Abstract
The e-book ‘Markets, Business and Sustainability’ by Ilias P. Vlachos and George Malindretos (2015) is a collection of articles and reports that address various issues of integrating sustainability into contemporary supply chain management (SCM) practices applied by practitioners and scholars alike. I believe that the definition of sustainable development (SD) in itself legitimises its importance in management theory and practice, namely, ‘to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (WCED, 1987). Therefore, it is always inspiring to read a book that sheds light on the relevance, complexity and multifacetedness, as well as opportunities arising from implementing sustainable efforts in management theory and pratice. After a short review of the themes and their specific approach to contributing to sustainability issues, I shortly reflect on main lessons taught by the e-book as well as reflect on a few aspects that could be relevant for further readings or succeeding volumes.
The overall impression is that there is indeed a need for developing a common language and nomenclature to which scholars and practitioners can widely agree on, not only within disciplines but also across disciplines. The golden thread that leads the reader throughout the themes is the challenge of SCM in a world that faces increasing sustainability concerns by consumers, public institutions and others. In latest publications, it can be observed that most researchers agree that the integration of the term sustainability, and its connoted values, into an SCM context always involves some characteristics of circularity. As sustainability affects all 3Ps (people, planet, profit), it naturally makes sense to publish a volume that views the matter from many perspectives as well, such as from the macro-level (e.g. Chapter 3) to the micro-level (e.g. Chapter 4). But not only the variety of perspectives is widespread, also the standpoint from which to discourse sustainability issues is scattered. Some chapters are empirically oriented (e.g. Chapter 4), while others show a purely conceptual approach (e.g. Chapters 7, 10 and 11). Particularly, some of the conceptual chapters triggered my interest as a scholar to see future studies that challenge the proposed models.
Chapter 1 is an introductory chapter to the e-book and summarises literature about SD, SCM and the consequence of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM). The introduction navigates the reader through all chapters and makes it easy to identify themes of interest. Next to that, the authors give broad background information on all kinds of aspects that are discussed in greater detail later in the volume. Furthermore, the reader’s attention is drawn to the lack of a critical lens that is geared towards interpretation and implementation of SD in markets and businesses as well as the diverse approaches and overall (academic, practical and institutional) confusion about how to address sustainability issues more effectively. Admittedly, if the reader is not familiar with these subjects, one could get quite confused because the connections between the concepts are perhaps not too clear due to their various interpretations within the themes. Hence, the aim at identifying ways of transforming challenges to opportunities through collective initiatives at the level of a value supply chain network level remains vague.
The first theme in the volume describes the case of lean and sustainable production initiatives as part of the supply chain on the example of a leading Chinese construction company. SCM in the construction industry is certainly industry specific. Therefore, it can be interesting for the reader to find out what managers think about the potential benefits when engaging in open collaboration and information sharing initiatives with business partners. Furthermore, the reader is presented various aspects of success, while critical aspects and potential hinders to success could be crucial learnings too.
In Chapter 3, the authors delineate various approaches to solve issues in City Logistics. Some European cities have stringently developed solutions to integrate the 3Ps to their SCM. Innovative concepts are introduced to the reader, ranging from boats and bicycles to trams and green zones. However, it becomes clear that the majority of the proposed concepts are on novitiate and have not yet fully been implemented. This is due to their naturally given restrictions, required financial investments and the willingness to take the political risk of trying out something novel. Readers with an interest for political implications will find plenty of suggestions to plan for more sustainable City Logistics. Long-term observations with an analytical approach that helps to identify key influencing actors and decision makers could be useful for academics to develop a theoretical foundation and for practitioners to understand better the proposed alternative City Logistics models.
The next theme evolves around the classic attitude–behaviour gap of the consumer on the example of the pork consumption market in Greece. The chapter analyses rationales for why there is a connection between the consumer in the role of a citizen and the consumer in the role of a pork consumer. With the help of a large dataset, the author proofs that despite the logic reasoning, consumers are extremely powerful in their role because, ultimately, their purchase behaviour is pivotal. Interestingly, the attitude–behaviour gap ramifies to all situations, even if the behaviour affects the well-being of other ‘earthlings’. The following chapter touches upon the discussion in the preceding chapter and discusses the concept of Sustainable Food Supply Chains (SFSC). The authors encapsulate the necessity of taking a holistic approach towards SFSC. They argue that SFSC only holds if the two concepts, namely, forward logistics and reverse logistics, are combined. This chapter contributes to the discussion of the closed-loop supply chain system that aims at tackling the trade-off situation between economic and environmental goals. Similar to the previously discussed peculiarities of SCM in the construction industry, the food industry’s SCM particularities are coequal because products are subject to restrictions such as decay or seasons. Within this discussion, the emphasis is on the responsibility taken over by consumers through their purchasing power, while the discussion in the previous chapter concludes that relying on the consumer might not be the leading factor for success. Furthermore, much hope is imputed to senior management levels who should concern SCM as a corporate strategy.
The theme of Reverse Logistic (RL) systems continues in the next chapter. On the example of the food and beverage industry, the authors bring forth the challenges of implementing RL in SCM systems. Furthermore, the reader receives a broad introduction to literature that has evolved around the concept of RL in general and learns to fully comprehend this system’s challenges and opportunities. I think that this chapter fits very well to the e-book’s aim and supports the arguments mentioned beforehand, namely the significance of senior management integration, information sharing via dynamic feedback loops and collaboration across actors. I agree that there needs to be more research conducted investigating relationships between key actors and decision makers to complement current literature. Furthermore, the readers’ attention is initially drawn to the relevance of information technology (IT) solutions to improve communication and coordination between actors. Considering the fast-moving nature of IT solutions, it could be interesting to update these examples with current developments.
The theme of sustainable procurement strategies is followed up in Chapter 7. The proposal is a comprehensive model with four levels that includes consumers, businesses and suppliers. The model roots in an ample literature review and some in-depth interviews with industry players. Even though the authors discuss the relevance of governmental bodies and institutions, such as the European Union (EU), the model seems to ignore this actor. The aim of the model is to prove that low-income to medium-income consumers shall be able to afford sustainably procured choices as well. Again, the notion of the attitude–behaviour gap on the consumer level is supported in this theme. When reading this chapter, one question occurred to me: Is there a behaviour–attitude gap on the firm level or on the governmental level as well? If so, is the model appropriate to address these gaps as well?
Chapter 8 underlines the necessity for more research in SSCM literature. The initially mono-disciplinary approach needs to move into the direction of interdisciplinary approaches. Already well-established analytical tools, such as life cycle analysis (LCA), should be enhanced and meet the requirements of the inclusion of sustainability-driving initiatives too. The rather normative character in this chapter roots in a comprehensive literature review. However, a slightly more concrete attitude could be useful for the reader to understand how to measure resource-efficient approaches in SCM. The reader might find answers to this in the following chapter. In here, the theme of lean and green procurement strategies is discussed. In particular, the paradigms of ‘lean’ and ‘green’ are compared and analysed for their potential synergy effects. One learning is that employee engagement is critical for both concepts.
Then, in Chapters 10 and 11, mathematical models are presented that should help to answer questions such as ‘What is the best procurement strategy?’ ‘How can the arrangement of finished inventory, work in process inventory and material assortments be optimised?’ While Chapter 10 thematises key performance indicators in Supply Chain Networks (SCN) and compares nearshore with offshore procurement strategies, the theme in Chapter 11 is the development of a computational model for environmental pollution in manufacturing processes. Both themes are one step towards a holistic maxim for making sustainability issues more ‘feasible’ and accountable.
The final chapter summarises all preceding themes into three categories: market sustainability, business sustainability and environmental sustainability. All these sustainability concepts have different goals and it remains to the reader how to combine the learnings generated.
To conclude, I believe that this volume is highly relevant in these days. Literature that covers sustainable issues, especially in the supply chain literature, has been fruitfully developing over the last decades. The societal change towards sustainability and increasing awareness of the importance of how businesses and markets are managed calls for a common proposal for sustainable development. Each of the chapters strives for contributing to a holistic approach towards sustainability in SCM. As the world grows to be an even more globalised system and connected across continents through IT systems and the Internet, so do sustainability challenges seem to become more complex challenges to solve and require complete solutions. This volume confirms that it requires efforts on all levels to achieve sustainability in SCM. The call for more research and implementation of innovative business models is one major learning of the e-book. Despite one chapter, all themes are discussed in the context of Europe. Hence, if the reader wishes to learn more about Asian or American realisations in SCM, other books might deliver more answers. However, I am certain that anyone interested in learning more about markets, businesses and sustainability in the context of supply chains will find at least one theme that suits well their interest.