Today there is lot of emphasis on sustainable supply chain. The general impression seems to be that sustainability means just maintaining the business as it is without disturbing our precious resources borrowed from mother nature.
However, we must also look at the aspirations and expectations of various chain members in the entire supply chain. They will not be motivated unless there are signs of growth in the business. The real challenge therefore is to:
a) use resources that minimize the carbon footprint. These resources might be used for transportation, manufacturing, transmitting information, etc. during various legs of the supply chain.
b) use and encourage human resources who are sensitized and trained in minimizing the wastage
c) design and develop sustainable yet growth-oriented performance indicators to evaluate various chain members.
The growth is inevitable and the challenge is to balance issues of sustainability vis-a-vis growth.
Sustainability and growth should not be viewed in conflict with each other, but growth as a subset of bigger sustainability issue.
Dear Mr.Deshmumh,
I do agree the importance of the topic raised by yourself, it is necessary to redefine the business principles with the increasing focus on sustainability. The present state of businesses has resulted in resource hungry organisations and they are neither perpetual nor are benchmarked adequately.
The reason behind this is although businesses make money or assume to make money they do it at the beginning of the life cycle and do not factor the later effects of resource consumption. Increasingly the governments are expected to pick where businesses have created damage due to excessive usage of resources. These damages could be pollution due to conversion of raw material to provide services, unusable manpower as the company shifts to an area of low cost labour, damage to environment due to mining of resources or spillage of raw material that reduces arable land.
We could blame this on the industrial revolution and how the countries of the world have jumped on the bandwagon to develop infrastructure and set themselves on the path to development. The present model of development is to create hunger for resources and works against sustainability. I agree with your later points as changing the scenarios based on sustainability will require
1)re-education of human resources
2) redefine business principles and
3) redefine taxation and governance
Deshmukh: If it is properly understood it is not. It has been proven by very many companies that have taken a holistic approach to their organization and not only the supply chain but the entire organization. Subaru, Ricoh and Walmart are examples of such a thinking but you will find many others as well.
http://www.subaru.com/csr/environment-sustainability.html
https://www.ricoh.com/about/sustainability/
http://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/environmental-sustainability
I am quite sure that the ongoing process of growth will not be to be continued forever and therefore it should be about time to think of the alternatives, e.G. post-growth economy.
Business life cycle and supply chain management can be seen as part of a wider set of trends involving outsourcing, cross-boundary working, and new organizational forms characterized by flattened hierarchies, teams, and empowerment and so on rather than rigid command and control. The trends present an opportunity for the development of SCM for its sustainability as having important intangible assets and skills.Supply Chain professionalization opportunity, is a pathway for further occupational development for conservation of Materials Resources & to have supply chain sustainability - is a vital need of the future.
A sustainable supply chain is rather a pre-condition for a long-term lasting growth. Otherwise new legal requirements regarding sustainability will always disrupt out business.
I may be a bit provocative here, but is it not true that the concept of growth itself is not compatible with sustainability in the long run?
Dear Vasco: Your provocation requires interesting debate ! Why do you think so?
Growth per se may not be incompatible with sustainability. I think sustainability presupposes that the growth is holistic, inclusive and in line with the view of conservation of resources.
Growth is also natural phenomenon. Human Development cannot occur unless there is a growth.
Growth is also natural and organic ! See any natural system.
SGD
I concur, sustainability and growth should not take opposite paths but my challenge is funding. My team studied a set of leading consumer product companies and discovered that investment capital varied by < 2% for 4 consecutive years. Sustainability growth projects are clustered with new brand development, machinery etc.. I am a sustainability research supporter but it takes investment capital to grow a business.
What are our options to fund sustainable growth projects? Near term ROIC is the key from my point of view.
I hope my perspective added value.
Best regards,
John W.
Present day Supply Chain & Inventory Control management techniques have brought in better co-ordination and close integration among the various functionary - units of the business enterprises; for achieving their organizational common goals. With efficient application of the cost - effectiveness, the system works well to achieve competitive edge in sustainable and growth for the industrial revolution.
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