توسعه پایدار و بازاریابی کسب و کار برای کسب و کار :چارچوب و مفاهیم

Researchers in several business disciplines have convincingly argued that environmentally responsible strategies can contribute to competitive advantage and superior financial performance. While debates on ecological conservation and environmental practices within marketing have raged for over three decades, much of the focus has been on identifying and targeting the environmentally-conscious consumer. Less attention has been given to marketing's role in a green supply chain and its interface with environmentally-friendly manufacturing and operations. We integrate disparate streams of research and develop a broader framework to understand the appropriate role and focus of business-to-business marketing in the supply chain for achieving environmental sustainability objectives. We identify three major strategies – the reduction of surplus supply of products, reduction of reverse supply, and internal marketing – where marketing's role in environmental sustainability is crucial for achieving superior competitive advantage and financial performance.

The idea of a sustainable link between business and environment, initially proposed about two decades ago, revolves around the central thesis that the goals of environmental conservation and the goals of business need not be disparate and conflicting (Barbier, 1987, Hawken et al., 1999, Holliday et al., 2002 and World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). Proponents of environmental sustainability have now taken this thesis one step further with the argument that environmentally-conscious and ecologically-friendly strategies could, in fact, lead to competitive advantages and superior financial performance (Engardio, 2007, Esty and Winston, 2006 and Hart, 2005). While earlier views were dominated by notions that environmental objectives were a constraint to the economic goals of a business or that the economic objectives of a business were a direct threat to environmental conservation, the recent approach treats both economics and ecology as two sides of the same coin. It has been argued by Hart (2005) that when properly focused, the profit motive of business can accelerate the transformation toward global sustainability, with nonprofits, governments, and multilateral agencies, all playing crucial roles as collaborators. Savitz and Weber (2006) suggest that a sustainable corporation is one that creates profit for its shareholders while protecting the environment and improving the lives of those with whom it interacts. Recently, Lash and Wellington (2007) suggest that firms will be at a competitive disadvantage if they do not pay attention to sustainability issues. Marketing has been long concerned with understanding environmentally-conscious consumers and devising appropriate strategies to target such consumers (Antil, 1984, Ellen et al., 1991 and Kinnear et al., 1974). In both marketing as well as management strategy, it has been argued that managerial decision making must incorporate environmental issues, including ideas on resource conservation and environmental sustainability (Drumwright, 1994, Hart, 1995 and Shrivastava, 1995a). Incorporating consumers' and managerial concerns on the natural and physical environment contributes not only to superior business performance, especially in terms of competitive advantage, but also to enhanced corporate reputation (Menon and Menon, 1997, Shrivastava, 1995b and Sisodia et al., 2007). While the importance of environmental sustainability for business performance and competitive advantage are now better accepted, research on appropriate strategies to implement environmentally sustainable corporate programs are still in their infancy within business-to-business marketing. There has been considerable interest in the issue of environmental sustainability in business practices, but discussions so far have been confined to disciplinary silos of management, marketing, and production and operations management. For example, while environmentally-conscious product design has been a focus of attention within production and operations management, marketing's role in managing demand for such products has rarely been taken into account. While research within marketing has focused on the competitive benefits of green marketing, there has been less attention given to the examination of the marketing–manufacturing interface and the impacts of a green supply chain (Ottman & Terry, 1998). The demand-focused outlook of marketing, with its knowledge of buyer behaviors, both in consumer and industrial markets, finds complements in the environmentally-conscious policies of firms. Environmental concerns call for an approach that focuses both on supply management and demand management in the context of the entire value chain. Environmentally-conscious supply management would enable better waste management and inventory control through lean manufacturing, reuse, remanufacture, and recycling, as well as a focus on product design for disassembly. On the other hand, environmentally-conscious demand management would require strategies that would reduce reverse supply, including better product design, precision in demand forecasting, and customized development and delivery. We focus on the domain of business-to-business marketing and develop a framework that highlights the role of marketing in environmentally sustainable supply chain strategies. In developing this framework, we integrate prior research from several business disciplines, highlight ignored areas of study and provide justifications for additional theoretical and empirical research in this area. In addition, we develop propositions that will hopefully guide future research. The paper begins with a review of the extant literature. This is followed by the development and explanation of the sustainable market framework. Specific characteristics of three possible strategies – build-to-order manufacturing, recycling, and remanufacturing – are then discussed. This is followed by a discussion of the role of internal and external marketing in the successful implementation of sustainable market policies. Several propositions are derived from the discussion. The final section discusses managerial implications and directions for future research.

From our review of the current literature on environmental sustainability across various business disciplines, we found that marketing's concern has mainly been only the demand side, while ignoring important contributions that marketing can make to manufacturing, operations and the supply chain. We have also explicated the critical role of marketing in aiding firm's objectives for environmental sustainability. We integrated disparate research streams and provided propositions for future research. While we have focused currently on three major strategic thrusts – reverse manufacturing, recycling, and remanufacturing – marketing can well encompass other sustainability strategies as well. One primary limitation of our approach is that, apart from anecdotal evidence, we do not offer a rigorous examination of the propositions put forth in this paper. Clearly, there is need for empirical research not only on marketing's contribution to the environmentally sustainable strategies of firms but also on the links between sustainability and firm performance. Also, our review of prior research focused on several research streams and contributions from other disciplines. While we have presumed the importance of marketing's links to other disciplines, future research could examine the specific areas of inter-functional collaboration and conflict between marketing and other business functions. Similar to the “closed-loop systems” noted in the sustainability literature to close the gaps between demand and supply, future research could focus on closing the conceptual and disciplinary gaps between marketing and other functional areas in the organizational objectives of environmental sustainability.