In latest years a growing quantity of multinational groups has pledged to work best with providers that adhere to social and environmental standards. Typically, those MNCs anticipate their first-tier providers to conform with those standards, and that they ask that those suppliers ask for compliance from their providers—who preferably ask the equal from their providers. And so on. The purpose is to create a cascade of sustainable practices that flows easily during the healthcare’s supply chain, or, as we select to call it, the supply network. It’s an admirable idea, but it’s been difficult to comprehend in practice. Many of the MNCs which have committed themselves to it has confronted scandals introduced approximately via way of means of providers that, despite being aware of sustainability standards, have although long past directly violate them. Consider the embarrassing scrutiny that Apple, Dell, and HP continued now no longer lengthy in the past for sourcing electronics from overseas businesses that required personnel to work in dangerous conditions and the fallout that Nike and Adidas suffered for the usage of providers that have been dumping pollution into rivers in China.

Many multinational corporations sincerely need to embed truthful hard work practices and environmental responsibility during their healthcare supply chain system. A top manner to begin is by adopting the sustainability techniques utilized by the 3 MNCs in our study. But all groups can and ought to do greater. They should send their providers a greater constant message that economic, social, and environmental necessities are all important. They ought to make the equal message clean to their procurement officers and create incentives for them to pursue now no longer best economic goals however additionally environmental and social dreams. Those officers ought to take a hands-on method to collect data approximately providers’ capacity, track signs in their sustainability performance, and engage with them in non-stop development projects. The MNCs ought to additionally work immediately with their providers’ procurement devices at the great approaches to disseminate sustainability necessities during their supply networks. The hazard of now no longer performing is clear: A supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

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