Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Food Industry: A Conceptual Model from a Literature Review and a Case Study
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Literature Review Method
2.2. Case Study Method
- The first step is related to the research objective. This research uses a single case study to investigate the critical factors that influence companies in the food industry to implement SSCM practices, which are these practices and how do they influence sustainability performance.
- The second step is related to the research instrument development. A single case research design is used to guide this study and provide an in-depth understanding of a complex phenomenon, through the observation of actual practices in real-world settings, without any kind of control or manipulation, considering both temporal and contextual dimensions [30,31]. Case studies provide researchers the opportunity to closely analyse the data within a specific context. In ref. [32] (p. 18), the authors define the case study research method “as an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used.” Furthermore, the detailed qualitative accounts often produced in case studies not only help to explore or describe the data in real-life environments but also help to explain the complexities of real-life situations, which may not be captured through experimental or survey research [33]. For the reasons referred to above, a single case study comprised by two leaders in the food industry was selected as the most appropriate research method for this study. The firms are both sustainability leaders in the Greek food industry and members of multinational groups. The companies were selected as they have received a series of recognitions regarding sustainability, such as Environmental Awards, Supply Chain Sustainability Awards, distinctions in CSR actions, etc. Furthermore, both companies play a crucial role in the Greek industry, society and economy. An interview protocol [27] was developed on the basis of the reviewed literature and closely following previous research on SSCM [34,35] (see Appendix A). The authors of ref. [36] highlight that using existing questions enables the comparability of results. Furthermore, ref. [28] points out that using interview protocols assures the reliability of data. The interviews ranged from 70 to 90 min.
- 3.
- The third step includes data collection. The sources of information included 8 face-to-face interviews with
- (1)
- The CSR Manager of the SB company;
- (2)
- The Quality Manager of the SB company;
- (3)
- The Manager of the distribution centre of the SM company;
- (4)
- Two Logistics Project Managers of the SM company;
- (5)
- Three Retail Store Managers of the SM company.
- 4.
- The fourth step refers to the data analysis. The data analysis was filtered and guided by the identified SSCM constructs.
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Literature Review Results
3.1.1. Critical Factors
Firm-Level Critical Factors (FLCF)
Supply Chain-Level Critical Factors (SCLCF)
External Critical Factors
3.1.2. Practices
Strategic Orientation
Continuity
Collaboration
Risk Management
Proactivity
3.1.3. Performance
Environmental Performance
Economic Performance
Social Performance
3.2. Case Study Results
3.2.1. Critical Factors
Firm-Level Critical Factors (FLCF)
Supply Chain-Level Critical Factors (SCLCF)
External Critical Factors
3.2.2. Practices
Traditional SSCM practices
- Collaboration
- Continuity
- Strategic orientation
- Risk management
- Proactivity
Pioneering SSCM Practices
- Conversation
- Local sourcing
- Investing in Human Resources
3.2.3. Performance
Economic Performance
Environmental Performance
Social Performance
3.3. Discussion
4. Conclusions
4.1. Theoretical Contributions
4.2. Managerial Implications
4.3. Limitations and Future Research Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Interview Protocol
- (1)
- General information about the company
- (2)
- Critical factors of SSCM
- What are the factors that push the company to implement SSCM practices?
- What are the factors that hinder the company to implement SSCM practices?
- (3)
- SSCM practices:
- What are the SSCM practices implemented in your company?Strategic orientationSupply chain continuityCollaborationRisk managementPro-activity
- (4)
- Impact on performance:
- What measures/indicators does your company use to measure SSCM performance?
- How has the implementation of SSCM practices affected the environmental, social and economic performance of your company?
- Is there any observed relationship between environmental, social and economic performance (win–win, win–lose)?
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Company | Description | Size/Ownership |
---|---|---|
Soft drinks and beverages (SB) | Multinational producer and distributor of soft drinks and beverages | Large/Private |
Super Market (SM) | Multinational distribution centre and retailer | Large/Private |
Constructs | Definitions | Reference |
---|---|---|
SSCM Critical Factors | ||
Firm-Level Critical Factors | Firm-level critical factors refer to internal factors that firms should take into consideration for the successful implementation of SSCM practices. Top management commitment, customer demand, knowledge and expertise, training and efficiency are some of the most common firm-level critical factors for SSCM. | [1,18,19,35,38,39,40,41,43,47,50,53] |
Supply Chain-Level Critical Factors | Supply chain-level critical factors are closely linked to firm-level critical factors and refer to the supply chain’s motivational activities that promote the implementation of SSCM practices. Some of the most common supply chain-level critical factors identified in the literature are information sharing, trust, supply chain strategy and geographical distance. | [1,35,38,40,41,56,57] |
External Critical Factors | External factors refer to the external considerations that firms do not control but, should take into account for the successful implementation of SSCM practices. Government policy, international/national regulations, stakeholders, competitors, investors and food incidents are identified as some of the most common in the SSCM literature. | [17,35,38,39,40,41,42,47,48,58,59] |
SSCM practices | ||
Collaboration | Supply chain collaboration is dealing with the design and the government of supply chain activities as well as the establishment and maintenance of long-term supply chain relationships. Collaboration allows the joint development, the technical and logistical integration, the enhanced communication and the knowledge and information sharing among supply chain partners. | [11,67,77] |
Continuity | Supply chain continuity refers to the design and structure of the supply chain network in order to achieve successful interaction of supply chain members on a permanent base. Key characteristics include the long-term relationships with supply chain partners, the partner development and selection. | [11,20,25] |
Strategic orientation | Strategic orientation refers to the commitment of organizations to supply chain management, as well as to their dedication to the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept, which promotes the balance of environmental, social and economic issues. | [11,25,68,69,70] |
Risk management | Supply chain risk management includes the adoption of risk mitigation practices to avoid exposure to risks. The adoption of standards and certifications, the monitoring of supply chain partners and the engagement of stakeholders are some of the key practices. | [2,11] |
Pro-activity | Proactivity refers to the actions taken by a company in order to control and manage a specific situation regarding sustainability before it happens, rather than responding to it after it happens. | [11,25] |
SSCM Performance | ||
Economic | Economic performance refers to how well an organisation achieves its economic goals. Productivity, delivery time, product quality, sales & market share, customer loyalty, flexibility, profit rates and investment yield are some of the most frequently used indicators to measure economic performance. | [6,73,79,87,88,89,90,91,92,94,95,97,103] |
Environmental | Environmental performance refers to how well an organisation achieves its environmental goals. Hazardous/harmful/toxic materials, compliance to standards, energy, water, emissions, waste production, environmental accidents and use of recycled materials, are identified as the most common environmental performance indicators. | [6,8,79,87,88,89,97,103] |
Social | Social performance refers to how well an organisation achieves its social goals. Product safety, accident rate, training rate, health and safety, employment contribution, benefits, loyalty, turnover rate, corporate image, human rights screening (suppliers and contractors) and community support have been identified in the literature as some of the most common social performance measures. | [20,93,94,97,99,105] |
Constructs | SSCM Aspects as Identified in the Case Study |
---|---|
Critical Factors | |
Firm Level |
|
Supply Chain Level |
|
External Level |
|
SSCM practices | |
Traditional practices | |
Collaboration |
|
Continuity |
|
Strategic orientation |
|
Risk management |
|
Pro-activity |
|
Pioneering practices | |
HR investments |
|
Daily conversation |
|
Local sourcing |
|
SSCM Performance | |
Economic |
|
Environmental |
|
Social |
|
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Mastos, T.; Gotzamani, K. Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Food Industry: A Conceptual Model from a Literature Review and a Case Study. Foods 2022, 11, 2295. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11152295
Mastos T, Gotzamani K. Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Food Industry: A Conceptual Model from a Literature Review and a Case Study. Foods. 2022; 11(15):2295. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11152295
Chicago/Turabian StyleMastos, Theofilos, and Katerina Gotzamani. 2022. "Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Food Industry: A Conceptual Model from a Literature Review and a Case Study" Foods 11, no. 15: 2295. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11152295