Greening the supply chain - evaluating sustainability in supply chain for Chinese electronics industry

Objectives of the Study Today the green supply chain management (GSCM) is gaining increasing interest and awareness by companies not only as a source of cost saving, but also as a competitive advantage obtained by efficiency improvement. Together with the pressure from various stakeholders like customer and government, companies are becoming more environmentally friendly. In China, how to balance the economic development and environment protection is a critical problem and often discussed in the media. Electronics industry in China is probably a good representation of the development of GSCM practices for Chinese players since most of them are hugely exportdriven and need to strictly comply with international regulations. Therefore, this thesis is focused on firstly exploring the current status of GSCM practices and adoptions in Chinese electronics industry. Then it moves the discussion to constructing an evaluation model/framework for measuring the GSCM practices for Chinese electronics equipment manufacturers (OEM). Finally, the paper also offers three examples (Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo) on how to apply this model to evaluate Chinese players. To conclude, the study is set to identify the most important strategic elements for evaluating Chinese OEMs. Academic background and methodology The paper applies qualitative methods with some techniques from case study. The evaluation model is developed by studying the relevant operational management and environmental management literature and books, especially the ones under Chinese context. The empirical information and statistical data discussed and explored in the exemplifying part are mostly obtained from official websites, official reports, green/white papers and other reliable sources such as journals. Findings and conclusions In the end of the paper, four main strategic elements for GSCM are defined and they are: sustainable product development process, green purchasing and supplier management, organization involvement and regulations, and product recycling and life cycle management. Three companies’ performances of GSCM are examined by a form of checklist. The result shows that Lenovo has the highest points among three in its GSCM practices.