دانلود رایگان ترجمه مقاله مدیریت زنجیره تامین پایدار در توریسم (نشریه وایلی 2006)

مدیریت زنجیره تامین پایدار در توریسم

Sustainable Supply Chain Management in Tourism

Abstract

Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) encapsulates the trend to use purchasing policies and practices to facilitate sustainable development at the tourist destination. Most research has focused on environmental aspects of manufacturing, while other aspects of sustainability or the challenges for the service sector are largely ignored. Yet SSCM is particularly important for tour operators, as the product depends on the activities of suppliers, such as accommodation, transport and activities. Therefore, tour operators’ contribution to sustainable tourism will be more effective through the definition and implementation of policies that acknowledge responsibility for the impacts of suppliers. Exploratory research of SSCM practices amongst tour operators generated a wide range of examples of good practice across the whole supply chain, and recommendations are made for more widespread engagement.

1 Concept of Sustainable Supply Chain Management

LITTLE EMPIRICALLY BASED RESEARCH HAS BEEN UNDERTAKEN TO DATE INTO TOUR OPERATORS’ attitudes and actions towards sustainable management of their supply chains. Research on SSCM has so far focused on manufacturing rather than service sectors. This paper reviews evidence from exploratory research in the tourism industry of the potential and challenges for transferring concepts and experiences of SSCM from the manufacturing sector to the tourism industry. To do so, the paper first presents key issues of SSCM and then reviews a range of tourism experiences with suppliers.

SSCM adds sustainability to existing supply chain management processes, to consider environmental, social and economic impacts of business activities. There is no universal definition of SCM or its activities in the literature, due to its multi-disciplinary origins in purchasing and supply, logistics and transportation (Croom et al., 2000). It is here defined as ‘a philosophy of management that involves the management and integration of a set of selected key business processes from end user through original suppliers, that provides products, services and information that add value for customers and other stakeholders through the collaborative efforts of supply chain members’ (Ho et al., 2002, p. 4422).

A number of key industry players from sectors as varied as automotive, electronics, business services and forestry sectors are increasingly adopting codes of conduct covering environmental aspects, human rights and working conditions not only for their direct employees, but for their suppliers and subcontractors (BSR, 2003). This set of initiatives falls under the concept of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) (NEETF, 2001). Research on SSCM has primarily focused on environmental aspects of manufacturing industries (Green et al., 1998; Handfield et al., 2005; McIntyre et al., 1998; Min and Galle, 2001; NEETF, 2001; Preuss, 2005; Rao, 2005; Young and Kielkiewicz-Young, 2001; Zhu and Sarkis, 2004; Zsidisin, 1998).

However, increasing awareness of corporate social responsibility requires equal consideration of socioeconomic issues in managing the supply chain. The theories of SSCM start from the principle that in order for companies to ensure that their services and products are sustainable they need to ascertain whether every component or element of the product or service they buy from their suppliers is sustainable, forcing companies to engage not only in their downstream supply chain towards the consumer, but also their upstream chain towards producers (Lippmann, 1999; Lysons, 1996; Welford et al., 1999). Sustainability is a debated concept, but is here defined as

… living and working in such a way that human society will be possible for generations to come – and translating that into the changes required of an individual organization – changes which maintain the organization’s capacity for producing human benefits, and including the profitability needed for survival, while optimising the environmental balance of its operations’ (Crosbie and Knight, 1995, p. 15).

There are many different factors (such as regulation, customer and environmentalist pressure, brand image, competitive advantage) that make organizations consider sustainability alongside the issues of price, quality, delivery and security when making purchasing and supply decisions. The same variables will also affect the design and implementation of related programmes by influencing the integration (number and variety of actions taken) and intensity (suppliers involved) of programme activity (BSR, 2003; Hutchinson and Hutchinson, 1997; Lippmann, 1999; Murray, 2000; NEETF, 2001; van Hoek, 1999).