Theory Building Surrounding Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Assessing What We Know, Exploring Where to Go

• Author: Daniel Krause,Gideon D. Markman
• Date: 01 April 2016
• Published date: 01 April 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jscm.12105

THEORY BUILDING SURROUNDING SUSTAINABLE

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: ASSESSING WHAT WE

KNOW, EXPLORING WHERE TO GO

GIDEON D. MARKMAN AND DANIEL KRAUSE

Colorado State University

This special topic forum (STF) features four articles that focus on

sustainability, which is generally defined as the ability to meet the needs

of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to

meet their own needs. Our own research of the 500 most cited studies

on sustainability shows that scholars and managers often struggle with

the concept and applications of sustainability. To some, sustainability is

about environmental preservation, to others, it is about addressing

societal needs, and yet for those who use a financial lens, sustainability

is primarily about the economic bottom line. Then, there are scholars

and managers for whom sustainability is synonymous with corporate

social responsibility, ethical issues, shared value creation, and/or legal

compliance. Naturally, all of the above are critical, and efforts in these

areas should continue. But as we explain, none of these are sustainability

per se, and to date, no firm is truly or fully sustainable. Also, most

research and practice in sustainability follows a preservation view. We

advance a new paradigm and evince that sustainable practices—whether in

supply chain management or any other business activity—are a function

of two inseparable principles: (1) they must enhance ecological health,

follow ethical standards to further social justice, and improve economic

vitality; and (2) they must prioritize the environment first, society

second, and economics third. Our introduction to this STF elaborates on

what sustainability is and is not, and it also summarizes the four articles

in the STF.

Keywords: sustainable supply chain management; conceptual theory building

INTRODUCTION

In co-editing this special topic forum (STF) on sus-

tainable supply chain management, we noticed that

sustainability attracts scholars from diverse disciplines

—for example, supply chain management, finance,

accounting, marketing, political science, ethics, sociol-

ogy, economics, and management, to name a few.

Such cross-disciplinary effort is needed because over

and above definitional challenges, translating the con-

cept of sustainability into managerial action is even

more difficult. This complexity also explains why

many scholars and managers still link sustainability

only to discrete business activities—inbound and out-

bound logistics, processes and operations, distribution

channels and service, and product use and disposal—

rather than assessing the totality of all business activi-

ties. It is clear, therefore, that the concept of sustain-

ability is still under construction for both scholars

and managers.

The word “sustain,” from the Latin sustinere (sus-,

from below and tenere, to hold), means to keep in

existence or maintain, which implies long-term sup-

port or permanence. From the UN Brundtland Com-

mission, sustainability is “development that meets the

needs of the present without compromising the ability

of future generations to meet their own needs”

(World Commission on Environment and Develop-

ment, 1987). To the Environmental Protection Agency

(USA), sustainability is a principle in which “... every-

thing that we need for our survival and well-being

depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural

environment. To pursue sustainability is to create and

maintain the conditions under which humans and

nature can exist in productive harmony to support

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