SUSTAINABILITY AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: WHAT CAN BE LEARNED FROM CATHOLIC SOCIAL THOUGHT?

摘要

Sustainability continues its ascendancy to strategic importance in business and research. This paper aims to identify foundational roots of why sustainability is important to firms and individuals. It argues many of the uncertainties that surround sustainability and supply chains today - questions of why, where, and how - have clarifying concepts introduced over more than a thousand years of thinking and writing in the Catholic tradition. While dynamic, Catholic social thought (CST) addresses issues that are simultaneously discussed in sustainability, including the economic, environmental, and social dimensions encompassed in the triple bottom line. At its heart, CST suggests companies should enhance the 'common good' and the fundamental ideal of human dignity, while ensuring natural resources are readily available to future generations.