Effective multi-tier supply chain management for sustainability

Sustainability issues pervade the supply chain deep into the recesses of various global regions and resources. Supply chains can become quite complex as they form multiple tiers of organizations and across networks. Solving anthropocentric pressures on the environment and human society means compelling supply chains to alleviate their environmental and social burdens. The strategic and operational complexities of multi-tier supply chain sustainability are transcendent. Addressing these concerns is still in its relative infancy amongst business, engineering, and production economics solutions. It is within this environment that this special issue in the International Journal of Production Economics advances this important research stream. Twenty-three articles using multiple methodologies, theories, and developments provide insights, clarifications and potential solutions to some of the most pernicious problems of multi-tier sustainable supply chains. This editorial overviews the various contentions, study interrelationships, whilst providing some future research directions.