Social sustainability in the supply chain: Construct development and measurement validation

Abstract

Research on social sustainability in developing countries has recently gained importance for both academics and practitioners. Studies in the supply chain management field take either a supplier or a manufacturer perspective that address predominantly corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues referring to the internal stakeholders. Our research integrates the literature on supplier, manufacturer, and customer responsibility and proposes the concept of supply chain social sustainability (SCSS) that refers to addressing social issues within the overall (upstream and downstream) supply chain. Furthermore, we develop and empirically validate scales for measuring SCSS using in-depth interviews and a survey in the Indian manufacturing industry. Our results suggest that SCSS consists of six underlying dimensions, namely equity, safety, health and welfare, philanthropy, ethics, human rights, in a 20-item valid and reliable scale. We discuss the implications of the findings for research and practice and suggest future research avenues.

Evaluation of Third Party Logistics Providers Considering Social Sustainability

“…In general, social sustainability has been represented as the social dimension of sustainability, which concerns the impact that the organization has on the social systems within which it operates [52][53][54][55]. Recently, social sustainability has become of paramount importance in business because of the need for increased stakeholder awareness regarding not only 'where' the products are made and delivered but also 'how' and 'in what conditions' they are produced and delivered [56].…”

“…These criteria differ across industries and countries, although the majority are oriented toward business partner (e.g. supplier) performance [55,69,70]. Frequently used criteria for social sustainability from prior research are summarized in Table 1.…”

Social sustainability in supply chains: A framework and a Latin America illustrative case

“…The "who" point was also addressed by Yawar and Seuring (2015), that divided social issues into demands from internal and external stakeholders. Mani et al (2015) and Mani et al (2016) also developed an approach of social issues with the three points of Klassen and Vereecke (2012). For "what", Mani et al (2016) developed and validated a scale of social sustainability, applied with managers from India and focused on countries of emerging economies.…”

“…Mani et al (2015) and Mani et al (2016) also developed an approach of social issues with the three points of Klassen and Vereecke (2012). For "what", Mani et al (2016) developed and validated a scale of social sustainability, applied with managers from India and focused on countries of emerging economies. In their findings, the authors consider six major groups of social issues: philanthropy, security, equity, health and well-being; ethics and human rights, described in Table 1.…”

“…Sancha et al (2016) also indicate quantitative studies in the area, suggesting the elaboration of a scale that measures social constructs, such as social performance or social practices. It is noteworthy that Mani et al (2016) validated a scale for social issues in the SSCM, as discussed in a previous topic. The authors proposed six major groups of social issues (i.e., philanthropy, security, equity, health and well-being, ethics and human rights), which could be investigated in the future in order to confirm their application in another context.…”