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Sustainability to support end-to-end value chains: the role of supply chain management

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Abstract

Many firms are increasing their focus on sustainability. However, this focus has primarily emphasized environmentalism and ethics. Enterprise value chains must develop and support a broader sustainability perspective to ensure that its consumer, business, supply chain, community and environmental relationships and interactions remain viable. Using public documents and Internet sites of major global firms, this article suggests a framework to define the dimensions of sustainability and the categories of initiatives within each dimension. The article then offers examples regarding how major firms are implementing each sustainability dimension to enhance their competitiveness. Building on the framework, the article illustrates the sustainability initiatives applied by different categories of sustainability leaders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. N370 Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    David J. Closs

  2. N270 Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Cheri Speier

  3. N370 Business College Complex, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Nathan Meacham

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  1. David J. Closs
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  2. Cheri Speier
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  3. Nathan Meacham
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Correspondence to David J. Closs.

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Closs, D.J., Speier, C. & Meacham, N. Sustainability to support end-to-end value chains: the role of supply chain management. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 39, 101–116 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0207-4

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