Supply Chain Stakeholders Research Articles

A supply chain view of sustainability management

Given the global sustainability challenges humans and nature are facing today, this theoretical paper aims at proposing a supply chain view of sustainability management and thereby contributes to elevating the sustainable supply chain management field to the rank of theory. This is done through the identification of supply chain stakeholders and related sustainability challenges, which reveal the inherent paradoxes and tensions in global consumption and production networks. Such a view is meant to support the urgent need for all supply chain stakeholders to understand sustainability challenges and shift towards a sustainability mindset. The focus on reducing supply chain disruptions, improving supply chain resilience, and improving supply chain sustainability performance has neglected and even undermined broader sustainability challenges, such as climate change. Hence this paper first provides a discussion on the complementarity between stakeholder theory and sustainable supply chain management from a systems perspective and, second, develops a novel supply chain theory to enhance sustainability management through the identification of supply chain stakeholders and related sustainability challenges. Linking stakeholder theory and SSCM facilitates a holistic understanding of sustainability challenges to identify opportunities to improve one's decisions and actions and current consumption and production patterns. Instead of perpetuating a firm or client-centered perspective, the supply chain view places the product/service at the center of the stakeholder identification process and clearly identifies stakeholders upstream, within the focal firm, downstream or outside the SC and related sustainability challenges. It encourages all organizations and individuals to practice their systems thinking skills to improve their sustainability mindset and subsequent ability to solve sustainability and ethical challenges. The proposed supply chain view supports managers, policymakers, educators, consultant, consumers, and individuals in identifying stakeholders and understanding sustainability challenges related to production and consumption in an effective manner. This extends existing knowledge on sustainability management from a supply chain perspective and opens new research areas, particularly for ethical decision-making and behavioral sciences. • Stakeholder theory enables to bring sustainable supply chain management to the theory level. • The supply chain view is proposed to conceptualize sustainable supply chain management. • The supply chain view allows a holistic understanding of (un)sustainable production and consumption patterns for any users.

Performance Measurement of the Sustainable Supply Chain During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A real-life case study

Abstract This paper aims to introduce a framework to measure the sustainable performance of the supply chain (SC) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The SC stakeholders in this investigation are Suppliers, Production / Remanufacturing / Refurbishing Centers (Factories), Collection / Distribution Centers, Recycling / Landfill Centers, and Customers. The suggested sustainable supply chain (SSC) performance measurement included three pillars with 23 indicators. To evaluate the overall sustainability of the SC understudy, a composite index has been developed that combines all the indicators to reflect the sustainability performance of the SC. Four steps are involved in creating a composite index:1) measuring the value of indicators, 2) weighing indicators, 3) Using the normalization technique, and 4) Evaluating the overall SSC indicator. The real case in Iran is selected as an illustrative case. Our research contributions are: We suggested a novelty indicator of SSC to better show the economic, environmental, and social tradeoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. We have found and measured the negative and positive impacts of COVID-19 on aspects of sustainability in SC. Based on the achieved data of the real case study, a numerical example is represented to explain how to calculate the composite index. The main contribution of this paper is the development of SSC indicators during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Benchmarking the Interactions among Challenges for Blockchain Technology Adoption: A Circular Economy Perspective

The chances of food contamination and spoilage get enhanced as it passes through various stages, and prudent consumers often need transparency on the origin of food products, their production and processing facilities utilized. Blockchain, an emerging digital technology, offers food traceability solutions to consumers and supply chain partners. But presently, blockchain adoption in Indian supply chains is in the nascent stages. The present study identified the challenges of adopting blockchain technology in Indian food supply chains and modelled them using Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM). As per the ISM, the ‘regulatory structure’ and ‘lack of realised need’ emerged as the most significant driving forces that impact other challenges, viz. ‘privacy breach issues’, ‘high costs’, ‘lack of skills’, ‘lack of technology’, ‘lack of trust’ and ‘lack of infrastructure’. These challenges have an impact on the ‘scalability problem’. The paper underlines the significance of enabling regulatory structure, improved information and communication technologies infrastructure, and convincing the supply chain stakeholders to use blockchain technology to resolve the underlying challenges and achieve its adoption and scalability in the Indian food industry.

An Agrolink Ecosystem Through An Information Toolbox Approach

Malaysia agricultural sector has been severely affected by the pandemic, as a result, the Agri-food supply chain has been disrupted since early 2020. The problems of labor shortages, reduced productions, restricted movement, and market closures have all led to a dramatic drop in income or even zero-income specially for smallholder farmers. The agri-food supply chain needs to be strengthened through a tighten collaboration between supply chain stakeholders in the sector. Technology always solves most problems; data can be collected through technological solutions such as the Internet of Things, market insights can be achieved through artificial intelligence analysis and forecasting, and so on. The paper focuses on introducing an Agrolink ecosystem through an information toolbox approach. It is an aggregator of the information resources connecting all elements of the agri-food supply chain in Malaysia, which accessible by farmers, producers, service providers of the supply chain (including processing, logistics, finance, retail, etc.), agri-food associations, government agencies, and educational and research institutions.

Key supply chain strategies for post-COVID-19 recovery: evidence from an Indian smart furniture industry

PurposeSmart furniture is an essential part of research that has been designed to best complement easy and safe human interaction. The purpose of smart furniture is to save the space of the house and make the products unique, awesome and safe, functional, strong and also make it works better so the people can live better with it. This research aims to explore the key supply chain strategies implemented by the Indian smart furniture industry to reduce the impact of a post-COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThis work utilized a case study and conducted semi-structured interviews with the top leadership of the smart furniture manufacturing industry to explore key supply chain strategies to reduce the influence of the post-COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, key supply chain strategies have been analyzed using a multi-criteria decision-making technique known as grey relational analysis (GRA) to determine their ranking significance in the smart furniture industry.FindingsThe results of this study discovered that “Inventory-Categorization” is essential in ensuring business continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic and helps reduce the amount of stock they have on hand. It enhanced the opportunity for employees to properly focus on their work and an opportunity for better work-life balance. The results of the study can also help supply chain stakeholders in their establishment of critical strategies.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of this research work help the Indian furniture industry to make supply chain investment decisions that benefit the organization to sustain itself.Originality/valueThis is the first study to explore key supply chain strategies for the post-COVID-19 era. This work will assist managers and practitioners in helping the organization decide which supply chain strategies are more critical to the betterment of the organization.

Blockchain concept to combat drug counterfeiting by increasing supply chain visibility

ABSTRACT This paper explores problems of pharmaceutical supply chains, such as drug counterfeiting, and the opportunities of using digital technologies to overcome them. It also evaluates the risks associated with the use of digital technologies. Expert interviews were conducted with pharmaceutical supply chain stakeholders in the first step. The data obtained was assessed through qualitative content analysis. In addition to the lack of transparency, strong individual interests of the supply chain actors and different implementation levels of digitisation were revealed. It is also noticeable that the industry is still paper-oriented. Nevertheless, the chosen experts are optimistic about the increased use of digital technologies. Combining blockchain with other technologies, such as IoT and AI, can improve efficiency, traceability, and trust in pharmaceutical supply chains. A digitalised supply chain concept is developed based on these technologies, enhancing transparency and information availability in the supply chain. In addition, communication and processes along the entire pharmaceutical supply chain are optimised.

Stakeholder roles in sustainable supply chain management: a literature review

Since ecological deterioration and social discrepancy are intensifying, multiple stakeholders are driving companies to incorporate sustainability in their supply chains. Thus, integrating non-traditional supply chain stakeholders, such as non-governmental organizations and competitors, in supply chain practices is essential for achieving a more sustainable supply chain. Hence, this research aims to show how stakeholders and their roles are related to sustainable supply chain management practices. A systematic literature review including 78 peer-reviewed English journal articles published between 2000 and 2020 was conducted. The results suggest that multiple supply chain external and internal stakeholders drive, facilitate, or inspect the implementation of sustainable supply chain management practices. While governmental and non-governmental organizations are key drivers for implementing sustainable supply chain management practices, they can also support their implementation. Moreover, proactive engagement with external supply chain stakeholders facilitates the organizational learning process through capability development, increasing understanding and awareness of sustainability, and creating knowledge. This study strengthens the value of proactive and collaborative measurements to deal with stakeholder issues before putting pressure on a company, which can result in reputation and legitimacy loss. These insights enrich the theoretical debate while explaining stakeholders’ relevance and roles in the sustainable supply chain management context. However, the study has some limitations regarding the chosen sustainable supply chain management and stakeholder constructs and potential within-study bias, offering possibilities for further research.

Protecting farmers' data privacy and confidentiality: Recommendations and considerations

With the increasing use of precision agriculture and technological development, the agricultural sector has been majorly transformed. Precision agriculture uses technological innovations such as sensors, drones, and data analysis tools to improve the productivity of resources and management decisions on the farm. Since these technologies collect a large amount of data related to the farm, the farmers are concerned about the privacy of their data. The farmers are worried about unauthorized access, collection, and sharing of their data with third parties by the agricultural technology providers (ATPs). Furthermore, the ambiguity of agreements and legal frameworks around data collection, processing, and sharing may result in uncertainty in data privacy practices. Furthermore, this situation is aggravated by a lack of adoption of best practices and standards for farm data protection. Violation of privacy can cause reluctance among farmers to adopt new technologies which can negatively impact various stakeholders, government, and public. Protecting farmers' privacy and respecting their rights related to the collected data should be addressed collectively by the actors in the farming ecosystem, including farmers, agricultural technology providers, governments, and supply chain stakeholders. This paper aims at providing recommendations on how to minimize privacy risks and concerns for farmers and reviews some of the data governance best practices for data protection.

Seafood Sustainability Supply Chain Trends and Challenges in Japan: Marine Stewardship Council Fisheries and Chain of Custody Certificates

In Japan, fisheries’ product has decreased since the 1980s, and the government amended the fisheries law in 2020 to shift to managed fisheries. However, awareness of seafood sustainability is still low. This study identifies the reason for the low awareness and states the necessary actions to increase sustainable seafood consumption. The proactive stakeholders in seafood supply were surveyed to determine the current status of sustainable seafood sales. Marine Stewardship Council-certified fishers and MSC’s Chain-of-Custody certification holders answered the questionnaires. Fishers showed a positive attitude, citing proactive sales channel expansions and contributions to sustainability. Distributors were primarily passive, mainly because they obtained the certification at the request of their clients, and about half of them did not disseminate information between consumers and suppliers. Both fishers and distributors expect the government to promote campaigns and education. The stages of the awareness of producers, intermediary trade, and retailers are different and did not align. Therefore, if the supply chain stakeholders proactively educate themselves, choose sustainable products from the fishers, and pass the sustainability information to the consumers, sustainable seafood consumption would progress.

Risk assessment in livestock supply chain using the MCDM method: a case of emerging economy.

The purpose of the study is to identify and assess the risks related to the livestock supply chain. The major risk related to the livestock supply chain are identified through the comprehensive literature review and finalized with the help of the expert's feedback. Initially, seventeen major livestock supply chain risks are finalized, and these risks are categorized into four major dimensions. Further, analytical hierarchical process (AHP) is used to prioritize these identified major risks based on their severity. Finally, sensitivity analysis is conducted to check the robustness of the risk priorities. The result shows that "input supply risk" is the most significant risk dimension followed by "production risk," "post-harvest risk," and "marketing & price risk." The finding also suggests that "poor quality and under supply of feed and fodder," "lack of proper waste disposal," and "absence of certification for the quality of animals" are the major risks among all seventeen risks. The highest priority risks are input supply risks which require the attention of the livestock supply chain partners. The proposed research framework is used to identify and analyze the livestock supply chain risks. The findings of this research might be beneficial for the farmers and other livestock supply chain stakeholders in developing policies/plans/strategies to control the risk in their livestock supply chain.

Views of Food Stakeholders on Packaging Factors

Packaging has an enabling role in supply chains (SCs) as it facilitates a range of functions, specifically (i) marketing; (ii) logistics and SC management; (iii) food technology; and (iv) environmental protection. This study explores the appreciation towards certain food packaging factors and attributes by consumers and industrial experts for a range of food product types. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire in the Greek market and then analysed using a 1-way ANOVA and the Tukey test. The study findings reveal that food SC stakeholders mainly appreciate packaging attractiveness. Other attributes that promote environmental sustainability and facilitate logistics operations were of high importance as well.

Blockchain Technology - A Algorithm for Drug Serialization

The Blockchain technology uses different type of database that transact data in blocks and then chained each data blocks. When data fills one block, it is chained the same data onto previous block therefore, all the data blocks are stored in chronological order. The blockchain technology can help to ensure that data in supply chain is reliable, accurate and can be shared with all stakeholders without any manipulation. It makes supply chain more transparent and end-to-end digital visibility of data source. Blockchain is stringent technology which fill the gap between stakeholders by providing transparent unmanipulated and truthful data in supply chain. There are many initiatives has been taken by multiple regulatory bodies with partnering with supply chain stakeholders including pharmaceutical manufacturer, distributors and dispensers. In USA, Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory body Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) initiated pilot program in 2019 with the partnership of leading pharmaceuticals distributors to authenticating saleable returns to distributor from supply chain partners. DSCSA used MediLedger blockchain interoperable technology for process evaluation and it robustness for mitigating risk of drug counterfeiting possibilities in supply chain. The DSCSA found that pilot project was successful and results were astonishing. Later it was declared that blockchain technology can also be used for meeting DSCSA’s 2023 Act for unit level traceability.

Food waste challenges at downstream interfaces: a triple bottom line dilemma

ABSTRACT This article focuses on the ongoing challenge of reduction of food waste at three downstream interfaces and food waste impact on triple bottom line dimensions: environmental, social (including ethical) and economic. The interplay between downstream interfaces (consumers-retailers; consumers-food service businesses; consumers-households) of food supply chain and areas of food waste accumulation is discussed in the article. The findings are based on a two-step method: first, a systematic literature review of the published studies on food waste between 2008 and 2020, and second, theme development to understand food waste at the three interfaces and to develop propositions for future research. The propositions are strategic interventions to provide managerial recommendations for food waste reduction involving downstream food supply chain stakeholders. The findings highlight the conundrum of balancing conflicting stakeholder perspectives within triple bottom line dimensions to tackle food waste: economic and social dimensions of triple bottom line take priority over the environmental dimension. Testing the propositions as part of future research will help to further streamline the policy recommendations to reduce food waste at the downstream part of the supply chain.

Cost-sharing contract design between manufacturer and dealership considering the customer low-carbon preferences

Manufacturers and dealerships usually have a long-term cooperation in selling low-carbon products produced by signing a contract without considering the dynamic changes in consumer’s low-carbon preferences. Consumers’ low-carbon awareness and the low-carbon reputation of those low-carbon products occasionally alternate affected by the market circumstances, which will influence the selling of low-carbon products. This paper focuses on the contract design between a manufacturer and a dealership using Stackelberg differential game models to formulate the long-term contract between a manufacturer and a dealership. To promote the low-carbon reputation of low-carbon products, two cost-sharing contracts, including a one-way cost-sharing contract (OWC) and a two-way cost-sharing contract (TWC), are proposed. The manufacturer in the OWC contract provides a certain amount of subsidies to incentivize the dealership. The manufacturer and the dealership share costs in the TWC contract. Besides, dual-channel models are also analyzed as an extension of the proposed model. Several findings were obtained by solving and analyzing the proposed game models. The manufacturer’s emission reduction efforts and the dealership’s low-carbon promotion efforts are influenced by dealership’s cost coefficient related to the promotion of low-carbon product, low carbon reputation sensitivity coefficient of consumers, influence coefficient of manufacturer’s emission reduction efforts on low-carbon reputation and etc. The proposed cost-sharing contracts improve the manufacturer and the dealership’s efforts by changing the factors. The OWC contract can achieve Pareto improvement, and the TWC contract can realize the coordination between the manufacturer and the dealership. The optimal conditions for its contract choice are also proposed from the manufacturer’s point of view. This paper also provides valuable insights for companies in the supply chain to design suitable contracts to coordinate the supply chain stakeholders’ activities, especially in promoting low-carbon efforts in a long-term cooperation.

A Business Process Reference Model for the Development of a Wine Traceability System

Traceability is among the most significant challenges in supply chains, where multiple stakeholders and activities are involved in the production and distribution of products. No supply chain can become sustainable without effectively addressing the problem of traceability by recognizing, monitoring, and implementing all necessary activities of the processes. This research provides a reference model for effective wine supply chain traceability and is part of a research project for the development of a blockchain-enabled traceability system. The reference model not only depicts processes but also covers all views that are necessary for achieving the whole picture of an effective traceability system. These views include the value chain, organizational resources, functions, processes, systems, data, and risks that are related to wine production and distribution. The reference model has a strong contribution to practice and research as it pertains to bridging the barrier between developers and users while also offering significant research outcomes. The research output is the reference model that includes standard wine traceability processes and all necessary data for effective wine supply chain traceability. The results of this research will be used for creating the traceability system’s specifications and ensuring that it will be effectively designed and implemented. The reference model can also be used for the implementation and adaptation of the traceability system to the stakeholders of the wine supply chain.

Antecedents of freight transportation for sustainable supply chain in the post-COVID era: an emerging market study

PurposeIn past years, the global supply chain has witnessed devastating effects of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the interest of the Sustainable Supply Chain (SSC) stakeholders on sustainability. The stakeholders are now rethinking their business processes and strategy to make them sustainable. In this context, the relevant literature is required to support emerging markets to formulate sustainability-focussed strategies. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive analysis of potential antecedents that leads towards sustainable development of freight transportation in emerging markets.Design/methodology/approachInitially, the antecedents of the Sustainable Freight Transport (SFT) system are derived from the literature survey followed by verification from the experts. Then, the potential antecedents are categorized under four (social, organizational, operational and environmental) broad categories. Afterwards, a Neutrosophic Analytic Network Process (N-ANP) method is employed to obtain the priority weights of the identified potential antecedents.FindingsThe paper identified and ranked 17 antecedents of the SFT system. According to the study’s findings, the top three antecedents of SFT are “the presence of a multimodal transportation system,” “circularity in SFT” and “traffic congestion management”. The results from the study advocate the promotion of existing multi-modal transport facilities which is promising to achieve sustainability. The results suggested the adoption of the digital twin to manage the transport operations.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on how to achieve sustainability in the freight transportation system post-COVID era highlighting the potential antecedents. The study’s findings will assist practitioners in developing SFT strategies in the face of such pandemics in future.

Does the carbon trading mechanism affect social and environmental benefits of the retailer-led supply chain: Strategic decisions of emissions reduction and promotion

Governments, enterprises, and customers have become more concerned about environmental protection. Following the world’s largest carbon trading market (EU ETS), China has also implemented a market-based carbon trading mechanism (CAT) to reduce CO2. Simultaneously, customers have low-carbon preferences for environmental products. Thus, the enterprises’ strategic decisions and collaboration modes have changed. This article develops the Stackelberg game model to explore the impacts of CAT and customers’ low-carbon preference on the carbon emission reduction and promotion strategies in a retailer-led supply chain (such as RT-Mart, Walmart, Amazon, etc.). In this model, the retailer decides whether to promote environmentally safe products and the manufacturer decides whether to reduce CO2. We find that carbon trading market price and customers’ low-carbon preference are key factors influencing the retail price, total carbon emissions, and social welfare. Interestingly, there is not always a positive correlation between customers’ low-carbon preference and social welfare. To achieve Pareto improvement of social welfare, manufacturers and retailers require co-optimization. Theoretically, our research enriches the research streams of the CAT policy and socially responsible operations of the supply chain. Moreover, managerial insights are provided for retailer-led supply chain stakeholders and emission reduction regulators, which contribute to enhancing the social and environmental benefits of the supply chains.

The implications of blockchain-coordinated information sharing within a supply chain: A simulation study

The profitability of a supply chain (SC) is proportional to the stability of all its stakeholders as well as their consistent information sharing with an effective and efficient communication mechanism. Various inefficiencies, such as the bullwhip effect (BWE) and product unavailability, may be caused by a lack of coordination in an SC. The importance of sharing consumer demand has been quantified by comprehensive studies under the assumption that all SC participants will access the same information. However, only a few studies have studied the effect of minimal coordination or limited visibility of information while considering their effect on the overall efficiency of an SC. This work primarily leverages blockchain technology (BCT) to create a simulation model. To do this, an SC BWE-based model is initially developed. Following that, a blockchain-based robust information sharing system is simulated. Furthermore, information sharing is challenging, and SC stakeholders may not really trust each other and hence be reluctant to share sensitive information. Considering that, this paper propose an improved proof-of-authority (PoA) consensus algorithm that will increase trust in a decentralized SC model. Multiple experiments are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, and the simulation results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of information sharing in a supply chain via blockchain, as well as that trust between partners tends to increase overall SC efficiency and reduce BWE.

Adoption of blockchain technology enabled healthcare sustainable supply chain to improve healthcare supply chain performance

PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant and worldwide influence on healthcare delivery, and it has significantly increased the pace at which digital technology is being used. Blockchain, one of these developing digital technologies, is distinguished by a number of properties. This study focuses on a blockchain-enabled healthcare supply chain. The purpose of this work is to investigate how blockchain technology (BCT) benefits the performance of healthcare supply chain management (HSCM).Design/methodology/approachThe present study is based on the empirical research. Blockchain Technology (BCT), Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain Practices (HSSCP), Healthcare Supply Chain Performance (HSCP) and Stakeholders’ Involvement (SI) practices are identified from the literature review and hypotheses are framed to check their interrelationship. For testing of hypothesis, a questionnaire was developed. Data collection was done by healthcare professionals via Google docs. The IBM SPSS version 22.0 was used to analyze the data and IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0 software was used for the development of structural modal. The data was collected through the Google form from the stakeholders of healthcare sector and analyzed through Structural Equation Modelling.FindingsThis research is focused on adoption of BCT enabled Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain to improve HSCP. From the result, it had been found that BCT is positively effecting the stakeholder's involvement (SI) and HSSCP practices. Cumulatively, they positively impact the performance of HSCP. From this study, it is found that adoption of BCT enabled Healthcare Sustainable Supply Chain succours to combat COVID-19 situation.Originality/valueThis study attempts to show the potential benefits of the adoption of BCT enabled HSSCP to improve HSCP.

The role of market devices in addressing labour exploitation: An analysis of the Australian cleaning industry

This study examines how the risk of labour standards noncompliance can be rendered calculable and commensurable through a market device. We present a case study of the Cleaning Accountability Framework (CAF), an industry certification scheme, which seeks to address labour exploitation in the Australian contract cleaning industry. We pay particular attention to the central device of the certification scheme – the pricing schedule. We examine how the pricing schedule shaped the calculative space informing contracting parties during the procurement process. In doing so, the pricing schedule increased transparency around the potential risk of labour standards noncompliance. The nature of this transparency and the perceived objectivity of the pricing schedule acted to reshape the market for contract cleaning, resulting in a redistribution of accountability for labour exploitation. We also examine how the pricing schedule formed part of a wider framework of accountability, and how these mechanisms enabled strategic co-enforcement of labour standards compliance by supply chain stakeholders. Overall, our study indicates the potential for accounting practices to play a more active role in shaping how markets address modern slavery risks.