Abstract

Experience in conducting business over a period of time with participants in a global supply chain inevitably leads to the development of perceptions on a variety of matters regarding the member’s of the supply chain’s present and future conduct. This paper is an exploratory research study of the perceptions of global supply chain managers. A survey was conducted of 40 organizations with global supply chains for this study. The purpose is to explore the perceptions of cultural differences related to ethical conduct in business, the development of trust relationships within a global supply chain, and the impact on operations and business performance. The results of this survey reveal a significant positive relationship between the perceptions of ethical values and trust. The results show a negative relationship on operations and business performance when perceptions of ethical values and trust are low. Based on this research the authors suggest a “distrust bullwhip effect” that can make global operations dysfunctional, eventually leading to their discontinuation.