Transparency for Multi-Tier Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A Case Study of a Multi-tier Transparency Approach for SSCM in the Automotive Industry

Abstract

Sustainability in supply chain management (SSCM) has become established in both academia and increasingly in practice. As stakeholders continue to require focal companies (FCs) to take more responsibility for their entire supply chains (SCs), this has led to the development of multi-tier SSCM (MT-SSCM). Much extant research has focused on simple supply chains from certain industries. Recently, a comprehensive traceability for sustainability (TfS) framework has been proposed, which outlines how companies could achieve MT-SSCM through traceability. Our research builds on this and responds to calls for cases from the automotive industry by abductively analysing a multi-tier supply chain (MT-SC) transparency case study. This research analyses a raw material SC that is particularly renowned for sustainability problems—the cobalt supply chain for electric vehicles—and finds that the extant literature has oversimplified the operationalisation of transparency in MT-SSCM. We compare the supply chain maps of the MT-SC before and after an auditing and mapping project to demonstrate the transparency achieved. Our findings identify challenges to the operationalisation of SC transparency and we outline how FCs might set to increase MT-SC transparency for sustainability.

Making transparency transparent: a systematic literature review to define and frame supply chain transparency in the context of sustainability

“…Supply chain transparency is addressed as an important issue for supply chain management (Fraser et al 2020), andFritz (2020) frames the management of information and communication technologies as a part of sustainable supply chain management. The complexity of global supply chains can make this supply chain transparency difficult, costly, and time-consuming (Busse et al 2017a;Doorey 2011;Fraser et al 2020).…”

“…Supply chain transparency is addressed as an important issue for supply chain management (Fraser et al 2020), andFritz (2020) frames the management of information and communication technologies as a part of sustainable supply chain management. The complexity of global supply chains can make this supply chain transparency difficult, costly, and time-consuming (Busse et al 2017a;Doorey 2011;Fraser et al 2020). In the last few years, new technologies (e.g., blockchain technology) and digital platforms (e.g., EcoVadis) have been discussed against this background as tools to support companies in assessing and exchanging sustainable supply chain information (Francisco and Swanson 2018;Fritz 2020).…”

On Blockchain Integration with Supply Chain: Overview on Data Transparency

“…These demands represent the main motivation for creating transparent systems. For example, when consumers increasingly wonder about where and how their clothes are made, or just how sustainable their potential new electric vehicle might be, given the raw materials required to make it, transparency in global supply chains becomes a notable issue, whicg needs to be addressed [28]. Moreover, the supply chain has become increasingly involved in the diversity of partners, products, and customer desires.…”

Dear supplier, how sustainable are you?

“…Questionnaires are a common example of how companies gather sustainability data and assess their suppliers' sustainability performance (see, for example: BSR & UNGC 2015; Ecovadis 2017). Other tools for operative sustainability performance assessment include code of conduct monitoring, audits, certification, sustainable labelling, creating minimum standards, tracking and tracing systems and multi-tier transparency initiatives (Dubey et al 2017a;Fraser et al 2020a;Kashmanian and Moore 2014;Mueller and Bessas 2017).…”