PurposeThe present study aims to empirically investigate whether supply chain agility and lean management practices are antecedents of supply chain social ...sustainability.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 311 supply chain practitioners from the Indian manufacturing sector. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to test the validity and reliability of the measures used, and a structural model was analyzed to test the hypotheses of the current study.FindingsThe results indicate that agility and lean practices are significant antecedents of social sustainability orientation as well as social sustainability performance. The results also suggest that agility has a significant indirect effect on operational performance via social sustainability orientation, basic social sustainability practices as well as agility is indirectly affecting social sustainability performance via social sustainability orientation and basic social sustainability practices.Practical implicationsThe results of the present study have implications for managers that want to make their supply chain more socially sustainable.Originality/valueThe study is unique in the sense that it empirically links agility and lean practices with social sustainability orientation, social substantiality performance and operational performance in supply chains.
Sustainability is gaining interest among academics and practitioners due to increased stakeholder awareness of environmental and social issues. However, relatively little research has been conducted ...on the extent to which firms have integrated social sustainability aspects into the management of their supply chains in emerging economies. The purpose of this article is to explore the social issues pertinent to suppliers and to identify measures and dimensions related to social sustainability in emerging economies. Further, it explores the benefits suppliers and buyers gain by effectively managing such social issues. For this purpose, first, in-depth interviews were conducted with 27 supply chain managers. Further, a survey was conducted in Indian manufacturing industries and co-variance-based structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. The findings reveal that there are 18 validated supplier social sustainability measures underlying five social dimensions: labor rights, safety and health, societal responsibility, diversity, and product responsibility. The results also suggest a positive relationship between supplier social sustainability practices and supply chain performance mediated by supplier performance. In addition, the role of the buyer's commitment and investment moderates both suppliers and supply chain performance. These results are relevant because they not only identify the social issues plaguing supply chains in emerging economies, but also have practical implications for organizations trying to build socially sustainable supply chains for competitive advantage.
Research on social sustainability in developing countries has recently gained importance for both academics and practitioners. Studies in the supply chain management field take either a supplier or a ...manufacturer perspective that address predominantly corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues referring to the internal stakeholders. Our research integrates the literature on supplier, manufacturer, and customer responsibility and proposes the concept of supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) that refers to addressing social issues within the overall (upstream and downstream) supply chain. Furthermore, we develop and empirically validate scales for measuring SCSS using in-depth interviews and a survey in the Indian manufacturing industry. Our results suggest that SCSS consists of six underlying dimensions, namely equity, safety, health and welfare, philanthropy, ethics, human rights, in a 20-item valid and reliable scale. We discuss the implications of the findings for research and practice and suggest future research avenues.
This paper pioneers the investigation of the significant factors that influence corporate decisions on the use of social media for supply chain social sustainability, and it highlights a crucial ...research area that is currently understudied in supply chain management literature. A theoretical framework was developed in this study based upon the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) and Human-Organization-Technology (HOT) theories to obtain the significant critical success factors (CSFs) which influence the use of social media for supply chain social sustainability in freight logistics firms in Nigeria. The Best-Worst Method was applied to analyse and rank the CSFs using their determined relative importance level. The research findings indicate that customer satisfaction, sufficient security and privacy, affordability and competitive pressure are the highest ranked CSFs to achieve supply chain social sustainability using of social media. This research has important implications for policy makers and practitioners to gain perspectives on how to foster the use of social media in the freight logistics sector for supply chain social sustainability.
Purpose
Socially sustainable supply chain (SSSC) practices address pressing social issues and may provide operational benefits as well as positive impacts on society. However, due to gaps in the ...current knowledge, it is difficult to know what practices will provide benefits and what management orientations can maximize the impact of these practices on operational performance. The purpose of this paper is to advance the knowledge on the effect of social sustainability orientation on operational performance by examining the mediating roles of basic and advanced SSSC practices and the moderating role of long-term orientation (LTO).
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through a survey of US-based companies about their relationships with key suppliers. Confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression were used to test the proposed moderated mediation model.
Findings
Surprisingly, sustainability orientation predicts operational performance through advanced but not basic SSSC practices. Results also indicate that the effect of sustainability orientation on operational performance is significantly moderated by LTO.
Research limitations/implications
Results are limited by the US context, the cross-sectional nature of the research, the use of a single-respondent survey instrument and the challenges of measuring LTO.
Practical implications
Managers and policymakers should be aware of the limitations of adopting basic SSSC practices on the performance of their operations. Advanced practices provide a more robust business case and significantly and positively impact operational performance. In addition, the interaction of a sustainability orientation and LTO can lead to even greater improvements in firms’ operational performance. Firms with the highest levels of social sustainability and LTOs attain superior operational performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and extends this literature by focusing on social sustainability practices, identifying specific practices that impact and the orientations that maximize operational performance. The authors contribute to the growing literature on the importance of manager’s temporal orientation and provide nuance to emerging SSCM theory by exposing the interplay of these orientations and the impact of SSSC practice adoption.
This short opinion article critically comments on some current mainstream trends, characteristics, and biases in urban social sustainability research literature. Through identifying some gaps ...regarding geography, sub-topics, and study approaches, and through considering “off-the-map” southern urban realities, it calls for the need to refocus and reshape some of the basic notions and presumptions that currently stand behind urban social sustainability theory, concepts, and policy design. Enhancing our sensitivity to truly global urban conditions, argue the authors, would result in less expected and generic (Eurocentric) approaches regarding urban social sustainability and would contribute to its more meaningful and comprehensive understanding. A bias towards qualitative, place-based, and context-sensitive analysis is a necessary step in rendering urban social sustainability truly global as well as in the making of more place-intelligent and place-responsive planning interventions.
The apparel supply chain is an example of a complex global supply chain where sustainability issues are a concern and where no satisfactory answers have been achieved yet, especially in social ...aspects. The growth in importance of social sustainability represents a strategic change in the sector with the necessary involvement of different tiers and external stakeholders to mitigate the negative social impacts. In this paper, a qualitative analysis through the application of content analysis using NVivo software is carried out, first to identify the structure and the main entities in this supply chain, and then to understand the main drivers towards social sustainability management. Six global companies were analysed, considering their sustainability reports from 2014 to 2018. The findings showed that social sustainability is a part of strategic goals as policies and commitments, and several actions have been developed along the supply chain to promote human rights, labour conditions, social development, and product responsibility, with external stakeholders collaboration. Finally, this article contributes to understanding how social sustainability should be managed in the apparel sector in a global supply chain context. Furthermore, in order to enrich the knowledge on this field, this paper provides some insight throughout the definition of a roadmap for future research in the area.
In recent years, the concept of sustainability has gained increasing prominence in global discourse, with particular emphasis on environmental and economic aspects. However, an equally critical ...dimension often overlooked is social sustainability, which pertains to the ethical and social impacts of supply chain practices. Understanding the complex interconnections and implications between customers and suppliers is pivotal to fostering sustainable business practices and cultivating long-term relationships within supply chains. This scientific paper delves into the multifaceted realm of social sustainability in supply chains, specifically focusing on the intricate relationships between customers and suppliers. By analyzing the reciprocal dynamics of this dyadic relationship, we aim to shed light on how their actions, decisions, and behaviors reverberate throughout the entire supply chain, shaping its overall social sustainability.
A sustainable business organization need to consider the importance of economic, environmental and social sustainability. Although researchers and practitioners focus their attention on the economic ...and environmental dimension of sustainability, less attention is paid to the social dimension of sustainability, particularly in developing countries. Nonetheless, these researchers and practitioners do not consider the social sustainability issue faced by freight transportation companies. To answer this issue, this article proposes a framework for computing social sustainability index, which is based on the freight transportation social sustainability enablers, dimensions, and attributes. To validate the proposed research framework, multiple freight transportation companies and eight industry experts were selected in the region of North India. Appropriate freight transport social sustainability enablers, dimensions, and attributes were identified based on literature and validated with multiple rounds of discussion with industry experts. The proposed framework considered four enablers, 16 dimensions, and 74 attributes including 17 new attributes of social sustainability. All the levels of social sustainability involve qualitativeness and incomplete information, so the fuzzy logic based methodology is more suitable to compute the overall social sustainability index. Freight transportation social sustainability index (FTSSI) has been computed as (4.472, 6.017, 7.591) and industry practices said to be “very socially sustainable”. Also, 21 poorer social sustainability attributes were found. The fuzzy logic based result was validated with the conventional crisp approach. The findings of the study will help transport industry managers, decision-makers, and government policymakers to take appropriate actions to improve the freight transport social sustainability performance attributes.
One of the main reasons for today’s urban problems is the disregarding of social sustainability in urban interventions and the lack of an approach that evaluates social sustainability with all its ...issues as a universal and holistic one. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine and categorize social sustainability criteria, objectives, and indicators to measure and to assess social sustainability for ensuring the sustainability of cities that could be used in all urban areas and applied in urban planning. Within this scope, social sustainability criteria, objectives, and indicators identified by international organizations and academic/scientific studies on different scales and in urban areas were evaluated systematically and analytically. A matrix has been generated according to the frequency of occurrence of social sustainability criteria and indicators. Although research studies focus on criteria and indicators according to scale, subject, and specified matters. It is a necessity to identify social sustainability criteria and indicators that can be used on every scale and in every urban area. Accordingly, ten criteria have been determined: population, accessibility, education and skills, health, housing, security, belonging, participation, social capital and social cohesion, urban life quality, satisfaction, and adequacy of services. Based on the criteria, targets, sub-targets, indicators, and indicator definitions for each criterion have been identified. However, the significance of each criterion is addressed, as well as the reasons for their necessity for social sustainability. This study proposes a universal, detailed, and holistic perspective for the measurement and assessment of social sustainability that enables the use of both quantitative and qualitative data together and envisages the use of mixed techniques in obtaining and evaluating data. In addition, criteria and indicator systems will be able to guide practitioners and policymakers to make decisions related to the social structure before and after the implementation of urban projects.
One of the main reasons for today’s urban problems is the disregarding of social sustainability in urban interventions and the lack of an approach that evaluates social sustainability with all its issues as a universal and holistic one. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine and categorize social sustainability criteria, objectives, and indicators to measure and to assess social sustainability for ensuring the sustainability of cities that could be used in all urban areas and applied in urban planning. Within this scope, social sustainability criteria, objectives, and indicators identified by international organizations and academic/scientific studies on different scales and in urban areas were evaluated systematically and analytically. A matrix has been generated according to the frequency of occurrence of social sustainability criteria and indicators. Although research studies focus on criteria and indicators according to scale, subject, and specified matters. It is a necessity to identify social sustainability criteria and indicators that can be used on every scale and in every urban area. Accordingly, ten criteria have been determined: population, accessibility, education and skills, health, housing, security, belonging, participation, social capital and social cohesion, urban life quality, satisfaction, and adequacy of services. Based on the criteria, targets, sub-targets, indicators, and indicator definitions for each criterion have been identified. However, the significance of each criterion is addressed, as well as the reasons for their necessity for social sustainability. This study proposes a universal, detailed, and holistic perspective for the measurement and assessment of social sustainability that enables the use of both quantitative and qualitative data together and envisages the use of mixed techniques in obtaining and evaluating data. In addition, criteria and indicator systems will be able to guide practitioners and policymakers to make decisions related to the social structure before and after the implementation of urban projects.
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