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Sustainable Innovation: Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional Operations Management

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  • Luk N. Van Wassenhove

Abstract

The UN Sustainable Development Goals are not optional. They are about survival. Reaching them requires focus and strong innovation. Operations Management is about designing innovative business models to allocate scarce resources. It therefore has the toolkit to help move the sustainability agenda, provided it strongly opts for studying relevant and pressing problems and proves its potential impact. This study argues that this requires innovation as well as a paradigm shift in how we look at contributions. The good news is that a growing number of OM academics select to work on important facets of sustainability. The bad news is that we stepped into this field relatively late so the impact of that work is still modest. We need to push the boundaries of our discipline to develop new context‐dependent knowledge on pressing problems, provide evidence of the validity of our findings, and translate them into practical and easy‐to‐use decision tools. This study uses closed‐loop supply chains and humanitarian operations to illustrate and support this thesis. OM needs innovation to substantially contribute to the sustainable development agenda and thereby safeguard its own sustainability as a discipline.

Suggested Citation

  • Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2019. "Sustainable Innovation: Pushing the Boundaries of Traditional Operations Management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(12), pages 2930-2945, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popmgt:v:28:y:2019:i:12:p:2930-2945
    DOI: 10.1111/poms.13114
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    Cited by:

    1. CHEN, Helen S.Y., 2020. "Designing Sustainable Humanitarian Supply Chains," OSF Preprints m82ar, Center for Open Science.
    2. Patricia van Loon & Luk N. Van Wassenhove & Ales Mihelic, 2022. "Designing a circular business strategy: 7 years of evolution at a large washing machine manufacturer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1030-1041, March.
    3. Kannan, Devika, 2021. "Sustainable procurement drivers for extended multi-tier context: A multi-theoretical perspective in the Danish supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    4. Zhang, Abraham & Wang, Jason X. & Farooque, Muhammad & Wang, Yulan & Choi, Tsan-Ming, 2021. "Multi-dimensional circular supply chain management: A comparative review of the state-of-the-art practices and research," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Ioannis Kougkoulos & M. Selim Cakir & Nathan Kunz & Doreen S. Boyd & Alexander Trautrims & Kornilia Hatzinikolaou & Stefan Gold, 2021. "A Multi‐Method Approach to Prioritize Locations of Labor Exploitation for Ground‐Based Interventions," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(12), pages 4396-4411, December.
    6. Ritika Mahajan & Satish Kumar & Weng Marc Lim & Monica Sareen, 2024. "The role of business and management in driving the sustainable development goals (SDGs): Current insights and future directions from a systematic review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4493-4529, July.
    7. Yi Wang & Yafei Yang & Zhaoxiang Qin & Yefei Yang & Jun Li, 2023. "A Literature Review on the Application of Digital Technology in Achieving Green Supply Chain Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    8. Shi, Xiutian & Chan, Hau-Ling & Dong, Ciwei, 2020. "Impacts of competition between buying firms on corporate social responsibility efforts: Does competition do more harm than good?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    9. Farooque, Muhammad & Zhang, Abraham & Liu, Yanping & Hartley, Janet L., 2022. "Circular supply chain management: Performance outcomes and the role of eco-industrial parks in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. Maria Besiou & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2020. "Humanitarian Operations: A World of Opportunity for Relevant and Impactful Research," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 135-145, January.
    11. Wang, Minke & Wu, Jiang & Kafa, Nadine & Klibi, Walid, 2020. "Carbon emission-compliance green location-inventory problem with demand and carbon price uncertainties," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    12. Nur Sunar & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2022. "Socially relevant and inclusive operations management," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4379-4392, December.
    13. Sabari R. Prasanna, 2022. "The role of supplier innovativeness in the humanitarian context," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 319(1), pages 1359-1377, December.
    14. Ponte, Borja & Cannella, Salvatore & Dominguez, Roberto & Naim, Mohamed M. & Syntetos, Aris A., 2021. "Quality grading of returns and the dynamics of remanufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    15. Chan, Hau-Ling & Wei, Xiaoyong & Guo, Shu & Leung, Wing-Hong, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in fashion supply chains: A multi-methodological study," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    16. Ma, Haicheng & Lou, Gaoxiang & Fan, Tijun & Chan, Hing Kai & Chung, Sai Ho, 2021. "Conventional automotive supply chains under China's dual-credit policy: fuel economy, production and coordination," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    17. Young Won Park & Paul Hong, 2022. "A Research Framework for Sustainable Digital Innovation: Case Studies of Japanese Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-13, July.
    18. Belhadi, Amine & Kamble, Sachin S. & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Mani, Venkatesh & Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Touriki, Fatima Ezahra, 2022. "A self-assessment tool for evaluating the integration of circular economy and industry 4.0 principles in closed-loop supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    19. Benrong Zheng & Liang Jin & Guoxuan Huang & Jie Chu, 2023. "Retailer’s optimal CSR investment in closed-loop supply chains: the impacts of supply chain structure and channel power structure," 4OR, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 301-327, June.
    20. Johannes Jakubik & Stefan Feuerriegel, 2022. "Data‐driven allocation of development aid toward sustainable development goals: Evidence from HIV/AIDS," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(6), pages 2739-2756, June.
    21. Cui, Yuan & Pan, Hao & Huang, Yi-Di & Yang, Guo-liang, 2024. "How can sociological theories provide legitimacy to eco-efficiency evaluations? Embark on a journey toward understanding," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

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