Proactive sustainable supply chain management strategies
Type
fundamental research project
Start Date
August 1, 2009
End Date
March 1, 2010
Status
completed
Keywords
Sustainability Compliance
Value Chains
Supply Chains
Supplier Triads
Description
Compliance of the different parties involved in a value chain with a firm's voluntary sustainability standards (e.g., codes of conduct) is of central importance to maintain credibility to stakeholders. As firms frequently rely on complex value chains for the production of their goods or services, they face the challenge to institutionalize their voluntary sustainability standards not only within their own organization and their suppliers but also within the many further sub-suppliers that are commonly independently contracted by their suppliers all the way up to the exploitation of raw materials. Having established new voluntary sustainability standards to change their institutional field, firms acting as institutional entrepreneurs need to eventually institutionalize these standards. It is in particular in this final institutionalization phase, when the diffusion of new standards in the institutional field, i.e. the value chain, happens.
External stakeholders have build up high consciousness and expectations on sustainability. They usually do not differentiate between a firm's and its suppliers' behaviors and hold the firm itself responsible for all practices involved in the making of the product (Koplin, Seuring, & Mesterharm 2007; Rao, 2002). Thus, any party in the value chain not complying with the firm's voluntary sustainability standards can potentially damage corporate reputation or harm customer confidence (Barnett & King, 2008; Wagner, Lutz, & Weitz, 2009). An increasing number of firms pursue voluntary sustainability strategies that take the entire value chain into consideration. Firms specify their sustainability commitment in voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), which commonly comprise statements to comply with legal requirements and add aspects that voluntarily go beyond the law (Bansal & Hunter, 2003; Barnett & King, 2008). Having introduced such a VSS, the firm still faces the uncertainty whether its value chain partners and in particular its sub-suppliers comply with it (Matten & Moon, 2008; Roth et al., 2008).
The general research question of this research proposal is: "What key capabilities does an institutional entrepreneur (the firm) require to successfully institutionalize previously defined 'voluntary sustainability standards' (VSS) in the value chain and to ensure value chain partners' compliance with the VSS?"
The research project integrates theories of institutional entrepreneurship (IE) and the resource-based view (RBV) in the context of value chain management and procurement. It builds upon institutional entrepreneurship, which examines how actors initiate, establish and finally institutionalize "new realities" that are frequently represented by diffused practices or rules (Lawrence, Hardy, & Philips, 2002) beyond dyadic relationships with direct suppliers. It applies RBV by focussing on the identification of key capabilities, which enable the firm to institutionalize VSS in value chains and to ensure value chain partners' compliance with those.
As the institutionalization of VSS in value chains is a relatively new research field (Delmas & Montiel, 2009; Lee, 2008; Millington, 2008), we are going to combine qualitative, exploratory research and quantitative, confirmatory research. Further, in order to decrease complexity of the unit of analysis, we focus on triads as part of firms' value chains, consisting of the firm itself (e.g. OEM), a supplier (tier 1) and a sub-supplier (tier 2).
External stakeholders have build up high consciousness and expectations on sustainability. They usually do not differentiate between a firm's and its suppliers' behaviors and hold the firm itself responsible for all practices involved in the making of the product (Koplin, Seuring, & Mesterharm 2007; Rao, 2002). Thus, any party in the value chain not complying with the firm's voluntary sustainability standards can potentially damage corporate reputation or harm customer confidence (Barnett & King, 2008; Wagner, Lutz, & Weitz, 2009). An increasing number of firms pursue voluntary sustainability strategies that take the entire value chain into consideration. Firms specify their sustainability commitment in voluntary sustainability standards (VSS), which commonly comprise statements to comply with legal requirements and add aspects that voluntarily go beyond the law (Bansal & Hunter, 2003; Barnett & King, 2008). Having introduced such a VSS, the firm still faces the uncertainty whether its value chain partners and in particular its sub-suppliers comply with it (Matten & Moon, 2008; Roth et al., 2008).
The general research question of this research proposal is: "What key capabilities does an institutional entrepreneur (the firm) require to successfully institutionalize previously defined 'voluntary sustainability standards' (VSS) in the value chain and to ensure value chain partners' compliance with the VSS?"
The research project integrates theories of institutional entrepreneurship (IE) and the resource-based view (RBV) in the context of value chain management and procurement. It builds upon institutional entrepreneurship, which examines how actors initiate, establish and finally institutionalize "new realities" that are frequently represented by diffused practices or rules (Lawrence, Hardy, & Philips, 2002) beyond dyadic relationships with direct suppliers. It applies RBV by focussing on the identification of key capabilities, which enable the firm to institutionalize VSS in value chains and to ensure value chain partners' compliance with those.
As the institutionalization of VSS in value chains is a relatively new research field (Delmas & Montiel, 2009; Lee, 2008; Millington, 2008), we are going to combine qualitative, exploratory research and quantitative, confirmatory research. Further, in order to decrease complexity of the unit of analysis, we focus on triads as part of firms' value chains, consisting of the firm itself (e.g. OEM), a supplier (tier 1) and a sub-supplier (tier 2).
Leader contributor(s)
Stölzle, Wolfgang
Member contributor(s)
Funder
Topic(s)
Sustainability Compliance in Value Chains
Method(s)
Case Studies
Interviews
Literature Review
Range
Institute/School
Range (De)
Institut/School
Division(s)
Eprints ID
70586
8 results
Filters
Settings
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
- Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Sustainability in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply ChainsThis professional development workshop took up the discussions at PDWs on this topic at the AOM Annual Meetings 2013/14 to advance research on sustainable supply chain management to a new level, moving beyond the current focus on static internal supply chains and direct international supplier involvement to dynamic multinational, multi-tier end-to-end supply chains. Five main themes were discussed in roundtables: (1) Power Asymmetries and Trust in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply Chains (2) Co-Creating and Sharing Value in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply Chains (3) Sub-Supplier Efforts on Sustainability in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply Chains (4) Time-based Sustainability Tradeoffs in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply Chains (5) Institutions and Stakeholders in Multinational Multi-Tier Supply ChainsType:conference speech - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Key Capabilities for Ensuring Compliance with Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Value ChainsType:conference paperVolume:Paper Session 1309 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, The Implementation of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Supply Chains : A Capability ViewOur exploratory case study research identifies five key capabilities of a focal firm to implement previously defined voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) (e.g., codes of conduct) in their entire supply chain(s), ultimately making supply chain partners (i.e. direct tier-1 as well as indirect tier-2..n sub-suppliers) comply with the VSS: inter-firm dialogue, risk management, external stakeholder collaboration, cross-functional integration, and continuous improvement. We further propose that those capabilities are contingent on the prevailing power relationship between the firm and its suppliers. [http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/volltexte/2011/341/pdf/4LSCM35LM11_BdAbsopusseA2a.pdf Link]Type:conference paperJournal:Schriftenreihe Logistik und Supply Chain ManagementVolume:Logistik und Supply Chain Management - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Developing a Measure for the Capability of 'Sustainable Supplier Risk Management'Public interest on firms' business practices in respect to society and the environment has motivated firms to develop individual statements about their corporate sustainability standards. These statements communicate to the firm's stakeholders that the creation of its products and services remained within the limits of its self-defined sustainability standards. Most firms procure a substantial portion of their value added from third parties, like suppliers, sub-suppliers, or logistics service providers, which are out of the firm's direct control. Nevertheless, external stakeholders such as NGOs, media and consumers hold the focal firm responsible for all practices involved in the making of the product. Suppliers and sub-suppliers not complying with the firm's sustainability standards may damage the firm's reputation, causing considerable revenue losses. However, firm's resources to control their (sub-)suppliers' sustainability compliance are limited. Recent research highlighted the importance of a 'sustainable supplier risk management capability' to enable efficient usage of limited resources by means of identifying, assessing, and controlling sustainability-related risks within the value chain - and the corresponding alignment of compliance management activities such as supplier assessment, development and monitoring. In this paper, we propose a measurement instrument for firm's 'sustainable supplier risk management' capability. It combines the results from a literature review, semi-structured interviews, and two roundtable discussions with academic and industry experts. The proposed items may be tested statistically in the future to serve as basis for quantitative research.Type:conference paperVolume:Paper Session 771 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Implementing Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Value ChainsThis paper discusses organizational key capabilities allowing focal firms to implement previously defined voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) (e.g., codes of conduct) in their entire value chain(s). Our case study research identifies five key capabilities of a focal firm to make value chain partners (i.e. direct tier-1 as well as indirect tier-2..n subsuppliers) comply with VSS: inter-firm dialogue, risk management, external stakeholder collaboration, cross-functional integration, and continuous improvement. We propose that those capabilities are contingent on the prevailing power relationship between the firm and its suppliers. The organizational key capabilities identified may extend the theory of institutional entrepreneurship with concepts that facilitate the institutional change in value chains with respect to corporate sustainability.Type:conference paperVolume:Session 150 - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Institutionalizing Proactive Sustainability Standards in Supply Chains : Which Institutional Entrepreneurship Capabilities Matter?(Palgrave Macmillan, 2011); ;