Diversification of Non-economic Values in Supply Chain Management

         
Author Name FUKUOKA Noriyoshi (Consulting Fellow, RIETI) / SAKAMOTO Masazumi (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)
Creation Date/NO. November 2021 21-P-019
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Notes

First draft: November 2021
Revised: February 2022

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss how the scope of supply chain management (SCM) has expanded and qualitatively changed by analyzing how the non-economic values related to SCM have shifted over the last approximately 30 years. The traditional definition of SCM is to manage the flow of goods from upstream to downstream industries, covering business processes such as procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and sales, with the objective of maximizing economic value through improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, and increasing sales. However, a literature review of about 450 articles revealed that the amount and the percentage of articles dealing with non-economic values including those related to customers, the environment, human rights, geopolitics, and image has been rapidly increasing in recent years. Finally, we discussed the significance of digital technology-based supply chain visualization and formation of a coalition of the willing for global supply chain resilience in terms of their contribution to coping with the expected expansion and qualitative changes in the scope of SCM.