Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains, 12th Edition

The Three Elements of Supply Chain Sustainability

As Figure 15.1 shows, supply chain sustainability has three elements. First, financial responsibility, which addresses the financial needs of the shareholders, employees, customers, business partners, financial institutions, and any other entity that supplies the capital for the production of services or products or relies on the firm for wages or reimbursements. Supply chains, for their part, support the financial responsibility of a firm by influencing elements that contribute to the return on assets, as explained in Chapter 12, “Supply Chain Design.” Furthermore, because supply chains are essentially linked processes, any improvement to processes or their management, as explained in Parts 1 ...