An empirical study of relationships between professionalism and other characteristics of purchasing manager

The problem. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the self-perceived professionalism of purchasing managers and (1) the stage at which they enter the buying process, (2) the tactics they use when interacting with others in the buying process, (3) their professional association involvement, (4) their biographical characteristics, and (5) their upward mobility within the purchasing organization.;Method. A correlational study was conducted utilizing 327 purchasing managers who represented a national cross-section of industrial procurement professionals. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used for the purpose of determining self-perceived professionalism as it relates to the stage at which the purchasing manager enters the buying process, the tactics they use when interacting with others in the buying process and their biographical data. The questionnaire also dealt with professional association involvement as well as with the relationship between biographical data and the upward mobility of purchasing managers.;Results. This first hypothesis, which predicted that purchasing managers high in self-perceived professionalism would be found to enter the buying process at an early stage was supported (101 out of 327 purchasing managers enter at stage one). The second hypothesis, which predicted that purchasing managers high in self-perceived professionalism use rule-oriented rather than rule-evading tactics was supported by a significant correlation beyond the.0005 level of significance. The third hypothesis, which predicted that purchasing managers of greater self-perceived professionalism share certain biographical data was also supported. Significant correlations were exhibited relative to age, job tenure and salary. The fourth hypothesis, which predicted that purchasing managers with a high degree of professional association involvement use rule-evading rather than rule-oriented tactics, was not supported. Lastly, the fifth hypothesis, which predicted that a purchasing manager's biographical characteristics are related to his or her upward mobility within the purchasing organization was supported. Significant correlations were exhibited between number of salary increases received in the last five years and the ages of the purchasing managers.