Sustainable Supply Chain Management—Decision Making and Support: The SSCM Maturity Model and System

Abstract

Supply chains are complex systems, and the decision making and support processes for the development and management of such multifaceted entities are quite challenging. In order to become sustainable, supply chains are well advised to improve their business processes continuously and strive for strategic as well as functional alignment between their member organizations. Current supply chain practices are often ad hoc and lack end-to-end support for the gradual transformation towards supply chain sustainability. This article specifies high-level decision-making stages of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) and proposes a multi-layered SSCM maturity model. This proposed model leverages a roadmap for sustainable business transformation and is further developed using a sustainability modelling and reporting (SMART) system.