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Activity analysis based modeling of global supply chains for sustainability assessment

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Thies

    (Technische Universität Braunschweig)

  • Karsten Kieckhäfer

    (FernUniversität in Hagen)

  • Thomas S. Spengler

    (Technische Universität Braunschweig)

Abstract

Assessing the sustainability of products is an intricate task that requires a thorough understanding of the underlying supply chains. Prominent challenges are the integration of the environmental, the economic, and the social dimension of sustainability as well as the consideration of spatial heterogeneity with regard to technology, environment, markets, and society. This paper proposes a novel modeling approach based on activity analysis to facilitate spatially differentiated sustainability assessments of global supply chains. The production and transportation activities in the supply chain and the exchanges between activities and their natural, economic, and social environments are formalized by means of activity vectors. Linking the activities and exchanges to specific locations allows for the calculation of regionalized sustainability indicators. The approach is used to analyze the environmental, economic, and social impacts of lithium-ion batteries. The comparison of alternative supply chain configurations with the spatially differentiated approach reveals that the assessment results differ significantly from those of the global average supply chain. These insights offer new opportunities to advance the design of sustainable supply chains.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Thies & Karsten Kieckhäfer & Thomas S. Spengler, 2021. "Activity analysis based modeling of global supply chains for sustainability assessment," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 215-252, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jbecon:v:91:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s11573-020-01004-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11573-020-01004-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Alexander Barke & Walter Cistjakov & Dominik Steckermeier & Christian Thies & Jan‐Linus Popien & Peter Michalowski & Sofia Pinheiro Melo & Felipe Cerdas & Christoph Herrmann & Ulrike Krewer & Arno Kwa, 2023. "Green batteries for clean skies: Sustainability assessment of lithium‐sulfur all‐solid‐state batteries for electric aircraft," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(3), pages 795-810, June.
    2. Harald Dyckhoff & Rainer Souren, 2023. "Are important phenomena of joint production still being neglected by economic theory? A review of recent literature," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 93(6), pages 1015-1053, August.
    3. Harald Dyckhoff, 2023. "Proper modelling of industrial production systems with unintended outputs: a different perspective," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 173-188, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sustainability assessment; Activity analysis; Spatial differentiation; Supply chain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • C67 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Input-Output Models

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