Enabling sustainable energy futures: Factors influencing green supply chain collaboration

Abstract

In order to explore the relationship between sustainability strategies and future energy needs and demands (hence energy futures), supply chains (SCs) need to continue to reduce their CO2 emissions through developing their green credentials and improving overall performance; noting that the assimilation of such environmental aspects into production, SCs and logistics are considered as complex processes. Knowledge management (KM) has long been seen as an enabler to support intensive collaboration efforts – on which green initiatives are largely based. The supply chain management (SCM) and KM areas have largely focused on improving organisational performance. While the latter research has yielded successful outcomes in many different sectors, there is still a scarcity of research studies focusing on identifying influential factors that highlight those aspects which may enable green supply chain collaboration (GrSCC) to occur, thus leading to sustainable energy futures and carbon-efficient production. To increase inter-organisational synchronisation, organisations often call for SC partners to implement common business processes and sources of knowledge. This paper therefore aims to contribute to the research domain by examining the role of KM in facilitating GrSCC. Through the identification of key factors extrapolated from the normative literature, a model for implementing GrSCC using a futures-based perspective is proposed. This paper inductively demonstrates the relationship between identified GrSCC factors through the application of a fuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) technique. Findings from this research support a futures-based perspective that enhances understanding and refines forward-looking strategies for GrSCC. Through the exploration of two GrSCC scenarios using the given technique, this paper reports a granular perspective of positive and negative causal factors that support enabling energy futures that enhance green supply credentials.