IFAC PapersOnLine 51-30 (2018) 293–296 ScienceDirect ScienceDirect Available online at www.sciencedirect.com 2405-8963 © 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control. 10.1016/j.ifacol.2018.11.304 © 2018, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. INTRODUCTION Inspired by the “Limits to Growth” study from the Club of Rome in 1972, business and commerce have evolved from a mere focus on short-term economic optimization to the long- term sustainable development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED (World Commission on Environment and Development), 1987). Coherently, the narrow single bottom line perspective that solely focuses on financial objectives has been broadened to a triple bottom line (TBL) approach that comprises not only an economic, but also an environmental and a social dimension. Hence, sustainability in decision-making requires considering multiple conflictive or (less likely) complementary objectives of economic, environmental and social criteria. Economic targets comprise financial and non-financial factors while socio-ecological goals are related to amplifying positive or mitigating negative environmental impacts as well as to increasing the social benefits or reducing the related harm. Nowadays, the concept of sustainability is linked to nearly all (micro- and macro-)economic areas. Supply chain management (SCM) is such a business area in which sustainability has become highly popular. Known as the integration of business processes from end users through original suppliers that provides products, services and information to add value for customers, SCM has become a source of competitive advantage for companies from various industries (Cooper et al., 1997). Sustainable SCM (SSCM) broadens the mere economic focus of SCM by the socio- ecological dimensions in the management of material, information and capital flows as well as in the cooperation among companies along the supply chain (SC) (Carter and Rogers, 2008). In addition to customer requirements, the primary driver for SCM, SSCM considers governmental influences as well as the needs of other stakeholders (Seuring and Müller, 2008). Sustainable operations and supply chain management are key issues for companies from various industries as well as for markets and economies (see, e.g., Gold & Awasthi, 2015; Kumar et al., 2015; Kozba & Schuster, 2016). Nowadays, SSCM is highly relevant not only for managerial practice but also for scientific research (Kobza and Schuster, 2016). The links and interdependences of TBL factors in SSCM are conceptualized in various frameworks (Ansari and Kant, 2017). Formal models are designed to numerically assess complementarities of and conflicts between different TBL objectives and to support decision-making under sustainability criteria (Brandenburg et al., 2014). In addition, empirical studies elaborate on barriers and facilitators of sustainability and analyze the sustainability of the SC (Meixell and Luoma, 2015). Previous research found that the actual application of SSCM is a major challenge for companies (Wu and Pagell, 2011). Comparing reference frames for SSCM and assessing their empirical application may help identifying the state-of-the-art in this field of research and exemplifying its practical relevance. The study at hand contributes to these objectives. Two conceptual frameworks for SSCM are analyzed and linked to practical application at two German multi-national enterprises (MNEs) Thus, this work draws attention to the implementation of SSCM practices and policies and, furthermore, sheds light on the barriers that companies face in this regard as well as on mechanisms to overcome them. 2. THEORETICAL INSIGHTS In this section, three review papers about conceptual frameworks and empirical studies on SSCM (Seuring and Müller, 2008; Carter and Rogers, 2008; Carter and Easton, 2011) are briefly summarized and compared in order to reveal recent findings, current gaps and future prospects of related research. Keywords: Sustainability, supply chain management, conceptual framework, practices & policies, case study, automotive industry, transportation sector. Abstract: Sustainability has become a highly relevant factor for companies, economies and societies. As a consequence, the consideration of environmental and social factors is crucial to manage supply chains sustainably. The study at hand analyses and compares conceptual frameworks and empirical studies on sustainable supply chain management. The gained insights are transferred to case studies of two German firms. * Flensburg University of Applied Sciences, Kanzleistr. 91-93, 24943 Flensburg, Germany (e-mail of corresponding author: nelly.oelze@hs-flensburg.de). Nelly Oelze, Marcus Brandenburg, Christoph Jansen, Ronak Warasthe * Applying Sustainable Supply Chain Management Frameworks to Two German Case Studies