Resident work hours: is there such a thing as a free lunch?

International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management © Copyright January 1996, by the National Association of Purchasing Management, Inc. Analysis of data from 179 respondents indicated that the concept of the business lunch is alive and well among both purchasing and sales professionals. Neither the purchasing nor sales professionals believed that there was a possibility for a high level of ethical conflict in a majority of the business lunch scenarios they were asked to consider. However, there were significant differences between the sales and purchasing people when asked about the legitimate purposes of the lunch. Moreover, female purchasers were more likely to disagree with the social purposes of the business lunch than were their male counterparts. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are d i s c u s s e d .