Creating Lucent Competitive Advantage Through Resource Productivity, Eco-Efficiency, and Sustainability in the Supply Chain

Increasing global population and consumption are causing declining natural and social systems. Sustainable development addresses these issues by integrating strategies for economic success, environmental quality, and social equity. This approach seeks to achieve long-term prosperity by removing operational constraints to growth through a focus on resource productivity and eco-efficiency. 

The key to success in sustainable development is innovative technology development and management. Many companies are showing that the best way to achieve this is by managing their supply chain network. Supply chain networks leverage resources to systematically develop products and innovate outside their internal technology management framework and resource base. This can translate into more technology innovation with less cost and more speed than the traditional vertically integrated approach. 

However, inefficiencies in supply chain processes can cause operational constraints, such as greenhouse gas emission limits that prevent the realization of technological advances. The adaptation of resource productivity and eco-efficiency practices helps to remove these constraints and drive toward sustainability.