Talk on Green Supply Chain by Malaysian Experts in the Department of Management of IPB
Business activities can pose a significant threat to the environment in terms of carbon monoxide emissions, discarded packaging materials, scrapped toxic materials, traffic congestion and other forms of industrial pollution. Therefore, businessmen today must strive to meet the demands of increasingly environmentally conscious consumers. Consumers not only demand environmentally friendly products, but also in every process to avoid things that can damage the environment. Therefore Green Supply Chain is becoming a growing issue in today's global business. This was revealed in a discussion on "Practices of Green Supply Chain Management in Malaysia and Indonesia" organized by the Graduate Studies Program of IPB for Management, the Department of Management, of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), on Thursday, 14 December 2017.
The event that took place in FEM Building IPB presented Dr. Abdul Rashid bin Abdullah, a management expert from University Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia.
Chairman of the Graduate Studies Program for Management Sciences, Dr. Jono M. Munandar, revealed that visiting lecturer from UPM this time is part of reciprocal cooperation between IPB and UPM, especially fellow Faculty of Economics and Management. The cooperative program signed between UPM and IPB covering the Student Exchange Program, Joint supervision of research students and Faculty Exchange Program. "I hope the cooperation between IPB and UPM will be expanded, thus joint research and writing program can also be carried out in the future," said Jono.
Meanwhile, in his opening remarks, Chairman of the Department of Management IPB, Dr. Mukhamad Najib said, the theme of the current lecture is very relevant to the developments that occur in various parts of the world. "People want a healthy product, produced in a healthy way and its waste does not harm the environment, however we all have an interest in maintaining the sustainability of the universe in order to remain comfortable to live in. This means businesses should focus on long-term profitability that could simultaneously reduce the environmental and societal risks. Therefore, GSCM practice is in a prime position to leverage sustainability performance in terms of economic, environmental and social," he said.
According to Dr. Abdul Rashid bin Abdullah, companies in Malaysia have started many who developed the Green Supply Chain. This is according to him driven by some motivation, such as consumer pressure that demands eco-product, especially to meet the European market. In addition, green supply chain is done to improve competitiveness in order to increase market share in the international market. One of the major tenets of SCM is to coordinate the raw materials and components flow efficiently from various suppliers to manufacturing companies for the purposes of converting raw materials into finished products and fulfilling the value expectation of customers, in the international markets.
He said the strongest impetus to implement green business is actually two, namely market demands and regulatory demands. Green Supply Shain Management (GSCM) is important in influencing the total environment impact of any organizations involved in supply chain activities. More importantly, GSCM can contribute to sustainability performance enhancement. The concept of GSCM is to integrate environmental thinking into supply chain management (SCM). As competition intensified in the 1990s, the increased awareness of green practices has triggered firms to act in an ethically and socially responsible manner in their supply chains. Regulatory pressure can also force firms to carry out pro-environment business processes.
Dr. Najib said that the basic idea of green business and green supply chain is actually very Islamic. "God told us to consume healthy products and forbid us to degrade the world's natural resources. Whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God. Therefore, companies should be able to provide healthful products without degrading the environment. So companies that commit to apply green supply chain is actually a company that conforms to Islamic values, said Najib.
The International Guest Lecture for students of IPB Graduate Studies program was also attended by faculty members of FEM IPB. Other guests present in this special event among others were Head of Marketing Division of FEM IPB, Dr. Ir. Mamun Sharma; Head of Production and Operations Division of FEM IPB, Dr. Eko Ruddy Cahyadi; and Secretary of Graduate Studies Program of IPB for Management, Dr. Heti Mulyati. (Wied)
