Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
www.elsevier.com/locate/jom
Abstract
Consideration is given to the convergence of supply chains and sustainability. In doing so, the focus on environmental
management and operations is moved from local optimization of environmental factors to consideration of the entire supply chain
during the production, consumption, customer service and post-disposal disposition of products. This is a critical and timely topic
that captures increasing concerns over sustainability, whether driven by current legislation, public interest, or competitive
opportunity. As such, sustainable development is a rich area for academic research that is still in its infancy and has the potential
to affect future government policy, current production operations, and identify new business models. This paper provides a
background to better understand current trends in this multidisciplinary field that intersect with operations management, and the
research opportunities and challenges it presents.
# 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
0272-6963/$ – see front matter # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jom.2007.01.012
1076 J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082
Fig. 1. The number of articles in different fields that consider sustainability (articles identified by a search of ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable
development’ performed on Scopus on 6 August 2006).
J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082 1077
Fig. 2. Consideration to the concept of sustainability is increasingly found in the management literature (economics, business and management
articles identified by a search of ‘sustainability’ or ‘sustainable development’ performed on Scopus on 6 August 2006). An increase in publishing
frequency of about 3/1000 to 15/1000 articles, over the period under consideration.
phies that may be required to achieve sustainability (American Chamber of Commerce of Europe, 2004).
(Hart, 1997; Myers, 1997; Vincent and Panayotou, One recent outcome has been the European Directives
1997; Kemp, 1994), the discussion is still in its early on Waste and Electronic Equipment (EU, 2003a,b;
stages. One may argue that it is premature and/or just an Perchards, 2005). If the EUs earlier influence in the area
academic curiosity to consider the operationalization of of quality management and the global adoption of ISO
sustainability. In the past there have been many 9001 certification is an indication, the EUs emphasis on
examples of environmental and public health concerns sustainability is likely to be a strong harbinger of
that were over-hyped and eventually either discounted actions to by others. Many other countries and
or seen as a reduced threat by many after additional jurisdictions are introducing legislation that addresses
evidence and insights were obtained (Wildavsky, 1995). similar issues (Maine, 2005; State of California, 2003;
However, recent reactions to growing environmental State of Minnesota, 2003; DEP, 2002; Shih, 2001; DEP,
concerns of product- and process-derived pollution have 1998; Micklitz, 1992).
included rapid substantive changes. For example, Clearly there is sufficient activity and ongoing
legislation was adopted worldwide over a relatively development in the area of sustainability, that it is
short timeframe to phase out chemicals with Ozone worthwhile for operations management researchers
Depleting Potential (Cook, 1996; UNEP, 1994). More and practitioners to consider the implications and
recently a steady increase can be seen in both public and impacts of sustainability on traditional assumptions
private sector recognition of global warming as a and practices in the field of operations management.
societal issue (Ball, 2004; Corey, 2004, 2005; Bodansky While some of the relevant questions have been
et al., 2004). Sustainability, as an integrative concept, is considered by work in topics such as greener product
starting to follow a similar trajectory, with new design (Lennox et al., 2000; Dambach and Allenby,
initiatives being proposed or adopted by both the 1995; Sarkis, 1995), cleaner process technology
public and private sectors. (Clelland et al., 2000; Hasek, 1997; Porter and van
Recently, the European Union (EU) has become a der Linde, 1995; Huisingh and Martin, 1986), product
highly influential proponent of sustainability. The life extension (Linton and Jayaraman, 2005), and
European Parliament views this concept as so critical environmental management systems (Sroufe, 2004;
to the future of the EU that current and future legislation Melnyk et al., 2003; Kitazawa and Sarkis, 2000),
must integrate sustainability into implementation orders these subjects are not considered from the unifying
1078 J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082
3. The interaction between sustainability and 3.3. By-products produced during product use
supply chains
The management of product sustainability is not
During the last two decades, the focus on only a function of design, but also product manage-
optimizing operations has moved from a specific ment. The potential for great opportunities and profit
facility or organization to the entire supply chain. By have been recognized by many who have called
optimizing along the entire sequence of steps that are for extended producer involvement and responsi-
involved in the production of a product whether it is a bility. This involvement has appeared in calls for the
good or service, the greatest value can be produced at provision of a product as a service (Michaelis and
the lowest possible cost (Handfield and Nichols, Coates, 1994) or for manufacturers to provide a
1999). In many cases, this approach requires series of services to support and supplement sale
organizations to operate sub-optimally from a cost of the original product (Wise and Baumgartner,
perspective to create the greatest possible value along 1999).
the entire supply chain (Leenders and Blenkhorn,
1988). 3.4. Product life extension
A focus on supply chains is a step towards the
broader adoption and development of sustainability, There are a variety of techniques that are used to
since the supply chain considers the product from initial extend the life of products (Linton and Jayaraman,
processing of raw materials to delivery to the customer. 2005). Through the extension of product life, the
However, sustainability also must integrate issues and depletion of resources through the production of new
flows that extend beyond the core of supply chain product is avoided. This approach works against the
management: product design, manufacturing by-pro- design for obsolescence typical in a consumption-
ducts, by-products produced during product use, oriented society. However, it increases the value
product life extension, product end-of-life, and recovery created by an individual product. The challenge for
processes at end-of-life. the provider of the product is to develop offerings that
allow for them to capture more of the product value.
3.1. Product design Such approaches are discussed by the authors of work
relating to by-products produced during product use
Techniques such as life cycle assessment (Rebitzer above. While some manufacturers have capitalized on
et al., 2004; Pennington et al., 2004) are used to assist in opportunities created by product life extension
the determination of how to design a product to (examples include: Woellert, 2006; Guide et al.,
minimize its environmental impact over its useable life 2003; Linton and Johnston, 2000), the failure of
and afterwards (Karna and Heiskanen, 1998). This field Original Equipment Manufacturers to capitalize on
at the interface of engineering, product design and opportunities has led to vibrant highly profitable
engineering considers resource depletion as well as businesses in such areas as remanufacturing (Arndt,
environmental impacts. 2005; Lund, 1982, 1984).
J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082 1079
Changes in policy, such as that for electrical and components in consumer products: life cycle data
electronic equipment in Europe (EU, 2003a), force both analysis by Weibull and artificial neural networks. It is
manufacturers and researchers to explore options to also evident upon reflection of this and other research
improve the sustainability of operations across the that due to the closed-system nature of sustainability,
supply chain. However, change can also flow in the opportunities to modify operations or changes in tactics
opposite direction. Research and practice in supply can have substantial effects on policy, firm strategy and
chain management can affect policy, science or social the competitive environment.
science by presenting alternative scenarios for the While sustainability provides an overarching frame-
development of sustainable supply chains. Sustain- work for much of the past and ongoing environmental
ability stretches the concept of supply chain manage- research in operations, sustainability moves beyond
ment to look at optimizing operations from a broader current common practice. Supply chains must be
perspective—the entire production system and post- explicitly extended to include by-products of the supply
production stewardship as opposed to just the produc- chain, to consider the entire lifecycle of the product, and
tion of a specific product. Matos and Hall (2007) to optimize the product not only from a current cost
question the notion of optimization as they explore how standpoint but also a total cost standpoint. Total cost
the complexity associated with defining, coordinating must include the effects of resource depletion and the
and interacting with stakeholders increases substan- generation of by-products that are neither captured nor
tially, in their work on integrating sustainability into the used (pollutants and waste). Research into the opera-
supply chain. tional implications of various policies and how business
In addition sustainability introduces less quantifiable can integrate sustainability is critical, since current legal
considerations relating to the natural environment and trends will force many of these changes whether or not
in some cases social issues—what the business ethicists academe and practice is prepared. Such research
and the accounting fields refers to as the triple bottom requires not only that many questions be answered,
line (Elkington, 1998). For example, consideration of but a wide variety of approaches including: case studies
the interaction between economic consideration with analysis (Matos and Hall, 2007), statistical testing of
social and environmental issues – such as noise hypotheses (Kocabasoglu et al., 2007), multiple case
pollution, congestion, and carbon dioxide emissions – modeling (Quak and de Koster, 2007), model develop-
in logistics has been considered by Quak and de Koster ment (Webster and Mitra, 2007; Ackali et al., 2007) and
(2007) in their work on exploring retailers’ sensitivity to machine learning (Mazhar et al., 2007).
sustainability policies.
The previously mentioned trend towards integration References
of sustainability concepts into legislation changes the
environment that firms operate in and the nature of Ackali, E., Karakayali, I., Emir-Farinas, H., 2007. An analysis of
competition as considered by researchers such as decentralized collection and processing of end-of-life products.
Journal of Operations Management 25, 1161–1183.
Webster and Mitra (2007) in their study of competitive Allenby, B.R., 2000. Implementing industrial ecology: the AT&T
strategy in remanufacturing and the impact of take-back matrix system. Interfaces 30 (3), 42–54.
laws. These changes require management to not only American Chamber of Commerce of Europe, 2004. European Union
address new issues, such as the reverse supply chain, but Environmental Guide 2004. American Chamber of Commerce of
Europe, Brussels, Belgium.
to tightly change existing practices and create new
Anon., 2001. Europe’s steelmakers get lean and green. BusinessWeek
production and management systems. Kocabasoglu 3720 (February 19), 92.
et al. (2007) consider some of these issues in their Arndt, M., 2005. Cat sink its claws into services. BusinessWeek 3692
research on linking forward and reverse supply chain (December 5), 56–59.
investments: the role of business uncertainty. Having Ayres, R.U., 1989. Industrial metabolism. In: Ausubel, J., Sladovich,
illustrated the broad effects that the integration of H. (Eds.), Technology and Environment. National Academy Press,
Washington, DC.
sustainability considerations have into the supply chain Ball, J., 2004. As Kyoto protocol comes alive, so do pollution permit
on policy, competitive environment and strategy, it is markets. Wall Street Journal A2.
also critical to consider that many critical tactical and Barros, A.I., Dekker, R., Scholten, V., 1998. A two-level network for
operational issues must be considered. For example recycling sand: a case study. European Journal of Operational
Ackali et al. (2007) consider decentralized collection Research 110, 199–214.
Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J.M., Fleischmann, M., van Nunen, J.A.E.E.,
and processing of end-of-life products and Mazhar et al. 1999. Reviewing distribution issues in reverse logistics. In: Sper-
(2007) consider how to obtain better use from used anza, M.G., Stahly, P. (Eds.), New Trends in Distribution Logis-
products through remaining life estimation of used tics. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 23–44.
J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082 1081
Bodansky, D., Chou, S., Jorge-Trejolini, C., 2004. International Frosch, R.A., 1994. Industrial ecology: minimizing the impact of
Climate Efforts Beyond 2012: A Survey of Approaches. Pew industrial waste. Physics Today 11, 63–68.
Center on Climate Change, Arlington, Virginia. Frosch, R.A., Gallopoulos, N.E., 1989. Strategies for manufacturing.
Clelland, I.J., Dean, T.J., Douglas, T.J., 2000. Stepping towards Scientific American 261 (3), 94–102.
sustainable business: an evaluation of waste minimization prac- Geisel, T.S., 1971. The Lorax. Random House, New York.
tices in US manufacturing. Interfaces 30 (3), 107–124. Guide Jr., V.D.R., 2000. Production planning and control for rema-
Cook, E. (Ed.), 1996. Ozone Protection in the United States. World nufacturing: industry practice and research needs. Journal of
Resources Institute, Washington, DC. Operations Management 18 (4), 467–483.
Corbett, C.J., Klassen, R.D., 2006. Extending the horizons: environ- Guide Jr., V.D.R., van Wassenhove, L.N., 2003. Business Aspects of
mental excellence as key to improving operations. Manufacturing Close-loop Supply Chains. Carnegie-Bosch Institute, Pittsburgh.
and Service Operations Management 8 (1), 5–22. Guide Jr., V.D.R., Jayaraman, V., Srivastava, R., Benton, W.C., 2000.
Corbett, C.J., Kleindorfer, P.R., 2003. Environmental management Supply-chain management for recoverable manufacturing prac-
and operations management: introduction to the third special tices. Interfaces 30 (3), 125–142.
issue. Production and Operations Management 12 (3), 287–289. Guide Jr., V.D.R., Jayaraman, V., Linton, J.D., 2003. Building con-
Corey, J., 2004. Global warming. BusinessWeek (August 16), 60– tingency planning for closed-loop supply chains with product
69. recovery. Journal of Operations Management 21 (3), 259–279.
Corey, J., 2005. Global warming: suddenly the climate in Washington Gungor, A., Gupta, S.M., 1999. Issues in environmentally conscious
is changing. BusinessWeek (June 27), 91–92. manufacturing and product recovery: a survey. Computers and
Daly, H.E., Cobb, J., 1994. For the Common Good. Beacon Press, Industrial Engineering 36 (4), 811–853.
Boston. Handfield, R.B., Nichols, E.L., 1999. Introduction to Supply Chain
Dambach, B.F., Allenby, B.R., 1995. Implementing design for envir- Management. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
onment at AT&T. Total Quality Environmental Management 4 (3), Harding, G., 1968. The tragedy of commons. Science 162, 1245–
51–62. 1248.
Dekker, R., Fleischman, M., Inderfurth, K., van Wassenhove, L.N. Hart, S.L., 1997. Beyond greening. Harvard Business Review 1,
(Eds.), 2004. Reverse Logistics: Quantitative Models for Closed- 66–76.
loop Supply Chains. Springer, Berlin. Hasek, G., 1997. Closing the loop: corporations use innovative
Department of Environmental Protection, 1998. Hazardous and Solid methods to reduce waste. Industry Week 246 (8), 13–16.
Waste Regulations for Massachusetts: 310 CMR 30.000 and 310 Huisingh, D., Martin, L.R., 1986. Proven Profits from Pollution
CMR 19.00, Public Hearing Draft Regulations for the Manage- Prevention: Case Studies in Resource Conservation and Waste
ment of Discarded Cathode Ray Tubes. Department of Environ- Reduction. Institute for Local Self Reliance, Washington, DC.
mental Protection, Boston, MA. Jayaraman, V., Patterson, R., Rolland, E., 2003. The design of reverse
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), 2002. Focus on distribution networks: models and solution procedures. European
Televisions and Computer Monitors: Lead. Department of Envir- Journal of Operational Research 150, 128–149.
onmental Protection, Florida. , http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/ Johansson, A., 1992. Clean Technology. Louis Publishing, Boca
categories/electronics/pages/lead.htm. Raton, Florida.
Elkington, J., 1998. Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of Karna, A., Heiskanen, E., 1998. The challenge of ‘product chain’
21st Century. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC. thinking for product development and design: the example of
Esty, D.C., Porter, M.E., 1998. Industrial ecology and competitive- electrical and electronics products. Journal of Sustainable Product
ness. Journal of Industrial Ecology 2 (1), 35–43. Design 4 (1), 26–36.
European Union (EU), 2003a. Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Kemp, R., 1994. Technology and the transition to environmental
Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on waste sustainability. Futures 26 (10), 1023–1046.
electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Official Journal L King, A.A., Lennox, M.J., 2001. Lean and green? An empirical
037, 13/02/2003. Brussels, European Union, pp. 24–39. examination of the relationship between lean production and
European Union (EU), 2003b. Directive 2002/95/EC of the European environmental performance. Productions and Operations Man-
Parliament and of the Council of 27 January 2003 on the restriction agement 10 (3), 244–256.
of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and Kitazawa, S., Sarkis, J., 2000. The relationship between ISO 14001
electronic equipment. Official Journal L 037, 13/02/2003. Brus- and continuous source reduction programs. International Journal
sels, European Union, pp. 19–23. of Operations and Production Management 20 (2), 225–248.
Flapper, S.D., van Nunen, J.A.E.E.,van Wassenhove, L.N. (Eds.),2005. Kleindorfer, P.R., Singhal, K., van Wassenhove, L.N., 2005. Sustain-
Managing Closed-loop Supply Chains. Springer, Berlin. able operations management. Production and Operations Manage-
Fleischer, R., 1973. Soylent Green. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Los ment 14 (4), 482–492.
Angeles, California. Kocabasoglu, C., Prahinski, C., Klassen, R., 2007. Linking forward
Fleischmann, M., Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J.M., Dekker, R., van der Laan, and reverse supply chain investments: the role of business uncer-
E., van Nunen, J.A.E.E., 1997. Quantitative models for reverse tainty. Journal of Operations Management 25, 1141–1160.
logistics: a review. European Journal of Operational Research 103 Krikke, H.R., van Harlen, A., Schuur, P.C., 1999. Business case OCE:
(1), 1–17. reverse logistics network redesign for copiers. OR Spectrum 21
Fleischmann, M., Krikke, H.R., Dekker, R., Flapper, S.D.P., 2000. A (3), 381–409.
characterisation of logistics networks for product recovery. Omega Kroon, L., Vrijens, G., 1995. Returnable containers: an examination of
28 (6), 653–666. reverse logistics. International Journal of Physical Distribution
Florida, R., 1996. Lean and green: the move to environmentally and Logistics Management 25 (2), 56–68.
conscious manufacturing. California Management Review 39 Leenders, M.R., Blenkhorn, D.L., 1988. Reverse Marketing: The New
(1), 80–102. Buyer Supplier Relationship. Free Press, New York.
1082 J.D. Linton et al. / Journal of Operations Management 25 (2007) 1075–1082
Lennox, M., King, A., Ehrenfeld, J., 2000. An assessment of design- Rao, P., Holt, D., 2005. Do green supply chains lead to competitive-
for-environment practices in leading U.S. electronic firms. Inter- ness and economic performance? International Journal of Opera-
faces 30 (3), 83–94. tions and Production Management 25 (9), 898–916.
Liew, E., Zaman, F., Thanupillai, S., 2006. Outsourcing RoHS-com- Rebitzer, G., Ekvall, T., Frischknecht, R., Hunkeler, D., Norris, G.,
pliant production at a distance. Circuits Assembly 17 (2), 56–59. Rydberg, T., Schmidt, W-.P., Suh, S., Weidema, B.P., Pennington,
Linton, J.D., Jayaraman, V., 2005. A conceptual framework for D.W., 2004. Life cycle assessment. Part 1. Framework, goal and
product life extension. International Journal of Production scope definition, inventory analysis, and applications. Environ-
Research 43 (9), 1807–1829. mental International 30, 701–720.
Linton, J.D., Johnston, D.A., 2000. A decision support system for the Sarkis, J., 1995. Supply chain management and environmentally
planning of remanufacturing at Nortel. Interfaces 30 (6), 17–31. conscious design and manufacturing. International Journal of
Linton, J.D., Yeomans, J.S., 2004. Materials recycling and industrial Environmentally Conscious Design and Manufacturing 4 (2),
ecology. Nature Materials 3 (4), 199–201. 43–52.
Louwers, D., Kip, B.J., Peters, E., Souren, F., Flapper, S.D.P., 1999. A Shih, L.H., 2001. Reverse logistics system planning for recycling
facility location allocation model for reusing carpet materials. electrical appliances and computers in Taiwan. Resource Con-
Computers and Industrial Engineering 36 (40), 1–15. servation and Recycling 32 (1), 55–72.
Lund, R., 1982. Remanufacturing: United States Experience and Spengler, T., Puchert, H., Penkuhn, T., Rentz, O., 1997. Environmental
Implications for Developing Nations. The World Bank, Washington, integrated production and recycling management. European Jour-
DC. nal of Operational Research 97, 308–326.
Lund, R., 1984. Remanufacturing. Technology Review 87 (2), 18–23. Sroufe, R., 2004. Effects of environmental management systems on
Maine, 2005. Title 38. Section 1610. Electronic Waste Statute, State of environmental management practices and operations. Production
Maine 122nd Legislature, 30 July, Augusta, Maine. and Operations Management 12 (3), 416–431.
Matos, S., Hall, J., 2007. Integrating sustainable development in the State of California, 2003. Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (SB
supply chain: the case of life cycle assessment in oil & gas and 20) SHER. Statutes of 2003, California.
agricultural biotechnology. Journal of Operations Management State of Minnesota, 2003. Stat 115A.9565.
25, 1083–1102. Thierry, M., Salomon, M., van Nunen, J.A.E.E., van Wassenhove,
Mazhar, M.I., Kara, S., Kaebernick, H., 2007. Remaining life estima- L.N., 1995. Strategic issues in product recovery management.
tion of used components in consumer products: life cycle data California Management Review 37 (2), 114–135.
analysis by Weibull and artificial neural networks. Journal of United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), 1994. Montreal
Operations Management 25, 1184–1193. Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer: 1994
Melnyk, S.A., Sroufe, R.P., Calantone, R., 2003. Assessing the impact Report of the Technology and Economics Assessment Panel.
of environmental management systems on corporate and environ- US EPA Identification – EPA/430/K94/023. United Nations Envir-
mental performance. Journal of Operations Management 21 (3), onmental Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.
329–351. Vincent, J.R., Panayotou, T., 1997. Or distraction? Science 276, 53–
Michaelis, M., Coates, J.F., 1994. Creating integrated performance 55.
systems: the business of the future. Technology Analysis & Walley, N., Whitehead, B., 1994. Its not easy being green. Harvard
Strategic Management 2, 245–250. Business Review 72 (3), 46–51.
Micklitz, H.W., 1992. The German packaging order, a mode; for state World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987. Our
induced waste avoidance? The Columbia Journal of World Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford and New York.
Business Winter, 121–127. Webster, S., Mitra, S., 2007. Competitive strategy and the impact of
Myers, N., 1997. Consumption: challenge to sustainable devel- take-back laws. Journal of Operations Management 25, 1123–
opment. . .. Science 276, 53–57. 1140.
Parsons, H.L., 1997. Marx and Engles on Ecology: Contributions in Wildavsky, A., 1995. But is it True? A Citizen’s Guide to Environ-
Philosophy. Greenwood Press, Westport, Connecticut. mental Health and Safety Issues. Harvard University Press, Cam-
Pennington, D.W., Potting, J., Finnveden, G., Lindeijer, E., Jolliet, O., bridge, MA.
Rydberg, T., Rebitzer, G., 2004. Life cycle assessment. Part 2. Wise, R., Baumgartner, P., 1999. Go downstream: the new profit
Current impact assessment practice. Environment International 30, imperative in manufacturing. Harvard Business Review 77 (5),
721–739. 133–141.
Perchards, 2005. Transposition of the WEEE and RoHS Directives in Woellert, L., 2006. HP wants your old PCs back. BusinessWeek 3979
Other EU Member States. Perchards, St. Albens, United Kingdom. (April 10), 82–83.
Porter, M., van der Linde, C., 1995. Green and competitive: ending the Zhu, Q.H., Sarkis, J., 2004. Relationships between operational
stalemate. Harvard Business Review 73, 120–133. practices and performance among early adopters of green
President’s Council on Sustainable Development, 1996. Sustainable supply chain management practices in Chinese manufacturing
America: A New Consensus. US Government Printing Office, enterprises. Journal of Operations Management 22 (3), 265–
Washington, DC. 289.
Quak, H.J., de Koster, M.B.M., 2007. Exploring retailers’ sensitivity Zink, K.J., 2005. Stakeholder orientation and corporate social respon-
to local sustainability policies. Journal of Operations Management sibility as a precondition for sustainability. Total Quality Manage-
25, 1103–1122. ment and Business Excellence 16 (8–9), 1041–1052.