An Ethical Framework for Purchasing Decisions
As the importance of the purchasing function in corporations increases, there has been a concurrent increase in the importance of ethics in the purchasing environment. The purchasing linkage is critical to effective operation of corporations as high-quality raw materials and supplies available on a...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Management decision 1991-01, Vol.29 (1), p.35 |
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Format: | Artikel |
Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | As the importance of the purchasing function in corporations
increases, there has been a concurrent increase in the importance of
ethics in the purchasing environment. The purchasing linkage is critical
to effective operation of corporations as high-quality raw materials and
supplies available on a timely basis are required for global competitive
success. Bottom-line productivity and profitability, as well as
long-term viability, are directly dependent on effective functioning in
the purchasing arena. The traditional organisational structure of the
purchasing function has the potential to encourage unethical employee
practices. Viewing the relationship between an organisation and its
suppliers as adversarial creates conflict as well as inherent ethical
dilemmas in the purchasing function. This article discusses various
categories of unethical purchasing situations and illustrates ways to
lessen or avoid these dilemmas through the introduction of just-in-time
(JIT) inventory control procedures. The internal co-operation necessary
in the purchasing operations interface under JIT facilitates development
of a corporate culture supportive of ethical behaviour. Moreover, since
in JIT the supplier is considered part of the team - the
"person at the previous work station" - these concepts
can reinforce intraorganisational ethics as well. |
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ISSN: | 0025-1747 1758-6070 |
DOI: | 10.1108/00251749110144623 |