Supply chain systems: life cycle thinking and analysis

With the growing impact of global supply chains on resource efficiency, environmental stewardship, and sustainability, supply chain researchers must extend the scope of inquiry towards understanding the life cycle impacts of production and consumption. Indeed, life cycle decisions are central to the viability of supply chains, not least because actors are accountable to society, investors, other stakeholders for the economic, environmental, and social implications of the resource production and consumption life cycles that underpin competitive supply chain performance. This chapter aims to reflect critically on the relevance of life cycle thinking in supply chains to introduce supply chain researchers to the theoretical underpinnings, rationale, application, and methodological steps for executing life cycle assessments in supply chain research.