An analysis of private versus public sector responses to the environmental challenges of the supply chain

Abstract

This paper examines differences and similarities between private and public sectors regarding green supply: the incorporation of environmental considerations into procurement and supply chain relationships. While there are considerable differences between the sectors, there are two key areas of similarity. Firstly, responses in both sectors are heavily influenced by organisational structure and patterns of decision-making and information flow. Secondly, the success of green supply initiatives appears to be heavily dependent on organisation's ability to align activity with dominant corporate objectives.

Fostering sustainability through sourcing from small businesses: public sector perspectives

“…There are few studies of sustainable supply in the public sector, so this contributes to emerging literature [14,15]. More specifically, this research contributes to the sustainability, supply chain management and small businesses literatures by weaving these three threads together.…”

Investigating the anatomy of supplier selection in green public procurement

“…Briefly stated, the main distinctive characteristics of public procurement (in contrast to private sector purchasing) are the need to comply with regulations aimed at avoiding discrimination and differential treatment of suppliers, compulsory public announcements of calls for tenders, and using procurement as a tool for government policy (Knight, 2007;New et al, 2002). Public purchasers are not allowed to use environmental criteria that can be regarded as favouring (or excluding) specific suppliers (The European Commission, 2011).…”

Greening non-product-related procurement – when policy meets reality

“…This demand makes it difficult to substitute one component with a more environmentally friendly one, especially if new components are subject to the approval from the manufacturing department (New et al, 2002). It is difficult to establish a link between the relevant groups within an organisation who need to interact before the environmental criteria can be incorporated into procurement decisions (New et al, 2002).…”

“…This demand makes it difficult to substitute one component with a more environmentally friendly one, especially if new components are subject to the approval from the manufacturing department (New et al, 2002). It is difficult to establish a link between the relevant groups within an organisation who need to interact before the environmental criteria can be incorporated into procurement decisions (New et al, 2002). For the procurement of non-productrelated products, this is not the case; the purchasers can choose, e.g., new pencils, paper, or detergents without the approval of designers, sales and quality departments, as this type of procurement is not covered by specific requirements.…”