A supply chain practice-based view of enablers, inhibitors and benefits for environmental supply chain performance measurement

Abstract

Organisations face ever increasing pressure to deliver triple-bottom-line performance results in their supply chains. Yet despite the importance and complexity associated with environmental supply chain performance measurement (ESCPM), organisations struggle to achieve this. The purpose of this paper is to identify the important enablers, inhibitors and benefits to implementing ESCPM as a practice in firms. Data were collected from three focus groups and an industry survey of 388 UK supply chain professionals in a three-phase empirical study. Eighteen enablers, seventeen inhibitors and eleven benefits were identified and ranked in importance. A supply chain practice-based view was utilised as an overarching theoretical lens to conceptualise the study’s findings and propose nineteen antecedents, arranged in a hierarchical framework, to enable practitioners to make effective ESCPM decisions. This paper provides an up-to-date review of the factors which influence ESCPM practice, addressing the need for additional research in this area.

Keywords:

• Environmental supply chain performance measurement
• enablers
• inhibitors
• benefits
• supply chain management

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge and thank CILT (UK) for their non-financial support of this research and for allowing their membership to be surveyed, as well as the various focus group participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Shaw

Sarah Shaw is a Senior Lecturer, Researcher and Programme Director in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the Hull University Business School, UK. Her research interests include green/sustainable logistics, closed- loop supply chains, performance measurement/reporting and agri-supply chains and food security. Her business experience includes positions held in a variety of senior supply chain management roles: operations, transport, reverse logistics and customer service management; she has also been instrumental in leading change on a number of transformational projects across the supply chain. She recently won the ‘Leader of the Year’ in the Women in Logistics Awards, 2017 UK, for her work within the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport UK, aimed at encouraging young people to work in the logistics sector. She leads various multi-disciplinary research projects and has published in a variety of scientific journals.

David B. Grant

David B. Grant is Professor of Supply Chain Management & Social Responsibility, Hanken School of Economics, Finland and Bua Luang ASEAN Chair Professor, Thammasat University, Thailand. Logistics research interests include customer service, satisfaction and service quality; in-store and online retail; reverse, closed-loop and sustainability; and humanitarian and development. Over 250 publications in various fora and serves on the editorial board of many international journals. Co-authored books Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Fashion Logistics are now in second editions. Ranked fifth in Economics, Business and Management and first in Industrial Economics and Logistics in 2019 academic study determining ‘top ten Finnish professors’ for research impact and productivity.

John Mangan

D. John Mangan is Professor of Logistics at the School of Engineering, Newcastle University and Visiting Professor at Trinity College Dublin Business School. His first job was as an air freight clerk, next he worked in transport policy, and following this he commenced his academic career – qualifications include BSc, HDip, MSc, MA, PhD (Cardiff) and FCILT. He previously held roles at University College Dublin, the Irish Management Institute and the University of Hull. His main research focus is Global Logistics; the 4th edition of his textbook Global Logistics and Supply Chain Management will be published by Wiley in late 2020.