Gender, family background, cynicism and ethical sensitivity of future procurement professionals in a developing country context: evidence from Ugandan universities
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Ethics and Systems
Abstract
Some scholars argue that ethical awareness increases alongside work experience,whereas others
agree that ethics education shapes ethical awareness and that cheating in college predicts unethical behaviour
in subsequent professional environment. The purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the level and
antecedents of ethical sensitivity of future procurement professionals.
Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory descriptive survey of a sample of 303 final year
procurement students from the two largest public Universities in Uganda was conducted. Using Statistical
Package for (SPSS) and Amos Version 27, data were analysed by using means, standard deviations,
exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and correlation analysis.
Findings – The study revealed that future procurement professionals exhibit low levels of ethical
sensitivity. However, contrary to the general observations from the extant literature, gender and family
background of students do not determine both ethical sensitivity and cynicism. Moreover, this study
establishes that cynicism is positively associated with instances that depict low ethical sensitivity.
Research limitations/implications – This paper contributes to providing an empirical
understanding of the derivation of unethical behaviour in procurement practice. Grounded in
Aristotle’s organic theory of state and moral habituation, this argues that future procurement
professionals posses natural proclivities that trigger their social instincts and membership to multiple
associations in actualising their innate potential for ethical behaviour. This supports the notion that
humans are potentially virtuous, whereby morality is learned, imitated, emerges and perfects through
repetitive actions and is therefore incremental.
Practical implications – The findings mirror what prevails in practice in Uganda, where procurement
practitioners have been implicated in unethical practices regardless of their gender and family background.
This signals that managers should not recruit or deploy procurement personnel based on gender or family
background.
Originality/value – While research on ethical sensitivity of students has been focussed on other
disciplines such as accounting, nursing and other business studies, this paper focusses on ethical
sensitivity of procurement students aspiring to join a professional environment that is severely marred
with unethical practices. Further, Aristotle’s moral habituation and organic theory of state invoked in this
study underline the synergies of both nature and nurturing in inculcating ethicality in procurement
professionals.
Description
Keywords
Ethical sensitivity, Procurement, Gender, Family background, Cynicism, Developing country, Universities
Citation
Tukamuhabwa, B. R., Mbago, M., Mutebi, H., & Kyoshabire, M. (2023). Gender, family background, cynicism and ethical sensitivity of future procurement professionals in a developing country context: evidence from Ugandan universities. International Journal of Ethics and Systems, 39(1), 81-106. DOI 10.1108/IJOES-10-2020-0167