O pilar social: dimensão invisível das cadeias de suprimentos sustentáveis

• Ano de defesa: 2018
• Autor(a) principal: Morais, Dafne Oliveira Carlos de
• Orientador(a): Barbieri, José Carlos
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Palavras-chave em Português: Gestão da cadeia de suprimentos sustentável; Sustentabilidade social; Mecanismos de governança; Teoria do stakeholder; Teoria da contingência
• Palavras-chave em Inglês: Sustainable supply chain management; Social sustainability; Governance mechanisms; Stakeholder theory; Contingency theory
• Link de acesso: https://hdl.handle.net/10438/23982

The social pillar of sustainability is under-represented in the context of SSCM. The present study addresses this social pillar and the gap related to governance mechanisms within the SSCM and addresses the following research question: how focal firms adopt social sustainability and what governance mechanisms are used to implement it throughout their supply chain? The paper proposes an empirical investigation through a multiple case study, composed of six cases. The research identified in the cases the antecedents of sustainability, that is, the elements that drive, enable and barriers the adoption of sustainability along the supply chain. A list of mechanisms has been elaborated and classified according to its type and its implementation, whether it is more direct (hands-on) or more indirect (hands-off). In addition, social issues were classified as to their incidence in cases and, for each governance mechanism, three types were established: central social issues, peripheral social issues and remote social issues. Considering the relationship between the types of social issues implemented and the intensity of governance mechanisms that address them, three profiles of social sustainability management in the context of SSCM are outlined and described: elementary, selective and extensive. Each profile was analyzed in the light of different theories: Stakeholders Theory, Contingency Theory and Behavioral Theory. A prominent point in the first theoretical lens relates to the salience of the supplier in the different profiles: in the selective profile, a strong group of suppliers acts as dangerous stakeholders, while in the selective and extensive profiles, suppliers generally act as claimants. The different roles of suppliers indicate that the supplier's greater or lesser incidence of power influences the extent to which the focal company can address social issues in its chain, whether it is more limited to central issues, or whether peripheral and remote issues are reached. Under the lens of the Contingency Theory, the present study indicates that social initiatives are related to factors such as (un)balance of power and dependence in the relationship with supplier. In addition, for management of social issues, approaching suppliers does not imply the reduction of governance mechanisms, especially in chains of greater criticality. In relation to Behavioral Theory, the results of the study represent concepts of this theoretical lens manifested in the scope of sustainability and social sustainability in SCM. Recognizing such contexts is a step towards overcoming biased behaviors in the SSCM decision-making process, such as: recognizing the range of possible social issues to address and prioritize those more aligned to the business rather than the simplest to address, acting more assertively and not according to the simplest; stimulate a more agile recognition of the need for more complex criteria to define the group of suppliers to be evaluated socio-environmentally in management programs.