Pushing the Boundaries of Sustainable Supply Chain Management Research : New ways in SSCM research

In recent years, sustainability in supply chains has become a topic of strategic priority for supply chain management. Still, doubts have been raised about the substantive commitment of large, international corporations to really improve global social welfare and to preserve the natural environment. The objective of this panel symposium was to stimulate and inspire new managerial approaches to achieve substantive sustainable improvements in supply chains. It offered a platform for exchanging first ideas and, thereby, stimulated research on sustainable supply chain management to move to the next level. The panelists, among others, discussed questions such as (1) how to enable corporations to give substantial weight to environmental protection and social welfare?; (2) how to move beyond our dominant Western perspective on sustainability and consider the values of different societies, in particular different value systems in emerging economies?; and (3) how to change the strategies and structures of supply chains such that they become truly sustainable?