IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v72y2007i1p87-102.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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

Suggested Citation

  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10551-006-9158-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-006-9158-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carroll, Archie B., 1991. "The pyramid of corporate social responsibility: Toward the moral management of organizational stakeholders," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 39-48.
    2. Singhapakdi, Anusorn, 1999. "Perceived Importance of Ethics and Ethical Decisions in Marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 89-99, May.
    3. Desmond, John & Crane, Andrew, 2004. "Morality and the consequences of marketing action," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 1222-1230, November.
    4. Cherry, John & Fraedrich, John, 2002. "Perceived risk, moral philosophy and marketing ethics: mediating influences on sales managers' ethical decision-making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(12), pages 951-962, December.
    5. Anthony J. Daboub & Jerry M. Calton, 2002. "Stakeholder Learning Dialogues: How to Preserve Ethical Responsibility in Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 85-98, November.
    6. Fry, Marie-Louise & Polonsky, Michael Jay, 2004. "Examining the unintended consequences of marketing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(11), pages 1303-1306, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mufaddal Baxamusa & Sudip Datta & Anand Jha, 2021. "Does policy uncertainty increase relational risks? Evidence from strategic alliances," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(3), pages 645-689, September.
    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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Paul Ziek, 2009. "Making sense of CSR communication," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 137-145, May.
    2. Watkins, Alison & Hill, Ronald Paul, 2011. "Morality in marketing: Oxymoron or good business practice?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 922-927, August.
    3. Peter Mudrack & E. Mason, 2013. "Ethical Judgments: What Do We Know, Where Do We Go?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 575-597, July.
    4. Lee, Eun Mi & Park, Seong-Yeon & Rapert, Molly I. & Newman, Christopher L., 2012. "Does perceived consumer fit matter in corporate social responsibility issues?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1558-1564.
    5. Agata Rudnicka & Janusz Reichel, 2012. "Improvement of social and environmental dimensions of quality in the context of ISO 26000 standard (Doskonalenie jakoœci organizacji w wymiarze spo³ecznym i œrodowiskowym w kontekœcie normy ISO 26000)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 10(37), pages 84-93.
    6. Daewook Kim & Myung-Il Choi, 2013. "A Comparison of Young Publics’ Evaluations of Corporate Social Responsibility Practices of Multinational Corporations in the United States and South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 105-118, March.
    7. Mariya Georgieva, 2020. "About the Corporate Social Responsibility Beyond the Framework of Charity," Izvestia Journal of the Union of Scientists - Varna. Economic Sciences Series, Union of Scientists - Varna, Economic Sciences Section, vol. 9(1), pages 35-44, April.
    8. Meyer, Margit & Waßmann, Jan, 2011. "Strategische Corporate Social Responsibility. Konzeptionelle Entwicklung und Implementierung in der Praxis am Beispiel 'dm-drogerie markt'," Research Papers on Marketing Strategy 3/2011, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Lehrstuhl für BWL und Marketing.
    9. Hangeun Lee & Seong Ho Lee, 2019. "The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Long-Term Relationships in the Business-to-Business Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-12, September.
    10. Juelin Yin & Yuli Zhang, 2012. "Institutional Dynamics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in an Emerging Country Context: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 301-316, December.
    11. Asif Khan & Chih-Cheng Chen & Kwanrat Suanpong & Athapol Ruangkanjanases & Santhaya Kittikowit & Shih-Chih Chen, 2021. "The Impact of CSR on Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Second-Order Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, November.
    12. Jared Peifer, 2014. "Fund Loyalty Among Socially Responsible Investors: The Importance of the Economic and Ethical Domains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 121(4), pages 635-649, June.
    13. WANG Jifu & GUPTA Vipin & LYBOLT Liza & WANG Xiuli, 2022. "Corrected Game Model In Csr: Mnc Strategies And Chinese Practice," Studies in Business and Economics, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 17(3), pages 269-287, December.
    14. Gupta, Shruti & Pirsch, Julie, 2008. "The influence of a retailer's corporate social responsibility program on re-conceptualizing store image," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 516-526.
    15. Diane Sharratt & Bitten H. Brigham & Martin Brigham, 2007. "The Utility of Social Obligations in the UK Energy Industry," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(8), pages 1503-1522, December.
    16. Cedric Dawkins, 2010. "Beyond Wages and Working Conditions: A Conceptualization of Labor Union Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 95(1), pages 129-143, August.
    17. Ewa Grzegorzewska-Ramocka, 2009. "Cele ekonomiczne i społeczne przedsiębiorstwa," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 7-8, pages 59-78.
    18. Mohammad Nurunnabi & Yazeed Alfakhri & Demah H. Alfakhri, 2018. "Consumer perceptions and corporate social responsibility: what we know so far," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 15(2), pages 161-187, June.
    19. Asif Mahmood & Rana Tahir Naveed & Naveed Ahmad & Miklas Scholz & Muhammad Khalique & Mohammad Adnan, 2021. "Unleashing the Barriers to CSR Implementation in the SME Sector of a Developing Economy: A Thematic Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    20. Vincenzo Formisano & Bernardino Quattrociocchi & Maria Fedele & Mario Calabrese, 2018. "From Viability to Sustainability: The Contribution of the Viable Systems Approach (VSA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:72:y:2007:i:1:p:87-102. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.