Multiple multi-tier sustainable supply chain management: a social system theory perspective

Abstract

A multi-tier supply chain is a complex system as it covers a focal company and multiple tiers of suppliers in a complex supply chain network. This study explores the complexity in multi-tier sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) through a social systems theory perspective. We carried out a case study on IKEA China's sustainable cotton initiative and examined its five cotton-textile supply chains. The primary data were collected through 22 semi-structured interviews with managers of IKEA China and their multi-tier suppliers. The findings suggest that in order to cope with environmental complexity in implementing multi-tier sustainable initiatives, focal companies tend to create both internal complexity and collaborative complexity in a variety of governance mechanisms. In addition, environmental overlap and available collaborative complexity increase in this process and can feed back into systems to facilitate further creation of requisite variety. We contribute to the multi-tier SSCM literature through providing an in-depth understanding of nuanced mechanisms of managing different tiers of suppliers to cope with complexities by adopting a social systems theory perspective. We also contribute to multi-tier supply chain governance mechanisms from an evolution perspective.

Carbon neutrality drivers and implications for firm performance and supply chain management

“…This finding is consistent with those in the context of other sustainability initiatives (Jabbour et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2022). It underscores the critical role of supply chain leadership (Gong et al, 2021; Jia et al, 2019) because a corporation's average supply chain emissions are 5.5 times more than its operational emissions (CDP, 2019). Our case data provide evidence of focal firms assuming supply chain leadership in enforcing their multi‐tier suppliers to move towards carbon neutrality.…”

“…Our case firms in Pakistan benefited from knowledge transfer from the sustainability departments of their overseas clients. We, therefore, advocate for more focal firms to take on proactive roles in transferring technical knowledge and carbon neutrality standard requirements to their multi‐tier suppliers (Gong et al, 2021; Jia et al, 2019). Given the critical importance of decarbonising the supply chain, businesses need to extend the boundaries of their organisational learning to embrace supply chain learning (Gong et al, 2018).…”

Sustainable Development-Based Coastal Management Policy Development: A Literature Review

“…Decisions that have been formulated in public policies can be made by a government agency, as well as by representatives of government agencies. Gong et al (2021) added that public policies can be formulated based on existing issues, as well as decisions made by the government and community social institutions, or non-governmental organisations.…”

An Exploratory Study of Retailers’ Operational Performance within UAE Market: A Case Study

“…Industry and academics are increasingly emphasizing the need for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Due to worldwide sourcing, today's supply chains are becoming increasingly complicated and fragmented [65,87]. The sustainability standards used by IKEA UAE are prevalent as the cotton used by it is procured from the most sustainable sources [22,23].…”