Corporate Social Responsibility

Aug 7, 2017

Analytics Should Focus on A Culture of Factory Safety for Workers in Low Cost Country Manufacturing

For analytics to become truly effective in global manufacturing settings, veracity and consistency are critical requirements. Based on a recent interview with an executive at a large global apparel company,… 

Oct 14, 2016

What is the True Cost of Sustainable Apparel from Bangladesh? Insights from Harvard "Sustainable Models for the Apparel Industry" Conference

This week’s blog is a guest blog from a PhD Student, MD Rejaul Hasan.  Rejaul is from Bangladesh, and is working on his PhD in the College of Textiles at NC State University,… 

Oct 8, 2016

It's About Time for a new "World Class Supply Chain" Paradigm

As a young assistant professor at Michigan State University in 1992, I was part of a group called the Global Procurement Benchmarking Initiative. This initiative benchmarked over 300 global companies,… 

Oct 3, 2016

Biobased Economy Continues to Grow: USDA Secretary Announces NC State-Duke Study Results on Monday

I’m writing to share an exciting new report released today entitled “An Economic Impact Analysis of the U.S. Biobased Products Industry: 2016 Update.” This new report shows how the U.S.… 

Aug 23, 2016

Sustainable Procurement Finally Getting Its Own Standard

A new post discussed the development of a sustainable procurement standard developed by the International Standards Organization.  ISO 20400, Sustainable procurement – Guidance, has just reached a second draft international standard… 

May 23, 2016

Biobased Product Market Growth is Tied to Performance…but Production Credits Will Help!

Unlocking growth in the biobased products sector is tied to the ability to unlock access to inexpensive sugar, derived from corn farming. The second element has to do with production… 

Feb 27, 2016

Academics share insights about sustainable supply chains at NC State Workshop

I had the opportunity to sit in on a number of academic presentations today, as part of the Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chain Management Workshop for Early-Career Faculty.  During the morning,… 

Feb 3, 2016

Transparency is the new Sustainability

The focus on corporate sustainability often calls for companies to increase transparency in all aspects of an organization’s operations, and much more so in the supply chain. Apparel and electronics companies that… 

Dec 15, 2015

Poole COM to host the 2nd Annual Workshop on Sustainable Supply Chain Management February 26 – 28, 2016

I am excited to announce an academic conference being hosted by Professor Eda Kemahlioglu Ziya and myself on sustainable supply chain management strategies in February.  This is a follow-on session to… 

Oct 4, 2015

Five Predictions (About Prediction) that Every Procurement Professional Should Consider

I am speaking at the Zycus Horizons conference this week, being held at the Reynolds Plantation in Georgia.  As part of the conference, I’m delivering a talk on five predictions…