Business Executives and Consumers have clashing opinions on Supply Chain Sustainability

Market research from YouGov polled 9000 consumers from the Asia Pacific region.

As reported by Eco-Business, more than 50 percent of Singaporeans polled “believe that companies should ensure that their supply chains do no harm to the environment” (Koh 2018).

This research solidifies the findings in articles posted throughout 2017, by Kodiak Rating. Trends point towards consumerism that contains an underlying concern for environmental and social change in supply chain activities.

In agreement with Singaporeans were the populations of polled consumers from Australia and the Philippines. “Consumers from the Philippines and Australia felt more strongly about the role of business in safeguarding the environment, with 63 per cent and 58 per cent respectively saying it was up to companies to ensure their supply chains do not harm the environment” (Koh 2018).

Experts from Eco-Business have hypothesized that companies that take action towards eliminating environmental impact - through supply chain activities - will have the upper hand on competitors.

Even though consumer’s polled during YouGov’s market research felt quite strongly on the issue, there wasn’t as much agreement on the side of business owners and senior-level management executives. A measly 46%, of this grouping, believed that their business was directly responsible for ensuring the sustainable development of their supply chains. This means that more than half of the business owners and exec's polled are satisfied with avoiding their responsibility to people, profit and planet. Quite clearly, ‘the customer is always right’ doesn’t really apply here.

Clashing methodologies, regarding business sustainability will remain a topic of discussion throughout 2018, and you can bet your bottom dollar Kodiak Rating will be reporting about such stories. 

READ THIS ARTICLE'S INSPIRATION