1.1 Definition of GSCM
Supply chain management is the management of upstream and downstream relationships with suppliers and
customers to deliver superior customer value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole (Christopher 1992). Thus a
supply chain manages information, product, service, financial and knowledge flows from the supplier network to the
integrated enterprise down to the distribution network and finally to the end customers (Bowersox et al. 2002).
Typical functions within a supply chain involve purchasing/material sourcing, manufacturing/material management
and distribution/material transport. Thus, when putting the involved functions into a more environmental and thus
sustainable ‘green’ context, GSCM can be seen as the sum of green purchasing, manufacturing/materials
management, distribution/marketing and reverse logistics (Hervani et al. 2005).