Best Practices in Sustainable Supply Chain Management
2. Managerial recommendations
Current literature reviews provide limited overviews of difficulties and challenges – such as cost implications, inadequate knowledge and skills, ambiguous laws and regulations, and communication and coordination complexity-in managing sustainability in NPD. While current efforts appear to focus on industry and policy levels, the managerial level lacks direction and attention to integrate sustainability into NPD practices. Previous research in New Product Development (NPD) within Supply Chain Management (SCM) over the past 15 years revealed critical managerial recommendations: top management support and development of an integrated NPD-SCM strategy, resource allocation, financial support, and support for a common, shared information system; a focus on marketing demands; supplier/customer integration; integrated networks; a coordinated, cross-functional team; and a clear product vision. Based upon experience and a literature review of the cases, empirical reviews, and other available literature, these recommendations are still relevant to NPD in SSCM. As summarized in Table 1, we continue with a discussion of each of these recommendations to incorporate sustainability into NPD in SCM.
Best Practices |
Recommendation: Top Management Support: Development of an Integrated Sustainable NPD-SSCM Strategy, Resource Allocation, Financial Support, and Common, Shared Information System |
Recommendation: Focus on marketing demands. |
Recommendation: Supplier/Customer Integration |
Recommendation: Integrated Networks (Practices/Processes & Information Technology Management) |
Recommendation: Coordinated, Cross-functional Team |
Recommendation: Clear Product Vision |
Table 1.
Summary of Key Recommendations and Best Practices in NPD-SSCM