Stefan Seuring

Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions

Sustainability, the consideration of environmental factors and social aspects, in supply chain management (SCM) has become a highly relevant topic for researchers and practitioners. The application of operations research methods and related models, i.e. formal modeling, for closed-loop SCM and reverse logistics has been effectively reviewed in previously published research. This situation is in contrast to the understanding and review of mathematical models that focus on environmental or social factors in forward supply chains (SC), which has seen less investigation. To evaluate developments and directions of this research area, this paper provides a content analysis of 134 carefully identified papers on quantitative, formal models that address sustainability aspects in the forward SC. It was found that a preponderance of the publications and models appeared in a limited set of six journals, and most were analytically based with a focus on multiple criteria decision making. The tools most often used comprise the analytical hierarchy process or its close relative, the analytical network process, as well as life cycle analysis. Conclusions are drawn showing that numerous possibilities and insights can be gained from expanding the types of tools and factors considered in formal modeling efforts.

A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain management

More than 300 papers have been published in the last 15years on the topic of green or sustainable (forward) supply chains. Looking at the research methodologies employed, only 36 papers apply quantitative models. This is in contrast to, for example, the neighboring field of reverse or closed-loop supply chains where several reviews on respective quantitative models have already been provided. The paper summarizes research on quantitative models for forward supply chains and thereby contributes to the further substantiation of the field. While different kinds of models are applied, it is evident that the social side of sustainability is not taken into account. On the environmental side, life-cycle assessment based approaches and impact criteria clearly dominate. On the modeling side there are three dominant approaches: equilibrium models, multi-criteria decision making and analytical hierarchy process. There has been only limited empirical research so far. The paper ends with suggestions for future research.

Conducting content‐analysis based literature reviews in supply chain management

Purpose – Inconsistent research output makes critical literature reviews crucial tools for assessing and developing the knowledge base within a research field. Literature reviews in the field of supply chain management (SCM) are often considerably less stringently presented than other empirical research. Replicability of the research and traceability of the arguments and conclusions call for more transparent and systematic procedures. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the importance of literature reviews in SCM.Design/methodology/approach – Literature reviews are defined as primarily qualitative synthesis. Content analysis is introduced and applied for reviewing 22 literature reviews of seven sub‐fields of SCM, published in English‐speaking peer‐reviewed journals between 2000 and 2009. A descriptive evaluation of the literature body is followed by a content analysis on the basis of a specific pattern of analytic categories derived from a typical research process.Findings – Each paper was assess...

Assessing the rigor of case study research in supply chain management

Purpose – This paper aims to assess the current practice in research on supply chain management applying a case study method. Two particular research fields, namely sustainable supply chain management (SustSCM) and performance supply chain management (PerformSCM), are used as examples.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a content analysis, where quality criteria for documenting case study research are analyzed. A total of 68 papers from the two research fields (51 SustSCM and 17 PerformSCM) forms the sample. The criteria of analysis chosen are taken from the case study research process.Findings – There are two major findings: first, supply chain researchers have to make a greater effort to collect data from supply chains (i.e. at least two, or better, three or more stages of the supply chains). Second, the research process needs to be more comprehensively documented in related peer‐reviewed journal publications. This way, the value of case study based research might be appreciated more, as...

Environmental impacts as buying criteria for third party logistical services

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to analyse whether environmental issues form a supplier selection criteria of companies when sourcing third party logistics (3PL) services.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a total of nine cases, where six buyers and three 3PL are analysed in depth so that data are collected for both parties involved in related dyadic relationships.Findings – While 3PL reports an increasing interest in environmental issues, buying decisions are still made on “traditional” performance objectives, such as price, quality and timely delivery. Environmental concerns have not been incorporated and at best form a kind of minimum requirement. Related cooperation, as asked for when taking a wider supply chain management perspective, could not be identified.Research limitations/implications – The paper has the limitation that only a total of nine companies are analysed. Yet, these companies can be seen as being good representatives of the overall industry. Further, detailed in...

Putting sustainability into supply chain management

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to identify key categories of Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and related practices that are required to fulfill the demands of sustainability and, therefore, contributing to sustainability performance. As part of this, the authors will identify different approaches in practice implementation in SSCM and supply chain management (SCM). SSCM has become a topic of great interest and is linked to the assumption that a more sustainable performance for businesses would be achieved on its implementation. Such performance has to be achieved with respect to all three dimensions of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is conceptual in nature. The authors draw from literature on SSCM and examine frameworks and critical accounts on the topic. This allows identifying key aspects of SSCM and pointing out differences and overlaps with SCM. Findings – The authors identify five key categories which are of high importance for the sustainable management of sup...

End-of-life returns of long-lived products from end customer—insights from an ideally set up closed-loop supply chain

For successful operation of closed-loop supply chains, product acquisition from customers plays a key role. Most cases presented in the literature so far have looked at products that still have a considerable marginal value of time or short life cycles. In such cases, it seems more likely that customers would return products at the end of their life cycle. But for a wide range of products such as apparel, the opposite is the case. This paper presents a classification of products for end-of-life acquisition based on the marginal value of time and the product lifetime. In a second stage, transaction cost economics are discussed to evaluate the behaviour of end-customers regarding end-of-life returns. A modified version of the transaction cost analysis is taken up, which allows an assessment of the transaction costs incurred by customers for end-of-life returns. This will show that low transaction costs are vital for acquiring products at the end of their life. The case of ECOLOG is used to explore related issues and discuss the importance of including the final customer in planning such product return channels.

The constructs of sustainable supply chain management – a content analysis based on published case studies

The intersection of supply chain management and sustainability is still a rather young research field emerging as growing topic only recently. This paper outlines findings of a content analysis assessing systematically all case studies in the field of sustainable supply chain management, published from 1994 to 2007 in English-speaking peer-reviewed journals, and thus, mapping and evaluating the scope of current SCM topics reflected in these case papers. The analysis confirms previous research that highlights pressures from governments, customers and stakeholders as triggers of sustainable supply chain management and the neglect of the social dimension of sustainability within supply chain management. Improving supplier performance or, at least, assuring minimum performance standards can be generally regarded important objectives of supply chain strategies. Communication is an outstanding characteristic both for traditional and sustainable supply chain management; though far-reaching supply chain integration is still rather limited.

Conducting a Literature Review — The Example of Sustainability in Supply Chains

Literature reviews are an essential part of all kinds of research. Their importance is frequently emphasized in introductory texts on research methodology as well as in methodological papers. The methodological basis for a literature review is usually a document analysis conducted as a content analysis. Therefore, criteria have to be chosen which allow the search for and the categorization of relevant literature. Such classification forms part of the structured analysis. Yet, not all aspects can be assessed this way, so conceptual research must also be a part of the research. Using the example of sustainability in supply chains, this paper offers insights on how a literature review might be conducted. This field provides and interesting example, as it is a young field of academic writing, so a total analysis of all relevant work published since 1990 is feasible.

Reducing information technology‐based transaction costs in supply chains

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address the intersection between supply chain coordination and information technology (IT) by building on transaction cost analysis. Literature frequently predicts that the application of IT reduces transaction costs. Often, no real explanation is given, and the impact of IT on supply chain management (SCM) is not assessed.Design/methodology/approach – Discussing the application of IT in SCM, a classification of different forms of collaboration (integration) is presented. Building on the essential transaction cost elements of specificity and uncertainty, the (high) costs of transactions in different supply chain integration forms are revealed.Findings – The claim that IT reduces transaction costs is objected to in its general form. The reduction of transaction costs is dependent on the form of supplier integration. Through market transactions (not managed process links) and monitored process links, a reduction of transaction costs by using IT is likely. In the cas...