Content
In this course we will deal with the topic of sustainability in supply chains. The three pillars of
sustainability (economic, social, environmental) are seen as a cornerstone for today's businesses.
In this course the students will learn some important concepts of sustainability such as closing
the loop or circular economy as well as systems thinking or life cycle analysis. It starts with
an introduction into the basics and fundamental concepts of sustainability in operations and
supply chain management. We will discuss how these concepts can be transferred to certain
key performance indicators. The reporting standards of the Global Reporting Initiative are then
used to discuss the contents of sustainability reports. During the course we will also have a look
how to incorporate sustainability concepts into decision models in the context of supply chain
management, especially location decisions and routing decisions. Students will moreover discuss
current issues (like humanitarian supply chain topics, corporate social responsibility issues etc.) in
sustainable supply chain management based on recent journal papers.
Learning outcomes
After participating in this module, participants will have gained knowledge about different
concepts in sustainable supply chains and received the knowledge to apply decision support
in this field. Furthermore, this course will shape students’ opinion on sustainability issues and
provide them with the bigger picture on causes and effects of global supply chain management.
Through the written assignments and the presentations, students further improve their skills of
academic writing, improve their presentation skills and carrying out discussions within a research
environment.
Examination
The grading is based on written assignments (40%) and a presentation (40%) including discussion
(20%). Throughout the module students present main findings of current journal articles in a
presentation and participate in the following discussion with their fellow participants.
Prerequisites
The course does not require any specific prior knowledge. Some basic knowledge in Excel is
sufficient.
Teaching & learning methods
The course consists of lectures and assignments where students obtain knowledge about the field
of sustainability in supply chain management. Additionally, students are required to read relevant
literature in preparation for the class, are stimulated to deal with this subject deeper and prepare
presentations on current topics for the class. A short paper discussion and presentation (group
work) provides participants the opportunity to specialize on a recent topic.
Media & reading list
- Literature (journal articles, selected chapters of textbooks)
- Assignments and discussion of Assignments in class
- Examples and case studies for problem-based learning
- Business game(s)
Teaching contents are based on (selected chapters of) text books and journal articles such as, for
instance,
• Chopra, S., Meindl, P. (2010) Supply Chain Management, 4th edition, Prentice Hall.
• Cachon, G., Terwiesch, C. (2011) Matching Supply with Demand, 3rd edition, McGraw-Hill.
• Van Weele, A.J. (2010) Purchasing and Supply Chain Management, 5th edition, Cengage.
• Van Mieghem (2008) Operations Strategy: Practices and Principles, Dynamic Ideas.
• Piecyk, M., Browne, M., Whiteing, A., & McKinnon, A. (Eds.). (2015) Green logistics: Improving
the environmental sustainability of logistics. Kogan Page.
• Grant, D.B., Trautrims, A., Wong, C.Y. (Eds.) (2017) Sustainable Logistics and Supply Chain
Management: Principles and Practices for Sustainable Operations and Management, 2nd edition,
Kogan Page.
• Souza, G. C. (2013) Closed-loop supply chains: a critical review, and future research. Decision
Sciences 44 (1), 7–38.
• Srivastava, S. K. (2007) Green supply-chain management: a state-of-the-art literature review.
International Journal of Management Reviews 9 (1), 53–80.
• Allon G., Van Mieghem J.A. (2010), Global Dual Sourcing: Tailored Base-Surge Allocation to
Near- and Offshore Production, Management Science 56, pp. 110-124.
Detailed literature for every lecture will then be provided in the syllabus.
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