Integrating environmental and social standards into supply management-An action research project

Abstract

Companies are perceived as important actors in the drive for sustainability. Linked to this and in response to increasing demands from various stakeholder groups, companies start to look at their supply chain to enhance their overall sustainability profile. Reasons for these two major issues can be identified: (1) focal companies are held responsible for environmental and social problems caused by their suppliers, which becomes more and more important as (2) an increasing share of value is created at the supplier level. In response to such demands, companies have to find ways to incorporate environmental and social aspects into their supply (chain) management. Therefore, environmental and social standards are set up in supply management by amending the purchasing processes. This paper presents an approach to integrate social and environmental standards extensively into supply management at a focal company. Therefore, action research (AR) was used as the research methodology to identify the required changes of the sourcing structures and present possible options for the company to do so. © 2005 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg.