Supply Chain Sustainability in Spanish Major Retailer Through Strategic Alliances and Lean Practices

Abstract

Sustainability within the supply chain is an issue that appeared and has been widely studied in the last decade of the twentieth century, but it is only now reaching the maximum level of interest among academics and business executives. In this paper, authors analyze if some specific practices linked to lean operations, superior alliances management integration and people involvement are really supporting sustainability in the largest and most successful Spanish retailer. It was a standard retailer for years, till it changed its company strategy, from price-based competition (based on squeezing suppliers and low wages) to integral supply chain waste reduction and quality improvement, "for life" alliances with its main top suppliers and labor relations based on permanent contracts, polyvalence and employee motivation. Another important aim of this study is to understand to what extend the alliances developed with its top suppliers, have incorporated and replicated the practices developed by this Spanish retailer, thus creating an excellence/amplification mechanism that supports long-term supply chain sustainability.