Call for papers Sustainability management beyond corporate boundaries Stefan Seuring Department of International Management, University of Kassel, Steinstrasse 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany article info Article history: Received 4 March 2010 Accepted 4 March 2010 Available online 10 April 2010 1. Sustain beyond boundaries The Editor of the Journal of Cleaner Production (JCLP), Prof. Dr. Don Huisingh, is proud to welcome Prof. Dr. Stefan Seuring, Stefan Gold and Matthias Freise of the Department of International Management, at the University of Kassel, Germany, as the guest- editors of the Special Issue of JCLP devoted to “Sustainability Management Beyond Corporate Boundaries”. Many environmental and sustainability challenges require action well beyond the boundaries of a single company. Climate change forms the most prominent example, where a single company can take proactive action, but would not be able “to solve” the problem(s) alone. The same applies for a multitude of other problems/opportuni- ties; therefore, more broadly it is clear that a key element of sustainability management is that many of the problems, challenges and opportunities arise beyond the boundaries of the single orga- nisation. This is mirrored in the range of related concepts for inter- organisational sustainability management, which have been established or which are currently evolving. These include, but are not limited to, industrial ecology, sustainable supply chain management, life-cycle management, end-of-life management of used products, remanufacturing of used products, corporate social responsibility, sustainability accounting, extended producer responsibility and integrated product policy. Corporate responses to these pressures from various external groups are typically reactive in nature. However, encouragingly, increasing numbers of examples have been documented in which organizations and related stakeholders have introduced green and socially responsible products to the market or have taken other forms of proactive actions. The leaders of some of these organiza- tions are convinced that these diverse issues must be addressed in order for them to remain competitive in an increasingly aware world with global markets. Both types of responses, the reactive and the proactive ones, are extremes on a continuum. Within this continuum a wide range of actions taken by companies aiming for sustainable supply chains are being or could be implemented. We invite empirically based as well as multidisciplinary contributions that include, but are not limited to documents, which:  provide systematic reviews of certain lines of conceptual and theoretical development regarding sustainability management beyond organisational boundaries. Such contributions are welcome, in particular, if they provide an in-depth comparison of similarities and differences among different concepts and provide integrative syntheses and recommendations of ways to go forward in the area of their literature review;  report on empirical research results based upon surveys, expert studies or case studies of companies’ and other stakeholders’ initiatives that are designed to enhance integrate sustainability aspects into sustainability management;  address concepts and cases on the integration of particularly relevant sustainability management initiatives. These topics might cover environmental and/or social issues only, but we prefer documents that address all three dimensions of sustainability;  wrestle with and evaluate the philosophical, procedural, managerial, ethical, ecological and economic dimensions of companies and other organisations working within the context of the TBL of sustainability, within and beyond the boundaries of their organisations;  report on case studies on how actors improve the sustainability performance of products and services by collaboration with suppliers, customers or other stakeholders.  address the significant influences of cultural and global aspects in the context of sustainability and supply chain management;  report on successes and failures in integration of Corporate Social Responsibility and supply chain management; E-mail address: seuring@uni-kassel.de Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Cleaner Production journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro 0959-6526/$ e see front matter doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2010.03.009 Journal of Cleaner Production 18 (2010) 1118e1119