VIK: DELL

Dell is an American corporation that is a favorite supplier of computers and information technology-related equipment to many different institutions around the world. It is from Dell that schools like the University of Memphis supply all of their PC needs, and many other schools also fill their need for equipment through it. Dell's representatives approved the proposal to be one of the sponsors the USA pavilion, so our sponsorship negotiators drew up a contract and Dell decided on an amount to give that was to be divided between VIK goods and cash donations. The VIK goods donations included the equpiment used in our office, such as printers, laptops, desktops, monitors, and all manner of accessories for each. In a small office on the bottom floor of the USAP is the server office, in which there are more Dell donations like gigantic servers, accessories, monitors, desktops, and more laptops. These servers enable several different mobile desktop applications, such as enabling the access of files that people can save on one computer and access from another, applications such as Microsoft Office 2010, and many other network functions.

Each of many deliveries to our pavilion was documented by Dell and sent with delivery documentations like invoices, receiving sheets, etc. Unfortunately, they were delivered before we had a department dedicated to recording the receipt of these goods and filing these invoices. When I began to explore the Dell case, and since then, the only invoices given to me were several months old and only covered 12 out of 26 different deliveries. This led to obvious difficulties for me and potential danger for those in our pavilion who would be vulnerable and responsible for any auditing discrepancies. Lucky for us, we have a responsible and knowledgeable contact on the Dell side; this contact gives us all the records from their side, usually an updated Excel spreadsheet with extensive amounts of information. Some of this information includes cumulative unit delivery totals by unit, dates they were delivered, market value of each, Dell's profit margin, total prices for market values and the amounts Dell has spent in both RMB and USD. This is really the only way for us to verify how much we have received, given the fact that almost every department needs computers: the employee staff room has 2 desktops, the bar has 2 laptops, VIP reception department has several at each of its desks, sponsorship department needs them, IT department, communications, protocol, not to mention all of our supervisors and of course our commissioner general. The emailed spreadsheet is not enough, however; we need surveys conducted by the IT department to find out exactly where each of the delivered devices are. Comparing each document to each other and the scarce receiving documents, we can thus develop ample proof against any accusation of fraud and have all necessary proof ready to deliver to auditors when they arrive.