Sustainable Logistics and Operations Design: Sustainable Practices for Emerging Countries - Perspective of the Situation in Bolivia

Over the years the concept of sustainable logistics (SL) has been acquiring more importance and has been gaining attention in organizations and in the decisions made in the design of logistics operations. Sustainable logistics is defined by influencing three important factors: economic, environmental and social, which are achieved through good practices that intervene in the strategies developed by companies. These practices have begun to gain much more strength in already established companies, however, small low-budget companies find themselves in difficult situations to be able to develop such practices, not only because of their cost but also because of the ignorance of the importance of sustainability within their organization. For this reason, the purpose of developing this research article is to analyze practical sustainability initiatives within organizations, focusing on existing small businesses in Bolivia. First, a bibliographic review will be carried out on the current best practices related to sustainable logistics, selecting each one of them in a category according to the conditions of the country's companies. Then, a field investigation will be carried out through a survey with companies of different sizes in Bolivia, to understand and characterize how sustainable logistics is understood in this group. Finally, the document concludes with the development of a diagnosis of the state of sustainable operations in Bolivia and recommendations are made to mark a path for the implementation of SL in small companies.