The interplay between environmental and quality/lean practices in supply chains

Environmental concerns and disasters such as the BP oil spill have brought environmental management to the centre stage in operations and supply chain management. To some extent discussions about whether or not to invest in environmental practices have been replaced by discussions about how to gain greater benefits from them. In the recent annual "Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study", Haanaes et al. (2011) reported that despite the effects of the financial crisis and the slowing economy, sustainability investments have increased significantly. This increase in investments has been matched by an increased interest in sustainability among the academic community. Initially, both practitioners and researchers sometimes considered sustainability a management fad. However, more recently Lubin and Esty (2010) concluded that sustainability will profoundly change the way companies conduct their business. Managers as well as researchers have reported various financial and non-financial benefits through sustainability initiatives such as operational performance improvements, increase in share prices, improved brand reputations, enhanced stakeholders/investors relations, and even increased innovativeness (Russo and Fouts, 1997; Christmann, 2000; Pagell et al., 2004; Svensson, 2007; Pagell and Gobeli, 2009). However, while the advantages of investing in environmental practices are apparent, some managers still find it difficult to articulate a business case for it.