discricionaridade

English translation: arbitrary purchasing decisions/ arbitrary purchase decisions

17:21 Nov 21, 2013

Portuguese to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - International Org/Dev/Coop / procurement

Portuguese term or phrase: discricionaridade

in an evaluation of a Cape Verde non-profit organisation. The passage in question is a recommendation made in response to the organisation's lack of a procurement specialist:

"Dado a dimensão da X (organisation), recomenda-se o recrutamento de um especialista em aquisições, de modo a evitar discricionariedade nas compras".

is this just 'discretion'? I think of that as a positive term, yet here it is something to be avoided (I guess it is discretion in terms of making choices based on subjective factors/arbitrariness even?).

many thanks

Lucy Phillips KudoZ activity Questions: 301 (7 open) (9 without valid answers) (9 closed without grading) Answers: 488 United Kingdom
Local time: 03:49

English translation:arbitrary purchasing decisions/ arbitrary purchase decisions

Explanation:
"New Technology Assessment Process at Fairview 08/08/05

"Identification of strategy to minimize arbitrary purchasing decisions. • Identification of obsolete or potentially defective products..." https://www.premierinc.com/advisorlive/2005/.../al-mcnelly.p...‎

" ... horrible cheap plastic mugs that one of the CEO's sons (some other executive who could make arbitrary purchase decisions) had purchased ..." archives.somethingawful.com › ... › A ticket came in...‎

Selected response from:

Pablo Julián Davis
Local time: 21:49

Grading comment

based on all the answers, my own thoughts, and infopedia's definition: discricionariedade
nome feminino
1. qualidade de discricionário; arbitrariedade

I think this best suits my context, thanks to all
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

discretionarity

Marlene Curtis

discretion

Monica Merrill

arbitrary purchasing decisions/ arbitrary purchase decisions

Pablo Julián Davis

[reduce] discretionary purchasing

Muriel Vasconcellos

(in this context) biased

Dr Lofthouse

Summary of reference entries provided

arbitrariness

José Patrício

discretion - negative use

T o b i a s

Discussion entries: 9

Answers

9 mins confidence:

discretionarity

Explanation:
https://www.google.com/#q= discricionariedade (discretionari...

Marlene Curtis
United States
Local time: 22:49
Native speaker of:

Portuguese
PRO pts in category: 6

Notes to answerer

Asker: I have considered this, Marlene, but haven't yet found convincing evidence that it's commonly understood in EN - many of the sites I found seemed to originate in other languages. But you may be right, I'll wait for more feedback, thanks!

29 mins confidence:

discretion

Explanation:
Suggestion

Monica Merrill
United Kingdom
Local time: 03:49
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Portuguese,

English

1 hr confidence:

discricionaridade (nas compras)

arbitrary purchasing decisions/ arbitrary purchase decisions

Pablo Julián Davis
Local time: 21:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish,

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

1 hr confidence:

[reduce] discretionary purchasing

Explanation:
My understanding is that they want to follow a planned purchasing program and reduce purchasing on the spur of the moment - i.e., purchases that may not be essential or fit the long-term plan.

We frequently hear comments that "discretionary spending" is the first to go when an economy hits hard times. While this is usually understood to be extra stuff we don't need, at bottom it really means impulse buying - purchasing items outside our basic plan.

Muriel Vasconcellos
United States
Local time: 19:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 18

1 hr confidence:

(in this context) biased

Explanation:
'discretionary' here seems to have negative connotations.

Dr Lofthouse
France
Local time: 03:49
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English,

Italian

Reference comments

15 mins peer agreement (net): +3

Reference: arbitrariness

Reference information:
eaves room for arbitrariness - http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//...

Eu penso que há aqui um alargamento de ideia. Discricionaridade significa liberdade de escolha, mas a ideia que me parece sobressair é que a liberdade de escolha, se não for da responsabilidade de um especialista pode redundar em escolha deficiente, portanto penso que arbitrariedade traduzirá neste caso precisamente essa ideia.

José Patrício
Portugal
Native speaker of:

Portuguese

Note to reference poster

Asker: yes, that was my feeling - I don't want to stray too far from the source, but the idea of arbitrariness is what occurred to me.

34 mins

Reference: discretion - negative use

Reference information:
In practice, it is virtually impossible for regulator) agencies to avoid interpretation of their objectives and to avoid discretion. The issue then becomes how to establish governance procedures that allow for the inevitability and desirability of a non-trivial degree of bounded and accountable discretion.
Regulatory Effectiveness: The Impact of Regulation and Regulatory Governance ...
By Jon Stern, John Cubbin p. 7

There will always be 10% of discretion in each trade. Develop a trading system that has clear cut rules for entering and exiting a position and rules out most of the discretion. Discretion means using emotions. Make rules to avoid discretion. Use those rules consistently. There maybe a few losses. With a good forex trading system, you can be sure the number of winner will be greater than the losers.
http://www.totaltrader.com.au/4655/learn-to-avoid-emotions-i...

However, achieving such motivation is difficult in many circumstances
Influence costs present another reason to avoid discretion in determining pay levels
If similar jobs across the firm are paid similarly and by largely administrative decision, there is little room for politicking about pay
http://www.google.com.br/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web...

A simple rule, defining the maximum size of a branch in relation to the local market should however be sufficient. In order to avoid discretion by local supervisors, such a rule should have an EU legal backing.
http://www.google.com.br/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web...

14. The ORAC shall provide for an ex ante assessment of potential deterioration of the network and equipment operation and/or potential harm of the network integrity, in order to avoid discretion capable of giving rise to conflicts.
http://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=162784&showMetada...

T o b i a s
Native speaker of:

English

Note to reference poster

Asker: thank you Tobias - I realised as I researched that it must also be possible to use 'discretion' in a negative sense. Now I'm torn between 'discretion' and 'arbitrariness'!

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English translation: arbitrary purchasing decisions/ arbitrary purchase decisions

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