scholarly journals Leveraging Digital Approaches for Transparency in Sustainable Supply Chains: A Conceptual Paper

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6129
Author(s):  
Frank Ebinger ◽  
Bramwel Omondi

With the growing global interdependence of companies, their scope of responsibility for the environmental, social, and human rights impacts associated with their activities is also growing. In this context, companies are increasingly held accountable for social and ecological issues that lie within the sphere of action of their suppliers and sub-suppliers. They are thus faced with the challenge of meeting these demands for transparency, traceability, and compliance with standards in their Supply Chains (SCs). Based on the theoretical framework of Sustainable Supply Chain Transparency (SSCT) in Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM), this conceptual article aims at initiating the discussion on digitalization in SSCM. Therefore, a heuristical research framework, based on relevant fields in the management of sustainability oriented transparency (governance, cooperation and partner selection, traceability/tracking, and strategic and operational risk assessment) is developed. In relation to these fields, consequently, data-driven digital approaches are identified to which potentials for SSCT and control can be attributed. This initial analysis of existing digital approaches already shows that the market is developing dynamically, but is driven more by individual initiatives. In many cases, the approaches used so far are still in the trial phase or offer only limited solutions. Therefore, this paper contributes by giving an overview of the current application of the digitalization approaches in SSCM pinning our discussion on SSCT dimensions.

Author(s):  
Jay R. Brown ◽  
Maxim A. Bushuev ◽  
Andrey A. Kretinin ◽  
Alfred L. Guiffrida

In today's supply chains, green and sustainable business practices have become an integral part of long-term strategy as well as the day-to-day operations, and sourcing and logistics play fundamental roles in ensuring the success of sustainable supply chains. In this chapter, we review recent research on three classes of decision models that are used in the logistics and sourcing functions of sustainable supply chains. Specifically, we examine and summarize recent developments in sustainable decision models for supplier selection, inventory lot-sizing, and last-mile delivery. Our review of the green and sustainable features found in these three models results in a single-source consolidation of models used in sustainable sourcing and logistics. This review may prove useful to researchers who focus on sustainable supply chain management and to practitioners who seek to expand their toolkit of models for the management and control of their supply chain.


Author(s):  
Qingyun Zhu ◽  
Joseph Sarkis

Products and their associated material, capital, and information are critical flows within supply chains. Supply chain management needs to facilitate product portfolio management. Some example activities include material sourcing, product design and manufacture, product delivery and transportation, product usage, and service. Closing the supply-chain loop, especially for sustainable supply chains, include end-of-life disposal and repurposing activities. Sustainable supply chain development typically focuses on three major dimensions of organizational competitiveness, economic, social, and environmental. Organizations make product deletion continuously. These decisions can profoundly contribute to sustainability. Alternatively, sustainability performance of various supply chain process and product or material flows may also be strategic product deletion reasons. This chapter will review the integration of product deletion with sustainable supply chain management. It will entail the impact of product deletion on sustainable supply chains.


2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Varsei ◽  
Claudine Soosay ◽  
Behnam Fahimnia ◽  
Joseph Sarkis

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a framework which can assist focal companies in the development of sustainable supply chains. Sustainable development from an industrial perspective has extended beyond organisational boundaries to incorporate a supply chain approach. Design/methodology/approach – The literature related to sustainable supply chain management is reviewed by incorporating concepts from four organisational theories, including the resource-based, institutional, stakeholder and social network perspectives, to illustrate key drivers and enablers of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain. A conceptual multidimensional framework is then developed that can be used for the initial assessment of supply chain sustainability. Findings – Development and assessment of sustainability in supply chains are being increasingly incorporated as part of supply chain management today. This paper presents a multidimensional framework which can serve as a tool for research scholars and supply chain practitioners in identifying and assessing various economic, environmental and social performance indicators. Research limitations/implications – The framework and approach presented are conceptual, and require additional and broader validation. Additional theories, at differing levels, such as individual behaviour theory, should be utilised to further enhance and evaluate the framework. Developing and integrating analytical models for prescriptive and practical supply chain solutions can enhance the applicability of the framework. Practical implications – The framework adopts a multidimensional approach to assessing and designing sustainable supply chains, as it not only incorporates economic and environmental dimensions but also provides a practical approach to quantifying and embedding the social dimension into decision-making. The framework helps industry practitioners in initial exploration of trade-offs among economic, environmental and social performance of supply chains, which, in turn, could assist them in creating a business case for sustainability. Originality/value – The paper is one of few studies that incorporates some of the key aspects of all three dimensions of sustainability in a single overarching framework for supply chains and offers significant theoretical contribution and implications for sustainable supply chain management.


Author(s):  
Jay R. Brown ◽  
Maxim A. Bushuev ◽  
Andrey A. Kretinin ◽  
Alfred L. Guiffrida

In today's supply chains, green and sustainable business practices have become an integral part of long-term strategy as well as the day-to-day operations, and sourcing and logistics play fundamental roles in ensuring the success of sustainable supply chains. In this chapter, we review recent research on three classes of decision models that are used in the logistics and sourcing functions of sustainable supply chains. Specifically, we examine and summarize recent developments in sustainable decision models for supplier selection, inventory lot-sizing, and last-mile delivery. Our review of the green and sustainable features found in these three models results in a single-source consolidation of models used in sustainable sourcing and logistics. This review may prove useful to researchers who focus on sustainable supply chain management and to practitioners who seek to expand their toolkit of models for the management and control of their supply chain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-219
Author(s):  
Asuman Atik ◽  
◽  
Iva Kovacevic ◽  

The main purpose of this article is to make an extensive review on the sustainable supply chain management literature in order to find some implications to management accounting. It also aims to explain sustainability in supply chain management, the needs of a sustainable supply chain, historical development and importance of sustainable supply chains. As the first step, a keyword search was conducted in the well-known databases, and then, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) studies, which have connections to and implications for management accounting are evaluated and summarized separately. Although SSCM literature is very rich, the number of SSCM studies which have implications to management accounting is scarce. They point out that management accountants may take parts especially in determining cost and profitability of sustainable products, cost and quality evaluation of input materials and risk evaluation of suppliers, developing costing models for sustainable production, measuring performance in economic, environmental and social areas, and making cost-benefit analysis in the implementation and adoption of sustainability in each steps of sustainable supply chains.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 532-552
Author(s):  
Hsin-Yao Hsu ◽  
◽  
Ming-Hon Hwang ◽  
Yuan-Shyi Peter Chiu ◽  
◽  
...  

<abstract> <p>It is widely agreed that properly establishing a sustainable supply chain strategy to yield competitive advantages is essential for business enterprises, and a number of research papers on sustainable supply chains have been produced over the last two decades. However, many past studies on sustainable supply chain strategies emphasized either classification schemes or various coordination mechanisms, and few of them have focused on an integrated framework for sustainable supply chains. Therefore, the objective of this study is to develop a strategic framework for the sustainable supply chain management. The study is based on the abductive reasoning process through literature review to establish a strategic framework which is ranked through grey relational analysis (GRA). The weighted data of various strategies collected from the elite interview prove to be comprehensive and evaluable, so it can create values for supply chain members in practice. The results further suggest that each sustainable supply chain in different fields can select the best combination of strategies through GRA to constantly facilitate performance of sustainability. The main contribution is the submission of a strategic framework which makes up the insufficiency of past research papers lacking an integrated strategic framework. At the same time, the proposed strategic framework has also been illustrated through a case study.</p> </abstract>


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1801-1827
Author(s):  
Jane Glover

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the dark side of supermarket-driven sustainable dairy supply chains. This paper raises questions about the unintended consequences of implementing sustainable supply chain management in the dairy food supply chain. It critically questions whether unintended consequences were actually, anticipated, as the course of action taken by retailers reinforces the dominant profitability discourse.Design/methodology/approachThrough a critical management studies approach, this paper challenges the dominant discourse to shed light on the social consequences of the win-win sustainable supply chain management in the dairy food supply chain. The focus of this paper is on the experiences of farmers, taking their viewpoint of sustainable supply chains rather than taking the perspective of the multinationals who have traditionally been the focus of supply chain management research (e.g. McCarthy et al., 2018; Quarshie et al., 2016).FindingsThe study illuminates how retailers have bolstered their dominant position through using sustainable supply chains to exert further control over their suppliers. The management of sustainable supply chains has been a further catalyst in economically and socially dividing rural communities and creating tensions between dairy farmers.Originality/valueThis paper uses an ethnographic study to provide in-depth stories of the changes that took place within one farming community. It exposes the hidden ways in which the introduction of a sustainable dairy supply chain has created social and economic division, further reducing the collective power of dairy farmers through creating a dual supply chain.


2011 ◽  
pp. 136-152
Author(s):  
Iskra Dukovska-Popovska ◽  
Malcolm Bertoni ◽  
Hans-Henrik Hvolby ◽  
Paul Turner ◽  
Kenn Steger-Jensen

Integrating environmental considerations into supply-chain management has become an increasingly important issue for industry, government and academic researchers. Supply chain managers are being required to respond to the challenges of new legislation, standards and regulations; changing customer demands; drivers for efficiency, cost effectiveness and return on investment; while simultaneously being ‘green’. The fundamental tension between business and environmental drivers is difficult, but critical to understanding how to effectively re-engineer and re-design existing supply chains in a manner that is sustainable both financially and environmentally. Information systems have a significant role to play in supporting corporate responses to environmental management and the development of holistic green logistic solutions. This chapter examines contemporary discussions on the current state of sustainable supply-chain management and green logistics. It presents a case study from the Fujitsu Corporation in Japan and explores models of information systems and RFID use in green logistics. Combining insights from the case and existing models the chapter explores an example of how a combined model can be used to explore the potential of a specific emerging technology (RFIDs) in ‘greening’ supply chains.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain J. Fraser ◽  
Martin Müller ◽  
Julia Schwarzkopf

Sustainability in supply chain management (SSCM) has become established in both academia and increasingly in practice. As stakeholders continue to require focal companies (FCs) to take more responsibility for their entire supply chains (SCs), this has led to the development of multi-tier SSCM (MT-SSCM). Much extant research has focused on simple supply chains from certain industries. Recently, a comprehensive traceability for sustainability (TfS) framework has been proposed, which outlines how companies could achieve MT-SSCM through traceability. Our research builds on this and responds to calls for cases from the automotive industry by abductively analysing a multi-tier supply chain (MT-SC) transparency case study. This research analyses a raw material SC that is particularly renowned for sustainability problems—the cobalt supply chain for electric vehicles—and finds that the extant literature has oversimplified the operationalisation of transparency in MT-SSCM. We compare the supply chain maps of the MT-SC before and after an auditing and mapping project to demonstrate the transparency achieved. Our findings identify challenges to the operationalisation of SC transparency and we outline how FCs might set to increase MT-SC transparency for sustainability.


Author(s):  
Lojain Alkhuzaim ◽  
Joseph Sarkis

The growth in stakeholder pressures, broader sustainable supply chain management practices, and new economic models such as circular economy, has made sustainability a priority for organizations and their supply chains. To be able to manage their activities, programs, processes, and strategies, organizations have adopted and developed performance measures. Unlike other performance measures, emergy analysis quantitatively provides a real value for the work of nature to evaluate performance beyond the traditional measures that have been traditionally presented in the supply chain literature. This chapter offers an introductory explanation of how and what emergy analysis can offer in evaluating the environmental performance of supply chains. It will also consider not only the capabilities of emergy analysis but also the limitations and much-needed research to advance both fields, EA and SSCM.


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