How ethical are purchasing management professionals?

The primary purpose of this study was to assess the ethics of purchasing management professionals. A multidimensional scale of ethics was used to measure their predispositions to act morally. The ethics measure from this scale was correlated to a series of ethical vignettes specific to the purchasing function to further assess the value of the scale. In addition, the consistency of values as rationale for decision making was also examined. The findings of the study indicate that purchasing professionals appear to be more ethical than indicated in previous studies as measured by both the multidimensional scale of ethics and their responses to ethical situations similar to those faced in their day-to-day work experiences. The utility of a multidimensional scale of ethics is further validated, and some preliminary assessments of the nature of values impacting on ethical decision making are also evaluated.Robert Landeros, is associate professor of Integrated Supply Management at the Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, U.S.A., and visiting associate professor of logistics at the Norwegian School of Management, Sandvika, Norway. He has researched and published in the area of interorganizational relationships.Richard E. Plank, is associate professor of Marketing at the Haworth College of Business, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. His research interests are in the areas of purchasing, personal selling, and the buyer-seller interface.     

The Coevolution of Relationship Dominant Logic and Supply Risk Mitigation Strategies

How and why do risk mitigation strategies evolve? And which resources are needed for engaging in such changes? This paper contributes to the understanding of risk management in supply chains by developing theory about the interplay between supply risk mitigation strategies and the purchasing team's relationship dominant logic (RDL), which we define as the purchasing team's orientation toward and shared cognitive map of the management of its supply chain relationships. Specifically, we propose that RDL and supply risk mitigation strategies are fundamentally intertwined. Following a Straussian approach to grounded theory, this study analyzes data generated from the purchasing teams of Western green‐tech firms trying to mitigate supply risk for technically indispensable rare earth metals from China. Our findings from this context that is heavily shaped by state‐influenced supply chain members show that the firms chose their mitigation strategies in line with their RDL. Human capital, social capital, and financial capital seem to moderate the link between RDL and mitigation strategies. We link our findings with the strategic management literature in deriving theoretical propositions concerning these relationships.     

Ethical issues,helps and challenges perceptions of members of The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply

This paper presents the key findings of a study cosponsored by The Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply that surveyed 1,500 CIPS members in an effort to (1) identify the key ethical issues facing the profession of purchasing and supply chain management today, and (2) determine the extent to which those working in the profession tend to find various factors to be helpful or to present challenges to their efforts to act ethically in the conduct of their work. The implications of the key findings for business and the profession - both CIPS and its individual members - are discussed.     

Purchasing professionals in state government: How ethical are they?

A survey of purchasing professionals in the Arizona state government was conducted to determine how familiar the buyers were with the Arizona laws regarding ethical conduct, what ethical standards they followed in purchasing, and what types of ethical dilemmas they faced in their work. The findings indicate that no serious ethical problems exist among the respondents. Employees in the centralized purchasing office seemed to act somewhat more ethically than buyers in peripheral offices, however. Laura B. Forker is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Purchasing, Transportation, and Operations at Arizona State University. She has published in the Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management and Comparative Economic Studies.     

The chief purchasing officer: previous background and experience

This paper uses data from the 1988 and 1995 CAPS studies on purchasing’s organisational roles and responsibilities to investigate the percentage of respondents that hired their chief purchasing officer (CPO) from outside the organisation. In doing so, this research compares the attributes of internal and external CPOs in the areas of previous work experience and education, and analyses the impact of CPO origin on the supply function in terms of involvement in major corporate activities, span of control, reporting line, title Rand the use of team-based purchasing techniques. The research findings indicate that one in five companies in this study chose to hire their CPO from outside the organisation and significant differences existed between internal and external CPOs with respect to their previous work experience, number of years in the position, and age. The smaller companies tended to hire CPOs from outside more frequently than the larger companies.     

An Empirical Study of Business-to-Business Electronic Marketplace Usage: The Impact of Buyers' E-Readiness

This study addresses critical questions regarding the extent of business-to-business electronic marketplace usage for purchasing, and the degree and impact of buyers' e-readiness on the range of electronic marketplace usage. The data from a Web-based survey of 359 purchasing professionals in the United States suggests that buyers with more experience in using information technology, the Internet to facilitate purchasing, and information systems for enhancing supply chain management would more likely use electronic marketplaces for purchasing. This study has significant theoretical implications because it confirms the important role of e-readiness in the electronic marketplace usage model. The practical implications of this study are also discussed.     

Helping Professionals in Business Behave Ethically: Why Business Cannot Abdicate Its Responsibility to the Profession

This paper compares the findings of studies of seven groups of professionals in various key segments of the fields of accounting and insurance conducted during 1990 through 1994 in an effort to determine the extent to which they tend to rely on various factors in their business and professional environments for help in behaving ethically in the course of their work. Commonalities among the findings for these rather diverse groups are highlighted and their possible implications for business and the professions are discussed.     

How to manage corporate purchasing synergy in a decentralised company? Towards design rules for managing and organising purchasing synergy in decentralised companies

More and more organisations are showing interest in how purchasing strategy and structures may support their overall business strategies. More and more, therefore, the question prevails how to get organised at a corporate level to capture the potential purchasing synergies. The challenge is to generate knowledge regarding how to structure and manage effectively purchasing synergies between business units. This paper deals with the concept of purchasing synergy or more specifically: the management of value-adding linkages in the area of purchasing between different business units in a multi-business company. It summarises the intermediate results from Ph.D. research currently conducted at Eindhoven University of Technology. Based on the findings derived from in-depth case studies at three large multinational companies, we propose a model, which may support management by formulating the right strategy and designing the right structure aimed at capturing the potential synergies.     

Market orientation and uncertain supply in upstream markets: an exploratory study

A key task of the purchasing function is to secure adequate and timely supplies of necessary input factors. In some industries, however, this task is challenging, as it may be difficult to obtain timely and reliable input, e.g. in industries based on natural resources. This may have serious implications for firms’ ability to compete effectively in their output markets. Few empirical studies of purchasing behaviour have focused on how actors cope with uncertain supply. Also, the fast-growing market orientation literature generally seems to have neglected the importance of supply. This paper aims to provide insight into the poorly understood question of how upstream actors cope with uncertain input supply to handle customers’ needs and wants. To investigate our research problem an exploratory study was conducted among 20 upstream actors in the seafood industry. A quasi-experimental approach was applied by selecting firms from two industry branches so that one group was exposed to the “treatment” (i.e. uncertain supply) while the other group was not. Our findings show that when supply is uncertain it is of utmost concern and considered a key determinant in satisfying the firms’ target markets.     

Environmental purchasing: a framework for theory development

This paper examines environmental research in the supply chain management literature in order to establish a framework for current and future development of environmental purchasing theory. As the purchasing function takes on a more strategic role in forming trading partnerships with others in their supply chains, it is in a critical position to influence responses to concerns about the natural environment. Definitions of environmental supply chain management and environmental purchasing are offered and the literature is reviewed. Linkages of environmental purchasing with transaction cost analysis are established and future research is described to enhance the study of purchasing's ability to effect the natural environment.     

The Potential for Cross-Functional Contributions to B2B E-Commerce Marketing Initiatives: E-Commerce and Purchasing Professionals

ABSTRACT

While there is a great deal of information in the literature linking purchasing personnel with both supply side and distribution side transactions, there is little evidence of their involvement in setting the design and strategic objectives of their own company's e-commerce activities. Yet, these professionals have much to offer marketing personnel who may be charged with developing e-commerce strategy and Websites. This paper suggests a proactive approach that supports the benefits of such cross-disciplinary collaboration between marketing and purchasing professionals within a firm.     

Mind the Gaps: Exploring How Value‐Creation Perceptions Across the Internal Triad Influence Identity and Impact

New value‐creation opportunities mean the future of supply chain management (SCM) is bright. Growing C‐suite sponsorship for supply chain contributions to enterprise value creation is a positive factor for the future of the discipline. However, rising C‐suite requests mean that supply chain professionals must manage an internal triad of relationships: horizontally with peer functions and vertically with C‐level executives. How well supply chain professionals manage this triad will determine SCM's future role in strategic initiatives. We use procurement to exemplify the opportunities and challenges that confront a maturing supply chain discipline. Focus studies conducted with procurement managers and peer functional managers combined with C‐suite interviews reveal: (1) great opportunities for cementing SCM's value‐creation role; and (2) existing gaps hinder identity construction and professional contribution.     

基于供应链环境的采购管理策略研究

在供应链环境下,采购商与供应商之间的关系已经发生了深刻变化,双方之间开始形成合作共赢的关系。在供应链环境下,采购活动已转为以订单驱动方式进行,采购管理的重点转向了外部资源管理,并且促进了采购流程增值,库存管理方式也发生了重大改变。在供应链环境下,采购管理策略的制定应考虑价格等关键因素;要深刻认识采购方与供应商间的建立战略合作关系;库存管理应趋向精细化发展。从而更好地提高企业竞争力、降低总成本,实现采购方和供应商的双赢。     

Modern management accounting for modern purchasing

In this article, the development of management accounting is connected to purchasing and supply management. The accounting system can act as a strong enabler as well as a barrier to the development of purchasing. A number of measures are identified and discussed leading to the conclusion that there are some highly interesting and relevant new techniques available. Using these, it should be possible to foster a stronger relationship focus in the purchasing function, which would enable managers to carry out a segmented approach to purchasing and supply management. Today, however, it would appear that managers largely fail to take advantage of these techniques.     

Supply management's involvement in the target costing process

This article investigates the role of purchasing/supply management in the target costing process. It is based on case studies of eleven firms that use target costing. In addition to exploring the role of purchasing, purchasing's interface with suppliers was investigated.Research results indicate that supply management plays a substantial role throughout the target costing process. Its contribution is particularly critical at the initial stages, when developing component level target costs, and when activities/modifications are occurring to achieve target costs. Supply management also plays a lead role in managing, monitoring and improving costs.Importantly, there is no single function that is more important than others in target costing. A cross-functional team approach, including suppliers, is critical to the long-term success of target costing efforts.     

浅谈设备招标采购的影响要素及全过程管理

目前,动乱不定的供货管理、缺少完善的市场竞争机制、过于繁杂的采购程序、采购商之间仍存在着不合理不公平等因素,直接或者间接影响了设备的供应,主要表现为:质量没保证、价位不统一、市场无秩序等在这样的环境下,企业为了了生存,为了能够最大程度的节约成本,以获得最终的效益,通过深入研究.在不断的摸索和总结下,制定了一套具有时代性的科学管理方案,尤其是在处于企业最源头地位的设备采购环节,如何掌控好采购成本的最优化成了当前的首要问题、随着改革的发展,企业设备采购也发生了很大程度上的变化一改变了以往被动地接受调动系统指令进行发电的局面,逐步转向市场竞争化.从而,如何正确认识设备招标采购的各个影响因素和每个过程也就给企业带来了机遇和挑战.本文就设备招标采购中的影响要素及全过程的管理进行探讨分析.     

Ethical Challenges in the Two Main Segments of the Insurance Industry: Key Considerations in the Evolving Financial Services Marketplace

Based on the findings of several research studies of professionals in both the property-liability insurance industry and the life insurance industry, the paper makes and supports several important points. First, ethical challenges in the insurance industry involve not only a series of ethical dilemmas frequently faced by those working in the business, but also a variety of factors that hinder those working in the industry as they seek to resolve the ethical dilemmas encountered in the course of their work. Both of these two components of ethical challenges must be understood by those in the financial services industry who will deal with insurance operations in the future. Second, whereas the life insurance business and the property-liability insurance business have traditionally been viewed as being quite different from one another and still are in terms of operations and regulation, the research findings show that they are no longer very different in terms of the key ethical challenges faced by those working in the two segments of the industry. The paper shows how during the past decade the ethical challenges in the property-liability insurance industry have become quite similar to those in the more troubled life insurance industry.     

Anticounterfeiting Strategies and Their Influence on Attitudes of Different Counterfeit Consumer Types

This article reports the findings of two studies that were designed to determine the effectiveness of several anticounterfeiting strategies on the counterfeit purchasing behavior of the participants, through a mixed methods research approach. In Study 1, in‐depth interviews were conducted with 50 consumers of counterfeit brands in order to investigate their attitudes. Drawing on the results, which revealed four different consumer types (struggle, spurious, indifferent, and liberated), Study 2 was undertaken with a further 128 consumers (32 from each type) to further define each group's type and identify the best anticounterfeit strategies suited to each. The findings suggest that counterfeit purchasing may be reduced if a specific strategy is adapted to suit each typology. Overall, positive rather than negative strategies were found to be more effective for the struggle and spurious consumers compared with indifferent and liberated consumers. The findings also reveal that the acquisition of affordable genuine merchandise may be the key to preventing counterfeit purchasing.     

Relational competence and strategic procurement management: Towards an entrepreneurial and contractual theory of the firm

This article explains what a strategic procurement management approach to effective business strategy is. This proactive approach is contrasted with current reactive and simplistic approaches to purchasing and supply management. A proactive approach to business management requires firms to recognise that their boundaries need to constantly change in response to consumer preferences; and, that the most effective operational tool for deciding on the “effective boundaries” of the firm will be based on analysing types of relational competences. This approach links competences, relationships and asset specificity in order to procure a supply and value chain which reduces the costs of transactions and improves profitability.     

Purchasing performance evaluation: with data envelopment analysis

Because of supply chain management and other factors, purchasing's performance is considered an important element of corporate performance. Nonetheless, the measurement of purchasing performance, and comparing that performance to other purchasing departments has proven to be very difficult. These difficulties stem from the lack of valid measurement criteria and adequate methodologies to aggregate individual performance measures into a single index of overall performance. Many methodologies are unable to account for the relative importance of performance measures, which varies among firms.This paper examines the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which has demonstrated potential as a management tool to overcome the shortcomings of other techniques and to help purchasing executives improve the efficiency of their operations. A DEA model was developed to compare the purchasing efficiency of firms in the petroleum industry. The model introduces one more method by which managers can obtain information to assist in the decision making process.