Sustainability from a natural products corporation comes from many operations; however, the department that will be tasked in implement the policy, whatever that form may be, will be supply chain. Therefore, the supply chain professional running the program will have to wear many hats in order to accomplish this task.
From a supply chain standpoint, the initial reaction to implementing a sustainability program would be the impact on cost. Other impacts could be potential changes to the supply bases, quality, availability and continuity of supply. In addition, the company will need a coherent sustainability mission statement to implement the program.
Supply chain professionals have multiple touch points in any organization; they need to be able to engage and influence other departments in an effective manner. It is critical to understand the company mission statement regarding sustainability, and there is alignment across the organization from marketing, finance, production and logistics. In some cases, supply chain may have to help sell the idea.
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility
Sustainability must first be adequately defined before a program can be implemented. The United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development in 2008 defined sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
From here, we can tether sustainability to corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is not as universally adopted. It could a different concept for each organization despite the increasing pressure for the need to do so.
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