3. Ethical and Sustainable Supply Chain Management
3.1 Increased Consumer Power
Previously supply chains practices were decided almost solely by management within companies. Today, the consumer plays a massive role in deciding what happens in the supply chain. The consumer has the power to change elements of the supply chain that they do not like. This power has been achieved through avenues such as social media, where even one concerned consumer can reach millions of people and alter brand images, which could destroy companies if they refuse to respond and adapt (Rezabakhsh, Bornemann, Hansen and Schrader, 2006). For example, when Lidl received a comment, that appears to be from Facebook or Twitter, from a customer stating “I want sprouts to be fresh and British. Not budget Brussels from Lidl”, Lidl responding excellently with a television/youtube advertisement showing a British farmer harvesting late into the night to ensure the sprouts are as fresh as possible and stating that in the run up to Christmas they supply about 17 billion sprouts to Britain (Lidl UK, 2016). Even in this short video, it shows that consumers are concerned about the quality and sustainability of products. So we can conclude that social media can have effects on a brand’s image if they do not adapt and elements …show more content…
They want to know that the products they are purchasing have not harmed the environment through the methods used to get these products to the consumer. One of the main issues of concern, within distribution channels, is the carbon footprint produced, other issues can include the level of recycled materials used in production and the recyclability of the final product, energy efficiency, use of harmful chemicals in production or sometimes within other intermediaries and ensuring natural resources are not eliminated because of excessive mass production (Martin,
3.1 Increased Consumer Power
Previously supply chains practices were decided almost solely by management within companies. Today, the consumer plays a massive role in deciding what happens in the supply chain. The consumer has the power to change elements of the supply chain that they do not like. This power has been achieved through avenues such as social media, where even one concerned consumer can reach millions of people and alter brand images, which could destroy companies if they refuse to respond and adapt (Rezabakhsh, Bornemann, Hansen and Schrader, 2006). For example, when Lidl received a comment, that appears to be from Facebook or Twitter, from a customer stating “I want sprouts to be fresh and British. Not budget Brussels from Lidl”, Lidl responding excellently with a television/youtube advertisement showing a British farmer harvesting late into the night to ensure the sprouts are as fresh as possible and stating that in the run up to Christmas they supply about 17 billion sprouts to Britain (Lidl UK, 2016). Even in this short video, it shows that consumers are concerned about the quality and sustainability of products. So we can conclude that social media can have effects on a brand’s image if they do not adapt and elements …show more content…
They want to know that the products they are purchasing have not harmed the environment through the methods used to get these products to the consumer. One of the main issues of concern, within distribution channels, is the carbon footprint produced, other issues can include the level of recycled materials used in production and the recyclability of the final product, energy efficiency, use of harmful chemicals in production or sometimes within other intermediaries and ensuring natural resources are not eliminated because of excessive mass production (Martin,