Sustainable supply chain management: A case study of British Aerospace (BAe) Systems

Sustainability is viewed as possessing environmental, economic and social dimensions. The sustainability approaches adopted by individual businesses and the supply chains to which they belong must include these facets. These three components of sustainability are collectively termed the “triple bottom line” or 3BL. The idea of a triple bottom line, which originated in the 1990s, implies attending to the traditional financial aspects of an organisation as well as to the social and environmental criteria. The economic aspect of the 3BL refers to profit making and attaining and sustaining competitive advantage through sustainability. The environmental dimension involves factors relating to climate change, global warming, air, land and water pollution (or preservation) and ozone layer depletion. The social aspect involves health and safety issues, community well-being, employment opportunities, charities, cultural sensitivities and requirements and organisational behaviour. As global warming, climate change and depletion of resources are on a rise alongside greater demand for improvement in business processes, economic standards and technology, it has become necessary to sustain processes along the value chain in order to contribute to sustainability. This paper examines the drivers of sustainability and related key features based on extant literature and a case study. An overview is given of the British Aerospace (BAe) Systems' sustainability initiatives and activities. On the basis of the BAe Systems case study, two resultant frameworks emerge that display the interdependence of the triple bottom line and the essential elements required for a sustainable supply chain.