Sustainable Supply Chain Management A Fundamental...

Sustainable Supply Chain Management The general purpose of sustainable supply chain management, a fundamental element of corporate responsibility, is to ensure resource stakeholder value through supporting adequate availability of resources for all stakeholders, by remaining accountable for the â€Å"environmental, social and economic impacts† of the organization’s operations (Business for Social Responsibility, 2010, p. 5). By utilizing data analytics, an organization can garner a greater understanding of business drivers, perform supplier assessments, and assess the organization’s progress on goals for sustainable supply chain management (Business for Social Responsibility, 2010, p. 5). Sustainable supply chain management helps operations by†¦show more content†¦7). Lastly, supply chain sustainability reduces costs for overhead and labor through increased efficiency, and increases profit through increased productivity (Business for Social Responsibility, 2010, p. 13). Despite the numerous ways in which sustainable supply chain management helps operations, there are internal and external limitations to the technique. The first of such internal limitations is cost, which is an impediment for small and medium business to integrate sustainable activities (Alzawawi, n.d., p. 4). Without adequate funding, an organization is unable to implement and conduct all operations in a sustainable manner. Another limitation is a deficiency in understanding sustainable practices and the benefits therefrom (Alzawawi, n.d., p. 4). As such, an organization is incapable of undertaking sustainable activities when decision makers lack the knowledge required to implement changes. A third limitation is a dearth of employee training in the supply chain cycle and sustainable practices (Alzawawi, n.d., p. 4). Without proper training, the organization is unable to harvest the full potential of this technique. Similar to data analytics, the organization’s technology limits the application of sustainable