Integrating ESG Measures and Supply Chain Management: Research Opportunities in the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the instrumental role of supply chains in delivering economic, human, and societal value. At the same time, the pandemic has intensified interest among businesses, governments, and academics to examine environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. In today’s hyper-globalized economy, ESG measures are futile unless they explicitly incorporate a firm’s end-to-end operations throughout its entire supply chain. On the other hand, well-calibrated ESG measures should play a central role in guiding a firms’ day-to-day supply chain management practices. To illustrate the value of unifying ESG and end-to-end supply chain thinking, we present three supply chain cases that arose amid the COVID-19 pandemic, involving online platforms, public health supply chains, and vaccine development, manufacturing, and distribution, respectively. Drawn from these three cases, we spotlight some new research opportunities in both ESG and supply chain management.

Keywords: Supply chain management, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), COVID-19 pandemic, operations management

JEL Classification: M14, F6, O14