Sustainable Supply Chain Management

Question 1

What is sustainability management?

Answer 1

It refers to the application of a wide range of sustainable practices that seek to meet the triple bottom line (balance between social, economic and environment) objectives in business.

Question 2

What is a supply chain?

Answer 2

All facilities, functions, activities, associated with flow ands transformation of goods and services from raw materials to customers, as well as the associated information flows.
(Hanfield, 2002)

A network of partners who collectively concerts basic commodities or raw materials into finished products that is valued by the end customer and who manage return at each stage (Harrison et al 2011

Consists of a series of value added activities

Question 3

What is a value chain?

Answer 3

• a set of activities that an organization carries out to create value for its customers

Question 4

What is the the “ Stan Shih Smile curve”?

Answer 4

• a lot of value is actually adds at the first and later half of the sets of business activities
• it goes beyond manufacturing and includes other value added functions
• such as R&D, branding, design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, sales/services

Question 5

What green the supply chain?

Answer 5

• we live in a finite world
• we live on a planet where we have limited resources which will at a point come to an end
• Increasing population
• humans create impacts

Question 6

What are the driving forces causing environmental degradation?

Answer 6

• enrich equation (mid 70ies)
• population, affluence and technology are tamarin drivers affecting environmental degradation and they scale.
• Impact = population x affluence x technology

Question 7

What are the implications of the IPAT Equation?

Answer 7

• populations would keep growing whilst the service per person would reduce, leading to a balance
• or limit population and let people live more abundant life styles

This is because technology has been found to be relatively stable (sharp rise in efficiency, but it is now becoming flat)

Question 8

What are the levels of supply chain management (for strategy)?

Answer 8

• strategic level: very high level of decision making when it comes to SC, it is concerned with designing and building supply chain for goods and services to be provided
• planning level: leveraging the existing SC to meet the medium term goals.
• operational level: concerned with implementing the strategic planning on a day to day basis.

= sustainability should be implemented at all levels

Question 9

Define sustainability

Answer 9

To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future organizations to meet their own needs.

Based on the triple bottom line principles.

Question 10

What is sustainable supply chain management?

Answer 10

The management of the triple bottom line , and good governance practices through life cycles of goods and services

At all points of the supply chain we need to think about sustainability. Inflicting TBL.

Question 11

What are the different perspectives on analyzing sustainability?

Answer 11

1. Normative perspective
   - there should be a fair allocation of resources, the ideal case and not practical
2. Innovation perspective:
   - this is the middle ground, using technological process of innovations to mimosa the inputs of resources
3. Rationale perspective
   - protect and invest into resources in whatever production and consumption activity that we are undertaking
   - all open systems are resource dependent systems on each other
   - using resources well,
   - people oriented: whatever activity that organizations undertaking it effects on the population and community is limited and has no adverse effects. It’s all about practices that prevent harm to the people involved

Question 12

What is the new approach to sustainability in supply chains?

Answer 12

• view the supply chain beyond the focal firm to the extended network
• changes in existing practices and create new production and management systems

Question 13

How can we account for the greater picture of the supply chain?

Answer 13

• use of life cycle assessment tool

- used to asses environmental impacts of goods and services ( cradle to grave) (U.S., epa 2006)

Question 14

What is the key issue of sustainability in global supply chains?

Answer 14

• resource efficiency (rational view)

Question 15

What is resource efficiency?

Answer 15

• limiting the use of earths limited resources in a sustainable manners while minimizing impacts on the environment.
• creation of more with less
• deliver greater value with less Input

Question 16

What are typical examples of how to green the supply chain?

Answer 16

• product design: to comply with the TBL. Life cycle assessment can be used to determine how to design the product.
• product returns
• length of product life cycle
• extension of product life cycle: developed offerings that allows more of the product value to be captured ( done through upgrade, direct product reuse, remanufacture)
• recovery process at end of life: extend the supply chain to include issues such as remanufacturing, recycling and refurbishing. ( move from grave to cradle)

Question 17

How can companies/nations/institutions become resource efficient?

Answer 17

Through:

1. Sustainable production and consumption (p)
   - boost efficient production
   - improve products and change consumption patterns
2. Turn waste into resources (a)
   - shift from take make use to a delay in the disposal model (circular economy)
3. Supporting research and innovation (t)
4. Phase out economically harmful subsidies