Sustainable sourcing in agricultural supply chains : an analysis across scales
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation seeks to understand how and why companies are addressing sustainability in their agricultural supply chains. To do this, I examine corporate approaches to sustainable sourcing across scales, from a global view of hundreds of firms, to a single exemplary environmental supply chain program, to the interactions across industry members within a particular commodity chain. In my first chapter my co-authors and I examine the sustainable sourcing practices of a random sample of 449 companies in the food, apparel and wood products sector. This study provides the first large-scale analysis of how a broad range of companies address social and environmental issues in their supply chains. Our results highlight both the opportunities and limitations of sustainable sourcing practices in contributing to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. My second chapter builds key findings from Chapter One to provide one of the first examinations of the impact of a company-led standard on the adoption of improved environmental farm management practices in the fresh produce sector. Using a critical case approach, my co-authors and I find that the major South African food retailer Woolworths' sustainable fresh produce program is associated with an increased uptake of improved environmental farm management practices. We identify Woolworths' long-term partnership with farmers and the use of highly trained auditors to provide farm-specific recommendations as key design principles that make this program particularly effective in comparison to an existing industry standard. Finally, in my third chapter I look at how different stakeholders influence the evolution of chocolate manufacturers' sustainable sourcing practices over time. Both internal and external stakeholders play an important role in influencing the evolution of sustainable sourcing practices. I find that companies continue to build out their approaches to sustainable sourcing as new stakeholder pressures and threats arise. Together, Tannis Thorlakson's work provides insights into the role companies' sustainable sourcing practices play in addressing the pressing global sustainability challenges we face today.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2018; ©2018 |
| Publication date | 2018; 2018 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Sullivan, Tannis Thorlakson |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Lambin, Eric F |
| Degree supervisor | Naylor, Rosamond |
| Thesis advisor | Lambin, Eric F |
| Thesis advisor | Naylor, Rosamond |
| Thesis advisor | Clark, William |
| Thesis advisor | Hainmueller, Jens |
| Degree committee member | Clark, William |
| Degree committee member | Hainmueller, Jens |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of Environment and Resources. |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Tannis Thorlakson Sullivan. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of Environment and Resources. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2018. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2018 by Tannis Thorlakson Sullivan
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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