Smart Contracts for Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Conceptual Frameworks for Supply Chain Maturity Evaluation and Smart Contract Sustainability Assessment

Current research on smart contracts focuses on technical, conceptual, and legal aspects but neglects organizational requirements and sustainability impacts. We consider this a significant research gap and explore the relationship between smart contracts and sustainability in supply chains. First, we define the concept of smart contracts in terms of supply chain management. Then, we conduct a content analysis of the literature to explore the overlapping research fields of smart contracts and sustainability in supply chains. Next, we develop a semi-structured assessment framework to model the potential environmental and social impacts induced by smart contracts on supply chains. We propose a conceptual framework for supply chain maturity by mapping the relationships between organizational development, sustainability, and technology. We identify smart contracts as a foundational technology that enables efficient and transparent governance and collaborative self-coordination of human and non-human actors. Thus, we argue that smart contracts can contribute to the economic and social development of networked value chains and Society 5.0. To stimulate interdisciplinary research on smart contracts, we conclude the article by formulating research propositions and trade-offs for smart contracts in the context of technology development, business process and supply chain management, and sustainability

Identifying Carbon Reduction Potentials in Road Transportation: Creating a Carbon-Tracking Tool for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Improving environmental performance of road transport through carbon reduction initiatives can be a demand challenge, in particular for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Whether existing carbon reduction potentials are effectively and efficiently uncovered largely depends on the availability of information as well as on how to make use of it. An often-observed problem is the lack of tools for SMEs to obtain useful carbon-related information from road transport. Against the background of a case study of the carbon-tracking tool CO2-Tec, this paper highlights the importance of decision-making information and demonstrates how carbon reduction potentials in road transportation can be uncovered for SMEs. Particular attention is paid to the information needs of the SMEs and how these needs can be fulfilled. The analysis of the results suggests a pattern of action that increases the efficacy and efficiency of information management and use in corporate practice

The interaction between institutional and stakeholder pressures: Advancing a framework for categorising carbon disclosure strategies

Multiple institutional and stakeholder demands have led to different strategies in the measurement and disclosure of Carbon-related information. Although scholars acknowledge the prevalence of competing institutional logics as being a driver of different outcomes, existing research offers conflicting views on their implications, thus lacking clarity. In response, this paper proposes two frameworks (a) to clarify the institutional and stakeholder influences on carbon disclosure and (b) to depict four different types of carbon disclosure strategies to assess a company's "true" carbon position. We identify various concepts of institutional fields, organisations, and stakeholders that influence disclosure and combine the two critical concepts of logic centrality and stakeholder salience to categorise the multiple institutional and stakeholder pressures on carbon disclosure. Whereas the first framework proposes that institutional theory and stakeholder theory both provide, on different levels, a theoretical foundation to examine the influences on carbon disclosure, the second model categorises carbon disclosure outcomes in terms of logic centrality and stakeholder salience. Both frameworks advance the understanding of the interaction between firm-level agency and field-level pressures and synthesise the current literature to offer conceptual clarity regarding the varied implications and outcomes linked to carbon disclosure practices and strategies

CO2-TEC Transport Emission Calculator

www.co2-tec.com ist ein Online-Service zur Berechnung der CO2-Emissionen von Straßengütertransporten unter Berücksichtigung von Teilladungen, gemischt beladenen Ladungsträgern und Touren auf Basis in der Praxis verfügbarer Informationen. Die Modellierung mehrstufiger Transportketten in CO2-TEC ermöglicht eine Abbildung unterschiedlicher Produktionsformen des Transports und bildet einen Beitrag zur Realisierung des Product Carbon Footprints aus logistischer Sicht

Identifying Carbon Reduction Potentials in Road Transportation: Creating a Carbon-Tracking Tool for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

Improving environmental performance of road transport through carbon reduction initiatives can be a demand challenge, in particular for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Whether existing carbon reduction potentials are effectively and efficiently uncovered largely depends on the availability of information as well as on how to make use of it. An often-observed problem is the lack of tools for SMEs to obtain useful carbon-related information from road transport. Against the background of a case study of the carbon-tracking tool CO2-Tec, this paper highlights the importance of decision-making information and demonstrates how carbon reduction potentials in road transportation can be uncovered for SMEs. Particular attention is paid to the information needs of the SMEs and how these needs can be fulfilled. The analysis of the results suggests a pattern of action that increases the efficacy and efficiency of information management and use in corporate practice