Title: Sustainability as a strategy incorporated in decision-making at supply chain management case study of General Motors

Authors: Amrinder Kaur; Puja Chhabra Sharma

Addresses: School of Management Studies, Ansal University, Sector 55, Golf Course Road, Gurugram 122003, Haryana, India ' School of Management Studies, Ansal University, Sector 55, Golf Course Road, Gurugram 122003, Haryana, India

Abstract: Sustainability as a strategy has been incorporated in decision-making process at General Motors - an automotive manufacturing company. It has helped General Motors to overcome financial crisis. In today's environment, incorporation of sustainability factors particularly in supply chain management is critically important when governments all over the world are working to arrest climate change and reduce emission levels. Therefore, sustainability incorporation at an organisational level is a way forward. Case study was undertaken via a questionnaire to collect and evaluate the decision criteria from the middle and top level executives of General Motors. The authors also attempted to examine sustainability reports of the General Motors formulated using GRI guidelines. Study concludes that getting sustainability incorporated into DNA of a company requires top management commitment and is associated with organisations where there is history of societal, community work and responsible business practices. It helped General Motors to write off debt and come out of bankruptcy. The study is also relevant for manufacturing organisations in other sectors as the research instrument is developed using GRI guidelines. The research instrument and study can support researchers and practitioners to adopt sustainability-based strategy and practices for responsible development which is sustainable.

Keywords: decisions making; supply chain management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSM.2018.093180

International Journal of Sustainable Strategic Management, 2018 Vol.6 No.1, pp.56 - 72

Accepted: 14 Dec 2017
Published online: 13 Jul 2018 *

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