Abstract
M.Com. (Business Management)
A radical change in the global economy has resulted in a paradigm shift whereby the supply chain has evolved from a traditional simple supply chain to one that is filled with complexities and uncertainties. Five forces, namely globalisation, technological advancements, empowered consumers, organisational consolidation and government regulations have driven this reformation within the supply chain. As a result, organisations within the supply chain have been forced to re-engineer their processes and strategies in order to remain competitive and operative. This change has created an over-production of products and hence an imbalance between demand and supply. With the increased production, there has also been an upsurge in the movement of goods by different modes of transportation, particularly within the road freight industry.
The increase in road freight transportation has resulted in an escalation in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere, resulting in climate change. The adverse effects of these gases have intensified concerns of various stakeholders, consumers and society and as a consequence organisations have been pressurised to implement sustainable supply chain initiatives to reduce GHG emissions.
Hence, the objective of this study is to establish a framework of sustainable supply chain initiatives in reducing GHG emissions within the road freight transport industry. The sub-objectives are to identify different drivers that led to the adoption of sustainable supply chain initiatives in reducing GHG emissions; to identify the effectiveness of these sustainable supply chain initiatives in reducing GHG emissions; and to determine the benefits and challenges realised when implementing sustainable supply chain initiatives in reducing GHG emissions.
The conceptual framework for this research is derived from the literature review which was used to construct the questionnaire, used in the collection of the empirical data for this research. The data from the self-administered questionnaire was analysed by using SPSS software package installed by a consultant from Statkon. The results of the findings demonstrate that organisations are placed under enormous pressure to implement sustainable practices. The top three drivers identified within this study are pressure from consumer and brand protection; pressure from top management; and cost...