OMGT 2101 - IBM & Walmart: Sustainable Procurement & Supply Chain

This report provides a critical analysis of sustainable supply chain management practices at IBM and Walmart, drawing upon two research articles: one focusing on sustainable human resource management and the other on green supply chain management. The report compares the environmental and labor aspects of sustainability, highlighting the challenges faced by both multinational corporations in ensuring their suppliers adhere to ethical and environmentally responsible practices. IBM's policy requiring suppliers to meet environmental standards and Walmart's initiative to reduce carbon emissions are examined. The report concludes that while both companies face challenges in achieving supply chain sustainability, effective implementation of their sustainability plans is crucial. The findings of the research articles offer valuable insights for promoting sustainable practices, emphasizing the importance of environmental safety, equality, fairness, accountability, and inclusivity within the supply chain.

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Sustainable Chain Management
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Abstract
Procurement management is an important activity that is always incorporated in the life
cycle of a product. It must be involved because it is required in different stages where there is a
movement of raw materials and end products right from the producers, suppliers all the way to
the end consumers. In the procurement process, the supply chain should be sustainable because
all the businesses aspire for sustainability. In this paper, a critical study of the sustainability of
the supply chain of IBM and Walmart is done. This is done using two articles: 1) "Sustainable
human resource management with salience of stakeholders: A top management perspective" and
“Green supply chain management: A review and bibliometric analysis.” The information from
these articles can be of great contribution in understanding the concept of sustainability in the
procurement management and supplies process.

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Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Comparative Summary of Research Articles...............................................................................................4
Comparative Case Analysis.........................................................................................................................6
Implications of the Research Articles..........................................................................................................9
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................11
References.................................................................................................................................................12
Appendices................................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
Chain management is one of the most important activities in the production process. All
the organization must have a well-developed supply chain management because it plays a
significant role I the completion of the production cycle. Supply chain helps in the distribution of
the supplies that an entity uses as inputs or rather raw materials. For efficiency purposes, the
supply chain should be sustainable. Meaning, the management must adopt sustainable programs
to safeguard the environmental, economic, and social viability and impacts of the clients and
vendors. This paper uses IBM and Walmart as case studies to analyze the effectiveness of
sustainable chain management practices.
Comparative Summary of Research Articles
"Sustainable human resource management with salience of stakeholders: A top
management perspective" is an article that was written by Järlström, Maria, Essi Saru, and
Sinikka Vanhala and published by Journal of Business Ethics. The writers used the article to
study the role of sustainability in the supply chain management process. “Green supply chain
management: A review and bibliometric analysis”, on the other hand, is an article that was
written by Jabbour, Charbel José Chiappetta, and Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour and
published by the Journal of Cleaner Production. In this article, the main topic of study is the
sustainability of the supply chain management system. According to these studies, supply chain
management is a key component in the life cycle of a product. It can be much better if it is as
sustainable as possible. Therefore, whenever conducting any business activities, deliberate
measures must be taken to ensure that the business operations as sustainable in different aspects.
Despite exploring the topic of sustainable supply chain management, the articles have some
differences. The most outstanding difference is that two articles address different aspects of
supply chain management.

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The first article revolves around environmental management system sustainability.
Meaning, it focuses on environmental sustainability. It advocates for the compliance of the
environmental policies that are required in the corporate world today. Currently, the global
community has become vulnerable climate change (Fahimnia, Sarkis & Davarzani 2015). Since
climate change is mainly human-triggered, it can be addressed by adopting acceptable
environmental conservation and protection measures (Meixell & Luoma 2015). Therefore, to
achieve this, all the organizations must ensure that their supply chain is environmental-friendly at
all times. There are many ways through which this can be accomplished. Most importantly, the
production process should be pollutant-free. All the organizations should refrain from acts of
pollution because it contaminates the environment and makes it harmful and unsustainable.
Instead what needs to be done is to go green and embrace the usage of renewable energy sources
such as solar and wind (Calatayud, Mangan & Christopher 2019). Any form of environmental
degradation such as the discharging of untreated wastes to the nearby water bodies must also
stop.
The second article differs from the first one because it analyzes the concept of
sustainability from a different perspective. According to his article, sustainable supply chain
management not only involves the environmental conservation, but a strict observance of
sustainable labor practices. All the businesses depend to the employees because they are the
source of labor on which the business relies to manage its production process and day-to-day
operations (Järlström, Saru & Vanhala 2018). Therefore, even if many organizations have been
engaging in unlawful and unethical labor practices such as overworking, exploitation, poor
remuneration, and the hiring of minors, an entity that is committed to observing running a
sustainable business must refrain from such. It should ensure that that its supply chain is

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sustainable when it comes to labor management (Silvestre 2015). Apart from refraining from
such acts, the organization should stop it collaboration with other entities that still violate labor
standards. At no any given time should such non-compliant suppliers be entertained.
It is evident, from the above researches, that sustainability is an issue that has become of
concern to many organizations. Ordinarily, all the organizations should engage in sustainable
business practices because it is what the laws and ethical standards permit. The supply chain
should be composed of the entities which are committed to observing environmental
sustainability. Meaning, whenever engaging in business activities, deliberate measures should be
taken to ensure that the environment is made as safe as possible (Su, Horng, Tseng, Chiu, Wu &
Chen 2016). Meaning, no matter the nature of business activities, there should be no room for
air, water, soil, and land pollution as well as the over-exploitation of energy and the natural
resources. At the same time, measures must be taken to implement right and acceptable labor
practices which can accommodate all the workers regardless of their diversities (Hackius &
Petersen 2017). This indicates that a sustainable supply chain revers environmental safety,
equality, fairness, accountability, and inclusivity.
Comparative Case Analysis
There are two cases that are analyzed in this paper. He first se involves IBM. The second
one involves Walmart. IBM and Walmart are multinational companies whose operations extend
beyond their countries’ borders. On its part, IBM- International Business Machines Corporation
is concerned about the provision of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services
to its global market. Walmart, on the other hand, deals in retail services-grocery stores,
departmental stores, and hypermarkets. The multinational nature of these companies has made it
necessary for them to partner with many stakeholders in their supply chain (Touboulic & Walker

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2015). However, this has not been all smooth because, as illustrated in the case studies, the two
multinationals have been facing a myriad of challenges in their supply chain management
system.
The information presented in the case study shows that IBM has been facing some
problems when it comes to the management of its supply chain system (Azadi, Jafarian, Saen &
Mirhedayatian 2015). The management of IBM is concerned about the irregularities in the
supply chain. It has expressed concern that there are some of its employees (mostly managers)
who engage in unethical supply chain activities such as the acceptance of late bids, canvassing,
bribery, cronyism, and the awarding of tenders to the companies with whom they associate. All
these are unethical because they encourage favoritism, discrimination, and inequality in the
market. However, the unfortunate thing is that the company is still concerned about
environmental unsustainability that, according to the management, has become a major issue of
concern (Khalid, Seuring, Beske, Land, Yawar & Wagner 2015). According to the available
information, IBM has been dealing with the suppliers who are not concerned about the
environment.
However, since IBM is committed to attaining the desired sustainability in its supply
chain, it has come up with measures to rectify the situation. On April 13, 2010, IBM came up
with a new policy that it had purposely formulated to tackle the problem of environmental
unsustainability in its supply chain. According to this policy, all the suppliers must abide by the
environmental standards irrespective of their geographical location. In order to instill the culture
of environmental sustainability, all the suppliers as well as their respective sub-contractors must
install the management system in their offices. The purpose of the system is to help in the
collection and sharing of enough data on all the environmental conservation initiatives taken by

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each of them. Since it is a must to do so, all the suppliers have no choice, but to comply with the
new standard by participating in the reduction of green gas emissions, energy usage, and the
management of wastes. Indeed, this is a brilliant idea because, if all the suppliers comply,
environmental sustainability will become a reality.
The case study on Walmart, on the other hand, indicates that environmental sustainability
is a challenging undertaking in the multinational. As clearly-illustrated in the case study, the
management of Walmart is also concerned about the unsustainability in its supply chain. Just like
IBM, Walmart is a multinational that sources for raw materials from very many suppliers-
thousands of them. Although each of these suppliers is required to engage in ethically acceptable
ad sustainable business activities, there are many of them which have been engaging in
environmentally-unsustainable practices. The management is aware that there are some suppliers
which engage in pollution, misuse of the waste materials, excessive usage of non-renewable
energy sources, and the release of green gases into the environment. This is quite unfortunate
because it demonstrates that the multinational has been tolerating unsustainable practices
irrespective of its commitments to help in the protection and sustainable usage of the resources
and environment in totality.
In order to address the problem of environmental unsustainability in its system, the
management of Walmart has come up with a plan. In its plan, Walmart indicated that it would
reform its policies and tailor them towards the enhancement of sustainable practices in its supply
chain. This, the organization plans to do by taking a number of steps. Most importantly, it plans
to lobby all its suppliers to refrain from unsustainable practices and instead focus on sustainable
practices. The goal of the initiative is to reduce the rate of carbon emission and enhance the
efficiencies in the utilization of energy resources. So, to succeed in reducing the green gas

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emission by 20 million metric tons, all the contractors and the sub-contractors to ensure that
there is no any form of damages that result from the supply process. All the suppliers and sub-
contractors have a mandate to ensure that the entire supply chain process ranging from the
acquisition of the raw materials, production, distribution, consumption is environmentally-safe
and sustainable.
Based on all these information, this paper concludes that the unsustainability of the
supply chain is a reality in the two multinationals. At the IBM and Walmart, there are so many
suppliers which are not concerned about environmental sustainability. That is why pollution,
emission of green gases, and overutilization of the resources has become a major issue of
concern. However, the only recommendation that this paper gives is that the two multinationals
should be effective in the implementation of their sustainability plans. Reduction of green gas
emission is a brilliant idea that should be embraced in all these organizations. It can benefit them
a great deal and enable them to realize the goal of creating a clean and sustainable supply chain.
So, what the multinationals should do is to be keen on the implementation by encouraging
compliance and providing all the necessary human resources, monetary, and non-monetary
support to all its suppliers and the sub-contractors to ensure that they become sustainable in their
operations (Jaggernath & Khan 2015).
Implications of the Research Articles
The articles can be of great help when used in the promotion of sustainable supply chain
management practices. The management of IBM and Walmart can succeed in attaining
sustainability if they adopt the findings of the two studies. From the case studies presented, it is
obvious that sustainability has become a major issue of concern to these organizations. Both at
the IBM and Walmart, concerns are raised over unsustainable environmental management

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practices. Most of the stakeholders have been engaging in the violation of environmental
protection standards expected of them (Formentini & Taticchi 2016). So, rectify the situation and
become environmentally-sustainable and viable, the management of these organizations should
use the research findings and recommendations in the articles.
The management of Walmart, in particular, can benefit a great deal from the articles. The
first way through which the articles can benefit the company is that it can equip it with the
knowledge to use in attaining the environmental management sustainability in supply chain
system (Calatayud, Mangan & Christopher 2019). From the case study presented, it was
observed that the company has been facing serious environmental issues. As an established
organization, Walmart has an extensive network. It collaborates with many other firms that help
in enhancing its sustainability. Walmart should embrace sustainable environmental protection
policies to help in ensuring that there are no unnecessary cases of environmental degradation in
the organization (Abdel-Basset, Gunasekaran, Mohamed & Chilamkurti 2019). Apart from
stopping a partnership with the companies that do not comply with environmental protection
standards, Walmart should come up with stringent policies to safeguard its environment by
making it safe to the workers, clients, the public, and the surrounding environment. If the entire
supply chain is filled up with the organizations that comply with the environmental standards,
Walmart can attain the desired sustainability in its supply chain.
The other way through which Walmart can benefit from the articles that it can adopt
these of sustainable labor practices. A sustainable supply chain management involves many
things including the hiring, management and retention of the workers (Christopher 2016). A
clearly outline in the articles, a sustainable organization is, therefore, the one that engages in
lawful an ethical labor practices such as proper remuneration of the workers, transparency in the

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hiring process, equality, tolerance, empowerment, and appropriate reward and promotion of the
workers (Clauson, Breeden, Davidson & Mackey 2018). To be sustainable, Walmart should,
hence, do all these, comply with the standard labor regulations, and compel all its suppliers and
subsidiaries to do the same. Meaning, the organization should cease its partnership with any
entity that engages in unethical labor practices such as the hiring of the minors, gender inequality
in the workplace, exploitation of the workers, overworking of the employees, and many more
(Dubey, Gunasekaran, Papadopoulos, Childe, Shibin & Wamba 2017). Once all these are done,
the organization can become sustainable.
From the above analysis, it is evident that Walmart and IBM are some of the companies
that are concerned about sustainability. In their supply chain, the companies have raise concern
because many of the stakeholders have been found to be engaging in unsustainable practices
(Genovese, Acquaye, Figueroa & Koh 2017). The participation of different stakeholders in the
supply chain has been making the companies to engage in unsustainable practices. In this regard,
for a company like Walmart to be sustainable, it should ensure that it adopts the
recommendations made in the articles. Environmental sustainability is something that should not
be taken for granted because it means a lot for the organization (Kshetri 2018). The same applies
to labor sustainability because the workers also matter a lot. Therefore, to be sustainable, the
supply chain should be managed by formulating and adopting strict sustainability policies that
must be followed by every participant in the supply chain system.
Conclusion
Sustainability is a concept that should always be taken seriously by every organization. In
its supply chain, all the organizations should try as much as they can to be sustainable. The best
way to realize this is to embrace and comply with all the sustainability standards acceptable in

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the corporate world. From the two case sties, it is evident that IBM and Walmart have lots of
loopholes in their supply chain system. The supply chain management system has been found to
be unsustainable because of the inefficiencies in the manner in which various suppliers have
been complying with the standard and acceptable environmental and labor standards aimed at
enhancing the culture of sustainability. The best strategy that this paper recommends is that the
management of the two multinationals should do everything within their capacity to attain a
sustainable supply chain at all times. Apart from engaging in right labor practices, the
organizations should create room for environmental conservation and also ensure that all the
partners do the same.