VIDEO
HIGHLIGHT
Log InSign up
Module 8: Socially Responsible Supply Chain Management - ASU's W. P. Carey School
SummaryTranscriptChat

Module 8: Socially Responsible Supply Chain Management - ASU's W. P. Carey School

The Role of Supply Chain Managers in Social Responsibility

The Profit Motive vs. Social Responsibility

  • Companies primarily exist to generate profit, but there is increasing pressure for businesspeople to understand social responsibility, including ethics and sustainability.
  • Business education now emphasizes these issues across various disciplines, leading to some frustration among traditional business professionals.

Historical Context of Poor Business Practices

  • A list of unethical practices includes child labor, employee abuse, unsafe working conditions, resource depletion, and environmental pollution.
  • Companies have also been known to negotiate unfair deals with small businesses and relocate operations that harm local communities.

The Importance of Supply Chain Management

  • Supply chain managers are crucial in promoting social responsibility by controlling costs and eliminating waste while generating revenue.
  • They can address global issues like hunger and disease through effective distribution of essential goods during crises.

Benefits of Sustainable Practices

  • Implementing socially responsible practices can lead companies to produce better products using fewer resources while avoiding regulatory scrutiny.
  • Advanced sustainable practices can serve as a competitive advantage by influencing regulations that require industry-wide compliance.

Challenges in Implementation

  • Achieving these goals requires a committed organization with an integrated supply chain capable of motivating partners to adopt new practices.
Video description

Part 8 of 12 Why are social responsibility and sustainability such important considerations for modern supply chain managers? This episode illustrates why socially responsible supply chains are not simply important for the sake of public relations and compliance. Socially responsible and sustainable supply chains present competitive opportunities that benefit companies, communities, the environment, customers, and in the case of disaster relief, victims. Supply chain managers are the key to a better tomorrow. This is the 8th installment in Arizona State University's twelve-part introduction to supply chain management video series developed by Eddie Davila, Jeff Hough, Randy Cates, Dawn Feldman, Dan Ichikawa, Ian Schmoel, and Matt Hardy. ASU, the W. P. Carey School of Business, and the Supply Chain Management Department are proud and happy to share this video series with supply chain management departments, supply chain instructors, career specialists in high schools and universities, as well as industry leaders in an effort to inspire a new generation of supply chain management professionals across the country and around the world. For more information, visit W. P. Carey's SCM Web site at http://wpcarey.asu.edu/scm or send an e-mail to wpcarey.scm@asu.edu.