IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/sustdv/v17y2009i5p284-294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable procurement of minor items - exploring limits to sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Hans Haake

    (Ecological Economics, University of Oldenburg, Germany)

  • Stefan Seuring

    (International Management, University of Kassel, Germany)

Abstract

The field of sustainable supply chain management has seen a rapid expansion of corporate activities as well as academic research over the last few years. This paper points to an obvious shortcoming in the way the topic is being addressed in almost all contributions: major, well known, product related goods and services are almost exclusively targeted, leading to definitions, frameworks and empirical research that fail to include more minor items and related purchasing processes. This has various reasons, but is an inadequate approach when overall impacts along an entire supply chain are considered and the basic tenets of sustainability respected. The paper discusses the reasons for such shortcomings and suggests some measures by which they could be overcome, thereby also stimulating future research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans Haake & Stefan Seuring, 2009. "Sustainable procurement of minor items - exploring limits to sustainability," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(5), pages 284-294.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:17:y:2009:i:5:p:284-294
    DOI: 10.1002/sd.424
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/sd.424
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sd.424?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Teuscher & Beat Grüninger & Niels Ferdinand, 2006. "Risk management in sustainable supply chain management (SSCM): lessons learnt from the case of GMO‐free soybeans," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, February.
    2. Charles J. Corbett & Gregory A. DeCroix, 2001. "Shared-Savings Contracts for Indirect Materials in Supply Chains: Channel Profits and Environmental Impacts," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(7), pages 881-893, July.
    3. James J. Cordeiro & Joseph Sarkis, 1997. "Environmental proactivism and firm performance: evidence from security analyst earnings forecasts," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(2), pages 104-114, May.
    4. Stefan Seuring, 2004. "Industrial ecology, life cycles, supply chains: differences and interrelations," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 306-319, September.
    5. Nicole Darnall & G. Jason Jolley & Robert Handfield, 2008. "Environmental management systems and green supply chain management: complements for sustainability?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 30-45, January.
    6. Eric Neumayer, 2013. "Weak versus Strong Sustainability," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14993.
    7. Walter J. V. Vermeulen & P. J. Ras, 2006. "The challenge of greening global product chains: meeting both ends," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 245-256.
    8. Ken Peattie, 2001. "Golden goose or wild goose? The hunt for the green consumer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 187-199, July.
    9. Robert Handfield & Robert Sroufe & Steven Walton, 2005. "Integrating environmental management and supply chain strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, January.
    10. Morrow, David & Rondinelli, Dennis, 2002. "Adopting Corporate Environmental Management Systems:: Motivations and Results of ISO 14001 and EMAS Certification," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 159-171, April.
    11. Catherine Dolan & John Humphrey, 2004. "Changing Governance Patterns in the Trade in Fresh Vegetables between Africa and the United Kingdom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(3), pages 491-509, March.
    12. Knud Sinding, 2000. "Environmental management beyond the boundaries of the firm: definitions and constraints," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 79-91, March.
    13. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    14. Jesper Grolin, 1998. "Corporate legitimacy in risk society: the case of Brent Spar," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(4), pages 213-222, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olga Chkanikova, 2016. "Sustainable Purchasing in Food Retailing: Interorganizational Relationship Management to Green Product Supply," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 478-494, November.
    2. Ghanbarzadeh-Shams, M. & Ghasemy Yaghin, R. & Sadeghi, A.H., 2022. "A hybrid fuzzy multi-objective model for carpet production planning with reverse logistics under uncertainty," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Gadenne, David & Sharma, Bishnu & Kerr, Don & Smith, Tim, 2011. "The influence of consumers' environmental beliefs and attitudes on energy saving behaviours," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7684-7694.
    4. Enrico Massaroni & Alessandra Cozzolino & Mario Calabrese & Ewa Wankowicz & Maura Fiore, 2016. "Reporting di sostenibilit? degli operatori logistici in Europa: analisi degli indicatori," ECONOMIA E DIRITTO DEL TERZIARIO, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(2), pages 303-334.
    5. André Tchokogué & Jean Nollet & Nathalie Merminod & Gilles Paché & Véronique Goupil, 2018. "Is Supply's Actual Contribution to Sustainable Development Strategic and Operational?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 336-358, March.
    6. Magnus Boström, 2015. "Between Monitoring and Trust: Commitment to Extended Upstream Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(1), pages 239-255, September.
    7. Kogg, Beatrice & Mont, Oksana, 2012. "Environmental and social responsibility in supply chains: The practise of choice and inter-organisational management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 154-163.
    8. Mari, Sonia Irshad & Lee, Young Hae & Memon, Muhammad Saad & Cho, Su Yeon, 2014. "A Three-level Sustainable and Resilient Supply Chain Network Design under Disruption," MPRA Paper 58228, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Stefan Seuring, 2011. "Supply chain management for sustainable products – insights from research applying mixed methodologies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(7), pages 471-484, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Satish Kumar & Riya Sureka & Weng Marc Lim & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Nisha Goyal, 2021. "What do we know about business strategy and environmental research? Insights from Business Strategy and the Environment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3454-3469, December.
    2. Joana M. Comas Martí & Ralf W. Seifert, 2013. "Assessing the Comprehensiveness of Supply Chain Environmental Strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 339-356, July.
    3. Romy Morana & Stefan Seuring, 2011. "A Three Level Framework for Closed-Loop Supply Chain Management—Linking Society, Chain and Actor Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-14, April.
    4. Zhaojun Yang & Jun Sun & Yali Zhang & Ying Wang, 2018. "Peas and carrots just because they are green? Operational fit between green supply chain management and green information system," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 627-645, June.
    5. Mark P. Sharfman & Teresa M. Shaft & Robert P. Anex, 2009. "The road to cooperative supply‐chain environmental management: trust and uncertainty among pro‐active firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 1-13, January.
    6. Stefan Gold & Stefan Seuring & Philip Beske, 2010. "Sustainable supply chain management and inter‐organizational resources: a literature review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 230-245, July.
    7. Philip Beske & Julia Koplin & Stefan Seuring, 2008. "The use of environmental and social standards by German first‐tier suppliers of the Volkswagen AG," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 63-75, March.
    8. Markku Anttonen, 2010. "Greening from the front to the back door? A typology of chemical and resource management services," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 199-215, March.
    9. Zhaojun Yang & Jun Sun & Yali Zhang & Ying Wang, 0. "Peas and carrots just because they are green? Operational fit between green supply chain management and green information system," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-19.
    10. Eltayeb, Tarig K. & Zailani, Suhaiza & Ramayah, T., 2011. "Green supply chain initiatives among certified companies in Malaysia and environmental sustainability: Investigating the outcomes," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(5), pages 495-506.
    11. Vermeulen, W.J.V. & Kok, M.T.J., 2012. "Government interventions in sustainable supply chain governance: Experience in Dutch front-running cases," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 183-196.
    12. Oguz Morali & Cory Searcy, 2013. "A Review of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices in Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 117(3), pages 635-658, October.
    13. Stefan Seuring, 2011. "Supply chain management for sustainable products – insights from research applying mixed methodologies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(7), pages 471-484, November.
    14. Martin Müller & Bernd Siebenhüner, 2007. "Policy instruments for sustainability‐oriented organizational learning," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 232-245, March.
    15. Jean D. Kabongo, 2020. "The intellectual structure of the journal Business Strategy and the Environment: A 25‐year author cocitation analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 170-179, January.
    16. Elisabeth Albertini, 2017. "What We Know About Environmental Policy: An Inductive Typology of the Research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 277-287, March.
    17. S. Maryam Masoumi & Nima Kazemi & Salwa Hanim Abdul-Rashid, 2019. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Automotive Industry: A Process-Oriented Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-30, July.
    18. Tobias Hahn & Frank Figge & Jonatan Pinkse & Lutz Preuss, 2010. "Trade‐offs in corporate sustainability: you can't have your cake and eat it," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 217-229, May.
    19. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias, 2004. "Sustainable Value Added--measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-187, February.
    20. Sarah Elena Windolph & Dorli Harms & Stefan Schaltegger, 2014. "Motivations for Corporate Sustainability Management: Contrasting Survey Results and Implementation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(5), pages 272-285, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:sustdv:v:17:y:2009:i:5:p:284-294. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-1719 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.