Abstract
With the growing global interdependence of companies, their scope of responsibility for the environmental, social, and human rights impacts associated with their activities is also growing. In this context, companies are increasingly held accountable for social and ecological issues that lie within the sphere of action of their suppliers and sub-suppliers. They are thus faced with the challenge of meeting these demands for transparency, traceability, and compliance with standards in their Supply Chains (SCs). Based on the theoretical framework of Sustainable Supply Chain Transparency (SSCT) in Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM), this conceptual article aims at initiating the discussion on digitalization in SSCM. Therefore, a heuristical research framework, based on relevant fields in the management of sustainability oriented transparency (governance, cooperation and partner selection, traceability/tracking, and strategic and operational risk assessment) is developed. In relation to these fields, consequently, data-driven digital approaches are identified to which potentials for SSCT and control can be attributed. This initial analysis of existing digital approaches already shows that the market is developing dynamically, but is driven more by individual initiatives. In many cases, the approaches used so far are still in the trial phase or offer only limited solutions. Therefore, this paper contributes by giving an overview of the current application of the digitalization approaches in SSCM pinning our discussion on SSCT dimensions.
Highlights
Social and environmental sustainability has become an increased momentum in the debate on Global Supply Chains (GSCs)
This wave ranges from the use of robotics by companies and farms in areas such as production, manufacturing, planting and harvesting, and in transportation [70], to the application of both Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data Analytics (BDA) to facilitate the collection and construction of valuable information and competitive advantage from the massive data at their disposal [71]
This paper provides aspects that act as a conversation starter by exploring the existing digital approaches as instruments to facilitate Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) as an element to enhance Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM)
Summary
Social and environmental sustainability has become an increased momentum in the debate on Global Supply Chains (GSCs). With the fact that some of the sub-suppliers/sub-contractors are located in emerging markets where the responsibilities and control mechanisms of companies are limited or restricted [8] As a result, these areas are prone to sustainability-related risks and uncertainties [9,10], whose conceptualization in supply chain management (SCM) literature remains vague [11]. The topic of Supply Chain Transparency (SCT) has been widely examined in scholarly work [4,10,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23] with an indication that companies focus more and more on CSR and sustainability matters, as well This assessment might not extend in the long run due to various challenges [17,24]. It is important to note from the outset that our study is, at this point of conceptional stage, not concerned with the risks and limits of these digital approaches
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