Role of ethics in supply chain management of oil marketing firms in Kenya

Abstract

The objective of the study was to establish the role of ethics in supply chain management of oil marketing companies in Kenya and how ethics can be used to improve the supply chain process. The study considered all the fifty one oil marketing companies who pass their products through Kenya Pipeline system. A sample size of 500 respondents were selected using stratified random sampling for the supply chain practitioners in these companies Primary data was collected from 434 respondents through a survey by use of research administered questionnaires and subjected to rigorous data processing and analysis using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS). Business practices, relativism and idealism were identified as independent variables while ethical measures as dependent variable. The findings revealed that there is positive association between business practices, relativism and ethical measures. However, the research revealed that there is an insignificant negative association between idealism and ethical measures. It was noted that relativism (Beta = 0.731) is more influential at explaining ethical behaviour than business practices The study recommends that ethical behaviour concepts like honesty, integrity, probity, diligence, fairness, confidentiality, trust and respect should be encouraged, monitored and evaluated. It recommends that supply chain organizations and managers should institute ethics principles, moral standards, ethics training, ethics culture, code of ethics for their supply chain practitioners to establish integrity in the supply chain process. The study suggest that organizations should focus training not only on informing employees about compliance with regulations, but also on encouraging employees to v behave in a way that is conducive to a strong ethical culture. The findings were also instructive in pointing out how organizations can tailor their ethics training to different levels of employees. Further research is recommended that will consider other variables other than business practices, relativism and idealism. The research recommended that longitudinal study should be carried out to find out the role of ethics over long period of time.