Framing maturity based on sustainable operations management principles

Abstract

Business sustainability integration is a complex task and strongly linked to operations management. In fact, sustainability based approaches demand operations management boundaries' expansion, creation and integration of new performance goals into traditional company's performance management system, and new criteria and policies for operations' decision areas development. The challenge is to conduct more sustainable operations through companies' value chain and their operations network. Maturity models have been used in different areas as a process improvement and change management model for complex contexts. In sustainable operations management area, maturity models have been developed for specific purposes, e.g., sustainable production, sustainable supply chain management, corporate social responsibility, and life cycle management. However, there is a lack of models that considers sustainability integration through the evolution of sustainable operations' capabilities in an integrated way. Based on literature review and results from two panel studies conducted with academics and practitioners, this paper proposes a maturity framework for sustainability integration guided by sustainable operations capabilities evolution. The findings pointed out that its is possible to identify an evolutionary path, which goes from an initial approach focused in compliance aspects and firm's value protection to an innovative approach, based on corporate social responsibility supporting operations' integration in a sustainable system, and long-term values development. The experts' studies identified key processes that need to be prioritized in each level, and also evaluate the adaptation of some elements from Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) to sustainable maturity framework design. The framework represents company's vision regarding its value chain and operations network, and it is indicated for manufacturing companies.