The Luxury Paradox: How Systems Thinking and Supply Chain Collaboration Can Bring Sustainability Into Mainstream Practice

It is not hard to imagine sustainability behaviors that could be labeled as “luxury,” but for many sustainability efforts this might not be descriptive. Systems thinking is at the core of the total cost concept of logistics and this is where there is often lots of overlap and opportunity for logistics and sustainability initiatives. Some companies are now sharing reliable product level information and performance indicators that are crucial to successful logistics as an outcome of collaboration on sustainability initiatives. In some cases, various sustainability performance metrics can serve as proxy measures or leading indicators for logistics costs and service measures. They can also serve as a point of collaboration for multiple firms in the supply chain.