SCMG502 Week 8 Discussion

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American Public University *

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502

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Management

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Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by BarristerTapirPerson186

Good afternoon fellow classmates and professor, Sustainable supply chains look past the financial bottom-line, where companies also have to consider the environmental and social impacts of their business actions. IBM supply chain blog writer Magda Ramos (2022) defines supply chain sustainability as, “embedding environmental, social, or corporate governance considerations as raw materials sourced, converted to products and delivered to market.” Global eProcure (GEP) defines supply chain sustainability as the ability to maintain the standardized processes without affecting the environment or social aspects (GEP, 2016). In essence, sustainability is the overall view of supply chain process that improve efficiency and minimize impacts on business, environment, and the people of the world. Out of the three aspects of sustainability, the “people” category is one of the major aspects that has a great deal of impact for companies. This sustainability aspect is referenced from three Ps (people, planet, profits) of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, defining its own interpretation of sustainability (ibrc, 2011). This was created by John Elkington to provide a method on measuring sustainability performance for companies. Additionally, the concept of the TBL came from another framework created by the United Nations that defined sustainability into three categories. This includes economic, environmental, and social, known as the “Three Pillars” that are used towards sustainability development (Chopra, 2017, p. 490). The people aspect of the TBL relates to the social pillar of the United Nations framework that has further extended the use of this pillars in reporting initiatives like the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which defines sustainability as environmental, social, and governance (Chopra, 2017, p. 495). This is a type of report that generalizes social

activities to measure against the performance of the people aspect, evaluating the impact of sustainability related efforts in supply chains. The three main categories that sustainability efforts can fall under include workforce, customer, and community that address the people aspect. Workforce-related sustainability efforts can include ensuring employees aren’t working sick and are using the appropriate personal perspective equipment (PPE) needed to conduct the work. Customer-related efforts could be ensuring product labeling is correct and evaluating the if a product has an impact on the health and safety of consumers. Society- related efforts can include assuring human rights are protected and companies having the best interests for local communities in mind. For instance, Walmart requires suppliers to eliminate forced child labor, offer pay and work hours that are in accordance with local laws, and promote the health and wellbeing of their workers (Chopra, 2017, p. 498). Positive impacts to the company can include improving productivity from healthy employees, saving costs on paying out injured employees, prevent reductions in workforce from keeping them safe, prevent passing around any illness to local communities, and having quality products produced from implementing training standards. These social efforts create a more sustainable supply chain, while increasing efficiencies and improving company reputation. Advantages from addressing social sustainability can consist of better collaboration and relationship building with certain entities like suppliers and manufacturers. This is from companies prioritizing the needs of the workers and their communities. Company reputation is improved by customers that see products are produces with the correct information, that are transparent, and that may involve their feedback on improvements (ADEC, n.d.). Meeting the

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