Operations and Supply Chain Management
BMIB5003
The UK retail industry manages an extensive variety of complex manageability gives that are laced with worldwide obtaining and tasks. It can understand the intricacies and potential arrangements of significant issues better when we break down them utilizing hypothetical systems. UK retailers are advancing in their endeavours to source morally, be environmentally conscious, transparent, resilient, and operate efficiently, even though there are still impediments to survival.
Maintaining innovation, collaboration, and stakeholder engagement will be crucial in navigating this crucial shift toward a more sustainable future for the retail industry in the UK and beyond. The retail business is significant to the UK economy since it shapes shopper inclinations and influences worldwide stock chains. Be that as it may, its unwavering mission for extension and economy has made serious manageability issues. It will take a gander at how a few issues, including asset consumption, untrustworthy work rehearses, and ecological corruption, require UK retail to meaningfully impact its perspective to turn out to be more feasible.
Its accentuation on UK retail is a consequence of a particular situation as a huge overall player is to a great extent dependent on global obtaining for a wide assortment of items. This complicated organization of obtaining, which is much of the time conveyed across landmasses, presents troublesome moral and ecological issues. Likewise, the UK has a changed retail climate with stores, clothing stores, and web behemoths all confronting different functional troubles (Alghababsheh et al., 2023). Through an investigation of these different ventures, it is feasible to get an exhaustive handle on the fundamental supportability issues and to pinpoint practical arrangements that are not restricted to the UK. There will be more about the operations and Supply Chain Management concerning issues and difficulties:
· What role do practices related to global sourcing play in environmental issues like pollution, resource depletion, and greenhouse gas emissions?
· What moral issues, especially about labour practices in developing nations, are raised by global supply chains?
· How do operational inefficiencies within UK retail exacerbate resource waste and energy consumption?
· What role does supply chain management play in mitigating these challenges and fostering sustainable practices?
· In the face of these challenges, what innovative solutions and emerging trends are UK retailers adopting to promote sustainable operations?
I. Identifying Operational and Supply Chain Issues
Global sourcing and intricate supply chains are essential to the modern retail landscape's success. Despite giving buyers an abundance of choices at serious costs, this framework is going under expanding strain because of its high friendly and natural expenses. Utilizing hypothetical structures and true guides to explain functional and strategic snags, this exposition investigates the supportability issues confronting UK retail from the perspectives of worldwide obtaining and supply chain management.
Environmental Footprints and Ethical Shadows:
The carbon-intensive nature of worldwide obtaining presents perhaps the main test. Child work, dangerous working circumstances, and low compensation are only a couple of instances of the work dealing that regularly happens in provider processing plants in non-industrial countries. Customers may have ethical questions and the reputation of UK retailers is damaged as a result. Fairtrade alliances, supplier audits, and other ethical sourcing practices are given top priority in Marks and Spencer’s "Plan A" initiative (Marks and Spencer’s, 2023). Standards for labour practices and environmental impact are outlined in Tesco's "Sustainable Sourcing Code" (Tesco, 2023). The significance of ethical sourcing for long-term stakeholder value and reputation management is underscored by Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Porter's Five Forces model emphasizes how ethical business practices have a competitive edge in drawing in ethically conscious customers. Increased emissions from transportation, resource depletion, and manufacturing process pollution are the results of global sourcing. The goal of Sainsbury's “Net Zero” initiative is to become carbon neutral by 2040 (Dobos and Éltető, 2023). John Lewis Partnership is all about cutting down on food waste and using sustainable packaging. Natural Resource Dependence Theory emphasizes the necessity of sustainable practices and the limited nature of resources. Even in the face of scientific uncertainty, the precautionary principal advocates taking proactive steps to reduce environmental harm. Emissions of greenhouse gases are greatly increased by transportation, which frequently depends on airfreight (Chukwu et al., 2023).
The “fast fashion” phenomenon, which is marked by quick product cycles and inexpensive, throwaway apparel, makes this problem worse. According to a 2023 World Wildlife Fund report, 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of global wastewater are attributable to the fashion industry alone (World Wildlife Fund, 2023). Due to these harsh facts, sourcing methods must change to become more sustainable. Examples of these practices include using recycled materials, supporting local production, and working with suppliers who use renewable energy sources. Global sourcing is shadowed by social concerns as well. Fair work conditions, specialist well-being, and regard for common freedoms are subject to moral obtaining rehearses (Picasso et al., 2023). A University of Nottingham study from 2022 found evidence of forced labour in the supply chains of some UK retailers (University of Nottingham, 2022). In order to lessen these risks, retailers must prioritize ethical sourcing strategies such as direct supplier engagement, independent audits, and Fairtrade certifications. Global obtaining presents novel functional and strategic hardships notwithstanding moral and ecological issues. As confirmed by the new Coronavirus pandemic, long travel times and geographic distances make a framework more vulnerable to vacillations. An organization's standing and consumer loyalty might experience the ill effects of stockouts and satisfaction troubles brought about by deficiencies of unrefined components and creation postpones in provider countries (Richey et al., 2023). Compelling correspondence and information straightforwardness are likewise fundamental for overseeing complex organizations of unfamiliar providers. Real-time visibility into stock levels, production updates, and shipping information is extremely beneficial to logistics planning, demand forecasting, and inventory management (Hughes et al., 2023). In order to support store network permeability and lift functional proficiency, retailers are logically executing innovative arrangements, for example, blockchain and the Internet of Things. A report released in 2021 by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation states that a significant obstacle to sustainable practices is a lack of transparency in global supply chains (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2021).
Navigating the Sustainability Maze: UK Retail Sectors
The various approaches taken to address these issues are revealed by examining specific retail giants in the United Kingdom. For instance, Marks and Spencer has a "Plan A" manageability program that underscores obtaining feasible materials, cutting fossil fuel byproducts, and empowering moral obtaining techniques. Their obligation to asset proficiency and waste decrease is shown by their organization with the Ellen MacArthur Establishment on roundabout economy standards. Meanwhile, Tesco, the greatest general supermarket chain in the UK, sources new produce locally and is interested in sustainable power sources to drive its stores (Renier et al., 2023). In order to energise economical practices across their production network, they likewise set up a provider commitment program. The intricacy of overseeing maintainability in global obtaining and supply chains is shown by these cases.
Companies must embrace transparency, ethical sourcing practices, cutting-edge technologies, cooperative relationships with suppliers and customers, and ethical sourcing practices to minimize the environmental and social impact of global retail and overcome logistical and operational obstacles (McKinsey and Company, 2020). It is hard to follow the origin and production processes of goods because of intricate, multi-tiered supply chains. Consumer trust and accountability are hampered by a lack of transparency. Blockchain technology is used by Marks and Spencer to trace the origin of their seafood and wool products. The platform known as "Supplier Ethical Data Exchange" by Tesco encourages labour practice openness. According to transaction cost economics, greater transparency can minimize information asymmetries, foster trust, and cut transaction costs. By 2025, John Lewis promises to source all of its own-brand cotton ethically. In order to give refugees and asylum seekers work opportunities, they have also partnered with a social enterprise. Agency Theory highlights how crucial it is to keep an eye on suppliers to make sure they are adhering to ethical and environmental obligations. Natural catastrophes, pandemics, and geopolitical events can all seriously damage international supply chains, resulting in shortages of certain stocks and changes in price. In order to reduce risks, Kingfisher invests in localized production and diversifies its supplier base. Solid contingency plans have been set up by Boots if the production network is disturbed. Due to the Bullwhip Impact, interruptions can be decreased by organizing endeavours across the inventory network. The retail business' stockpile chains address numerous parts of the worldwide economy, from China's aluminium assembling to Canada's woods. Finding some kind of harmony between cost-effectiveness and maintainability objectives can be troublesome. In order to diminish squandering and its effect on the climate without forfeiting productivity, UK retailers should upgrade their activities. Environmentally friendly power and mechanized techniques are utilized in Tesco's "Sustainable Distribution Centre" to cut discharges. Lean assembling procedures are applied by Asda to lessen waste and improve asset effectiveness.
Discussion of Potential Solutions
Brands can embrace manageable materials, advance clothing rental, and trading plans, and put resources into fix and upcycling administrations. The Ellen MacArthur Establishment's report "A New Textiles Economy" advocates for a fundamental shift, repeating calls for broadened maker obligation strategies (WRAP, 2020). Straightforwardness and Moral Obtaining: Transparency in supply chains is becoming increasingly important to customers. The "Traceable Down Standard" of Patagonia is an example of transparent sourcing, and initiatives like the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) advocate for fair wages and labour rights. As outlined in the UN Human Rights Council's resolution on business and human rights, transparency and ethical sourcing are essential for sustainable fashion (UN Human Rights Council, 2016). Food Waste Reduction: Grocery retailers generate significant food waste. Tesco's 'Community Food Sharing Scheme" partners with charities to redistribute surplus food, showcasing potential solutions. Furthermore, implementing "ugly fruit" initiatives, minimizing packaging, and promoting meal planning can dramatically reduce waste. WRAP's "Food Loss and Waste Reduction Roadmap" highlights these strategies as key to tackling the issue (WRAP, 2019). Sustainable Sourcing and Packaging might support local, organic, and ethically sourced produce that aligns with sustainability goals. As highlighted in the UK government's "Environment Strategy 2023", promoting sustainable sourcing and reducing packaging are crucial goals for grocery retailers (HM Government, 2023). Sustainable Product Design and Material Choice is now Encouraging products made from recycled materials, with durable and repairable designs, to contribute to sustainability. John Lewis' commitment to sourcing sustainable timber and offering FSC-certified furniture exemplifies this approach. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's "The Circular Economy in Interiors" report further emphasizes the importance of designing for repairability and disassembly (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2019). Second-hand and Upcycling Markets can promote pre-loved furniture and upcycling services reduce virgin material use and extend product lifecycles. IKEA's "Buy Back and Sell" program allows customers to sell back used furniture, supporting this shift. As discussed in the Green Alliance's report "Second and Revolution: The Growth of the Reuse Economy", encouraging reuse within the homeware sector is vital for sustainability (Green Alliance, 2020). Circular Electronics and Extended Producer Responsibility, encouraging product take-back programs, and designing electronics for easy disassembly and recycling are crucial. Curry’s PC World's "Recycle and Reward" scheme incentivizes responsible disposal, while the EU's "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment" (WEEE) Directive mandates producer responsibility for end-of-life products (European Commission, 2012). Promoting Repair and Refurbishment is offering repair services and refurbished electronics to extend product lifecycles and reduce e-waste (Carbon Trust, 2020). Apple's "Renewed" program exemplifies this practice, while initiatives like Restart Project provide repair resources and skills training. As outlined in the World Economic Forum's "Circular Economy in Electronics" report, promoting repair and refurbishment is essential for electronics sustainability (World Economic Forum, 2020). Sustainable Delivery Practices, optimizing delivery routes, utilizing electric vehicles, and offering carbon-neutral delivery options are crucial. Amazon's "Climate Pledge Friendly" program highlights a commitment to reducing delivery emissions. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development's "Smart Freight Centre" initiative further promotes collaboration for sustainable logistics (WBCSD, 2023). Packaging Optimization and Reduction: Minimizing packaging, utilizing recycled materials, and promoting plastic-free alternatives significantly reduce environmental impact. ASOS' commitment to eliminating single-use plastic packaging showcases leadership in this area. As outlined in the UK government's “Plastic Packaging Tax”, reducing plastic use is a key national sustainability goal (HM Government, 2021).
A well-founded justification
The Circular Economy Model addresses the pressing issue of fast fashion, which contributes significantly to carbon emissions and wastewater. By transitioning from the traditional linear "take-make-dispose" model to a circular economy, retailers can embrace sustainable materials, clothing rental, and repair services (Uddin et al., 2023). This aligns with the increasing consumer demand for environmentally conscious practices and fosters a more sustainable approach to fashion (World Business Council for Sustainable Development,2021). To maintain customer confidence and accountability, it is essential to emphasize transparency and ethical sourcing. In a period where purchasers are more educated and socially cognizant, drives like Patagonia's “Traceable Down Standard” and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) add to building a straightforward store network (Patagonia 2023). This raises the retail industry's overall sustainability profile because it is in line with the growing awareness of labour rights and fair wages. Tending to food squandering decrease is basic for staple retailers, taking into account the huge waste created in this area. Tesco's "Community Food Sharing Scheme" embodies a pragmatic answer for reallocating surplus food, lining up with more extensive drives like WRAP's "Food Loss and Waste Reduction Roadmap" (WRAP 2019). These methodologies add to ecological maintainability as well as address social issues connected with food instability. Also, the emphasis on reasonable obtaining and bundling lines up with all-encompassing public objectives framed in the UK government's "Environment Strategy 2023" (Sainsbury's. 2023).
Impacts and outcomes of solutions
There are various positive outcomes derived after finding out the solutions to various issues related to the supply chain. Firstly, this ensures better collaboration with local suppliers to supply their raw materials to big retail companies (Adams et al., 2023). This resulted in helping small local suppliers to earn profit and the retail sector to reduce the overall cost of transportation thus preventing carbon emissions. Secondly, using Total Quality Assurance helps in improving the quality of various commodities and also balances the profit margin of the retail sector. This leads to successfully executing different business practices by using more greener resources to improve the overall performance of companies. Thirdly, it is leading to a more agile business which is ready to accept quick changes as per situation demands (Singh et al., 2022). This would help the retail sector to improve and enhance the overall quality of their business and gain a positive response from customers as many are conscious of environmental changes. Lastly, better visibility helps to understand various areas which need to be improved with factual information to have proper references. This is leading to increased knowledge of areas which need improvement to raise the standards of retail sectors (Gawankar et al., 2020). Finally, this will help to grow the business successfully and efficiently manage all the operations related to the supply chain to keep a stock of resources in stock.
The conclusion drawn from the essay states the issues faced by retail sectors in maintaining sustainability in their business approaches. There are different ethical considerations and operational problems which need to be looked into to reduce the problem of sustainability (Tien et al., 2020). The operation of supply chain management is very important and there are various tools as well as strategies which would lead to successfully finding out the problems faced by supply chains in the retail sector. The essay to support the issues provides some real-life examples which are helping to gain a better understanding of the problems. One of the points states environmental footprints where Porter's Five Force model focuses on different business ethics to perform various business operations. Another theory used is the Natural Resource Dependency Theory aims at sustainable practices to promote local suppliers, use recycled materials and aims on using more renewable resources. There have been issues related to low wages of workers, poor worker conditions and so on which leads to an increase in the overall issues of the supply chain (Clapp and Moseley, 2020). Secondly, the retail sector is facing problems of getting trapped in the sustainability maze where blockchain technology is used by Marks and Spencer.
Agency Theory is helping to observe the moves of suppliers which would create various ethical limitations. Total Quality Assurance and Triple Bottom Line are helping to gain knowledge on financial, social and ecological matters which are causing disruption in the supply chain. This also aims to increase job opportunities which would help companies to get their demands fulfilled when necessary (Lee et al., 2021). Various potential solutions are taken into account like using the Circular Economy model and keeping transparency to customers. Secondly, it aims at packaging and having more organic supplies in the stores. Thirdly, the products need to be recycled and reused and the retail sector needs to focus on green objectives which would help them to keep a balance between their production and sustainability. Some proper justifications are given to give the reason why these solutions are taken into consideration. The retail sector needs to try innovative ways which would help the organisation to overcome various issues related to the supply chain (Sheng et al., 2021). This eventually helps in finding out the outcomes and impacts the retail sector would have after applying the solutions to the problems identified in the supply chain management.
Adams, D., Donovan, J. and Topple, C., (2023). Sustainability in large food and beverage companies and their supply chains: An investigation into key drivers and barriers affecting sustainability strategies. Business Strategy and the Environment, 32(4), pp.1451-1463.
Alghababsheh, M., Butt, A. S., and Ali, S. M. (2023). The role of buyers justice in achieving socially sustainable global supply chains: a perspective of apparel suppliers and their workers. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 29(2), 100820.
Carbon Trust (2020). The Carbon Footprint of the Retail Sector.
Chukwu, E., Adu-Baah, A., Niaz, M., Nwagwu, U., and Chukwu, M. U. (2023). Navigating ethical supply chains: the intersection of diplomatic management and theological ethics. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences and Arts, 2(1), 127-139.
Clapp, J. and Moseley, W.G., (2020). This food crisis is different: COVID-19 and the fragility of the neoliberal food security order. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 47(7), pp.1393-1417.
Dobos, E., and Éltető, A. (2023). Regulation of the fashion supply chains and the sustainability–growth balance. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 14(1), 101-129.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2021). The Circular Economy in Retail: A White Paper.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. (2023). Circular Economy.
Gawankar, S.A., Gunasekaran, A. and Kamble, S., (2020). A study on investments in the big data-driven supply chain, performance measures and organisational performance in Indian retail 4.0 context. International journal of production research, 58(5), pp.1574-1593.
Hughes, A., Brown, J. A., Trueba, M., Trautrims, A., Bostock, B., Day, E., ... and Bhutta, M. F. (2023). Global value chains for medical gloves during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Confronting forced labour through public procurement and crisis. Global Networks, 23(1), 132-149.
Lee, Y., Tao, W., Li, J.Y.Q. and Sun, R., (2021). Enhancing employees’ knowledge sharing through diversity-oriented leadership and strategic internal communication during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(6), pp.1526-1549.
Mand S. (2023). Plan A: Sourcing with integrity.
Marks and Spencer's (2023). Transforming companies’ business models for good and putting it in practice.
McKinsey and Company (2018). "Fashion on Climate: Quantifying Fashion's Environmental Impact.
MIT Sloan Management Review (2022). Data Science for Sustainability: A Review of Research and Practice.
Nguyen, G. N., Mani, V., Kha M, K., and Papadopoulos, T. (2023). Supply chain social responsibility in labour-intensive industries: a practitioner’s perspective. Production Planning and Control, 34(4), 371-390.
Patagonia. (2023). Recycled Nylon.
Picasso, F. G., Biazzin, C., Paiva, E. L., and Beal Partyka, R. (2023). Socially responsible supply chain initiatives and their outcomes: a taxonomy of manufacturing companies. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 28(1), 90-106.
Renier, C., Vandromme, M., Meyfroidt, P., Ribeiro, V., Kalischek, N., and Zu Ermgassen, E. K. (2023). Transparency, traceability and deforestation in the Ivorian cocoa supply chain. Environmental Research Letters, 18(2), 024030.
Richey Jr, R. G., Chowdhury, S., Davis‐Sramek, B., Giannakis, M., and Dwivedi, Y. K. (2023). Artificial intelligence in logistics and supply chain management: A primer and roadmap for research. Journal of Business Logistics, 44(4), 532-549.
Sainsbury's. (2023). Sustainability commitments.
Sheng, J., Amankwah‐Amoah, J., Khan, Z. and Wang, X., (2021). COVID‐19 pandemic in the new era of big data analytics: Methodological innovations and future research directions. British Journal of Management, 32(4), pp.1164-1183.
Singh, R.K., Kumar Mangla, S., Bhatia, M.S. and Luthra, S., (2022). Integration of green and lean practices for sustainable business management. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), pp.353-370.
Tesco. (2023). Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Tien, N.H., Anh, D.B.H. and Ngoc, N.M., (2020). Corporate financial performance due to sustainable development in Vietnam. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 27(2), pp.694-705.
Uddin, M. J., Azmat, F., Fujimoto, Y., and Hossain, F. (2023). Exploitation in Bangladeshi ready-made garments supply chain: a case of irresponsible capitalism?. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 34(1), 164-188.
University of Nottingham (2022). Forced Labor in Global Supply Chains: A UK Retail Sector Perspective.
WBCSD (2021). Accelerating Sustainable Procurement in Retail.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (2021). Collaboration for Sustainable Development: A Guide for Business.
World Wildlife Fund (2023). Making the Connection: State of the Fashion Industry 2023.
WRAP (2019). The Food Waste Challenge in the UK.
