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Figure 1.12 Environmental, economic and social dimensions of sustainability
Sustainability supply chain management (SSCM) was conceptualised by Carter
and Rogers [4]. They define SSCM as the strategic, transparent integration and
achievement of an organisation’s social, environmental, and economic goals in the
systemic coordination of key interorganisational business processes for improving the
long-term economic performance of the individual company and its supply chains.
This definition is based on Elkington’s [19] triple bottom line (the intersection of
environmental, social, and economic performance) and the four supporting facets
(facilitators) of SSCM [5]:
1. Strategy–holisticallyandpurposefullyidentifyingindividualSSCMinitiatives,
which align with and support the organisation’s overall sustainability strategy.
2. Risk management, including contingency planning for both the upstream
and the downstream supply chain.
3. An organisational culture, which is deeply ingrained and encompasses
organisational citizenship, and which includes high ethical standards and
expectations along with a respect for society and the natural environment.
4. Transparency in terms of proactively engaging and communicating with
key stakeholders and having traceability and visibility into upstream and
downstream supply chain operations.
This conceptualisation will be used as a main basis for researching the possibilities
of the sustainability and resilience concepts of integration.
Bateh et al. [2] differentiate between internal and external sustainability. Internal
sustainability is concerned with survival in a competitive market, which increasingly
includes global competition. External sustainability takes into account societal needs
that relate to quality of life issues worldwide.
Lijo and Gopalakrishnan [38] suggest E3S model for sustainability, which
contains four dimensions with the following components: