Abstract
Supply chain management is fundamental to conventional models of economic development, but is conventionally associated with the optimized movement of raw materials and finished products across a network of interconnected and interacting firms. The ecological impact of supply chains is acknowledged in the development of the knowledge around so-called sustainable supply chains. However, the degree of integration of the concept of ecosystems services and wider ecological economic models in supply chain management theory is apparently limited. We first review models of conventional and ecological economic systems and of varying conceptualizations of supply chain management. From this base we offer a fresh synthesis of sustainable supply chain management and the concept of an ecological economic system. We then evaluate the validity of this synthesis in describing and then discussing a qualitative case study of woollen carpet yarn manufacture, grounded in a life-cycle assessment of the production process and a 9-month field study of decision making in product creation, with a special interest in sustainable outcomes. We find evidence to suggest that our conceptualization may offer a route to improving life cycle assessment as a means of analysing the sustainability of a supply chain.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Ecosystem Services in Agricultural and Urban Landscapes |
Editors | Steve Wratten, Harpinder Sandhu, Ross Ross Cullen, Robert Costanza |
Place of Publication | U.K. |
Publisher | Wiley |
Pages | 157-177 |
Number of pages | 21 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781118506271 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781405170086 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2013 |
Keywords
- ecology
- economic production
- supply chain management
- supply chains