Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Economic Performance in the Coffee Supply Chain: An Exploratory Multiple-Case Study.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to use the U.S. coffee supply chain (SC) to describe and explore how organizations apply sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) concepts and the relationship between the application of SSCM concepts and the economic bottom line (EBL). For SC management, a principal challenge for sustainability implementation has been to clarify the relationship between sustainability concepts integration and the EBL. This study was an exploratory embedded multiple case study of twelve organizations within the U.S. coffee SC (four importers, four roasters, and four retailer). This exploratory, mixed methods approach implemented a convergent design, also referred to as triangulation, by comparing qualitative and quantitative findings, for a richer understanding of the research problem, corroboration, and validation. Interviews and website information were used to gather qualitative data. Qualitative results showed that the two most prominent (80%) SSCM practices were supply chain relationships (49%) and supply chain transparency (31%). Supplier and customer relationships were acknowledged as important aspects of vertical supply chain communication regarding product quality, sustainable relationships, and overall industry improvement. A questionnaire and sustainability grid measured the organization's sustainability level, followed by an analysis was constructed between the overall sustainability score and the economic bottom line. A Spearman's rho correlation was used to explore the relationships between sustainable SSCM concepts (CSS scores containing at least one satisfactory PSS score) and the economic bottom line. A spearman's rho was also used to explore the relationship between PSS scores from each of the TBL dimensions and the economic bottom line. The quantitative portion of this study served as supplemental data for consideration. All four quantitative research questions indicated no significant relationship between SSCM practices and the economic bottom line. The results of this study begin to address recommendations toward a workable SSCM framework.