Should you buy your customer's values? On the transfer of moral values in industrial purchasing

This article discusses a transfer of moral values between purchasing and supplying organisation in the manufacturing sector. In the first part, the relevant literature is discussed to glean criteria, which could facilitate such a transfer. Given a scarcity of research into ethics in purchasing, the literature review is extended into related fields, such as total quality management, environmental purchasing in retailing and minority vendor programmes in the U.S. In the second part, the question is raised whether such a transfer can at all lay claim to being of moral value. The process is screened against established ethical theories, which are found to support it. Finally, the financial impact of such a policy on the supplier is considered.