Supply Chain Managers Are Not Addressing Sustainability Issues

Despite the enthusiasm regarding sustainability expressed by the global business community, these organizations have been slow to address these issues when it comes to sustainable supply chain management, says a new study by the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum and E2open that was conducted in the second quarter of this year. Operations, logistics and supply chain executives also lack the understanding of how to go green and save green across complex, global, multi-tiered supply and distribution networks. The study, titled “Acceleration of ECO-Operation: Achieving Success & Sustainability in the Supply Chain,” gained insights from more than 125 supply chain, operations, finance, and executive professionals around the world across multiple industries. It set out to measure and quantify how companies are managing the complexities of supply chain demands, distribution costs and environmental concerns. The study has major implications for supply chain, finance, operations, logistics, and procurement professionals and underscores the need for better ECO-Operation, sustainability measurement, and operations insight into multi-tiered supply chain networks.

New Reports Grade Social Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting of 48 U.S. Energy and Utilities Companies

The Roberts Environmental Center of Claremont McKenna College (CMC) recently released a detailed analysis of the social responsibility reporting efforts of America’s top energy and utilities corporations. The two reports contain a compilation of Pacific Sustainability Index scores evaluating the environmental and social reporting of the 48 U.S. energy and utilities companies on the 2008 Fortune 1000 list.The reports score companies based on the reporting, intent, and performance of environmental and social sustainability efforts. The research, based entirely on material released on the firms’ Web sites, found that two of the smallest firms – Mirant (energy sector) and Pinnacle West Capital (utilities sector) – did the best jobs of describing details of their socially beneficial actions and environmental management. The lowest scores were also shared by small firms – Adams Resources and Energy, Inc., and Atmos Energy Corp. – but there was a good mix of firms of all sizes throughout the range of scoring. In neither sector is size a predictor of good reporting.