An investigation of moral judgement of Chinese purchasing professionals

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.