Case Studies in Supplier Accountability Concerning Environmental Sustainability Efforts: Multinational Firms and Best Practices

As multinational companies continue to expand their environmental agendas, questions arise concerning the effectiveness of these efforts and the firms' abilities to pass sustainability values onto their suppliers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was particularly interested in how firms hold their direct and indirect suppliers accountable to codes of conduct and specified sustainability related practices. To identify and add context to company-specific efforts to ensure accountability in sustainability practices along their supply chains, the EPA employed the assistance of a Capstone team. The team researched existing scholarly literature, international reports, and sustainability ratings systems related to supply chain management and the environment. The Capstone team then developed a questionnaire and conducted interviews with representatives from multinational firms, converting collected data into case studies that highlight best practices across different companies in the food service, consumer product, consulting, and hospitality industries.