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Purpose -This research aims to extend the "collaborative paradigm" proposed by others in prior research beyond a supply chain's core operations. To date, this paradigm has generated relatively little empirical research on peripheral, non-core areas such the natural environment. Antecedents (both plant-level and supply chain characteristics) of green supply chain practices (GSCP) are examined. Among possible antecedents, prior research pointed to supply chain integration -both logistical (tactical level) and technological (strategic level) -as a potentially important determinant of green practices. Design/methodology/approach -Green practices are defined along the two dimensions of environmental collaboration and monitoring. The empirical analysis used data from 84 plants in North America surveyed in 2002. Validity and reliability of scales for new and existing constructs were assessed through factor analysis. Hierarchical linear regression was used to test the hypotheses for the antecedents of GSCP. Findings -Technological integration with primary suppliers and major customers was positively linked to environmental monitoring and collaboration. For logistical integration, a linkage was found only with environmental monitoring of suppliers. Finally, as the supply base was reduced, the extent of environmental collaboration with primary suppliers increased. Research limitations/implications -Greater supply chain integration can benefit environment management in operations, and the collaborative paradigm can be extended to this domain. A limitation is that the empirical analysis focused on one industry representing a single echelon. Originality/value -This is one of the few studies that conceptualize and empirically test GSCP, and consider both and separately upstream and downstream interactions in the supply chain.

Manufacturing organizations can potentially improve environmental management both by increasing the level of investment in environmental technologies and by shifting that investment away from pollution control and toward pollution prevention. However, managers must not only consider their own manufacturing operations in isolation, but also those of others along the supply chain. This paper explores two dimensions of supply chain activities—collaboration and evaluation—that might be leveraged by plant managers to improve environmental management in their own plant. The linkages with suppliers and customers were assessed. Both customer‐ and plant‐initiated collaboration were found to have a significant effect on the level and form of investment in environmental technologies for a sample of Canadian plants. Of greatest importance, as customer‐initiated collaborative activities increased, plant‐level investment in environmental management was increasingly allocated toward pollution prevention. In contrast, only very limited evidence was found that evaluative activities influenced environmental investment.

Please cite this article as: Gualandris, Jury, Klassen, Robert D., Vachon, Stephan, Kalchschmidt, Matteo, Sustainable evaluation and verification in supply chains: Aligning and leveraging accountability to stakeholders.Journal of Operations Management http://dx. ABSTRACTManagers are being challenged by multiple (and diverse) stakeholders, which have variety of expectations and informational needs about their firm's supply chains. Collectively, these expectations and needs form a multi-faceted view of stakeholder accountability, namely the extent to which a firm justifies behaviors and actions across its extended supply chain to stakeholders. To date, sustainable supply chain management research has largely focused on monitoring as a self-managed set of narrowly defined evaluative activities employed by firms to provide stakeholder accountability. Nevertheless, evidence is emerging that firms have developed a wide variety of monitoring systems in order to align with stakeholders' expectations and leverage accountability to stakeholders. Drawing from the accounting literature, we synthesize a model that proposes how firms might address accountability for sustainability issues in their supply chain. At its core, the construct of sustainable evaluation and verification (SEV) captures three interrelated dimensions: inclusivity, scope, and disclosure. These dimensions characterize how supply chain processes might identify key measures, collect and process data, and finally, verify materiality, reliability and accuracy of any data and resulting information. As a result, the concept of monitoring is significantly extended, while also considering how different stakeholders can play diverse, active roles as metrics are established, audits are conducted, and information is validated. Also, several antecedents of SEV systems are explored. Finally, the means by which an SEV system can create a competitive advantage are investigated.

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This paper introduces a special topic forum on ''Sustainable Supply Chain Management.'' Before introducing the papers included in the forum, the authors provide thoughts on the direction and future of sustainability research, particularly in the context of purchasing and supply chain management. The underlying premise that structures our discussion is straightforward: a company is no more sustainable than its supply chain. As such the purchasing function becomes central in a company's sustainability effort. In doing so, we reflect on the relationship between purchasing management and sustainable development by drawing from Kraljic's seminal article on how ''Purchasing Must Become Supply Management.''

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