Framing supply chain sustainability implementation in the logistics industry with ISO certification standards

Abstract

This paper aims to provide stakeholders in the logistics industry with a framework for developing sustainable supply chain practices using certification standards. Sustainability practices in the logistics industry must transcend the focal firm to include all the supply chain partners as well as the key stakeholders both in the private and the public sector who play regulatory and policy roles. This study involved review of literature on certifications standards and the use of ecological modernization theory and stakeholder theory in order to understand the triple roles of the need for environmental protection, business competitiveness and stakeholder pressure on adoption of certification standards and its subsequent influence on sustainability practices. The study used regression analysis to develop a model for a relationship between ISO standards and implementation of sustainability practices in the logistics industry in Kenya. The study determined that ISO certification standards are increasingly playing a big role in fostering the implementation of sustainability practices in the logistics industry. The study was limited by the small nature of the sampling frame and only one industry; the supply chain managers and operations managers in the third and fourth party logistics firms in Kenya. Furthermore only the ISO standards were considered, leaving other factors that could also influence the adoption of sustainability practices. For future studies, more determining factors needs consideration and the sampling frame and the sectors and the countries of the study needs to be expanded. The paper will be of immense benefit as it contributes both practical and theoretical knowledge on the influence of certification standards on mounting effective sustainability programmes not only in the logistics industry but in the entire supply chain management. The paper is one of the few studies that incorporates the major ISO standards (ISO 9001, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18000 and SA 8000) in studying the implementation of the tripods of sustainability in a single overarching framework and offers greater theoretical contribution to the implementation of sustainability practices in the wake of threats of climate change, ever increasing competition and shrinking global resource base.