Are procurement and finance departments truly serving their companies by focusing primarily on securing the lowest price?
Can the most suitable service provider really be identified through paperwork, presentations, or résumés alone?
In most cases, do these departments take the time to meet potential suppliers in person before making such important decisions?
I believe most of us would agree that the lowest price does not necessarily represent the best value.
A product or service that costs more initially but performs better and lasts longer often proves to be far less expensive over time.
The savings achieved on the initial invoice can easily be outweighed by the hidden costs that follow.
A poorly repaired machine that causes production to stop can generate losses that are impossible to measure.
Choosing a supplier with insufficient resources, equipment, or manpower may result in delayed deliveries, with serious financial and operational consequences for the business.
Professional training delivered by firms that lack genuine expertise in a specific field is often nothing more than a waste of both time and money.
Strategic consulting provided by advisors with mainly academic knowledge—but little real-world experience—can lead companies into costly financial, operational, or even tax-related mistakes.
A supplier who lacks responsiveness and customer service inevitably creates frustration, delays, and unnecessary stress.
Even using cheaper replacement parts can eventually result in major damage and far greater repair costs.
These principles apply not only in business but also in our personal lives.
For this reason, I strongly encourage procurement teams, CEOs, and all decision-makers to adopt what Americans call “looking at the big picture.”
In other words, take a step back and evaluate the entire value of a transaction rather than concentrating solely on the purchase price.
If return on investment is truly the ultimate objective, then the initial price becomes far less important than the long-term value created.
I’ll conclude with a remark made by one of my cousins:
“When I go to the market, I don’t look for the cheapest tomatoes—I look for the best tomatoes.”
— Karim Kadiri