Social sustainability and supply chain management: Methods and tools

CITATION

D’Eusanio, M., Zamagni, A., & Petti, L. (2019). Social sustainability and supply chain management: Methods and tools. Journal of Cleaner Production, 235, 178–189.

For library access / research help in a similar topic: anyangoceline19@gmail.com 

ABSTRACT
Nowadays, organisations need to be socially responsible by assessing their social impacts and/or performances
and those of their supply chain actors in order to achieve competitive advantages. In this
perspective, they should be aware of the different available methods and tools that can be used to take
socially responsible decisions. The aim of this study is to provide a useful toolbox within Supply Chain
Management in order to help decision makers to assess systematically the social sustainability of organisations.
For this reason, an analysis of existing methods and tools was performed by following the
“Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines” (PRISMA). A combination
of the emerged methods and tools within the SCM is desirable in order to obtain a common vision
amongst the social sustainability actors of the organisation and its supply chain. Furthermore, the results
draw attention to the need for further development towards social assessment approaches in terms of
Life Cycle Thinking.


REFERENCES
Parent, J., Cucuzzella, C., Reveret, J.P., 2013. Revisiting the role of LCA and SLCA in the
transition towards sustainable production and consumption. Int. J. Life Cycle
Assess. 18, 1642e1652. F., 1896.

Ageron, B., Gunasekaran, A., Spalanzani, A., 2012. Sustainable supply management:
an empirical study. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 140, 168e182.

Agyekum, E.O., Fortuin, K.P.J., Van Der Harst, E., 2017. Environmental and social life
cycle assessment of bamboo bicycle frames made in Ghana. J. Clean. Prod. 143,
1069e1080.

Ahi, P., Jaber, M.Y., Searcy, C., 2016. A comprehensive multidimensional framework
for assessing the performance of sustainable supply chains. Appl. Math. Model.
40, 10153e10166.

Ahmadi, H.B., Kusi-Sarpong, S., Rezaei, J., 2017. Assessing the social sustainability of
supply chains using Best Worst Method. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 126, 99e106.

Andrews, E., Lesage, P., Benoît, C., Parent, J., Norris, G., Reveret, J.P., 2009. Life cycle
attribute assessment. Case-study of Quebec greenhouse tomatoes. J. Ind. Ecol.
13 (4), 565e578.

Arora, V., Tiwari, G., 2007. A Handbook for Socio-Economic Impact Assessment
(SEIA) Methodology for Future Urgan Transport (FUT) Projects, Transportation
Research and Injury Prevention Program (TRIPP). Indian Institute of Technology,
New Delphi.

Bai, C., Sarkis, J., 2014. Determining and applying sustainable supplier key performance
indicators. Supply Chain Manag.: Int. J. 19 (3), 275e291.

Bai, Y., Hwang, T., Kang, S., Ouyang, Y., 2011. Biofuel refinery location and supply
chain planning under traffic congestion. Transp. Res. Part B Methodol. 45,
162e175.

Beske-Janssen, P., Johnson, M.P., Schaltegger, S., 2015. 20 years of performance
measurement in sustainable supply chain management - what has been achieved?
Supply Chain Manag. An Int. J. 20, 664e680. https://doi.org/10.1108/
SCM-06-2015-0216.

Bradford, S.C., 1985. Sources of information on specific subjects. J. Inform. Sci. 10,
173e180.

Brandenburg, M., Govindan, K., Sarkis, J., Seuring, S., 2014. Quantitative models for
sustainable supply chain management: developments and directions. Eur. J.
Oper. Res. 233 (2), 299e312.

Brundtland, G.H., 1987. Report of the World Commission on Environment and
Development: Our Common Future. UN.

Cambero, C., Sowlati, T., 2014. Assessment and optimisation of forest biomass
supply chains from economic, social and environmental perspective e a review
of literature. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 36, 62e73.

Carter, C.R., Rogers, D.S., 2008. A framework of sustainable supply chain management:
moving toward new theory. Int. J. Phys. Distrib. Logist. Manag. 38 (5),
360e387.

Carvalho, A., Barbosa-Povoa, A.P.F.D., 2013. A new methodology to identify supply
chains sustainability bottlenecks. In: Proceedings of the 23rd European Symposium
on Computer Aided Process Engineering e ESCAPE 23 June 9-12, 2013,
Lappeenranta, Finland.

Chen, L., Feldmann, A., Tang, Ou, 2015. The relationship between disclosures of
corporate social performance and financial performance: evidences from GRI
reports in manufacturing industry. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 170 (B), 445e456.

Chkanikova, O., 2016. Sustainable purchasing in food retailing: interorganizational
relationship management to green product supply. Bus. Strateg. Environ. 25,
478e494.

Christopher, M., 1998. Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Strategies for
Reducing Cost and Improving Service, Financial Times. Pitman Publishing,
London. UK.

Christopher, M., 2011. Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Fourth edi, Great
Britain.

CLES (Centre for Local Economic Strategies), 2011. Research Methods Handbook.
Introductory Guide to Research Method for Social Research. Express Networks,
Manchester, UK, ISBN 1870053656.

Corbetta, P., 2003. La ricerca sociale: metodologia e tecniche. III. Le tecniche qualitative.
Il Mulino, Bologna, Italy.

Cross, P., Edwards, R.T., Opondo, M., Nyeko, P., Edwards-Jones, G., 2009. Does farm
worker health vary between localized and globalized food supply systems?
Environ. Int. 35, 1004e1014.

Cruz, J.,M., Liu, Z., 2011. Modeling and analysing of the multiperiod effects of social
relationship on supply chain networks. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 214, 39e54.

de Brito, M.M., Evers, M., 2016. Multi-criteria decision-making for flood risk management:
a survey of the current state of art. Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. 16,
1019e1033.

De Solla Price, D.J., 1974. Little Science. Big Science, Suhrkamp, Berlin.

Denyer, D., Tranfield, D., 2009. In: Buchanan, D., Bryman, A. (Eds.), Chapter 39:
Producing a Systematic Review, 671-689, the Sage Handbook of Organizational
Research Methods. Sage Publications Ltd, London, ISBN 978-1-4129-3118-2.

Devinka, K., Jafarian, A., Nourbakhsh, V., 2014. Designing a sustainable closed-loop
supply chain network based on triple bottom line approach: a comparison of
metaheuristics hybridization techniques. Eur. J. Oper. Res. 235, 594e615.

Dienes, D., Sassen, R., Fischer, J., 2016. What are the drivers of sustainability
reporting? A systematic review. Sustain. Account. Manag. Policy J. 7, 154e189.

D'Eusanio, M., Zamagni, A., Petti, L., 2017. La Social Life Cycle Assessment a supporto
del Supply Chain Management, Atti del XI Convegno della Rete Italiana LCA,
Resource Efficiency e Sustainable Development Goals: il ruolo del Life Cycle
Thinking (Siena, Italy).

D'Eusanio, M., Serreli, M., Zamagni, A., Petti, L., 2018. Assessment of social dimension
of a jar of honey: a methodological outline. J. Clean. Prod. 199, 503e517.

Ekener-Petersen, E., Moberg, A., 2013. Potential hotspots identified by social LCAPart
2: reflections on a study of a complex product. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess.
18, 144e154.

Esteves, A.M., Barclay, M.A., 2011. Enhancing the benefits of local content: integrating
social and economic impact assessment into procurement strategies.
Impact Assess. Proj. Apprais. 29 (3), 205e215.

Esteves, A.M., Franks, D., Vanclay, F., 2012. Social Impact Assessment: the State of
the Art, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, vol 30, pp. 34e42, 1.

European Commission, 2002. Communication: Corporate Social Responsibility: A
Business Contribution to Sustainable Development. Commission of the European
Communities, Brussels, Belgium.

European Commission, 2010. Communication from the Commission to the European
Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee
and the Committee of the Regions. Options for an EU Vision and Target for
Biodiversity beyond 2010. COM, Brussels, Belgium (2010) 4 final.

Fallahpour, A., Olugu, E.U., Musa, S.N., et al., 2017. A decision support model for
sustainable supplier selection in sustainable supply chain management. Comput.
Ind. Eng. 105, 391e410.

Faruk, A.C., Lamming, R.C., Cousins, P.D., Bowen, F.E., 2001. Analyzing, mapping, and
managing environmental impacts along supply chains. J. Ind. Ecol. 5 (2), 13e36.

Finkbeiner, M., Schau, E.M., Lehmann, A., Traverso, M., 2010. Towards life cycle
sustainability assessment. Sustainability 2, 3309e3322.

Freise, M., Seuring, S., 2015. Social and environmental risck management in supply
chains: a surveys in the clothing industry. Logist. Res. 8 (2).

Fritz, M.M.C., Schoggl, J.-P., Baumgartner, R.J., 2017. Selected sustainability aspects
for supply chain data exchange: towards a supply chain-wide sustainability
assessment. J. Clean. Prod. 141, 587e607.

Gabriel, M., Pessl, E., 2016. Industry 4.0 and sustainability impacts: critical discussion
of sustainability aspect with a special focus on future of work and
ecological consequences. Ann. Fac. Eng. Hunedoara - Int. J. Eng. 14 (2).

Gaviglio, A., Bertocchi, M., Marescotti, M.E., Demartini, E., Pirani, A., 2016. The social
pillar of sustainability: a quantitative approach at the farm level. Agric. Food
Econ. 4, 2e19.

Gold, S., Seuring, S., Beske, P., 2010. Sustainable supply chain management and
inter-organizational resources: a literature review. Corp. Soc. Responsib. Environ.
Manag. 17 (4), 230e245.

Govindan, K., Khodaverdi, R., Jafarian, A., 2013. A fuzzy multi criteria approach for
measuring sustainability performance of a supplier based on triple bottom line
approach. J. Clean. Prod. 47, 345e354.

GRI, 2013. Global Reporting Initiative G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines
(Amsterdam, the Netherlands).

Hadrawi, H.K., 2019. The impact of firm supply chain performance and lean processes
on the relationship between supply chain management and competitive
performance. Uncertain Supply Chain Manag. 7, 2e10.

Hermann, M., Pentek, T., Otto, B., 2016. Design Principles for Industrie 4.0 Scenarios,
49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS). Koala, USA.

Huq, F.A., Chowdhury, I.N., Klassen, R.D., 2016. Social management capabilities of
multinational buying firms and their emerging market suppliers: an exploratory
study of the clothing industry. J. Oper. Manag. 46, 19e37.

Husgafvel, R., Pajunen, N., Virtanen, K., Paavola, I.L., Paallysaho, M., Inkinen, V.,
Heiskanen, K., Dahl, O., Ekroos, A., 2015. Social sustainability performance indicators
- experiences from process industry. Int. J. Sustain. Eng. 8, 14e25.

Hutchins, M.J., Sutherland, J.W., 2008. An exploration of measures of social sustainability
and their application to supply chain decisions. J. Clean. Prod. 16 (15),
1688e1698.

IAIA, 2015. Social Impact Assessment: Guidance for Assessing and Managing the
Social Impacts of Projects. International Association for Impact Assessment.
Available from. http://www.socialimpactassessment.com/. (Accessed 21
September 2018). Accessed.

ISO, 2006a. Environmental Management: Life Cycle AssessmentdPrinciples and
Framework. International Organization for Standardization report. ISO 14040:
2006(E).

ISO, 2006b. Environmental Management Systems: Life Cycle AssessmentdRequirements
and Guidelines. International Organization for Standardization
report. ISO 14044:2006(E).

Jayant, A., 2016. An application of analytic network process (ANP) to evaluate Green
Supply Chain Management Strategies: a case study. MATEC Web Conf. 57,
03003. ICAET-2016.

Jesson, J., Lacey, F., 2006. How to do (or not to do) a critical literature review. Pharm.
Educ. 6 (2), 139e148.

Kaur, A., Sharma, P.C., 2017. Social sustainability in supply chain decisions: Indian
manufactures. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 20 (4), 1707e1721. A Multidisciplinary
Approach to the Theory and practice of Sustainable Development.

Kogg, B., Mont, O., 2012. Environmental and social responsibility in supply chains:
the practise of choice and inter-organisational management. Ecol. Econ. 83,
154e163.

Koksal, D., Strahle, J., Muller, M., Freise, M., 2017. Social sustainable supply chain
management in the textile and apparel industry-a literature review. Sustanability
9 (100), 1e32.

Koplin, J., Seuring, S., Mesterharm, M., 2007. Incorporating sustainability into supply
management in the automotive industryethe case of the volkswagen Ag.
J. Clean. Prod. 15 (11), 1053e1062.

Krause, D.R., Vachon, S., Klassen, R.D., 2009. Special topic forum on sustainable
supply chain management: introduction and reflection on the role of purchasing
management. J. Supply Chain Manag. 45, 18e25.

Kuhnen, M., Hahn, R., 2018. Systemic social performance measurement: systematic
literature review and explanations on the academic status quo from a product
life-cycle perspective. J. Clean. Prod. 205, 690e705.

Lagarde, V., Macombe, C., 2013. Designing the social life cycle of products from the
systematic competitive model. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 18 (1), 172e184.

Lamberton, G., 2005. Sustainability accounting: a brief history and conceptual
framework. Account. Forum 29, 7e26.

Lee, J.S., Kim, S.K., Lee, S., 2016. Sustainable supply chain capabilities: accumulation,
strategic types and performance. Sustainability 8 (6), 1e16.

Liao, Y., Deschamps, F., de Freitas Rocha Loures, E., Ramos, L.F.P., 2017. Past, present
and future of Industry 4.0 e a systematic literature review and research agenda
proposal. Int. J. Prod. Res. 55 (12), 3609e3629.

Liberati, A., Altman, D.G., Tetzlaff, J., Mulrow, C., Gøtzsche, J.P.A., Clarke, J.D.,
Devereaux, P.J., Kleijnen, Jos, MoheR, David, 2009. The PRISMA Statement for
Reporting Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis of Studies that Evaluate
Healthcare Interventions: Explanation and Elaboration. Research Methods &
Reporting. BMJ, 2009;339:b2700.

Lin, Y.-H., Tseng, M.L., 2016. Assessing the competitive priorities within sustainable
supply chain management under uncertainty. J. Clean. Prod. 112, 2133e2144.

Liu, J.Y., 2018. An internal control system that includes corporate social responsibility
for social sustainability in the new era. Sustainability 10, 1e27.

Mani, V., Agarwal, R., Gunasekaran, A., Papadopoulos, T., DUbey, R., Childe, S.J., 2016.
Social sustainability in the supply chain: construct development and measurement
validation. Ecol. Indicat. 71, 270e279.

Martinez-Blanco, J., Lehmann, A., Chang, Y.J., Finkbeiner, M., 2015. Social organizational
LCA (SOLCA):a new approach for implementing social LCA. Int. J. Life
Cycle Assess. 20, 1586e1599.

Marttunen, M., Mustajoki, J., Dufva, M., Karjalainen, T.P., 2015. How to design and
realize participation of stakeholders in MCDA processes? A framework for
selecting an appropriate approach. Euro J. Decis. Process. 3, 187e214.

Mathivathanan, D., Kannan, D., Haq, A.N., 2017. Sustainable Supply Chain Management
Practices in Indian Automotive Industry: a Multi-Stakeholder View,
Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Article (in press).

May, T., 2001. Social Research: Issues, Methods and Process. Open university Press,
Philadelphia, USA.

Mentzer, J.T., DeWitt, W., Keebler, J.S., Min, S., Nix, N.W., Smith, C.D., Zacharia, Z.G.,
2001. Defining supply chain management. J. Bus. Logist. 22, 1e25.

Monczka, R., Trent, R., Handfield, R., 1998. Purchasing and Supply Chain Management.
South-Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, OH (Chapter 8).

Nakamba, C.C., Chan, P.W., Sharmina, M., 2017. How does social sustainability
feature in studies of supply chain management? A review and research agenda.
Supply Chain Manag.: Int. J. 22 (6), 522e541.

Novack, R.A., Langley, C., Rinehart, L.M., 1995. Creating Logistics Value. Council of
Logistics Management, Oak Brook, IL.

O'Rourke, D., 2014. The science of sustainable supply chains. Science 344,
1124e1127.

Pagell, M., Wu, Z., 2009. Building a more complete theory of sustainable supply
chain management using case studies of 10 exemplars. J. Supply Chain Manag.
45 (2), 37e56.

Parmigiani, A., Klassen, R.D., Russo, M.V., 2011. Efficiency meets accountability:
performance implications of supply chain configuration, control, and capabilities.
J. Oper. Manag. 29 (3), 212e223.

Petti, L., Serreli, M., Di Cesare, S., 2018. Systematic literature review in social life
cycle assessment. Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 23 (3), 422e431.

Petticrew, M., Roberts, H., 2006. Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences: A
Practical Guide. Hoboken, New Jersey, United States. Blackwell Publishing, USA.

Pimentel, B.S., Gonzales, E.S., Barbosa, G.N.O., 2016. Decision-support models for
sustainable mining network: fundamentals and challenges. J. Clean. Prod. 112,
2145e2157.

Popovic, T., Carvalho, A., Kraslawski, A., Barbosa-Povoa, A., 2016. Framework for
assessing social sustainability in supply chains. In: Proceedings of the 26th
European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering, ESCAPE 26,
Portoroz, 12th-15th June, Slovenia.

Popovic, T., Barbosa-Povoa, A., Kraslawski, A., Carvalho, A., 2018. Quantitative indicators
for social sustainability assessment of supply chains. J. Clean. Prod. 180,
748e768.

Pullman, M.E., Maloni, M.J., Carter, C.R., 2009. Food for thought: social versus
environmental sustainability practices and performance outcomes. J. Supply
Chain Manag. 45 (4), 38e54.

Qorri, A., Mujkic, Z., Kraslawski, A., 2018. A conceptual framework for measuring
sustainability performance of supply chains. J. Clean. Prod. 189, 510e584.

Resta, B., Gaiardelli, P., Pinto, R., Dotti, S., 2016. Enhancing environmental management
in the textile sector: an Organisational-Life Cycle Assessment
approach. J. Clean. Prod. 135, 620e632.

Rider, F., 1944. The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library: A Problem and its
Solution. Hadham Press, New York, NY.

Romero, D., Jardim-Goncalves, R., Grilo, A., 2017. Factories of the future: challenges
and leading innovations in intelligent manufacturing. Int. J. Comput. Integr.
Manuf. 30 (1), 1e3.

Saaty, T.L., 1990. How to make a decision: the analytic Hierarchy process. Eur. J.
Oper. Res. 48 (1), 9e26.

Sancha, C., Gimenez, C., Sierra, V., 2016. Achieving a socially responsible supply
chain through assessment and collaboration. J. Clean. Prod. 112, 1934e1947.
Saunders, L.W., Kleiner, B.M., McCoy, A.P., Lingard, H., Mills, T., Blismas, N.,
Wakefield, R., 2015. The effect of early supplier engagement on social sustainability
outcomes in project-based supply chains. J. Purch. Supply Manag. 21 (4),
285e295.

Schwarz, J., Schuster, M., Annaert, B., Maertens, M., Mathijs, E., 2016. Sustainability
of global and local food value chains. An empirical comparison of Peruvian and
Belgian asparagus, an Empirical Comparison of Peruvian and Belgian Asparagus.
Sustainability 8, 344, 2016.

Seuring, S., 2013. A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain
management. Decis. Support Syst. 54 (4), 1513e1520.

Seuring, S., Gold, S., 2012. Conducting content-analysis based literature reviews in
supply chain management. Supply Chain Manag.: Int. J. 17 (5), 544e555.

Seuring, S., Mülller, M., 2008. From a literature review to a conceptual framework
for sustainable supply chain management. J. Clean. Prod. 16, 1699e1710.

Smith, J., Barling, D., 2014. Social impacts and life cycle assessment: proposals for
methodological development for SMEs in the European food and drink sector.
Int. J. Life Cycle Assess. 19, 944e949.

Sutherland, J.W., Richter, J.S., Hutchins, M.J., Dornfeld, D., Dzombak, R., Mangold, J.,
Robinson, S., Hauschild, M.Z., Bonou, A., Schonsleben, P., Friemann, F., 2016. The
role of manufacturing in affecting the social dimension of sustainability. CIRP
Ann. - Manuf. Technol. 65, 659e712.

Tarne, P., Traverso, M., Finkbeiner, M., 2017. Review of life cycle sustainability
assessment and potential for its adoption at an automotive company. Sustainability
9 (4).

Tarquinio, L., 2009. Corporate environmental responsibility e comunicazione
d’impresa. La variabile ambientale nel bilancio d’esercizio e nei report volontari.
Giappichelli, Torino, IT.

Tirado, A.A., Morales, M.R., Calleros, O.-L., 2015. Additional indicators to promote
social sustainability within government programs: equity and efficiency. Sustainability
7, 9251e9267.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Society of Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry (SETAC), 2009. Guidelines for Social Life Cycle Assessment
of Products. Life-Cycle Initiative. United Nations Environment Programme
and Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Paris, France.

Vachon, S., Mao, Z., 2008. Linking supply chain strength to sustainable development:
a country-level analysis. J. Clean. Prod. 16, 1552e1560.

van der Horst, D., Vermeylen, S., 2011. Spatial scale and social impacts of biofuel
production. Biomass Bioenergy 35, 2435e2443.

Vega-Mejia, C.A., Montoya-Torres, J.R., Islam, S.M.N., 2016. Classification of Economic,
Environmental and Social Factors in Vehicle Loading and Routing Operations,
6th International Conference on Information Systems, Logistics and
Supply Chain, June, pp. 1e4. Bordeaux, France.

Vivas, R. de Castro, Sant'Anna, A.M.O., Esquerre, K.P.S.O., Freires, F.G.M., 2019. Integrated
method combining analytical and mathematical models for the evaluation
and optimization of sustainable supply chains: a Brazilian case study.
Comput. Ind. Eng. 30. January 2019, (in press).

Wang, J., Dai, J., 2018. Sustainable supply chain management practices and performance.
Ind. Manag. Data Syst. 118, 2e21.

Wilhelm, M., Hutchins, M., Mars, C., Benoit-Norris, C., 2015. An overview of social
impacts and their corresponding improvement implications: a mobile phone
case study. J. Clean. Prod. 102, 302e315.

William, M., May, T., 1996. Introduction to the Philosophy of Social Research.
Routledge, New York, USA.

Wognum, P.M., Bremmers, H., Trienekens, J.H., van der Vorst, J.G.A.J., 2011. Systems
for sustainaility and transparency of food supply chains e currents status and
challenges. Adv. Eng. Inf. 25, 65e75.

Yawar, S.A., Seuring, S., 2017. Management of social issues in supply chains: a
literature review exploring social issues, actions and performance outcomes.
J. Bus. Ethics 141, 621e643.

Zailani, S., Jeyaraman, K., Vengadasan, G., Premkumar, R., 2012. Sustainable supply
chain management (SSCM) in Malaysia-a survey. Int. J. Prod. Econ. 140 (1),
330e340.

Zhu, L., Hu, D., 2017. Sustainable Logistics Networks Modeling for Enterprise Supply
Chain. Math. Probl. Eng. 1e11.

Zimmer, K., Frohling, M., Breum, P., Schultmann, F., 2017. Assessing social risks of
global supply chains: a quantitative analytical approach and its application to
supplier selection in the German automotive industry. J. Clean. Prod. 149,
96e109.