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Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Research Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from Chinese Automotive Companies

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Pursuing Sustainability

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science ((ISOR,volume 301))

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Abstract

China’s current development model presents an over-emphasis on short-term economic gains over long-term sustainable development. As business activities play a crucial role in creating and solving such problems, firms are increasingly encouraged to take the initiative to contribute to the future. However, most companies in emerging economies are competing in the world market based on cost advantages. These firms, being predominantly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with limited resources, tend to favour short-term financial gains over long-term sustainability. It is clear that firms with a short-sighted focus on economic gains are not truly sustainable and those aiming for sustaining success need to balance various sustainability initiatives to meet current targets without compromising future prosperity. This chapter aims to provide insights on the status quo of sustainable development in the context of emerging economies’ manufacturing sector. A systematic review of theories and empirical studies was conducted to clarify the research pathways on sustainability. Case studies with eight Chinese automotive companies were also carried out, and future research directions are proposed based on the findings.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham University Business School, Nottingham, UK

    Lin Wu

  2. University of Sussex Business School, Brighton, UK

    Nachiappan Subramanian

Authors
  1. Lin Wu
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  2. Nachiappan Subramanian
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Correspondence to Lin Wu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, College of Management National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

    Chialin Chen

  2. Jack Baskin School of Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    Yihsu Chen

  3. Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, India

    Vaidyanathan Jayaraman

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Wu, L., Subramanian, N. (2021). Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Research Pathways Based on Empirical Evidence from Chinese Automotive Companies. In: Chen, C., Chen, Y., Jayaraman, V. (eds) Pursuing Sustainability. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 301. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58023-0_7

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