Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A LITERATURE REVIEW
Abstract
Sustainable supply chain management, which can be regarded as the improved management of supply chains
through the integration of environmental, economic and social issues, has attracted significant attention both in the
supply chain and environmental management literature and also among practitioners in companies world-wide. The
main drivers for this transition have been the rapid consumption and increasing pollution of natural resources due
to massive economic development and uncontrolled urbanization. The vast environmental degradation has called
forth the sustainability principle, turning environmental aspects into important criteria in business decision-making.
This situation has ultimately resulted in binding environmental legislation and pressures imposed by the internal
and external customers together with the stakeholders. The sustainable management of supply chains initiated by
these drivers has soon taken a voluntary path due to some indispensable returns such as increased efficiency,
reduced costs, increased internal and external customer satisfaction, increased sales a nd market share together
with a more effective risk management. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze the literature on sustainable
supply chain management thoroughly in order to reveal the collective findings that will lead to further research.
Keywords: Supply chain management, Sustainability, Environmental approaches, Collective evaluation, Research
opportunities
1
Marmara University, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Turkey, +90 216 3471360, ovul@marmara.edu.tr
2
*(Corresponding Author) Marmara University, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Turkey, +90 216 3471360,
aselam@marmara.edu.tr
3
Marmara University, Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Turkey, +90 216 3471360, ozalp@marmara.edu.tr
The above mentioned integration calls for an extended set of needs for the design of SSCM, among which
sustainable management systems are considered the most significant with respect to economical, environmental and
social customer requirements (Buyukozkan Feyzioglu & Erkut, 2008). These needs are provided in Table 1.
Sustainable development has the potential to affect future government policy, current production operations, and
identify new business models, with new initiatives being proposed or adopted by both the public and private sectors
(Linton, Klassen, & Jayaraman, 2007). Such binding legislations resulting from the urge for sustainability together
with the pressures imposed by the customers have been the main drivers in the adoption of environmental
approaches in SCM for companies world-wide (Zhu & Sarkis, 2004; Sheu, Chou, & Hu, 2005; Srivastava, 2007;
Buyukozkan Feyzioglu & Erkut, 2008). Based on an extensive literature review, Walker, Di Sisto, & McBain (2008)
Table 2. Drivers and Barriers of SSCM (Walker, Di Sisto, & McBain, 2008)
Drivers Barriers
Internal External Internal External
Organizational Factors: Regulatory: Costs: Regulation:
Skillful policy Legislative and regulatory Cost concern hinders Inhibits innovation
entrepreneurs compliance Lack of understanding on
Poor supplier commitment
Desire to reduce costs Pro-active action pre- how to incorporate green into
Unwilling to exchange
Investor Pressure regulation buying
information
Manage economic risk ISO 14000 certification Focus on cost reductions at
Improve quality Customers: expense of green practices Industry specific barriers
Extension of founder’s Pressures by customers to Lack of training and
and/or owner’s value green supply chain management commitment
Employee Involvement Customer demand Lack of buyer awareness
Manager’s improving Collaborate with customers Accounting methods limit
position in company E-logistics and environment green reporting
Marketing Pressures Pressure for lower prizes
In today’s competitive business markets where globalization and customer satisfaction stand at the forefront, the
sustainable and thus efficient management of supply chains initiated by these drivers has soon taken a voluntary
path due to some indispensable returns, such as increased profitability (Porter & van der Linde, 1995a,b; van Hoek,
1999; Sarkis, 2003; Vachon & Klassen, 2007; Darnall, Jolley, & Handfield, 2008; Seuring, Sarkis, Müller, & Rao,
2008). Thus, the short-term investments in sustainability are compensated in the long run (Vachon & Klassen,
2006). In fact, Vachon and Mao (2008) have shown statistically at the country level that a trade-off between
“economic development and wealth creation” and sustainability does not exist. The benefits of SSCM for companies
are given in Table 3.
4. Conclusions
In today’s competitive and global business environment, wherein sustainability ineluctably stands in the forefront
in various areas, SSCM integrating environmental and social aspects into the SCs, has gained significant recognition
in the corporate world and also SCM and environmental literature. The sustainable management of supply chains
initiated by binding environmental legislations and pressures imposed by the customers and stakeholders has soon
voluntarily been accepted by the business world due to substantial returns including increased efficiency, reduced
costs, increased internal and external customer satisfaction, increased sales and market share together with a more
effective risk management.
Following a general introduction to the topic, this study has mainly aimed at providing a brief review of the
literature, starting with the initial research mainly focusing on definitions, significance and frameworks through to
the most recent studies, especially those on the social aspects of SSCM, which have relatively been less considered
compared to the environmental and economic ones. It has been observed that the need for sustainable applications in
companies together with their significant returns have led the academics to more systematic perspectives integrating
SCM areas and all three dimensions of sustainability. Hence, in addition to empirical research; modeling,
methodology and network design studies have started to gain more significance. Only some of the topics focused in
the literature are SSCM requirements, approaches and strategies; its integration into various business environments;
conception of SSCM and differing applications in different companies and industries; sustainability guiding policies
and leading to global standards; internal and external drivers and barriers; effects with respect to competitiveness;
eco-efficiency; environmentally conscious production strategies; multi-criteria decision-making in SCs; relationship
between SSCM and environmental management systems (EMSs); environmental performance assessment of SCs
and suppliers; the role of organizational learning, management support, corporate culture and supplier participation
in SSCM applications; and corporate social responsibility (CSR) together with corporate environmental
responsibility (CER).
Despite the vast body of literature on the topic, it has frequently been stated in the reviewed studies and observed
clearly by the authors that the integrative nature of sustainability calls for more detailed research, especially in the
social arena and the balance between environmental and social issues. Some areas of further research are SSCM in
the public sector and differences both in perspectives and applications between public and private sectors;
environmental performance assessment of SCs and suppliers; and the roles of suppliers and SMEs in the success of
SSCM activities. The effects of internal and external social drivers and barriers on SSCM performance including
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