Sustainability and Accountability of Supply Chains

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Frontmatter

2. Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Supply Chain Literature

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This chapter introduces and defines the concepts of supply chains and their management, which are essential for identifying the externalities (both intended and unseen) that result from practices at the company or production level. This section discusses how the supply chain perspective redefines a company’s strategic orientation and role as an economic actor. It also clarifies the logic of value distribution along the production chain, as well as the dynamics that lead to ethical remuneration across all production phases.

3. Chapter 2. The Antecedents of Supply Chain Accountability: The Role of Accounting and Accountability Principles at the Firm-Level

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This chapter is dedicated to defining the role of accounting and accounting principles in relation to evaluating corporate performance. This analysis concentrates on firm-level reporting for two main reasons. First, from a historical standpoint, the focus of reporting has traditionally been on a firm as an organization that interacts with its internal and external stakeholders as well as with other companies in the supply chain. Second, firm-level reporting is essential for understanding supply chain-level impacts: After all, any analysis of value-chain effects requires a precise and comparable assessment of aggregated and consolidated outcomes at the firm-level. Moreover, this focus on the corporate (micro-)level of analysis anticipates a discussion of the elements and dynamics involved in the core focus at the supply chain level, as discussed in Chap. 4. To that end, this chapter illustrates the evolution of stakeholders’ expectations that has prompted a move toward new methodologies and standards that can be used to estimate firms’ financial and non-financial impacts, such as integrated reporting (IR) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). These tools help analyze the informational needs of various stakeholders and, by extension, broaden the scope and transparency of reporting. Consequently, scholars have shifted their attention to identifying the scope of disclosure in line with the double materiality perspective.

4. Chapter 3. The Role of Institutions and Norms

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This chapter covers the roles of institutions and norms in shaping the relevant regulatory framework, as graphically illustrated in the top-left part of the proposed theoretical framework in Chap. 5 of this book. Specifically, it discusses how regulations can pressure firms to adopt certain practices and help formalize sustainability criteria. This chapter includes a comparison between the North American, Chinese, and European approaches, both current and prospective. Since this book’s primary focus is on the European context, the chapter also provides an in-depth analysis of the region’s recent developments and their internal and external impacts from a corporate perspective. This content unit is relevant for analyzing accountability for three main reasons. First, as shown in Chap. 2, firm-level reporting is essential to understanding the dynamics that unfold at the meso level; this underscores the need to trace the evolution of regulations that mandated disclosure for certain companies to assess the historical and forward-looking consequences of those rules. Second, in most cases, the regulation has treated the firm (or corporate group) as the reporting entity and reference point for determining the scope of disclosure (see Sect. 2.3). In contrast, in the European context, we are witnessing the definition of a reporting process that directly involves the supply chain and the entire value chain. This distinctive feature justifies the deeper focus on the European framework developed in Sect. 3.3—specifically, the implications for reporting activities (see Sect. 3.3.3, dedicated to the CSRD) and for due diligence (see Sect. 3.3.4, dedicated to the CSDDD). Third, the representation of the regulatory context—in relation to the supply chain-related aspects—allows Chap. 4 to evaluate the evolution from the firm-level analysis to the meso-level one. Consequently, these analyses start with the exposure of drivers and barriers related to the sustainability reporting process, specifically on collecting data that can be used for sustainability performance monitoring.

5. Chapter 4. Evaluation and Disclosure of Sustainability Performance: From a Micro-Level to a Meso-Level Perspective

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This chapter reviews the literature on sustainability evaluation, particularly the metrics and models adopted to estimate the actual impact at both the corporate level and across the entire (manufacturing) supply chain. Graphically, it aims to introduce the elements represented in the bottom part of the proposed theoretical framework, specifically, the data collection and (standard) measures dissertation, as well as their interconnection with the assessment of the sustainability of the value chain (left part of the framework) and the accountability of the supply chain part (right part of the framework). Thus, this chapter seeks to clarify how the enterprise dimension (the micro-level of analysis) is linked to the supply chain dimension (meso-level). This logical step can be traced back to the structure of the previous chapters. Chapter 1 introduced the concept of the supply chain—which is not as prevalent in the accounting literature to which this volume speaks—and Chap. 2 examined the antecedents and drivers of supply chain performance reporting, contrasting them with those at the firm level. Chapter 3 discussed how the evolution of regulation has facilitated this shift, tracing the move from a reporting process centered on the firm to one that expands to supply chain impacts. This chapter marks the culmination of this trajectory in the literature, unifying contributions that have already sought to redirect the debate from a vertical, firm-centric analysis to a meso-level assessment of supply chain impacts. To this end, we explore aspects of corporate governance (particularly the role of top management) and the transition to how disclosure impacts the meso level. The ultimate aim of this chapter is to foster debate on the economic, social, and environmental value of disclosing performance at the supply chain level, while anticipating the last logical element instrumental for the discussion of the proposed theoretical framework discussed in Chap. 5.

6. Chapter 5. The Theoretical Framework and Research Agenda on Sustainability and Accountability of Supply Chains

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This final section proposes research avenues based on both the presented literature review and the proposed theoretical framework. Specifically, the chapter is structured to provide detailed thematic insights into the elements proposed in the theoretical framework, namely, the evaluation of supply chains’ sustainability and the elements involved in value chain accountability, as well as detailed examinations of potentially influential factors at the institutional level. The aim is to equip future studies with a theoretically robust and practically useful framework—one that empowers academics and practitioners to understand, identify, and quantify a company’s impacts at the supply chain level. The framework also differentiates firms’ responsiveness to the stimuli at the macroeconomic and institutional levels, the firm’s sector, managerial practices, and position in the production chain.

7. Chapter 6. Conclusions

   Andrea Caccialanza

   Abstract

   This monograph asks how the European sustainability reporting architecture—centered on the CSRD/ESRS and recalibrated by the Omnibus simplification package—reconfigures accountability from the single firm (micro) to the supply chain (meso). Likewise, it considered the institutional and data mechanisms through which this accountability can be made proportionate, comparable, and decision-useful. The analysis proceeded across the literature reviewed in the book and is anchored in the theoretical framework developed in Chap. 5, which integrates (i) the sustainability of the value chain, (ii) the accountability of the value chain, and (iii) the intervening role of the institutional level (EFRAG/ESRS) into a single meso-level lens (Fig. 5.1 in Chap. 5). The framework clarifies how disclosure standards and transparency obligations can translate into supply chain governance routines: how the “arrows” between sustainability practices, accountability processes, and institutional levers coordinate expectations and evidence along upstream and downstream tiers according to the several issues involved in those three macro-dimensions.