RUNNING HEAD: ETHICS AMONG SUPPLY CHAIN 1
Perceptions of Ethics Among Supply Chain Management Professionals
BUSI 613: Supply Chain Management
Emily Stogner
Liberty University
Author’s Purpose
PERCEPTIONS OF ETHICS AMONG SCM PROFESSIONALS 2
Many studies have been constructed on professionals and how they view ethics. One area
of interest in these studies is how professional backgrounds affect the perception of ethical
behavior. Statistics have explored ethical business cultures determined by job title such as
executives all the way to non-managers. They have also looked at the effects of gender, religion,
career, and education level (Heller, Heller, & Burch, 2014).
The authors of this study have determined that there is a lack of scientific study done on
how these factors affect the supply chain management field. In the study, they look at three
factors: gender, tenure and education level, to determine how they affect perceptions of ethics in
supply chain management (Heller et al., 2014).
Application
Many factors go into a person’s ability to make ethical decisions. Gender, culture and
education are three factors that have influences on professional’s perceptions of ethics. In studies
done of gender and ethics, it has been shown that women are more ethical than men. However,
during the Heller (2014) study, they found that gender had little to no effect on ethical decision
making. Education affects ethical decision making according to multiple studies, including the
one done by Heller (2014).
Due to the recent wave of corporate scandals, colleges and universities are beginning to
see the value in teaching business ethics in school. In a study done on how teaching ethics affects
the outcome of employee’s perceptions, they found that there are four objectives: raising ethical
awareness among students, understanding core values, expanding knowledge of ethics, and
creating and understanding of the ongoing ethical process during life (Nguyen, Basuray, Smith,
Kopka, & McCulloh, 2008). This study showed that business ethics education had a positive
impact on ethical behavior in the corporate world. Lastly, statistics show that culture and ethics
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are linked and show “that cultural differences do have an impact on the perception and awareness
of the ethical consequences to business practices” (Ahmed, Chung, & Eichenseher, 2003). Ethics
can be different across cultures and with the rising trend in globalization, an important aspect in
global business to be aware of. Businesses who are aware of these differences are able to
successfully have a global impact that remains ethical across different cultures.
Background of the Issue
The objective of supply chain management (SCM) is to connect suppliers and consumers
while ensuring that corporate has successful interaction with the market and is flexible when it
comes to manufacturing and delivering goods and services to the public (Heller et al., 2014).
This discipline has developed recently and is viewed as a vital role in creating an edge in the
global market. The ultimate goal of supply chain management is to produce and sell products in
the most cost efficient way.
Ethical issues are not secluded from SCM. Many situations exist within the practice and
can either be created by the corporation or the employee. For example, the sales department is
encouraged to exhaust their resources getting the greatest edge over competitors during
negotiations. This can create ethical dilemmas due to the acceptance of favors in order to sign
with agents. However, individuals can also be approached with ethical situations due to the
advantages of preferential treatment for personal gain that sometimes occurs within the business
(Heller et al., 2014).
Managerial Implications
To foster a positive ethical environment in SCM, managers should incorporate ethical
teaching and rewards as incentives to maintaining ethical decisions among employees. In the
studies done on how ethics education affects future business employees, there is a clear positive
PERCEPTIONS OF ETHICS AMONG SCM PROFESSIONALS 4
impact. Managers should continue ethics teaching by incorporating discussions of ethical
theories and the importance of social responsibility (Nguyen et al., 2008). These could be done
quarterly or annually. In the teaching profession, it is required to have ethics training annually.
This is to remind employees of the expectations set up by the Board of Education. Similar
responsibilities should be established in the business world, requiring employees to continue
their education on ethical decision making and how it affects not only themselves but the
workplace as well.
Managers should prioritize the promotion of sustainability and social responsibility in
SCM in order to improve their social standing in today’s world. Businesses are seeing an
increase in consumers desiring to buy ethically produced goods. Consumers are so motivated by
ethically sourced products that they are willing to pay more for them. Advice for managers
would be to take notice of these trends because studies have shown a financial benefit to
becoming an ethical and sustainable business.
Summary
Many factors affect a person’s ability to make ethical decisions in the heat of the moment.
Studies have been done on all of these factors including gender, cultural background, and
education level. However, the most glaringly obvious solution after reading these articles would
be for the upper levels of the supply chain to implement ethical practices in the workplace as
well as creating sustainable and ethically sourced products for consumers. With these in place,
businesses can encourage their employees to make ethically moral choices due to the mission of
the entire company. Supply chain management employees find themselves in many scenarios
where ethical decisions are forced to be made. However, creating an ethically moral climate in
the workplace will reduce the amount of unethical decisions made by all levels. Creating this
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climate should start at the top, where it will trickle down to all employees and even consumers
and create a business to consumer experience that is sure to attract customers for years to come.
References
Ahmed, M. M., Chung, K. Y., & Eichenseher, J. W. (2003). Business students' perception of
ethics and moral judgment: A cross-cultural study. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(1/2),
89-102. doi:10.1023/A:1022915316112
Heller, J., Heller, N., and Burch, G. (2014). Perceptions of ethics among supply chain
management professionals. Academy of Business Research Journal, 4, 90-102.
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Gensler, A. (2015, July 28). Trust is the most powerful currency in business. Retrieved from
https://fortune.com/2015/07/28/trust-business-leadership/.
Young (2017). Supply chain management (Custom ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Create. ISBN: 9781309072783.
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