Ethics In Negotiation
I am concerned that the latest resource, entitled "Negotiation, Ethics, & You" might be controversial. Ethical issues usually are.
You see, with laws, there are usually specific and clear boundaries. These boundaries are codified. With ethics, the boundaries are not as clear. Ethics can be largely a matter of opinion.
Though I know this can be a controversial topic, I published my thoughts anyway. Not to offend anyone. But rather to spark some interesting discussion.
The FREE Purchasing Resources Program currently has about 10,000 subscribers. These subscribers are purchasing professionals from throughout the world. They have different opinions, different cultures, and different customs.
This is a great opportunity to see how diverse our opinions are. See the "Comment" link below this post? Click on it to read the opinions of others and/or to add your own comments.
And if you really want to learn a lot about negotiation, don't forget to consider taking our new class: "Powerful Negotiation For Successful Buying."
I look forward to hearing what you have to say.
Respectfully,
Charles Dominick, C.P.M., SPSM
President
Next Level Purchasing, Inc.
posted by Charles Dominick, SPSM @ 2:37 PM
2 comments
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2 Comments:
This is another relevant issue and I'm a little disapointed to see such a poor response from the buyer community to these blogs. This is a chance for us to share our ideas and help raise standards within the function and its' cost-effective!
Now I'm gonna be honest. I was a liar, an exaggerator, an open book, a cheap date...all before becoming a professional.
When I first started purchasing I was given a desk, a phone and a kardex with suppliers contact details and told to buy what I could off existing contracts and get the best deal possible on everything else and at the time "everything else" was 75% of the companys bought-in goods. I was even instructed to utilise some of the unethical practices by senior buyers to improve deals.
The point is, back then, and this still applies in some organisations, no training whatsoever was given to new buyers never mind continous professional development.And there was no organised buying communities to network with. I paid a lot of money out of my own pocket to take a one year course in purchasing(the only course available at that time) because I knew there had to be a better way.
Unfortunately this state of affairs still holds true in numerous companys, especially when staff who are not primarily purchasers procure goods.
Trained purchasers have an obligation to highlight low standards and point the way to a more professional approach that will lead to long-term efficiencies and profitable relationships with the supplier base.
This is a touchy topic. I agree with most of your statments. I have only been in the Purchasing fiels for about 2 years. In that time I have never been given any formal training. I took over at a company as Purchasing Manager. The previous manager had a book tht contained all of our vendor contact information. When he left the book disappeared. I had to start from scratch. This company was a little different from the norm. We manufacture containers to transport fresh nuclear fuel. On many of our work orders, we were required to use only an audited source. These sources were the only contacts that I had. Over the course of the 2 years that I was the Purchasing Manager, I developed many new suppliers. I had my favorites, of course. The ones that consistanly provided on time deliveries and followed our PO contracts to the letter. At time I have used all of the "unethical" practices that was described. This was what was expected of me by the president of our company. I received many gifts from the vendors. If the gift was something that was usable to me, I would keep it. I would pass out most of these item to the guys in the manufacturing shop (after all they are the ones that are making the money). I have had lunch and dinner with many of the vendors. I have never considered this to be unethical. This would in no way influence my judgement for awarding our PO contracts. I have many times "played" one vendor against the other to acheive my best price and delivery promise. Again, I never considered this as unethical. The one that I always tried to stay away from was the exaggerator. If I knew for sure that there would be another job coming down the pike, I would use this as leverage. If it was unsure if we would be awarded the work order, I would let my vendors know that.
I think that as a Purchasing professional, we need to look not at the fact that we are using these tactics, but to be fair about how they are being used. Most of the sales agents that I have dealt with over the years, can tell if we are "blowing smoke".
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