Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Automation and Logistics

 

Special Issue on: "Supply Chain Sustainability and Mitigating Risks"

Guest Editors:
Dr. Purushottam Meena, New York Institute of Technology, USA
Dr. Gopal Kumar, Dublin City University, Ireland
Dr. S.P. Sarmah, Indian Institute of Technology, India
Dr. Kunal Ganguly, Indian Institute of Management, Kashipur, India

In the current business environment, there is increasingly more pressure and obligation to make business models sustainable, which essentially means to achieve present objectives without compromising tomorrow’s scopes. More details can be found in World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), Starik and Rands (1995), Shrivastava (1995), etc.

Among other things, supply chain is considered as one of the most important parts of a business model to achieve sustainability. To realise sustainability, supply chains have to meet ecological, social and economic criteria, also known as triple bottom line. However, most research and practice is focused on achieving the ecological aspect of sustainability (Carter and Rogers, 2008) while companies struggle to achieve social sustainability (Klassen and Vereecke, 2012). Organisations also plan and invest heavily to avoid various types of risks in their supply chains (Meenaet. al., 2011; Meena and Sarmah, 2013). These risks may include losing customers or market share, losing skilled workforce to another organisation, inability to meet demand on time, future loss due to inappropriate supplier selection, etc.

Shrivastava (1995) defines sustainability as “the potential for reducing long-term risks associated with resource depletion, fluctuations in energy costs, product liabilities, and pollution and waste management”. Clearly, risks can be evaded through achieving sustainability. More precisely, sustainability is the only way to avoid various risks in future. At the same time, it is possible to achieve sustainability and avoid risks rather than investing time and money on the both fronts separately.

Therefore, the purpose of this special issue is to focus on how we can achieve sustainable supply chain and at the same time avoid various types of risks in supply chain. The issue intends to explore (but is not limited to) the following themes:

• Building synergy between sustainable supply chain management and supply chain risks by addressing the triple bottom line, i.e. ecological, social and economical concerns
• Thorough literature reviews and case studies of practices and service supply chain are especially encouraged
• Roadmaps to make supply chain management sustainable

References
Carter, C.R. and Rogers, D.S. (2008), A framework of sustainable supply chain management: moving toward new theory, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 38(5): 360-387
Klassen, R.D. and Vereecke, A. (2012), Social issues in supply chains: capabilities link responsibility, risk (opportunity), and performance, International Journal of Production Economics, 140(1): 103-115.
Meena, P.L. and Sarmah, S.P. (2013), Multiple Sourcing under Supplier Failure Risk and Quantity Discount: A Genetic Algorithm Approach, Transportation Research Part,50(1): 84–97.
Meena, P.L., Sarmah, S.P. and Sarkar, A. (2011), Sourcing Decisions under Risks of Catastrophic Event Disruptions, Transportation Research Part E, 47(6): 1058–1074.
Shrivastava, P. (1995),The role of corporations in achieving ecological sustainability, Academy of Management Review, 20(4): 936-60.
Starik, M. and Rands, G.P. (1995), Weaving an integrated web: multilevel and multisystem perspectives of ecologically sustainable organizations, Academy of Management Review, 20(4): 908-35.
World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Social sustainability and challenges
• Closed-loop supply chain/reverse logistics
• Supply chain integration
• Supply chain collaboration
• Risks, collaboration and integration
• Packaging, sustainability and risks in supply chain management
• Green and clean supply chains
• Supply chain resilience, risks and sustainability
• Supply chain competition
• Dependence and collaborative/work culture
• Long term relationships

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 31 December, 2014