Critical Review on Sustainability and Supply Chain Challenges

This book chapter addresses the concept, framework and process of sustainable development (SD), the emergence and integrated character of the supply chain management (SCM) and its further advance to sustainable supply chain management (SSCM). Special attention is attributed on the synthetic presentation of the available literature about the “sustainability challenge”, aiming at bridging the concepts of SD and SSCM for attaining sustainable social, economic and environmental progress.

The main goals of this chapter include the sufficient understanding and knowledge about the contemporary sustainability issue and the search for ways of transforming challenges to opportunities through collective initiatives at value supply chain network level. In addition, it provides useful insights into the criticism of the sustainability issue and focuses on overcoming misconceptions, conflicting views and conventional established attitudes to “the road towards sustainability”, that may be helpful to further future research for strengthening the sustainability performance.

This chapter includes an extensive list of references to help readers for deeper understanding of the sustainability issue.

Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Sustainability Criticism, Collaborations.