Assessing Supply Chain Performance from the Perspective of Pakistan’s Manufacturing Industry Through Social Sustainability

Abstract

The industry is gradually forced to integrate socially sustainable development practices and cross-social issues. Although researchers and practitioners emphasize environmental and economic sustainability in supply chain management (SCM). This is unfortunate because not only social sustainable development plays an important role in promoting other sustainable development programs, but social injustice at one level in the supply chain may also cause significant losses to companies throughout the chain. This article aimed to consolidate the literature on the responsibilities of suppliers, manufacturers, and customers and to adopt sustainable supply chain management (SSSCM) practices in the Pakistani industry to identify all possible aspects of sustainable social development in the supply chain by investigating the relationship between survey variables and structure. This work went beyond the limits of regulations and showed the status of maintaining sustainable social issues. Based on semi-structured interviews, a comprehensive questionnaire was developed. The data was collected through a survey of the head of the supply chain in Karachi, Pakistan. The results of this paper showed that organizational learning was the most important dimension of supplier social sustainability with a value of 40.5% as compared to the effectiveness of the supply chain and the supplier performance with values 37.7 and 9.6%, respectively. In terms of the manufacturer’s social responsibility, the highest score for operational performance was 47%, while productivity was 20%, and corporate social demonstration was 20%. Finally, for the customers’ social sustainability, two dimensions were determined, namely, customer satisfaction and customer commitment with scores of 47 and 40%, respectively. We also solved sustainable social problems from the perspective of suppliers, manufacturers, and customers. The study would help professionals anywhere to emphasize their considerations and would improve the management of social sustainability in their supply chain.