The maturity of supply chain sustainability disclosure from a continuous improvement perspective

Abstract

Purpose-From a continuous improvement perspective, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the levels of maturity attained by organisations in reporting their supply chain (as well as non-supply chain) sustainability initiatives. It also investigates the extent to which supply chain sustainability (SCS) disclosure varies between different business sectors, as well as the degree of interconnection between various sustainability criteria. Subsequently, it proposes an improvement framework for reporting and implementing sustainability initiatives across the supply chain. Design/methodology/approach-To carry out this investigation, corporate sustainability reports of selected companies in ten different industries are downloaded and assessed. The paper uses content analysis and principal component analysis to study the disclosure maturity levels of the different industrial sectors. Findings-The paper's results show that the disclosure maturity level is higher in business-toconsumer industries than in business-to-business industries on both the social and environmental dimensions. The paper also shows that the highly polluting energy sector is the least advanced in disclosing SCS initiatives. Generally speaking, there is no clear pattern in the way organisations disclose sustainability information. The conclusion is that sustainability disclosure is not yet homogeneously structured across different business sectors and organisations are yet to attain the "adult" maturity age. Originality/value-Very few researchers can claim to have investigated the maturity levels of SCS disclosure from a continuous improvement perspective. This is probably due to the absence of a universally accepted framework that clearly defines the scope of sustainability. The paper tries to fill this gap by proposing a framework that would not only help researchers to study SCS and stakeholders to read sustainability reports, but would also enable practitioners to improve the quality and reliability of the data disclosed, especially as they apply to the supply chain.

Integrated Supply Network Maturity Model: Water Scarcity Perspective

“…The majority of maturity models are empirical studies [8,42] employing qualitative assessments [15,43,44] that are defined through statements and additional disruptive information to capture the stages of capability evolution, quantitative approaches [45], and mixed methods [46]. Nevertheless, a conceptual work is not that frequent in this field [6,36,47,48].…”

“…Edgeman and Eskilsen [48] develop a five-step firm-level model assessing sustainability for innovation technologies development. Similarly, Okogwu et al [43] develop a four-level evaluation tool that allows (i) an assessment of maturity levels attained by the organisation in reporting sustainability initiatives across their SNs and (ii) continuous improvement of these reporting initiatives. Baumgartner and Ebner [41] incorporate an assessment of sustainability in SN reporting into an evaluation of corporate sustainability strategies and propose a four-level maturity model to provide six assessment elements: innovation and technology, collaboration, knowledge management, processes, purchase, and sustainability reporting.…”

“…Built on related studies to evaluate SN design clusters, maturity levels are described [27,36,38,43,46] and assigned [15]. For the network connectivity cluster an assessment of related capabilities can be undertaken using three water mitigation strategies: resource sourcing between SN partners, collaboration with SN partners regarding water scarcity management, and programmes or standards for the assessment of sustainable water utilisation in SNs [27,[37][38][39]41,43,46].…”

“…The network efficiency cluster is characterised by mitigation capabilities such as water scarcity mitigation strategies readiness, availability of water conservation programmes, and water foot printing through SNs [27,46,56]. The network process cluster employs three main mitigation capabilities developed for water scarcity mitigation strategies: consideration of water minimisation in the production process design; implementation of new technologies, approaches, and employee education programmes that aim at water efficiency in the production process; and water management information disclosure and reporting [37,38,43,45,46,48,56,59]. The last cluster, network product design, includes capability dimensions such as water reduction at the product design stage, water conservation through materials employed that are assessed and minimised, and product environmental impact assessment and eco-design [37,41,44,46,56].…”

“…For the network connectivity cluster an assessment of related capabilities can be undertaken using three water mitigation strategies: resource sourcing between SN partners, collaboration with SN partners regarding water scarcity management, and programmes or standards for the assessment of sustainable water utilisation in SNs [27,[37][38][39]41,43,46]. The network efficiency cluster is characterised by mitigation capabilities such as water scarcity mitigation strategies readiness, availability of water conservation programmes, and water foot printing through SNs [27,46,56].…”