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Ethical and Moral Dilemmas Associated with Strategic Relationships between Business-to-Business Buyers and Sellers

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  • Nigel Piercy
  • Nikala Lane

Abstract

While ethical and moral issues have been widely considered in the general areas of marketing and sales, similar attention has not been given to the impact of strategic account management (SAM) approaches to handling the relationships between suppliers and veryâ\x90£large customers. SAM approaches have been widelyâ\x90£adopted by suppliers as a mechanism for managingâ\x90£relationships and partnerships with dominant customersâ\x90£â€“ characterized by high levels of buyer–seller inter-dependence and forms of collaborative partnership. Observation suggests that the perceived moral intensity ofâ\x90£these relationships is commonly low, notwithstanding the underlying principles of benefiting the few (large, strategic customers) at the expense of the many (smaller customers and other stakeholders), and the magnitude of the consequences of concessions made to large customers, even though some such consequences may be unintended. Dilemmas exist also for executives implementing strategic account relationships regarding such issues as information sharing, trust, and hidden incentives for unethical behaviour. We propose the need for greater transparency and senior management questioning of the ethical and moral issues implicit in strategic account management. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2007

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  • Nigel Piercy & Nikala Lane, 2007. "Ethical and Moral Dilemmas Associated with Strategic Relationships between Business-to-Business Buyers and Sellers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 72(1), pages 87-102, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:72:y:2007:i:1:p:87-102
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-006-9158-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Leonidou, Constantinos N. & Leonidou, Leonidas C. & Coudounaris, Dafnis N. & Hultman, Magnus, 2013. "Value differences as determinants of importers’ perceptions of exporters’ unethical behavior: The impact on relationship quality and performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 156-173.
    3. John K. Ashton & Andrew D. Pressey, 2012. "Who Manages Cartels? The Role of Sales and Marketing Managers within International Cartels: Evidence from the European Union 1990-2009," Working Paper series, University of East Anglia, Centre for Competition Policy (CCP) 2012-11, Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK..
    4. Willy Bolander & William J. Zahn & Terry W. Loe & Melissa Clark, 2017. "Managing New Salespeople’s Ethical Behaviors during Repetitive Failures: When Trying to Help Actually Hurts," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 519-532, September.
    5. M. Paula Fitzgerald & Cait Poynor Lamberton & Michael F. Walsh, 2016. "Will I Pay for Your Pleasure? Consumers’ Perceptions of Negative Externalities and Responses to Pigovian Taxes," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(3), pages 355-377.
    6. Chieh‐Wen Sheng & Ming‐Chia Chen, 2010. "The influence of environmental practices on ethical attitudes: internal principles vs external factors," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 510-521, October.
    7. Joseph McKinney & Tisha Emerson & Mitchell Neubert, 2010. "The Effects of Ethical Codes on Ethical Perceptions of Actions Toward Stakeholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 97(4), pages 505-516, December.
    8. Nicholas McClaren, 2013. "The Personal Selling and Sales Management Ethics Research: Managerial Implications and Research Directions from a Comprehensive Review of the Empirical Literature," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 101-125, January.

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