Sustainable Solutions for SCM

Figure 1.12 Environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability Sustainability supply chain management (SSCM) was conceptualised by Carter and Rogers [4]. They define SSCM as the strategic, transparent integration and achievement of an organisation’s social, environmental, and economic goals in the systemic coordination of key interorganisational business processes for improving the long-term economic performance of the individual company and its supply chains. This definition is based on Elkington’s [19] triple bottom line (the intersection of environmental, social, and economic performance) and the four supporting facets (facilitators) of SSCM [5]: 1. Strategy–holisticallyandpurposefullyidentifyingindividualSSCMinitiatives, which align with and support the organisation’s overall sustainability strategy. 2. Risk management, including contingency planning for both the upstream and the downstream supply chain. 3. An organisational culture, which is deeply ingrained and encompasses organisational citizenship, and which includes high ethical standards and expectations along with a respect for society and the natural environment. 4. Transparency in terms of proactively engaging and communicating with key stakeholders and having traceability and visibility into upstream and downstream supply chain operations. This conceptualisation will be used as a main basis for researching the possibilities of the sustainability and resilience concepts of integration. Bateh et al. [2] differentiate between internal and external sustainability. Internal sustainability is concerned with survival in a competitive market, which increasingly includes global competition. External sustainability takes into account societal needs that relate to quality of life issues worldwide. Lijo and Gopalakrishnan [38] suggest E3S model for sustainability, which contains four dimensions with the following components:

25