Abstract
The paper investigates how corporate social sustainability objectives are utilised in the supplier selection process and the role of third party tools and services in managing the risk associated with engaging in a relationship with a new supplier. The driver for using the self-assessment tools of third party service providers (3PSPs) is to facilitate the information gathering and ensuring that useful information is being collected. The self-assessment questionnaires (SAQs) assist in the process element of the decision making, and as supply chain relationships become more collaborative, the 3PSPs are attempting to facilitate in the development of trust, collaboration, coordination, commitment, communication, transparency and education of suppliers. Keywords: social sustainability, responsible purchasing, supplier development Topics: Sustainability in operations and logistics (including social and environmental aspects), purchasing and procurement, global operations and strategic sourcing. Purpose Sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) is based on accountable partnerships (Teuscher et al., 2006) which are expected to support the management of risk and uphold firm’s reputations. It is clear that sustainability objectives are growing in importance for large organisations (Carter and Jennings, 2002; Carter and Rogers, 2008; Hutchins and Sutherland, 2008; Carter and Easton, 2011) and that sustainability performance is influenced by supply chain actions (Seuring and Gold, 2013). More specifically, sustainability performance can be driven by supplier relationships (Leppelt et al., 2013) whereby supplier selection decisions are of key importance. Thus, organisations now need to be more responsible for the actions of their suppliers (Neef, 2004) due to stakeholder pressures and longevity of business survival. Incorporating sustainability objectives into supplier selection decisions is one way to minimize risk in the supply chain, which has increased due to the inter-global nature of the networks (Finch 2004). He found that large companies’ exposure to risk increased by inter-organisational networking, particularly with SMEs. This is relevant as in the context of large purchasing organisations, their suppliers are often smaller in size by the very nature of the supply chain. Christopher and Peck (2006) highlighted the risks to business continuity that lie in the wider supply chain due to the creation of increasingly complex networks of interdependent organisations. Outsourcing and globalisation have heightened some of these risks. Ensuring supply chain