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Managing Conflict of Interest Issues in Purchasing
Author(s) -
Handfield Robert B.,
Baumer David L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of supply chain management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.75
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1745-493X
pISSN - 1523-2409
DOI - 10.1111/j.1745-493x.2006.00016.x
Subject(s) - conflict of interest , purchasing , sanctions , business , conflict management , ethical code , maturity (psychological) , code of conduct , marketing , public relations , political science , finance , law
SUMMARY One of the most important elements of ethical purchasing behavior is conflict of interest. In response to the heightened regulatory environment, many organizations have initiated reviews of their conflict of interest policies and ethical codes of behavior in supply management. The goal of the current exploratory study is to determine the most common approaches used to promote compliance with ethical codes of conduct (specifically conflict of interest policies) in supply management. Questionnaires were administered to eight “typical” Fortune 500 companies. Current conflicts of interest policies were identified, in addition to spotlighting common approaches to enforcing ethical behavior, including multiple communication and reporting channels, formal procedures, effective sanctions against violators and regular training of employees in ethical policies. Survey results were used to generate a scoring system that compares the overall level of ethics management maturity based on profiles of the companies studied in the research.