Page 11 - Logistics News - August 2021

TH O UGHT LEAD ERS HIP

Interestingly, many organisations have been How sustainable can an organisation be if it fails to
primarily focusing on the environmental aspect, investigate its suppliers’ practices, it overworks its
and have been neglecting the social and economic employees and places profits above ethics?
elements of GSCM. As a result, many organisations
have been accused of ‘corporate greenwashing’, in Secondly, organisations should create a more circular
which they delude consumers into believing that supply chain by moving away from the traditional
their products are environmentally friendly. ‘take-make-waste’ linear model to a ‘reuse, regenerate,
refurbish and resale’ methodology that positively impacts
In the last year and a half, the global pandemic environmental, social and economic sustainability.
of COVID-19 and resulting global isolation has
forced consumers to reflect on many challenging Lastly, organisations should commit to GSCM
elements in our society and on our planet. One initiatives. The initial investment and process
clear implication is that consumers, investors changes may cause many organisations to ignore
and auditing bodies are less inclined to accept opportunities to reuse materials. However, contrary
disingenuous messaging around sustainability. to popular belief, GSCM is more economical in the
long run for organisations.
Consequently, GSCM remains a widely
misunderstood diamond in the rough. For Supply chains are the links that unite the global
organisations that truly want to adopt a GSCM industry. Organisations looking to stay profitable
approach, we recommend what we self-coined as a during and after the current pandemic should
‘3C approach’ to GSCM. Firstly, organisations need focus on meeting the demands of their consumers. L O GI S T I CS NEWS
to conduct a thorough investigation into their entire Therefore, as Shirley Bassey famously sang,
supply chain operations as many organisations claim “Diamonds are Forever”, organisations should invest
to be dedicated to sustainable practices, but aren’t. and refine their GSCM ‘diamond’.

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