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Ethics and Purchasing Dilemma: A Singaporean View

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Abstract

Emergence of purchasing as a strategic function has not only broadened the scope of purchasing, it has also changed the responsibilities of the purchasing managers by empowering them to spend large sums of money in procuring goods and services. However, this has also presented them with an array of ethical dilemmas involving questionable purchasing practices. This study proposes a framework to examine ethicality of decision making when faced with such dilemmas and presents the results of a survey conducted to assess the ethical inclinations of purchasers operating in Singapore. The results give credence to the notion that ethicality of behavior is culture-specific and reconfirms the existence of ethical relativism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Mohammed Abdur Razzaque

  2. Department of Marketing, National University of Singapore, 15 Law Link, Singapore, 117591

    Tan Piak Hwee

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  1. Mohammed Abdur Razzaque
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  2. Tan Piak Hwee
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Razzaque, M.A., Hwee, T.P. Ethics and Purchasing Dilemma: A Singaporean View. Journal of Business Ethics 35, 307–326 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013853021571

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