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The dark side of buyer power: supplier exploitation and the role of ethical climates

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 21:05 authored by Martin Schleper, Constantin Blome, David A Wuttke
Media increasingly accuse firms of exploiting suppliers, and these allegations often result in lurid headlines that threaten the reputations and therefore business successes of these firms. Neither has the phenomenon of supplier exploitation been investigated from a rigorous, ethical standpoint, nor have answers been provided regarding why some firms pursue exploitative approaches. By systemically contrasting economic liberalism and just prices as two divergent perspectives on supplier exploitation, we introduce a distinction of common business practice and unethical supplier exploitation. Since supplier exploitation is based on power, we elucidate several levels of power as antecedents and investigate the role of ethical climate as a moderator. This study extends Victor and Cullen’s (1988) ethical climate matrix according to a supply chain dimension and is summarized in an integrated, conceptual model of five propositions for future theory testing. Results provide a frame of reference for executives and scholars, who can now delineate unethical exploitation and understand important antecedents of the phenomenon better.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Journal of Business Ethics

ISSN

0167-4544

Publisher

Springer Verlag

Issue

1

Volume

140

Page range

97-114

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2015-06-12

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2021-03-05

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