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Green Supply Chain Management: Logistics and Transportation Services - A Canadian Perspective
Table of Contents
Final Remarks
Green supply chain management (GSCM) is a valuable activity for Canadian logistics and transportation service providers. Firms that have adopted GSCM practices have successfully improved their business and environmental performance on many levels.
To maximize benefits from productive GSCM practices, individual logistics and transportation service providers should develop their own business case tailored to their specific context. Canadian service providers should not only make the business benefits of GSCM clear to their supply chain partners, shareholders, employees and senior management, but should also make the environmental benefits of GSCM clear by developing metrics that are universally understood — for example, expressing carbon emission reductions as equivalent to "x" number of cars taken off the road or "y" number of trees saved. Each business case should include recommendations and a roadmap for implementing the proposed GSCM action plan. The roadmap exercise consists of documenting the long–term vision and classifying its components into specific actions linked to deliverables, performance indicators, objectives, return on investment, and the project time frame.
For some businesses, an initial roadmap action item could be to internally evaluate distribution activities and potential environmental improvements by participating in associations and networks. For others, the first step might be to implement a pilot project with a customer and a supplier (e.g., implementing a green energy and carbon emission reduction mandate, a recycling process, or a GSCM scorecard system). In all cases, a well–documented roadmap allows businesses to gain the support and involvement of all stakeholders for the implementation of their GSCM action plan.
For policy makers, the findings presented in this report draw important linkages between the drivers for adopting GSCM practices, firm activities and resulting business benefits. These connections can help inform a continued dialogue across government and with stakeholders. This report also sets the stage for those interested in GSCM trends to pursue new research opportunities and projects.
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