Pressures in implementation of circular supply chain management for sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 1091-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manju Saroha ◽  
Dixit Garg ◽  
Sunil Luthra

PurposeBusiness organisations are under serious threat to sustain their business due to globalisation, challenging market and recent economic competitiveness. The aim of this study is to address various pressures to circular supply chain management (CSCM) implementation for sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe present study is based on two research levels. Initially, extensive literature review has been made to identify 31 pressures to CSCM, and eight categories of pressures have been identified. At the second level, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) has been applied to rank the identified pressures to CSCM implementation for sustainability.Findings“Financial Pressures (FP)” has been identified as most significant pressure to CSCM implementation for sustainability. Further, “Lack of support of top management (MP1)”, “Lack of implementation of laws and policies (GP2)” and “Lack of vision for CSCM (GP1)” have been found most critical sub-pressures CSCM implementation for sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsThe final results give the prioritised list of all identified 31 sub-pressures and eight main pressure heads, which will be helpful in their removal for achieving the goal of CSCM implementation. It will be helpful for managers to take decisions promoting circular practices in supply chains to achieve truly sustainable supply chains. It will also be help for SC managers to understand the flow of activities and materials in CSC to get good results and remove pressures.Originality/valueThe present study plays an important role in circular activities implementation in supply chain for profit gain, and their pressure ranking may help the mangers to implement the CSCM effectively.

2015 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amulya Gurtu ◽  
Cory Searcy ◽  
M.Y. Jaber

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the keywords used in peer-reviewed literature on green supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach To determine the keywords that were used in this area, an analysis of 629 papers was conducted. The papers were identified through searches of 13 keywords on green supply chains. Trends in keyword usage were analyzed in detail focusing on examining variables such as the most frequently used journals/keywords, their frequencies, citation frequency and research contribution from different disciplines/countries. Findings A number of different terms have been used for research focused on the environmental impacts of supply chains, including green supply chains, sustainable supply chains, reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains, among others. The analysis revealed that the intensity of research in this area has more than tripled in the past six years and that the most used keyword was “reverse logistics”. The use of the terms “green supply chains” and “sustainable supply chains” is increasing, and the use of “reverse logistics” is decreasing. Research limitations/implications The analysis is limited to 629 papers from the Scopus database during the period of 2007 and 2012. Originality/value The paper presents the first systematic analysis of keywords used in the literature on green supply chains. Given the broad array of terms used to refer to research in this area, this is a needed contribution. This work will help researchers in choosing keywords with high frequency and targeting journals for publishing their future work. The paper may also provide a basis for further work on developing consolidated definitions of terms focused on green supply chain management.


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.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour ◽  
Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour ◽  
Martin Hingley ◽  
Eliseo Luis Vilalta-Perdomo ◽  
Gary Ramsden ◽  
...  

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to address the prioritisation and focus of supply chain managers subsequent to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)/severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the great lockdown of 2020.Design/methodology/approachIn this article, concepts and trends on resilient and sustainable supply chains are systematized. Main trends in sustainability of supply chains in the wake of COVID-19 are presented.FindingsGuidelines on building smarter and more resilient supply chains are provided and future tendencies, which includes the increase of a sustainable consumption perspective, are highlighted.Originality/valueThis is a conceptual article blended with a practical approach aiming to propose guidelines for managers and scholars on how to address supply chain management challenges after the coronavirus pandemic.


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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (12) ◽  
pp. 1873-1907
Author(s):  
Bruno S. Silvestre ◽  
Fernando Luiz E. Viana ◽  
Marcelo de Sousa Monteiro

PurposeA growing number of private, voluntary and mandatory sustainability standards have recently emerged. However, supply chain corruption practices as mechanisms to circumvent sustainability standards have also grown and occur regularly. This paper strives to elaborate theory on the intersection of institutional theory, business corruption and the sustainability standards literature by investigating factors that influence the emergence of supply chain corruption practices.Design/methodology/approachBased on secondary data, four in-depth case studies of supply chain corruption practices are investigated through the use of adaptive theory and the method of constant comparisons to elaborate theory on this important phenomenon.FindingsThe paper suggests that although sustainability standards can improve supply chain sustainability performance, if they are adopted only symbolically and not substantively, unanticipated outcomes such as supply chain corruption may occur. The study proposes a typology of supply chain corruption practices, further explores the symbolic adoption of sustainability standards in supply chains and proposes the novel construct of “social isomorphism for corruption.” Since focal companies play central roles in leading supply chain corruption practices, we reason that they can also play a pivotal role in preventing supply chain corruption practices by promoting the substantive adoption of sustainability standards across their supply chains.Originality/valueThis paper elaborates theory on the challenging phenomenon of corruption in supply chains by linking the supply chain management literature to the corruption and the sustainability discourses and offers important insights to aid our understanding on the topic. It generates six propositions and four contributions to the sustainable supply chain management theory, practice and policy.


Author(s):  
Erik Hofmann ◽  
Jan Bosshard

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to summarize and analyze what is known regarding activity-based costing (ABC) applications in the context of supply chain management (SCM). The authors present a reference framework for practical implications and areas for future research in intra-firm and inter-organizational environments. Design/methodology/approach The findings underlie a systematic review methodology. Research gaps and guidance for further publications are derived from the reference framework based on ABC and SCM literature. Findings The review illustrates four main areas for further research: determination of the role of management accounting in SCM (including supply chain finance), integration of time-driven ABC with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and automatic data collection, analysis of inter-organizational management tools in supply chains in multiple negotiation rounds, and standardization of cost accounting data in supply chains. Practical implications The review provides practitioners with three main recommendations: ABC applications require a solid data basis, organizational readiness, commitment from senior management, and an ABC management philosophy; open book accounting for inter-organizational cost information-sharing purposes needs institutional arrangements and economic incentive systems; and sharing costs and benefits among supply chain members requires a change of managers’ mind-set. Originality/value This paper reveals practical implications and provides new directions for research based on the reference framework. The paper contributes to the interdisciplinary topic between SCM and management accounting by providing a structured overview of 87 peer-reviewed articles from 1992 to 2016.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 1145-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Engelseth ◽  
Judith Molka-Danielsen ◽  
Brian E. White

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to question the applicability of recent industry-derived terms such as “Big Data” (BD) and the “Internet of things” (IoT) in a supply chain managerial context. Is this labeling useful in managing the operations found in supply chains? Design/methodology/approach BD and IoT are critically discussed in the context of a complete supply chain organization. A case study of banana supply from Costa Rica to Norway is provided to empirically ground this research. Thompson’s contingency theory, Alderson’s functionalistic end-to-end “marketing channels” model, Penrose’s view of supply purpose associated with service provision, and particularities of banana supply reveal how end-to-end supply chains are complex systems, even though the product distributed is fairly simple. Findings Results indicate that the usefulness of BD in supply chain management discourse is limited. Instead its connectivity is facilitated by what is now becoming commonly labeled as IoT, people, devices and documents that are useful when taking an end-to-end supply chain perspective. Connectivity is critical to efficient contemporary supply chain management. Originality/value BD and IoT have emerged as a part of contemporary supply chain management discourse. This study directs attention to the importance of scrutinizing emergent and actual discourse in managing supply chains, that it is not irrelevant which words are applied, e.g., in research on information-enabled supply process development. Often the old words of professional terminology may be sufficient or even better to help manage supply.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lifang Wu ◽  
Xiaohang Yue ◽  
Alan Jin ◽  
David C. Yen

Purpose – As traditional supply chains are increasingly becoming intelligent with more objects embedded with sensors and better communication, intelligent decision making and automation capabilities, the new smart supply chain presents unprecedented opportunities for achieving cost reduction and enhancing efficiency improvement. The purpose of this paper is to study and explore the currents status and remaining issues of smart supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is conducted to synthesize the earlier work in this area, and to conceptualize and discuss the smart supply chain characteristics. Further, the authors formulate and investigate five key research topics including information management, IT infrastructure, process automation, advanced analytics, and supply chain integration. Findings – Studies in those aforementioned subject fields are reviewed, categorized, and analyzed based on the review questions defined in the study. It is notable that while the topics of converging atoms with digits are increasingly attracting attention from researchers and practitioners alike, there are many more interesting research questions needing to be addressed. Originality/value – The paper provides original and relevant guidance for supply chain management researchers and practitioners on developing smart supply chains.


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