avoided. It's a must read for the public and private sector alike." (Lt-Gen. Sir Andrew Gregory, SSAFA: The Armed Forces Charity)

"Hilarious, enlightening and brilliant.... This book will make you think twice about buying anything - but do buy this." (Antonio Weiss, best-selling author of 101 Business Ideas That Will Change the Way You Work and director, The PSC)

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Misleading

I thought this book was quite misleading as it's written more for someone who owns a company and is involved in procurement. I got it for the blurb expecting lots of tales of amusing anecdotes and disastrous decisions. There were parts on that but they will only a small fraction of the book. It didn't feel like a "popular" work to me.

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