Implications of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Literature to Management Accounting

Abstract

The main purpose of this article is to make an extensive review on the sustainable supply chain management literature in order to find some implications to management accounting. It also aims to explain sustainability in supply chain management, the needs of a sustainable supply chain, historical development and importance of sustainable supply chains. As the first step, a keyword search was conducted in the well-known databases, and then, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) studies, which have connections to and implications for management accounting are evaluated and summarized separately. Although SSCM literature is very rich, the number of SSCM studies which have implications to management accounting is scarce. They point out that management accountants may take parts especially in determining cost and profitability of sustainable products, cost and quality evaluation of input materials and risk evaluation of suppliers, developing costing models for sustainable production, measuring performance in economic, environmental and social areas, and making cost-benefit analysis in the implementation and adoption of sustainability in each steps of sustainable supply chains.

Contemporary Organizational Sustainability: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Business and Society

“…In the present, sustainable does not mean anymore only ‘respectful’, but most of all ‘viable’ (Atik & Kovacevic, 2020; Smyczek et al, 2020). And there is an overarching consideration of the different dimensions of an organization, across the typological and geographic spectra.…”

Analysis of Sustainable Supply Chain Research: Future Research and Themes

“…Cost analysis is a critical aspect to evaluating the triple bottom line and decision-making that occurs in SSCM. With this in mind, a relatively recent literature review analyzed research on managerial accounting practices and SSCM (Atik & Kovacevic, 2020). While this study highlights the critical role that accounting plays in SSCM studies, research was scarce and 'older' -and needed.…”

“…• Understanding the roles of management accountants in companies that have sustainability in supply chains (Atik & Kovacevic, 2020).…”

“…• Comparing sustainability performance of firms from developed and developing countries (Atik & Kovacevic, 2020).…”

“…Several researchers noted the need for metrics to evaluate SSCM across multi-tier supply chains (Carter et al, 2020;Koberg & Longoni, 2019;Sanchez-Flores et al, 2020). This review also noted the need for metrics to address social sustainability performance evaluation (Atik & Kovacevic, 2020), to measure, quantify and control ecological and social value generated (Birkel & Muller, 2020), and to assess sustainable value (Mendez-Leon et al, 2022). Without a doubt, measuring social sustainability is challenging and is still progressing.…”