Sustainable supply chain engagement in a retail environment
Date
2015-05
Authors
Berning, Anika
Venter, Chanel
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Abstract
Sustainability is a key requirement for business success and is often regarded a
competitive advantage if strategically managed. Sustainability-mature organisations look to
their value chains where the retailer-supplier collaboration becomes critical in embedding
sustainability. With this in mind, it is important to monitor retailer-supplier collaboration to
determine whether it is effective. To facilitate this monitoring, the UN Global Compact
Supply Chain Sustainability: A Guide for Continuous Improvement was consulted. The
research question aimed to determine the progress of a prominent South African retailer
regarding their sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and collaboration with
suppliers. Therefore, this study attempts to apply the Supplier Engagement Continuum,
extracted from the UN Global Compact Supply Chain Sustainability: A Guide for Continuous
Improvement, in order to determine how the retailer is progressing in sustainable supply
chain management. The qualitative and exploratory nature of the study necessitated a case
study research design, while the technique of purposive sampling was used to select the
sample of three suppliers. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews
facilitated by an interview guide, and data analysis was conducted with Atlas.ti software. It
was found that the retailer’s sustainable supply chain management can only be located on
level one of the continuum. Supply chain sustainability in organisations lack the theoretical
foundation of what sustainability really is. Therefore, the model was amended and an
additional level was added to incorporate the education of sustainability.
Description
CITATION: Berning, A. & Venter, C. 2015. Sustainable Supply Chain Engagement in a Retail Environment. Sustainability, 7(5):6246-6263, doi:10.3390/su7056246.
The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/6246
The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/5/6246
Keywords
Social responsibility of business -- South Africa, Sustainability -- South Africa, Collaboration -- South Africa, Shared value creation -- South Africa, Business logistics -- South Africa, Corporate sustainability -- South Africa, Sustainable supply chain management -- South Africa
Citation
Berning, A. & Venter, C. 2015. Sustainable Supply Chain Engagement in a Retail Environment. Sustainability, 7(5):6246-6263, doi:10.3390/su7056246.