Transfer of responsibility between supply chains

Abstract

Responsibility for the environment, social, and economic issues is of rising concern for supply chain management. Even though it is acknowledged that responsibility issues extend across the entirety of the supply chain, some parts of the chain are still in need of attention. Much of the detected misconduct takes place at the beginning, or the end of the supply chain, but the end of one supply chain could actually be the beginning of another chain. Here, we shed light on the interface between such chains, an area that constitutes a blank space in research. Ship breaking is used as an empirical example, to explain one situation where materials and products at the end of their life are salvaged and enters new/other supply chains. Ship breaking has impacts on the environment and the workers, but seems to be disregarded of both the first and second supply chain. Highlighting the problem, we suggest three types of flows in and between supply chains. We also bring attention to the complexity of responsibility in, and especially between, supply chains.