Ethics in outsourcing of procurement: a case study in a professional services firm

Marcio Panassol and Gilmar Masiero

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2025, vol. 23, issue 2, 147-167

Abstract: Global economic changes have heightened competitiveness, prompting organisations to prioritise their 'core competencies' while seeking business partners to handle 'non-core' activities. This article presents a case study of a professional services firm that outsourced its procurement function, aiming to assess the need for and implementation of changes in its ethics and compliance program. The case study is organised into three sections: a review of relevant literature on ethics and procurement outsourcing activities; an examination of technical documents from the service firm; and interviews with three executives possessing practical experience in the field. Based on the literature review and empirical field study, it was observed that although there were appropriate changes in the firm's governance structure, no substantial modifications were made to the compliance and ethical program. The study underscores the importance of considering compliance and ethical programs when implementing changes, particularly in the context of the firm's governance structure.

Keywords: ethics outsourcing; make or buy; procurement outsourcing; professional services; core competencies; compliance programs; governance structures; supply chain resilience; risk management; overregulation; sustainable procurement; Brazil. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=145894 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijpman:v:23:y:2025:i:2:p:147-167

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Procurement Management from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().