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Sustainable Management of Supply and Consumption

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2021) | Viewed by 8418

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
School of Business, Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, Flensburg, Germany
Interests: sustainable supply chain management; supply chain performance management; production economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Westcoast University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Management, Heide, Germany
Interests: Logistics Social Responsibility, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Dynamics in Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, School of Business, Flensburg, Germany
Interests: Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance Management, Production Economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability has become a key factor for management supply and consumption of goods and services (Brandenburg et al., 2019; Govindan, 2018). The triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability has to be taken into account in managerial decision-making for product and service supply (Sarkis and Zhu, 2018; Sodhi and Tang, 2018; Tseng et al., 2018), taking the theoretical stance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Beyond this, environmental and social criteria need to be considered when managing the customer interface and the final consumption of goods and services by ultimate consumers (Lehner et al., 2016; Oelze et al., 2019), taking the theoretical stance of Consumer Social Responsibility (ConSR) and ethical consumerism (Oelze et al., 2019; Brinkmann and Peattie, 2008; Vitell and Muncy, 2005). Thus, relevance and complexity of related tasks have grown considerably such that the adaptation of sustainability capabilities as well as the implementation of sustainable policies and sustainability certification schemes have become highly important for businesses (Gruchmann et al., 2019; Oelze, 2017; Oelze et al., 2020).

Stimulated by these circumstances, research on sustainable supply and consumption has become highly relevant as indicated by a growing number of formal models (Brandenburg et al., 2014), reference frames (Ansari and Kant, 2017) and empirical studies (Meixell and Luoma, 2015). However, the scientific area still emerges and various directions offer potential for future research. Here, industry-specific studies and assessments from different perspectives of suppliers, customers and consumers offer opportunities to refine existing models and frameworks, to broaden the theoretical foundations and to reveal new empirical insights.

This special issue calls for research contributions that elaborate on sustainable supply and consumption. Theoretical contributions that propose mathematical approaches or conceptual frameworks that model the complex interplay of sustainability factors are welcome. Moreover, the call also addresses empirical studies, both qualitative and quantitative, to extend existing / build new theoretical insights on complex and interrelated sustainable demand and supply or to illustrate the application of best practices and routines for sustainable management of value chains, supply networks and demand markets.

The guest editors invite researchers from academia, but also decision-makers from industry and policy-makers from governmental organizations, to submit theoretical and applied research papers. This call is deliberately kept broad in order to address a wide range of topics and methods. However, authors are highly encouraged to choose a clear focus, e.g. on a specific topic or a particular application context, in their submitted manuscripts rather than handing in general studies. Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Sustainability in supply networks and consumer markets in presence of risk and uncertainty.
  • Measuring and managing sustainability performance in global supply chains and demand regions.
  • Best practices and capabilities for sustainable supply and consumption.
  • Sustainability from the perspective of suppliers, customers and consumers.
  • Sustainable service operations.
  • Sustainability of supply and consumption in specific application contexts or industry sectors.

References:

Ansari ZN, Kant R (2017): Exploring the framework development status for sustainability in supply chain management: A systematic literature synthesis and future research directions. Business Strategy and the Environment 26: 873-892.

Brandenburg M, Govindan K, Sarkis J, Seuring S (2014): Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions. European Journal of Operational Research 233: 299-312.

Brandenburg M, Gruchmann T, Oelze N (2019): Sustainable supply chain management – A conceptual framework and future research perspectives. Sustainability 11(24): 7239.

Brinkmann J, Peattie K (2008): Consumer ethics research: reframing the debate about consumption for good. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies 13(1): 22-31.

Govindan K (2018): Sustainable consumption and production in the food supply chain: A conceptual framework. International Journal of Production Economics 195: 419-431.

Gruchmann T, Seuring S, Petljak K (2019): Assessing the role of dynamic capabilities in local food distribution: a theory-elaborated study. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal 24(6): 767-783.

Lehner M, Mont O, Heiskanen E (2016): Nudging – A promising tool for sustainable consumption behaviour? Journal of Cleaner Production 134 Pt. A: 166-177.

Meixell MJ, Luoma P (2015): Stakeholder pressure in sustainable supply chain management: A systematic review. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management 45: 69-89.

Oelze N (2017): Sustainable supply chain management implementation – enablers and barriers in the textile industry. Sustainability 9(8): 1435.

Oelze N, Gruchmann T, Brandenburg M (2020): Motivating factors for implementing apparel certification schemes – A sustainable supply chain management perspective. Sustainability 12(12): 4823.

Oelze N; Khvatova T; Bühler D (2019). Cultural aspects on ‘ethical consumerism’ for textiles: A German-Russian comparison. IFAC-PapersOnLine 52(13): 373-378.

Sarkis J, Zhu Q (2018): Environmental sustainability and production: taking the road less travelled. International Journal of Production Research 56: 734-759.

Sodhi MS, Tang CS (2018): Corporate social sustainability in supply chains: a thematic analysis of the literature. International Journal of Production Research 56: 882-901.

Tseng ML, Lim MK, Wong WP, Chen YC, Zhan Y (2018): A framework for evaluating the performance of sustainable service supply chain management under uncertainty. International Journal of Production Economics 195: 359-372.

Vitell SJ, Muncy J (2005): The Muncy-Vitell consumer ethics scale: a modification and application. Journal of Business Ethics 62: 267-275.

Prof. Dr. Marcus Brandenburg
Prof. Dr. Tim Gruchmann
Prof. Dr. Nelly Oelze
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sustainable production
  • sustainable consumption
  • sustainable supply chain management
  • environmental sustainability
  • consumer social responsibility
  • social sustainability

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 1876 KiB  
Article
Irrational Carbon Emission Transfers in Supply Chains under Environmental Regulation: Identification and Optimization
by Licheng Sun and Sui Fang
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1099; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031099 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1532
Abstract
Irrational transfer of carbon emissions in the supply chain refers to the phenomenon that after the transfer of carbon emissions occurs, the profits of any party in the supply chain are reduced compared to before the transfer. Identifying and optimizing irrational transfers of [...] Read more.
Irrational transfer of carbon emissions in the supply chain refers to the phenomenon that after the transfer of carbon emissions occurs, the profits of any party in the supply chain are reduced compared to before the transfer. Identifying and optimizing irrational transfers of carbon emissions in supply chains under environmental regulation are the bases for establishing green supply chains. By constructing a manufacturer-led Steinberg model, we obtained identification intervals for such transfers, then analyzed the influences of the changes in various coefficients. Finally, we designed a carbon emission transfer cost-sharing contract to obtain optimized intervals for shifts from irrational to rational transfers and used a Nash bargaining model to obtain the optimal share rates within the intervals. The results indicated irrational transfer intervals existed in supply chains. When a supplier has a low ability to receive transfers, the range of the irrational transfer intervals increases as the supplier’s capacity coefficient for receiving carbon emission transfers, the transfer investment cost coefficient, the emission reduction investment cost coefficient, and the consumer’s low-carbon awareness intensity increase. Otherwise, the range decreases as these coefficients increase when the supplier’s ability to receive transfers has a large coefficient. In this range, a cost-sharing contract can effectively shift the transfers from irrational to rational and an optimal cost-sharing ratio can help the transfers reach the optimal level, which is beneficial in terms of constructing a green supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Supply and Consumption)
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18 pages, 1833 KiB  
Article
Sustainability Prerequisites and Practices in Textile and Apparel Supply Chains
by Ronak Warasthe, Finja Schulz, Ralf Enneking and Marcus Brandenburg
Sustainability 2020, 12(23), 9960; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12239960 - 28 Nov 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5541
Abstract
The proposed study deals with sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry. We analyze prerequisites and practices of supply chain (SC) sustainability in a multiple case study of the German and Ethiopian T&A industry. Our analysis is based [...] Read more.
The proposed study deals with sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) in the textile and apparel (T&A) industry. We analyze prerequisites and practices of supply chain (SC) sustainability in a multiple case study of the German and Ethiopian T&A industry. Our analysis is based on ten semi-structured interviews conducted with the managers of seven companies in the Ethiopian T&A production and the German fair fashion retail industries. The contribution of expert knowledge helps in identifying SC sustainability prerequisites and practices. The chosen cases of production in Ethiopia and retail in Germany highlight the complexity of T&A SCs while representing both the suppliers’ and retailers’ perspectives, which is rare in the related literature. As a major research contribution, the study adapts a framework for SC sustainability in the chemical industry and transfers it to T&A SCs. Moreover, practitioners from the T&A industry find useful insights into relevant practices and their prerequisites, which helps in improving SC sustainability in this sector. The study reveals that management orientation and interest groups such as customers represent the most important prerequisites for sustainability. Manufacturers rely more on internal practices such as monitoring, while retailers focus on external sustainability practices, such as supplier development. In a comparative approach, similarities and differences between T&A SCs and the chemical industry are identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Management of Supply and Consumption)
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