The purpose of this research is to discover and recognize the areas where procurement professionals and corporations may be falling short in terms of sustainability measures and efforts. While it is easy for a company to put out an Annual Consumer or Sustainability Report, it is not so easy to actually implement and actively incorporate sustainability into decisions during the first step of a company's supply chain. This research is meant to highlight the sourcing practices of companies that are taking the right steps and acknowledge where others could stand to improve. This knowledge is attained through research of the current sourcing practices of certain companies through interviews conducted with procurement professionals to learn about 1) how procurement managers consider sustainability against other important factors of price, quality and time; 2) what types of Key Performance Indicators are used to track general procurement progress as well as sustainable initiatives; and 3) whether or not companies are tracking past their first-tier suppliers. Based on the analysis from the interviews, there are wide discrepancies and variety in how procurement managers handle sustainability in the sourcing departments across big businesses in America.
