How should a Carbon footprint reduction strategy as part of a holistic sustainability strategy impact purchasing decisions?

In times of increased global awareness of the dangers of climate change, organizations can no longer solely consider financial or quality-related criteria when evaluating suppliers. Additionally, they must also include pro-environmental concerns, ensuring that their suppliers meet the organization's green expectations. Based on a case study at Henkel, this research aimed to create a supplier selection tool including both traditional, as well as green supplier selection criteria, incorporating the judgments of key decision-makers. Criteria weighting and evaluation of the supplier performance were assessed by an expert team using the Analytical Hierarchy process and Estimate-Talk-Estimate method. Life Cycle Assessment was employed to estimate the supplier´s carbon footprint, while Sensitivity Analysis was performed to test the supplier ranking. The study concluded that heterogeneous group decisions can lead to more balanced purchasing decisions. Future research should seek to increase the sample size and develop data validation techniques that increase the validity of the findings.