VOLUME-8, ISSUE-12, DECEMBER-2019 • PRINT ISSN No. 2277 - 8160 • DOI : 10.

36106/gjra

Original Research Paper Management

ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH STRATEGIC
GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Dr. E. Eswara M.Com.m MBA.,Ph.D. Professor School Of Economics And Commerce CMR
Reddy University City Campus Bangalore 43

M.Com Research Scholar School Of Economics And Commerce CMR

University City Campus Bangalore 43 Faculty Member Faculty Of
Bhagyashree N* Commerce And Management Sheshadripuram First Grade College
Tumkur 572 102 *Corresponding Author

ABSTRACT Environmentally and socially responsive supply chains are in the early adoption stages in India. Global
supply chains need worldwide goals, and the key to the success of Green Supply Chain Management is
to bring the worldwide industry together to decide upon and pledge to work towards reasonable and concrete goals that will
make a real difference to the environment. Customers are increasingly demanding to know where products come from, how
they are made and distributed and what impact future environmental legislations will have on the products they buy. The aim of
this paper is to provide action plans and facilitate knowledge among supply chain practitioner that they need to go green the
business efciently, and communicate these efforts to their customers, partners, and the public. In fact, the paper discusses the
key drivers for green initiatives include government compliance, improved customer and public relations, a decreased fuel bill
and nancial ROI through various supply chain initiatives such as reverse logistics. Further, increasing supply chain efciency,
improving investor relations, decreasing risk and a larger corporate responsibility agenda are identied as important factors
in the strategic decision to go green. Companies working in India are not properly addressing these measures in supply chain
design and operations. That is why, the paper further elaborates strategic management of green supply chain, which involves
collecting and analyzing environmental regulations and customer concerns, discussing the relevant environmental issues with
the procurement, manufacturing and quality control departments across the supply chain rms and nally developing and
communicating the green supply chain policies to all members of the supply chain i.e. supplier's supplier to customer's
customer.

KEYWORDS : Green Supply Chain, Environment, Supplier Performance Management, Holistic Approach,
Sustainable Development.

INTRODUCTION Many businesses have not developed a successful refurbi

As the public becomes more aware of environmental issues shment program for their products that have been returned or
and global warming, consumers will be asking more exchanged. By offering refurbished items businesses can
questions about the products they are purchasing. increase purchasing options to their customers and widen
Companies will have to expect questions about how green their customer base, whilst improving the environmental
their manufacturing processes and supply chain are, their impact of their products. Organizations worldwide are
carbon footprint and how they recycle. However some continuously trying to develop new and innovative ways to
companies have seen that this not a bad thing and indeed enhance their competitiveness (Rao and Holt, 2005). Bacallan
have been able to convert the public's interest in all things (2000) suggests that some organizations are enhancing their
green into increased prots. Environmental initiatives such as competitiveness through improvements in their environmental
strategic environmental sourcing improve an organization's performance to comply with mounting environmental
competitive position and reduce risks (Sroufe, 2003). A regulations, to address the environmental concerns of their
number of companies have shown that there is a proof of the customers, and to mitigate the environmental impact of their
link between improved environmental performance and production and service activities.
nancial gains. Companies have looked to their supply chain
and seen areas where improvements in the way they operate NEED OF GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
can produce prots. Companies can nd cost savings by Greening the supply chain has numerous benets to an
reducing the environmental impact of their business organization, ranging from cost reduction, to integrating
processes. By re-evaluating the company's supply chain, from suppliers in a participative decision-making process that
purchasing, planning, and managing the use of materials to promotes environmental innovation (Bowen et al., 2001; Hall,
shipping and distributing nal products, savings are often 2003; Rao, 2002). A growing number of corporations are
identied as a benet of implementing green policies developing company-wide environmental programs and
Hopefully the interest in green issues and environmental green products sourced from markets around the world (Min
concern by the public will not decrease as economic issues and Galle, 1997). Globally, governments are exerting
become more important due to the faltering economy. The pressure on businesses to do more to reduce the negative
trend towards developing a green supply chain is now gaining impact of operations have on the environment. Pressure is
popularity but most companies are still coming to terms with coming from the physical world too. Even if it's possible for
how this can be achieved and where do they start. For years companies to ignore the impact of their operations on
businesses have been concentrating on improving supply environment but shortage of resources that go into products
chain visibility, rening efciency and minimizing cost. are necessary to make or move products. It is a direct threat to
Despite the focus being moving towards a green supply chain the success of business. Similarly, a shortage of available
the goals of visibility, efciency and cost reduction do not have energy at a plant location can force companies to curtail
to be discarded. production. In addition, many
Submitted : 15th July, 2019 Accepted : 19th September, 2019 Publication : 15th December, 2019

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 VOLUME-8, ISSUE-12, DECEMBER-2019 • PRINT ISSN No. 2277 - 8160 • DOI : 10.36106/gjra
KEY DRIVERS FOR GREEN INITIATIVES processes can be utilized to create efciencies that both
1. GOVERNMENT COMPLIANCE protect the environment and positively impact the bottom line.
The climate change is happening faster and will bring bigger While this may seem to be a daunting task, in most cases,
changes quicker than anticipated. Ironically market and the green initiatives can be implemented relatively easily by
nature hitting the wall at once, is a sign that we need to nd altering existing repair and refurbishment operations through
better ways to be more sustainable. Whether the drive is to recycling and other programs.
comply with the government regulations or to meet the
costumers' expectations companies are nding motivation to HERE ARE SIX TIPS FOR CREATING A "GREEN" PROGRAM:
go green. Going green does not just impact company's 1. Create generic, less expensive and lighter packaging for
thinking and strategy but inuences supply chain as well. refurbished goods.
Righteously the focus is not just to attain cleaner water 2. Utilize biodegradable packaging, made from recycled
consumption and alternative energy sources for server farms, material.
but to make supply chains more environmentally friendly. The 3. Sort recyclable materials as specic as possible to
movement toward green and sustainable business practices maximize volume and revenue.
is the new frontier for manufacturers and “Going Green” is the 4. Work with regional recycling experts to reduce
next step in the lean, just-in-time movement. There has been transportation costs.
much reported recently in the news about the conicting 5. Recycle material in a timely manner to maximize market
scientic data in the ght for our global ecological salvation. viability.
But for manufacturers, this should be more than a question of 6. Educate and encourage the entire organization to
carbon emissions and water conservation. It is a means to contribute to "green" causes.
reduce a signicant amount of waste and cost in the
manufacturing process. No government regulation requires a 4. SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY
company to go lean, and no regulation should be required to Organizations are integrating their supply chains to reduce
go green either. The green/sustainability movement is about operating costs and improve their customer service (Walton et
eliminating waste, reducing costs and doing business for the al., 1998). Companies do not often change their businesses
long haul. processes and it is this attitude allows inefcient processes to
continue unabated causing unnecessary waste and pollution.
2. FINANCIAL ROI The most commonly perceived enemy to environmental
The business leaders steering their companies through the protection is manufacturing and production operations. That
recession of 2009 would look at their supply chains and assess is, manufacturing and production processes are viewed as the
whether their use of global, open supply-chain standards is culprits in harming the environment, in the forms of waste
sufcient to maximize their return on investment and position generation, ecosystem disruption, and depletion of natural
themselves for protability. The futures of their businesses resources (Fiksel, 1996). Many companies that have been
may depend on it. As the recession continues into the spring of through this exercise have identied processes where raw
2009, many manufacturers are responding to decreased materials were wasted; resources underutilized and
levels of activities with trading partners not only by cutting unnecessary energy used due to inefcient equipment.
costs, but also by curtailing their supply-chain operations and Successful supply chain management is an iterative process
waiting for consumers and retailers to start buying again. that evaluates the cost/benet trade-offs of operational
They are incorporating a standards based approach to components. The success of effective supply chain
product identication and data capture in their "four walls" management is only as good as the ability to properly execute
applications locally, like asset management, work-in-process it for the benet of all stakeholders of the supply chain. A great
ow, and yard management. More important, they are supply chain, linked with a process of operational excellence,
planning ahead for working with their trading partners, can provide success for the manufacturing company and also
thinking globally by implementing data sharing with partners its partners, suppliers and customers. A centralized
everywhere across their operations and supply chains, so they distribution model can also create further efciencies. While
have actionable visibility achievable through standards. this may not be feasible for all manufacturers, centralizing
operations enable asset consolidation, in addition to
3. REVERSE LOGISTICS streamlining the test, repair and refurbishment process.
The purpose of the reverse logistics process is to ensure that Product companies can adopt a number of business
products/materials are returned from the user to the producer strategies that serve the dual purpose of environmental
in order to be recycled, reused or reconditioned. In reverse stewardship and improving business results.
logistics the chain is covered in the opposite direction. Reverse
logistics therefore denotes a set of planning, execution and Ÿ Adopt lean materials management.
ow control measures for raw materials and nished Ÿ Use more recycled materials.
products, with the aim of recovering and recycling those Ÿ Redesign products to weigh less.
products or materials. Standardized reusable containers, Ÿ Reduce packaging content.
good warehousing layouts, and easy information access Ÿ Model the environmental impact of your product.
reduce storage and retrieval delays which lead to savings in Ÿ Model the health and well-being impact of your products.
operating costs whilst being environmentally sound (Wu and Ÿ Buy local to reduce carbon footprint.
Dunn, 1995). Logistics involves a whole range of activities,
including collection, sorting, processing and reconditioning. 5. CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY
Returns management embraces: returns at the end of a Green initiatives are tied to the larger issue of corporate social
product's life, commercial returns (leasing, mail order, B2C), responsibility (CSR), the idea that companies have
contractual returns, returns under warranty (faulty goods), obligations not just to their investors but also to their
production waste and scraps, and “functional” returns, such stakeholders, society, and the environment. Many
as packaging to be reused for the same purpose (containers, corporations driven to comply with increasing government
packaging). Reverse logistics used to be the preserve of regulations and pressure from shareholders are turning to the
distributors of newspapers and magazines (products which International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for
have a very limited life span) and mail order distributors guidance with implementing green and CSR programs.
(covering products not wanted by consumers). Manufacturers Similar to the ISO 9000 standard for quality, the ISO 14000
have a variety of options to contribute to the improvement of standard for environmental management systems (EMS)
the environment. Through proactive initiatives, current establishes best practices and benchmarks for green

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VOLUME-8, ISSUE-12, DECEMBER-2019 • PRINT ISSN No. 2277 - 8160 • DOI : 10.36106/gjra
initiatives, and the ISO 26000 standard for corporate social businesses have documented an intent or plan to implement a
responsibility establishes a framework for the development of green supply chain, but without the necessary resources, both
CSR standards. Government agencies and companies nancial and manpower, any impact will be minimal. In the
concerned with sustainability issues will adopt these future, companies will be moving to a sustainable supply
standards and ask their suppliers and vendors to follow suit. chain. The harsh reality is that we need to change what we are
The green strategy is also aligned with the government doing from a supply chain standpoint in order to ensure that
contract compliance initiatives and company's corporate future generations will have resources to use in their lifetime.
social responsibility initiatives. Today the mission of each rm The benet of implementing a green sustainable supply chain
is to operate their business in the most environmentally- is that we can improve the protability of our company and
friendly way. This includes: help the environment. Green can not only be protable but
Ÿ Establishing a green product offering from key vendors for also become necessity to pay our dues for the concern of
national distribution and clearly identifying those environment at large. Being at one end or the other of the
products in their marketing materials, including their spectrum is not necessarily good or bad, it is just different
catalog and web site. depending on the dynamics of a particular business.
Ÿ Purchasing green products from their suppliers.
Ÿ Reducing waste and recycling & reusing materials at REFERENCES
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Ÿ Designing distribution routes to minimize fuel consu courses: explaining the gap between the theory and practice of green supply’,
mption. Greener Management International Autumn, pp. 41-60.
3. Fiksel, J. (1996) Design for Environment: Creating Eco- Efcient Products and
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Ÿ Repairing rather than throwing away whenever possible. 4. Hall, J. (2003) Environmental supply chain innovation’, Greening of the Supply
Ÿ Receiving electronic POs, invoices, and other business Chain, Greenleaf.
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documents from vendors and customers whenever implications’, International Journal of Purchasing and Materials
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Ÿ Encouraging their customers to sign up for Electronic 6. Rao, P. (2002) Greening of the supply chain: a new initiative in South East
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CHAIN MANAGEMENT 8. Sroufe, R. (2003) A framework for strategic environmental sourcing’, Greening
Sustainable development is development that meets the the Supply Chain, Greenleaf, Shefeld.
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company's functions. Green is a subset of the broader world of
sustainability. Sustainability incorporates endeavors such as
fair labor practices, human rights, and community
responsibility, while green includes things that impact the
environment. Companies are considering redesigning their
long and complex supply chains to reduce transportation
costs and the associated carbon footprint generated by
moving goods long distances. In the next several years we will
be hearing more about Supply Chain Sustainability or the
Green Sustainable Supply Chain. A Green Sustainable
Supply Chain can be dened as "the process of using
environmentally friendly inputs and transforming these inputs
through change agents whose byproducts can improve or be
recycled within the existing environment. This process
develops outputs that can be reclaimed and re-used at the end
of their life-cycle thus, creating a sustainable supply chain."
The whole idea of a sustainable supply chain is to reduce
costs while helping the environment. Many people would
argue that being environmentally friendly increases your
costs.

CONCLUSION
Businesses can position themselves anywhere along the
spectrum of the green chain, from complying with regulations
and choosing equipment like bio-diesel engines or low-
energy-consuming light bulbs for their facilities. They can
position themselves to move ahead of the curve and be at the
forefront in shaping and xing the environment by
redesigning the overall network by pushing for new
regulations, developing new products, and beginning to
redesign their supply chains to include suppliers and
transportation mode selections. There are many ways in
which businesses can transit to a green supply chain;
however, it is important to realize that it is difcult to achieve
results without strong focused leadership. Senior manag
ement has to lead the effort to move towards a green supply
chain and provide the resources for the transition. Many

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