State of Supply Chain Sustainability 2022
Changes Over Geography
a
Owing to both our new survey translations and
a coordinated multilingual outreach effort, we
were able to reach more of the world this year
than ever before. Reaching more respondents
from more countries afforded us enough
responses from the regions of North America,
Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, Africa,
and Asia to make viable statistical comparisons.
Globally, the comparison of firms' sustainability
goals with their investments revealed
surprising and consistent geographical pattern.
We compared the distribution of Likert scale
responses from respondents representing
firms headquartered in North America, Europe,
Latin America & the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia
for each of the 10 sustainability dimensions
and each of the 10 pressure sources (see
Appendix C). First, we looked for differences
in responses from each of the five regions. We
then compared regions against one another
where global differences were observed. When
global differences were detected, we tested
again, but this time comparing the Global
North (broadly speaking, North America and
Europe) to the Global South; (Latin America &
the Caribbean, Africa, and most of Asia).* In
terms of supply chain sustainability goals and
investments, the Global North versus Global
South aggregation was a frequently statistically
significant grouping. Below, Figures 9-12 show
where we saw differences between the Global
North and Global South. Colored bars indicate
statistically different distributions, while the
blue, annotated lines indicates the average
score for those dimensions in the Global North
and South, respectively.
Figures 9 and 10 highlight where goals were
significantly different across the the Global
Noth and South. Respondents from firms
headquartered in the Global North showed
higher mean Likert scores among climate
change, energy conservation, employee welfare
and safety, and fair pay/fair trade, indicating
a higher prioritization of these issues among
firms headquartered in that part of the world.
Climate change
Energy
Water
Circularity
Natural resources
200
3.8
4.0
150
Count
100
NORTH
50%
0
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
3.6
200
3.5
150
Count
100
SOUTH
www
50
0
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Figure 9: Environmental SCS goals in the Global North and Global South (n = 800)
Employee welfare
Human rights
Local impact
Supplier DEI
Fair pay & fair trade
200
4.2
wwww
3.8
150
Count
100
NORTH
...
50
0
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
* The traditional definition of the Global North and Global South is based on the Brandt Line, developed by West German
Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1980. In this definition based on GDP per capita, the world is divided roughly along a latitude of 30°
north. The wealthier Global North includes the United States and Canada, Europe, the former Soviet Union, Japan, Australia, and
New Zealand. The comparatively more disadvantaged Global South includes Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia minus
Japan, and Oceania minus Australia and New Zealand.
This grouping has been used to highlight the very different standards of living and wealth between these two regions of the world.
The terminology is similar to the global division between “developed” and “developing” countries or the “Third World", though use
of this terminology has been declining in favor of the Global North and Global South.
(For a more detailed explanation of this definition as well as the validity of the Brandt Line more than 40 years after it was first
developed, see Nicholas Lees, “The Brandt Line after Forty Years: The More North-South Relations Change, the More They Stay the
Same?," Review of International Studies 47, no. 1 (January 2021): 85–106).
200
3.9
3.4
150
Count
100
SOUTH
50
0
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Minor Mod High V-High
Figure 10: Social SCS goals in the Global North and Global South (n = 800)
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