The impact of sustainable procurement on the performance of supply chain management

Abstract

This dissertation will discuss how sustainable procurement affects the performance of the supply chain management in Bangladesh in relation to organizations that have adopted sustainability initiatives in their procurement processes. Sustainable procurement is the process of integrating environmental, social and economic concerns in the process of making purchasing decisions in order to increase the efficiency of operations, minimize risks and create long-term sustainability within the supply chain. The research design of the current study is quantitative, with the use of a cross-sectional survey to collect the data on procurement professionals and supply chain managers working in various industries, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), manufacturing, and services. The survey is looking into the impact of sustainable use of procurement practice on various areas of performance of the supply chain such as cost efficiency, risk reduction, and the competitiveness of the business. The findings provided show that sustainable procurement and, more precisely, the cost management initiatives and business efficiency have a positive correlation with the supply chain performance. Specifically, the business organization, which takes the sustainability aspect into consideration in the procurement process, suggests that the organizations are more efficient in operations and have minimized the expenses. The study however also shows that there are other significant challenges such as the absence of suppliers that may satisfy the sustainability needs and heightened lively cooperation between the buyers and suppliers. These are the challenges to the ideal potential of sustainable procurement practices. The study, based on the findings, provides possible solutions on how sustainable procurement practices can be improved that involve the establishment of more efficient relationships with the suppliers, the improvement of the capacity building process, and the implementation of sustainability measures into the performance appraisal systems. Through the issues discussed, organizations are able to use sustainable procurement to enhance the overall performance of the supply chain and gain competitive advantage in the market.