Sustainable Procurement

We develop your critical analysis skills by exploring the rise of sustainability issues and delving into how these might change the roles and responsibilities of procurement.
In this we shall
• Explore a range of sustainability concepts including the Triple Bottom Line, the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the circular economy, and ESG
• Reflect on how sustainability might impact the choices made in our own organizations
• Critically analyse how sustainable procurement might impact projects in our own organizations
On completion of this Week, you will be able to
• Explain the term Triple Bottom Line
• Apply the principles of the Triple Bottom Line to a purchasing context
• Assess the impacts of sustainable procurement on project management
Lecturecast
In this lecturecast, we will explain the term Triple Bottom Line, apply the principles of the Triple Bottom Line to a purchasing context, assess the impacts of sustainable procurement on project management and Sustainable Development.
Reading
This week’s reading includes videos that explain the circular economy and a short practitioner focused piece on sustainable value chains. There are also two interesting Harvard Business Reviews articles. The first, by Winston examines why ESG has recently become mainstream in business. The second is by John Elkington, who famously developed the concept of the Triple Bottom Line. In this article, he takes a very critical look at the Triple Bottom Line and how businesses around the world have incorrectly adopted it as a trade-off model and why this is so problematic for sustainable development.
Reading
Required Reading
Winston, A. (2021) ‘Sustainable Business Went Mainstream in 2021’, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, pp. 1–9.
Elkington, J. (2018) ‘25 Years Ago I Coined the Phrase “Triple Bottom Line.” Here’s Why It’s Time to Rethink It’, Harvard Business Review Digital Articles, pp. 2–5
McKinsey (2021), Buying into a more sustainable value chain
Ellen MacArthur Foundation, (2011), Explaining the Circular Economy and How Society Can Re-think Progress
C2C World/EPEA (2014), Introduction to Cradle to Cradle
Formative Activity
Read the Elkington (2018) Harvard Business Review article.
• Consider and summarise the differing priorities within the Triple Bottom Line for your organisation (or project)
• Comment on whether any of the dimensions dominate the decision making and suggest explanations why
• In light of the Elkington article, has your organisation/project incorrectly considered the dimensions as ‘trade-offs’? Give explanations
• Suggest ways in which the Triple Bottom Line might be reconsidered in your organisation/project, and the implications