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2021 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Sub-supplier Management and Sustainability

Author : Hedwig Maria Scharlipp

Published in: Sub-Supplier Management

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Some of the main sustainability problems in global supply chains occur at the level of lower-tier suppliers. Focal firms may consider these issues primarily as reputational risks that should be minimized as much as possible. Sub-supplier management could be the solution, both from an ethical and a business point of view. This chapter gives insight on two questions:
1.
Does sub-supplier management contribute to sustainability in supply chains?
 
2.
For which reasons do focal firms manage their sub-suppliers, and among different reasons, which role does a firm’s sustainability commitment play?
 
The first question is discussed in a theoretical way, while the second question is examined with a cross-sectional online survey among managers in the German-speaking area.

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Footnotes
1
In line with Grimm et al. and Carter et al., the term focal firm will be used to denominate firms whose perspective is taken. Supply chains thus are relative to focal firms. A firm called sub-supplier is a sub-supplier from the perspective of some focal firm, but the same firm could be a direct supplier or a customer from a different perspective (Carter et al. 2015; Grimm et al. 2016).
 
2
Defined as “the organization and coordination of a buyer’s activities to achieve sub-supplier compliance with the buyer requirements” (Hofstetter 2016).
 
3
Data about environmental threats is available, for example, on these websites: www.​unep.​org, www.​fao.​org, www.​undp.​org, www.​eea.​europa.​eu/​de.​
 
4
“Adequacy conditions contain what a theoretical concept must satisfy. They capture the object of concern and function as a basis for a critical assessment of concept A against concept B, given adequacy conditions X, Y Z (or to argue for alternative adequacy conditions)” (Burger and Christen 2011).
 
5
“Global South” is a term for economically disadvantaged geographical regions and is used as a more neutral alternative to terms such as “third world” or “developing countries.” It encompasses as well poor and marginalized parts of the population in northern countries; thus the term “South” has a geographical as well as a political connotation (Garland Mahler 2017).
 
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Metadata
Title
Sub-supplier Management and Sustainability
Author
Hedwig Maria Scharlipp
Copyright Year
2021
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75575-1_6