Sustainability 2010, 2(4), 859-870; doi:10.3390/su2040859
Article

Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research

Marisa P. De Brito 1,2,* email and Erwin A. Van der Laan 3 email
1 Delft University of Technology, Postbus 5015, 2628 GA, Delft, The Netherlands 2 AfL-NHTV University of Applied Sciences, Postbus 3917, 4800 DX Breda, The Netherlands 3 Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, P.O. Box 1738, 3000DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 10 January 2010; in revised form: 2 February 2010 / Accepted: 25 February 2010 / Published: 25 March 2010
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Supply Chain Sustainability)
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Abstract: Research has pointed out opportunities and research agendas to integrate sustainability issues with supply chain and operations management. However, we find that it is still not mainstream practice to systematically take a sustainability approach in tackling supply chain and operations management issues. In this paper, we make use of behavioral theory to explain the current lack of integration. We conclude through abductive reasoning that the reasons for procrastinating integration of sustainability in supply chain and operations management research are the conflicting nature of the task and the inherent context, which is the focus on operations rather than environmental or social issues.
Keywords: abductive reasoning; supply chain management; sustainability; procrastination; behavioral theory

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MDPI and ACS Style

De Brito, M.P.; Van der Laan, E.A. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research. Sustainability 2010, 2, 859-870.

AMA Style

De Brito MP, Van der Laan EA. Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research. Sustainability. 2010; 2(4):859-870.

Chicago/Turabian Style

De Brito, Marisa P.; Van der Laan, Erwin A. 2010. "Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research." Sustainability 2, no. 4: 859-870.

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