Sustainable Management of Supply and Consumption

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