Sustainable Global Operations and Supply Chain Management

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue (SI) emphasizes managing robust supply chains and sustainable global operations. Volatility in international relations, global pandemics, and technological innovations are some of the factors that can influence a firm’s global supply chain operations. Operations and supply chain management literature has gained much scholarly attention by examining socio-economic and technological influences, cross-border relations, and trade regulations while focusing on supply chain sustainability [1–3]. Several theories have been used to investigate the development and management of sustainable supply chain management practices [4–7]. However, collective crises such as COVID-19 compel academicians and supply-chain managers to recalibrate existing models and theories and be more resilient in preparing firms for an uncertain future [8–10]. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to demonstrate how building and managing sustainable supply chain networks can be challenges, accentuated by globalization and turbulent market conditions, and how to overcome those challenges by using various theoretical lenses and methodologies. We invite original research on “Sustainable Global Operations and Supply Chain Management” to expand the body of knowledge around the following broad themes:

• Conceptualization and empirical investigation of sustainable global supply chain management practices;
• Theoretical perspectives on the adoption and implementation of sustainable global operations;
• The role of advanced technologies such as AI/ML, IoT, and Blockchain in managing sustainable global supply chains networks;
• Data driven strategies to build sustainable global supply-chain networks;
• The approaches for aligning global operations with the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
• The dark side of inter-firm operations involving reverse logistics, corruption, opportunism, and channel conflict;
• The effect of sustainable operations for preparing organizations for COVID-19-like unprecedented global situations;
• Differences and learnings from varied supply-chains models across developed and transitioning economies;
• Developing efficient humanitarian supply-chain networks during disaster and relief management;
• Supply-chain flexibility and agility in managing pandemic challenges.

References

1. Ageron, B.; Bentahar, O.; Gunasekaran, A. Digital supply chain: Challenges and future directions. In Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal 2020, 21, 133–138.
2. Baral, M.M.; Singh, R.K.; Kazançoğlu, Y. Analysis of factors impacting survivability of sustainable supply chain during COVID-19 pandemic: an empirical study in the context of SMEs. The International Journal of Logistics Management 2021.
3. Dubey, R.; Gunasekaran, A.; Papadopoulos, T.; Childe, S.J.; Shibin, K.T.; Wamba, S.F. Sustainable supply chain management: framework and further research directions. Journal of cleaner production 2017, 142, 1119–1130.
4. Golicic, S.L.; Smith, C.D. A meta‐analysis of environmentally sustainable supply chain management practices and firm performance. Journal of supply chain management 2013, 49, 78–95.
5. Gunasekaran, A.; Hong, P.; Fujimoto, T. Building supply chain system capabilities in the age of global complexity: Emerging theories and practices. International Journal of Production Economics 2014, 147, 189–197.
6. Jia, F.; Zuluaga-Cardona, L.; Bailey, A.; Rueda, X. Sustainable supply chain management in developing countries: An analysis of the literature. Journal of Cleaner Production 2018, 189, 263–278.
7. Saberi, S.; Kouhizadeh, M.; Sarkis, J.; Shen, L. Blockchain technology and its relationships to sustainable supply chain management. International Journal of Production Research 2019, 57, 2117–2135.
8. Sarkis, J. Supply chain sustainability: learning from the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 2020.
9. Sarkis, J.; Zhu, Q.; Lai, K.H. An organizational theoretic review of green supply chain management literature. International journal of production economics 2011, 130, 1–15.
10. Sharma, A.; Adhikary, A.; Borah, S.B. Covid-19′ s impact on supply chain decisions: Strategic insights from NASDAQ 100 firms using Twitter data. Journal of Business Research 2020, 117, 443–449.

Prof. Dr. Angappa Gunasekaran
Dr. Priyanka Sharma
Guest Editors

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