Sustainable supply chain management: Improved prioritization of auditing social factors, leveraging up-to-date information technology

Abstract

For companies, sustainability issues in the supply chain can cause severe problems and reputational damage. Especially social sustainability is of a problem (e.g. human rights) and has only been narrowly addressed in academic literature [1]. In business, the increased risk of issues in supply chains has amplified the need for the auditing of social responsibility at supplier locations [2]. As supply chains can include hundreds of suppliers, it seems impossible for companies to evaluate all factors in depth and even lesser in first-hand [3]. Because no interaction would require too much trust, a prioritized approach to the auditing of suppliers appears necessary. The thesis addresses this prioritization problem of social sustainability auditing in international goods supply chains based on a design science approach to reduce risk and save costs [4]. Thus, the thesis' core question is: How can the prioritization of auditing activities of socially sustainable supply chain management be improved, leveraging up-to-date information technology? Hence, a new prioritization software toolset could be an answer. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.