Title: An investigation of moral judgement of Chinese purchasing professionals

Authors: Yi-Hui Ho; Chieh-Yu Lin

Addresses: Department of International Business, Chang Jung Christian University, No. 1, Changda Rd., Gueiren District, Tainan City 71101, Taiwan ' Department of International Business, Chang Jung Christian University, No. 1, Changda Rd., Gueiren District, Tainan City 71101, Taiwan

Abstract: This paper aims to examine moral judgement of purchasing professionals in China. To maintain good buyer-supplier relationships with Chinese companies, it is necessary to understand Chinese purchasing professionals' perceptions of ethics. While considerable attention has been paid to purchasing ethics, only a few attempts were made on investigating moral judgement of purchasing professionals in emerging economies. This study utilised the defining issues test to analyse moral judgement of purchasing professionals in China. Research findings reveal that Chinese purchasing professionals focus more on the conventional level than on the post-conventional level of moral judgement. The influences of age, gender, educational level, purchasing experiences, international experiences, management level, material category, company size, and industry type on Chinese purchasing professionals' moral judgement were also investigated in this study. The research results would be helpful for international businesses to understand Chinese purchasing professionals' perceptions of ethics in business negotiation occasions.

Keywords: purchasing professionals; moral judgement; defining issues test; DIT; China; morality; buyer-supplier relationships; ethics; emerging economies; business negotiations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2014.064737

International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2014 Vol.9 No.3, pp.269 - 292

Received: 16 Nov 2013
Accepted: 02 Jun 2014
Published online: 31 Mar 2015 *

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