Sustainable Performance Measurements of Logistics in Dispersed Supply Chains

Abstract: Pressure on companies to show evidence of compliance with sustainable requirements is increasing. Performance measurement systems (PMSs) assist managers in making such choices that optimize sustainability within supply chain operations. At the same time, companies’ supply base is growing globally and incurring an increase in one of the most visible parts of a supply chain's environmental impact - transportation. The difficulty lies in obtaining standardized data of sustainable impact by transportation. Thereby, ability to show compliance by measuring and evaluating the sustainable performance of transportation is problematic. This report thus addresses the issue of data availability and quality and its impact on ability to measure and evaluate performance in transportation. Further, the objective is to investigate what critical aspects to consider in order to manage environmental performance in a measurement system of logistics. A case study at Company X, a globally dispersed company within the manufacturing industry has been conducted in order to bring clarity to the questions posed. A framework of founding steps in the development of a PMS with the inclusion of environmental sustainable aspects has been developed from previous research to assess the findings against. The analysis carried out show evidence of availability and quality of data heavily hindering development of Sustainable Performance Measurement Systems (SPMS) by inclusion of environmental aspects. The fundamental aspects in need of consideration are summarized by; commitment and technical support, data availability, management of data and design of measurements. Further there lies a critical factor within management of measurements. This study contributes to practitioners with guidance from developed framework to assess critical factors. The theoretical contribution lies within the investigation of obstacles in need of consideration in development of SPMS, a present under-research area, especially in an industry context. Keywords: Sustainable Performance Measurement, Sustainable Performance Measurement Systems