Ryan Atkins
Nova Southeastern University
Ryan Atkins is an Assistant Professor of Supply Chain Management at Nova Southeastern University’s Huizenga School of Business & Entrepreneurship. He was previously a Lecturer in the Department of Management at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He earned a B.S. in Business Logistics and International Business and a Masters in Manufacturing Management from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management from Queen’s University Belfast. He has several years’ experience working in various supply chain management functions and is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Recent supply chain management research has acknowledged the importance of balancing social and environmental responsibility with economic performance [5]. The decisions made by supply chain managers can have a far-reaching impact on the economic, environmental, and social performance of the entire supply chain, even though many activities that occur in the supply chain are not under the direct control of those managers [1]. Some firms draw a line of moral disengagement, beyond which they distance themselves from the social and environmental impact of the activities of the supply chain [2], while others rely on suppliers to take a leading role in enforcing responsible practices [4].
We draw upon ten ethical perspectives to provide insight into how far along the supply chain the line of moral responsibility should be drawn, and whether it should be drawn at all. We argue that the ten perspectives converge to three primary approaches to managing social responsibility in supply chains: a. internal focus; b. stakeholder focus; and c. extended stakeholder focus. Several issues are discussed with regard to the application of these approaches, including the focal firm’s power to control the actions of supply chain partners and the interplay among legal, moral, and financial responsibilities. Triple bottom line arguments may be inadequate to fully address the implications of the decision to take actions toward social responsibility or sustainability, as they often prioritize the economic dimension [3]. This research discusses the ethical and moral implications of those decisions, and in doing so, provides insight to managers and researchers alike.
REFERENCES
[1] ASGARY, N. & LI, G. Corporate Social Responsibility: Its Economic Impact and Link to the Bullwhip Effect. Journal of Business Ethics, 2016, 135(4), 665-681.
[2] ERIKSSON, D. & SVENSSON, G. The Process of Responsibility, Decoupling Point, and Disengagement of Moral and Social Responsibility in Supply Chains: Empirical Findings and Prescriptive Thoughts. Journal of Business Ethics, 2016, 134(2), 281-298.
[3] MONTABON, F., PAGELL, M. & WU, Z. Making Sustainability Sustainable. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 2016, 52(2), 11-27.
[4] WILHELM, M. M., BLOME, C., BHAKOO, V. & PAULRAJ, A. Sustainability in multi-tier supply chains: Understanding the double agency role of the first-tier supplier. Journal of Operations Management, 41, 2016, 42-60.
[5] ZORZINI, M., HENDRY, L. C., HUQ, F. A. & STEVENSON, M. Socially responsible sourcing: reviewing the literature and its use of theory. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 2015, 35(1), 60-109.